tow Vehicle

I am sure this has been adressed but what would be your choice fora tow vehicle and a DD to and from work? Also would you go 4x4 or 2x4?

my DD is a F250 4x4 diesel. Best thing I have ever bought, bar none.

give it, I have never driven one, I voted ram4x4 b/c I just plain hate ford....

imma you have been officially disowned! My DD and tow vehical is a 02 F150 Super Crew! Danno?

my DD is a F250 4x4 diesel. Best thing I have ever bought, bar none.

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Sure you want to state it like that?

Ghost said:

imma you have been officially disowned! My DD and tow vehical is a 02 F150 Super Crew! Danno? Sure you want to state it like that?

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Well, I have never been in or driven one of the bigger Ford trucks. So im more or less generalizing from my personal experiences and those of friends/family with ones. (stangs (hahahahaha, unless its a cobra), Explorers, Sport Trac ect.....) Now whether or not there is any truth to this, ive "heard" that Ford trucks are made a diff plants than their cars/suvs, which is why their trucks tend to be more dependable...... :gag:

I already have a 93 GMC K1500 4x4, I love it for my DD but when I towed with it, to the Tellico fallflog, I was less than impressed. I intend on trading it this spring or fall depending on my deployment scedule. I kinda decided on a diesal, untill I saw price differences, $5000 higher on the base price, so I may go with a V10 ford 250, I am gearing toward 4x2 right now.

I tow with this and never even know anything's back there. 2000 5.3. I towed this red XJ from Southern Florida to Central Kansas for someone at 75 mph against the wind up hill all the way. I guarantee it was cheaper to buy brand new than anything else on your list. And I have no doubts about it's reliability.

Whether you need 4 wheel drive or not is completely up to you and your surroundings. I'm searching for a F350 crewcab 4x4 diesel because I know that I need the grunt pulling power, I need 4 wheel drive in the winters for one of my businesses, and I need the room to haul more than 2 people for long distances comfortably. I would contemplate a 2 wheel if I lived in places that don't get any snow. I know many don't believe me, but my truck will never go offroad so I don't need the 4x4 for that reason, do you? A 4x2 is going to be cheaper and have slightly less maintenance. They are also lighter and lower to the ground.

Sean

Oh yeah, I'm not voting as I don't have enough info as to how you want/ need to use this truck.

OneTonXJ said:

I need 4 wheel drive in the winters for one of my businesses, and I need the room to haul more than 2 people for long distances comfortably.

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What other buisness? Are you pimpin'?

I drive a 4x4 F250 for work at times and would love to buy one for a DD/towrig. But until funds alow that I'm towing with my wifes '00 4.7 WJ. I've towed with it from Detroit to Moab and it did much better than origianally anticipated.

96xjeeper said:

I kinda decided on a diesal, untill I saw price differences, $5000 higher on the base price, so I may go with a V10 ford 250, I am gearing toward 4x2 right now.

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I have been looking for a truck for 5 or six months now. I have done a lot of reserch and number crunching. If you want power, dont go with the giant gas motors, the V-10s and sort. If you buy a used diesel, the savings on fuel will be significant. Yes they cost more new but used the price difference gets smaller and the $$$ savings on fuel will be noticable, especialy if you drive alot of miles like I do.

I have a 96 Ford F-250 super cab with the 460 auto 4x4, wanted a deisel but the price was way more than I was willing to go into debt for. The 460 tows great, half the time I have to look back just to make sure it is still behind me because I don't feel it unless going up a grade but can still pass if needed. It is also my daily driver for work. Gas milage is not the greatest but not much more per week than my old Dodge Dakota with the 318 was costing me so I am happy with it.

seanR said:

I have been looking for a truck for 5 or six months now. I have done a lot of reserch and number crunching. If you want power, dont go with the giant gas motors, the V-10s and sort. If you buy a used diesel, the savings on fuel will be significant. Yes they cost more new but used the price difference gets smaller and the $$$ savings on fuel will be noticable, especialy if you drive alot of miles like I do.

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True. The fuel savings is quite significant over gas. However, if you buy a new diesel and don't tow with it enough to make up for the extra monthly payment, a gas engine will be very up to the task of occasional towing at the cost of a higher gas bill from time to time. I agree that a used diesel would be all-around cheaper, except your buying someone else's problems. Not to mention thier old farts trapped in the seats.

rockcrawlinxj said:

True. The fuel savings is quite significant over gas. However, if you buy a new diesel and don't tow with it enough to make up for the extra monthly payment, a gas engine will be very up to the task of occasional towing at the cost of a higher gas bill from time to time. I agree that a used diesel would be all-around cheaper, except your buying someone else's problems. Not to mention thier old farts trapped in the seats.

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As a point of reference, Dad has a 1 ton Dodge duallie 2wd with the 5.9l gas and a 5spd. Gross weight in the summer with a full load of cherries on the gooseneck trailer runs around 32,000 lbs. The gas engine works pretty hard going up hill, but it'll tow it on the highway pretty good. Yes, he got the power gears, not the highway gears. I don't remember the ratio.

He wanted the diesel, but there was no way that the fuel economy would pay for it, even over 20 years. The truck gets used heavily for 2 to 3 weeks out of the year, with 4 or 4 runs of 45 miles (round trip) a day. The rest of the year it run very little.

Me, I'm thinking about a 3/4 ton Dodge 4wd diesel, but picking it up used. Probably a 98 or 99.

