Thinking of trading in your diesel on gas??

[jonwright]

I USED to tow. That was back when I was racing motorcycles. So it was a 6 hr+ drive one way once a month or so with a 7,000-8,500 lb trailer.

Now....we have kids all over the place and I don't get out so much. But I'm hoping to get back out there - I still have my bikes.

I do drive a lot, though, and it's nice to have a 3/4 ton truck while I'm building my house. Need a backhoe or excavator? Go rent one and hook it up. Done. I live way out in the boonies.

But I'm still OK with my truck and like it. If I didn't already have the truck I'd be thinking gas would be the way to go. But since I already have it switching vehicles will cost me $$ - especially when I consider gas trucks that are near in capacity what my diesel is - I still have a need to tow on occasion, just not as much as I used to.

So when I look at that, the new 1/2 ton trucks still average somewhere around 16-18 MPG. That isn't far off from what my diesel gets unladen, and, with diesel being close to gas in price it's a wash. Especially when I consider that my diesel is paid for and other acquisition costs (personal tweaks, taxes, etc. etc. etc).

I like my truck. But if I kept it and got another vehicle to "save money" in fuel I'd have to get a vehicle that gets @30+ MPG AVERAGE AND cost no more than $3k for a 2 year pay back. That does NOT include maintenance, insurance, taxes and other stuff.

So the way I see it I'm just as well to keep what I have and hope that I'll be back in the saddle again with the races.

Plus I just like the truck and am happy driving it. But that 6.2L in the Denali is SWEET.

 

[Stroked68]

All my pulling has been with my old gassers. My 77 f250 was my primary hauler. It was free so i loved. I pulled a 21ft enclosed trailer with it. I lived with my horrible mpg since it was the only vehicle to haul my toys. Then i upgraded to an 84 E250 gasser with a 460. A lil better mileage and pulled better but still sucked. I just bought my 99 f250 diesel and love it alot! For hauling i would never go back to gassers. They suck on mpg and cant haul nearly as much as my 99 F250. Plus my diesel will last a lot longer. My truck has over 245K on it and still goin strong. You cant get that in a gasser. Well atleast in a gasser that can pull worth a damn. I will pay extra for the diesel. My truck already gets better mpg than my old 77 and my 84 van combined so im definately happy. I will just retire my old haulers and fix them up. I can actually drive my diesel as my daily driver and pull a house if i want to haha.