F250 short bed Diesel or F350 LONG bed Dually Gasser?

[DaveMatthewsBand]

Ok I know the title is intriguing, but bear with me while I explain why we're even thinking about this...

Just some quick facts, our truck loaded for towing, on the scales is about 300# to 500# overweight depending on whether our tanks are full, etc.
I don't recall the exact payload of our F250 short bed diesel, but it's pretty low, about 2,300.
Why it's over is irrelevant, we're not getting any lighter, in fact, we want to add more weight to the tow vehicle.

We'd like to get a couple of ebikes, and a rack which would add about 100#. Also, since we boondock for long periods, we'd like to carry an additional 30 or 40 gallons of water in the bed of the truck, so another 320#. It would also be nice if we could carry at least an additional 10 to 15 gallons of fuel in the truck, either with an aux tank or a new larger tank, so possibly another 100# or so there.
So we really need a truck with a minimum of 2,800# of payload, but I would feel better at 3,000# minimum.
We would also really like to move up to a long bed so we'll have room for that extra ''stuff''.

So we've been tossing around the idea of trading in our F250 short bed for an F350 long bed OR just going ahead and getting an F350 long bed dually.

Before anyone says "go big or go home" let me say, we will never get a larger heavier trailer later on, it won't happen. We put far more value into our ability to park pretty much anywhere and easily travel off road, over having lots of living space and amenities.

That being said, we saw a truck a few days ago on a Ford lot with a price on the windshield of $22,999. They were closed but our interest was peaked so we pulled over for a closer look. This truck is FOUR years newer than ours, mint condition inside, with only 9k that's right nine thousand miles on it, and it's a dually F350 long bed 4x4.

BUT here's the thing, it's got the gas motor. So I immediately said out loud "awwww maaaan" and walked away. But now we're thinking...
That's super low mileage and 4 years newer and has all that extra payload, like thousands of pounds extra, plus the long bed thing and it's a dually.
Plus, being honest, I hate the smell of diesel exhaust and even though we've never had any issues with this truck, I've heard horror stories about something going wrong and it costing thousands of dollars to fix just because it's a diesel. Thanks a lot Youtube... So now we're curious.

All this comes down to the price though, it's only attractive since we keep seeing trucks similar to this for under $30k. Since we're semi-retired we don't want to buy a new one or spend really "any" money on a truck. We want to be able to trade pretty much "even" and our truck is worth approximately (depending on who/where you are asking) about $35k.

Since our trailer is not a big old behemoth, and we're never getting a heavier trailer, how much difference it would make towing since our trailer only weighs 9k#. I understand if we tried towing a 20,000# Momentum it would be night and day between a gasser and the diesel, but since we're never going larger than our tiny 9k# trailer...?

Talk us out of it. Or into it.

[Second Chance]

First of all, there's no diesel smell on the newer (DPF/DEF) trucks. I'm rather disappointed as I liked the smell...

It all depends on the type of terrain in which you tow and how often you tow. If you're in the Rockies, Sierras, east Tennessee, etc., the diesel - as you know - will pull much better. If you're OK with with a little less speed and higher RPMs, the larger gassers are very capable. With the weight of your 220RK, I think you should be OK either way. Our 2013 Sierra 2500HD (Duramax/Allison, CC, SB, SLT) had 3,050 lbs. payload with the hitch in the bed, me in the driver's seat, and a full tank. I know that's pretty high for a 3/4-ton diesel, but that's what the scales said. Even at that, we're SO much more comfortable with the F350 DRW. Since I don't have to worry about the suspension on the trailer any more, I've basically quit pulling across the scales and don't worry about what's in the tool box in the bed or a few extra things in the basement. Just my two cents worth...

Rob

[Country Campers]

Ed
You have said before you like the diesel for pulling the mountains out west and not even struggling while doing it. I think you will not be happy with the gas for that reason , unless you decide to stay in the flat lands.
I pulled our previous 7800# TT with a chevy crew cab gas and then with current diesel , no comparison. However if we where not thinking of upgrading and traveling more in the future I would have gone to a smaller TT and stayed with the gas.
I would not try to talk you into one or the other , you know what you are doing and how things are working for you now.

Good luck.

Brian

[backtrack2015]

That's a tough call. I'd like the extra payload, space, and the stability of the DRW. As for the engine, it seems to me naturally-aspirated gas is a bit like marrying an ugly spouse. You never have to worry about them cheating on you, but the ability to sleep well at night does come at a cost.

EDIT: I think the consensus on the innumerable gas vs diesel threads on the ford-trucks forum is that the gas does just fine under 10K trailer weight. I was really on the fence about this too based on emissions reliability, water-in-fuel worries, and initial cost.

[tortise]

All I can say is I was happy with my 3/4 ton gasser (payload 2750 lbs) pulling my 27 RL all over the west last spring. Payload maxed. Yes the diesels were faster, not the semis though, yes my rpms were up to 4000 on the steepest grades, yes my mpg was a cumulative 8.3 for 14000 miles, yes I saved $10000 and spent less in fuel, even estimating 11-12 mpg for diesel . That said my only regret would b not holding out for Sri one ton. That dally looks like a great deal though.



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[JCR GD]

If it has a 6.8 V10 in it, it's a beast of a motor. You will have to get used to the much higher RPM power band but it will do the job for what you are doing.

[tortise]

SRW one ton


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[Leon T]

Another way to look at it is that as long as you don't overpay on the gasser it will likely hold its resale value really well. If you drove it a year and decided you had to go back to a diesel I don't think you'd be hurt too badly (financially). That's how I've always looked at these types of decisions anyway. But I don't mind buying and selling (as opposed to trading in, where I don't think you get as much bang for your buck).

If you aren't one of those guys that's in a hurry and/or gets mad when another truck passes you on a 6% grade I bet you'll be just fine.

[Jerryr]

Why don’t you see if the dealer will let you hook up your trailer and take it for a test drive? My local ford dealer offered to let me bring my trailer over and test tow it with a truck on his lot.

[cfowler55]

SRW one ton


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If you are absolutely never going larger this would be my choice. Now I love towing with my DRW , but the rest of the time not so much. A SRW one ton should have plenty of excess CCC to meet your needs and will be much friendlier in tight sight seeing areas. And I would think a comparable gasser would be fairly available.