ChiXJeff said:

He wanted the diesel, but there was no way that the fuel economy would pay for it, even over 20 years. The truck gets used heavily for 2 to 3 weeks out of the year, with 4 or 4 runs of 45 miles (round trip) a day. The rest of the year it run very little.

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That is part of the arithmatic you gotta do before buying a truck. You gotta see what works for you.

Personaly, I would not own a Dodge, I just don't like the way they look.

I know people getting 25-28 mpg out of Ford F-350 after the Hypertech.

Diesels are inherently more expensive to operate. You need to look beyond fuel mileage and look at maintenance costs. Ever done an oil change on a diesel? Do you realize how often the filters need replaced? Just more to think about.

Sean

OneTonXJ said:

Diesels are inherently more expensive to operate. You need to look beyond fuel mileage and look at maintenance costs. Ever done an oil change on a diesel? Do you realize how often the filters need replaced? Just more to think about.

Sean

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Some of us grew up with diesels. They're like any engine, they like clean fluids, fuel especially. All of the diesel tractors on the farm have both large filters and water separators.

I'd go with the dodge 4x4. I used to have one but had to give it up due to shortage of funds. they are great trucks and hey keep making them better and better. my worst milage with that truck was towing 10k in the moutain with the converter locked in drive and running at 3200rpm for miles(i was in a hurry plus it fun to blow by cars while there strugling to go the speed limit)was 11mpg heck I can barely get that with the 1ton chevy BB i have now. And the 2wd vs 4x4 is a no brainer for me the first time that you sit there stuck on wet grass because theres to much power and not enough traction you'll be kicking your self in the a$$ for not getting the 4x4.

Well after looking at them at the dealership, pricing them, I reconsidered gas over diesal. I can get a gas 4x4 250 for less than $25k. The deisal was more like $32k. I can get the gas engine with 4.11 gears and the "super delux" towing package, and it should tow like a charm, with the V8 oppose to the V10 it should do better on fuel milage.

Well this is going to be a huge desision I'll need to research more and listen to others opinions.

OK, enough of the opinions from people who don't actually own one of the vehicles you're considering.
I looked long and hard, read lots of material, and talked to owners, and then test drove the three offerings, before buying my 2003 Chevy Duramax 2500HD Extended Cab 4X4. I couldn't be happier, as it fills my needs perfectly.
Like OneTon said, whether to go with four wheel drive is a personal preference and anticipated use question. With this being my new daily driver (to replace my beloved 93 XJ that after 230k of wheeling and DD use had earned its retirement) I wanted the 4WD for dealing with winter weather, and to avoid traction problems while towing (even though the Chevy comes with a rear locker).
Beyond that, the Chevy has the quietest engine (which when comparing diesels is important), the lowest entry height (important for me as a wheelchair user - and for every passenger who will ever ride with you), the best auto transmission (5 speed Allison automatic), and the most spacious interior of the extended cabs (again important for my wheelchair and those passengers).
The power output is simply impressive. It's smoooth, seamless torque that just simply doesn't realize your pulling a load up a mountain. The Ford and Dodge diesels now both have high pressure common rail injection systems, so there's less difference in the engine compartment than there was in '03, though I still prefer the smoothness of the V8s to the Dodge's I6 (tradeoff is more parts). On my trip out to Moab, I was literally giggling to myself while blowing past gas engined vehicles struggling to pull themsleves over the passes in Colorado while I blasted past doing 70mph in overdrive - it was so effortless (the thin air coulda been partially responsible for the giggling, but 520 ft/lbs of torque will do that to a guy). Combine that with the Allison's tow mode that uses the engine to maintain speed downhill thus saving the service brakes, and it's a towing dream. Gas engines can tow just fine. But you won't catch me ever going back!
Diesels are more expensive. Life is hard. Yes, the mileage is better. I'm averaging 19 mpg on four tanks of all-around driving, and that's considering 1) that I can't help but get after it and enjoy the feeling of a truck that size accellerating as hard as it does, and 2) at 12k miles, my diesel is still a long way from being broken in. I use a fuel additive to improve lubricity and reduce the temperature at which the fuel will gel and plug a filter (which adds about $.02 per gallon to my fuel cost). Then there are the regular fuel filter and the 2 micron supplemental CAT fuel filter to change out (because diesel fuel in this country is of pretty poor quality and dirty). My oil changes take a full 3 gallons, plus two filters (one regular and one bypass). The rear diff change alone took eight quarts (that's a full float 14bolt with an 11.5 inch ring gear!). That much synthetic slippery stuff ain't cheap. There's an external spin-on filter for the transmission, too. When it's time for the tranny to go synthetic, that will take over four gallons. Plus it's got 2 batteries. So yes, they take more effort and more money to maintain. Again - I think it's worth it.
Modern diesels have come a loong way and are so much better than they were even just a few years ago. I owned an Olds Delta 88 with a GM diesel that used a converted gas engine block (I think it was an '82). That thing sucked by comparison. It had no turbo, so power was low and accelleration practically nonexistant. It smoked, was dirty and noisy in comparison to my Duramax. And it had the injector pump mounted under the intake manifold, where the heat was destroying it day by day.
SO, to make a long story just a bit longer . . .
my one vote for the Chevy 2500 4X4 is a heartfelt one by a guy who owns one, rather than from a guy who like Fords but not Dodges, or vice versa.