I must agree with YnotTurbo, "You do not buy a one ton diesel truck for fuel mileage...You buy it to work." I have a Ford King Ranch 6.0 PSD, Dual wheel, 4x4, with a 4.3 rear end. I tow less then 12k and have spun the wheels several times pulling out of the field on wet grass. Have also needed to set up in over a foot of snow. I would not be w/o the 4x4. That said, I get 11.2 mpg towing and at best 13 on a open freeway.
kaydeejay wrote: If 12K is the EMPTY weight of the trailer, then that is a whole new ball-game!
That would be empty except water, and LP. Haven't added all of the wifes and kids belongings, and my few items to the mix yet. But it is still in the early stages yet. I really wanted a F350 dually diesel4x4. But the wife has other opinions. But if I can prove my points I may yet win this battle. As long as the fuel mileage would hang around 10 MPG I would be happy. Maybe 8 in hilly terrain. Thaks for all of the input. Once we get the truck figured out, then it is off to the 5ver itself. She wants a QB, which we looked at A Sierra 335QBQ,it weighed in at (shipping weight) 11,491,GVWR 13,879. It was nice, but it was also new. But still under 50 grand. So if we can find something a year or 2 old, we may be onto something. Thanks again for all the info. This is going to be a long drawn out decission for me.
Then you need to figure the pin weight will be closer to 2800# by the time you add batteries, propane, awning and all the other extras that are excluded from the dry weight. Then add your kitchen stuff, clothes, bedding, barbeque, lawn chairs, tools and any water you carry and you will be surprised how quickly you start to approach that GVWR.
I still say that a SRW F350 should be within ratings if there are good reasons you don't want a dually (or lose the battle with DW). (See if you have a local carwash that will take it!). Otherwise, the points made about the stability of the dually are very valid.
Keith J, Retired from GM Engineering
2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLE 2WD/CC/SB/DA.
1999 Sunnybrook 27RKFS Fiver
Bilsteins, Line-X, Westin steps, Prodigy, Retrax, 16K Superglide, 5th-Airborne pin-box, Multi-vex mirrors.
I have a diesel 4X2 dually, manual transmission, limited slip rear end, with REAL traction tires (as opposed to "all season" tires, a joke at best, IMO).
I have never been stuck on wet grass.
I have never been stuck on a wet leaf.
I have towed the 5er in my sig. through a blizzard, over Bozeman Pass on I-90, at a GCW of 21,160. No problems.
I have driven out into a farm yard, in the mud, to load 34 bales of hay, then drove out into my pasture, over wet grass, to unload the hay. No problem.
I launch and recover my 17 foot fiberglas boat, no problem.
I have 4X4s (see sig). However, I do not NEED a 4X4 dually for towing or carrying the camper. The 4X2 does the job just fine.
Sure, if I ever decide to sell the truck (ain't gonna happen), I could get more if it was a 4X4, but I paid a lot less for the 4X2, so it balances out nicely.
Besides, at coming up on 15 years old, and close to 273,000 miles, it isn't worth much anyway, 4X4 or not.
HOWEVER, the bottom line is, it will be YOUR truck. Get what YOU will be comfortable with. YOU are the only one you have to keep happy. Well, OK, keeping your DW happy would be a good thing, too!
CM1, USN (RET)
'94 Dodge 3500 4X2 CTD, Std. cab, LB, 5 speed, 4.10 LS diff., Jacobs Rambrake, 273,000 Miles
'99 Monaco McKenzie 32' triple slide
'95 Tioga 29H Ford-based Class C
Daily driver: '06 Jeep Liberty CRD
Towed: '06 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited
We have a Dodge 5500 and get around 10 MPG towing. 14 MPG when not towing but the truck is not broken in yet. Will get better after break in. Our previous Dodge diesel 3/4 ton got 18 MPG not towing and 12 to 14 towing.
2008 dodge 5500, diesel,Laramie cab, pressure pro tire.
2008 Carri-Lite 36SBQ, 4 slides,dishwasher,washer/dryer,2 fireplaces
D & D
Two Schnauzers, & cat
I recommend getting the 4x4. We have a 2008 F-350 diesel crew cab 4x4 long bed and we couldn't imagine not having the four-wheel drive for those moments when it might be needed.
We have SRW, not a dually. We thought about a dually, but frankly, it would have made a tight squeeze in our garage with my Expedition already parked in there, so we opted against it.
My husband upgraded the exhaust system with a $600 system he bought online and he now gets 16mpg on mostly city driving (some highway tho) so he's very happy with that mileage. it was around 14 mpg until he upgraded the exhaust. That said, the 2008's get better gas mileage than the older models, even without the new exhaust. Our friends have a 2005 F-250 diesel 4x4 crew cab short bed and they only get about 12 mpg.
Having had two 4X2 diesels, let me add in some comments.
We live in Maryland - snow is not an issue and if it was, the truck could sit for a day. All the dealers around here kept pushing four wheel drive which is fine if you use the truck for farming or construction work where you are going to be off road a lot. But for us towing, it didn't make any sense to me to spend the extra money to buy, maintain, and fuel the thing to use it once in a great while.
Ford and Dodge can be ordered with limited slip differentials but DM goes one better with a true locking differential. I've ordered both truck with the G80 locker and they both do fine in low traction situations.
A dually will give you much more versatility when it comes to towing fifth wheels. You tend to run into pin weight limits with 3/4 & 1 ton single rear wheel trucks. My dually gets the same mileage towing the fifth wheel as the 3/4 ton did. The biggest difference is around town where the heavier dually isn't so great (but then again, it's not broken in yet).
Get a dually, stay away from 6.0L Fords (not one of Fords best efforts), and get a 4X2 if you can find one. You will have ample load capacity for that Sierra and will be able to go bigger in the future.
Carriage Cameo 33CKQ | 08 GMC 3500HD CC LB Duramax Dually | Sam the Cat and the Labs | Best wife going
NO more duallys for me. I would go with the 3/4 ton 4x4 or a 1 ton SRW 4x4 myself. I have owned all, check my pictures.
It’s not like the old days where you had a significant difference in the mileage between a 2x4 and 4x4. As a matter of fact my 1 ton 4x4 SRW got 3 miles to the gallon better than my 1 ton 2x4 dually.
I drove a new dually for 2 days and took it back. Didn't like it, didn't want it. Didn't like the ride when not towing, didn't like the parking, didn't like the fuel mileage. I have an F350 SRW and could not be happier. In 20-25 mph cross winds towing the 5er I barely notice them. Stability not a problem. I do have 4x4 but have never used it towing.
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