I don't want this to turn into a gas vs. diesel thread. That is not what i am after, I looking for more thoughts on what would be better.
I currently have an 01 F250 w/v10 supercab short box. I love the V10,but hate the mileage of towing. The best I have gotten towing is 10, the worst is 6. I tow around 10k with an 18ft trailer. I am looking at a 28-32' gooseneck. I am thinking of going to a 7.3ltr diesel, just to have the power their to handle the load, and hope to have better mileage. I tow roughly 5-6 times a year doing a minimum of 200 miles one way. With a few bigger trips planned this coming year. So far while looking my payments would go up $75, depending on trade value. I put 12,000 miles on the truck in 2 years. Mainly because 9mpg driving in town is not fun to think about. please help with insight.

 

guess i found what i was looking for.

 

Well, I've had a pretty good sense of the differences since owning my diesel. As for towing, you'll never even come close with mileage and power. V10 is a great motor, but just doesn't have the torque of the diesel, and the mileage will be a huge difference.

Now, maintenance will be significantly higher, price wise, on the diesel. So, you have to take that into consideration, maintenance cost for the diesel, against what you would save in fuel mileage. If you tow enough, it will be worth it.

 

Hey Lizard, if you are looking into getting a 7.3L, year wise, 1999 to 2002 are the best ones and can be modified with tuners without having problems. They are pretty much bombproof!! My truck also has the V10 but gas mileage is not a concern for me cuz I only put about 5k miles a year on it. So, there you go!

 

Another note: any 7.3L older than 1999 will have head gasket problems. Ford tried to fix that issue by revising the head bolt torque, uping it from 80ft./lbs to 100ft./lbs. hope this helps you out! Good luck!

 

When gas was around $4 and diesel was close to $5 the cost per mile for towing was probably not much different. I get around 11-12 with my '01 7.3 F250 when towing a 5th wheel and not pushing it too hard. 60-65 mph. My unloaded mileage is in the 15-17 mph depending on the time of year, winter vs summer, and the amount of city or open roag. I've done as much as 20-21 on long trips without a load.

The $3-4,000 that you might pay extra for a diesel will be hard to recover with 5-6 trips a year.

I'm not knocking the diesel, because I have one and love it but from a financial perspective it is probably hard to justify the trade.

 

Del has a good point. With the higher cost of diesel, and the higher maintenance, it may not be worth it.

 

I did end up trading. Even with the few trips I do, but with more planned this year the diesel was looking better. I found out I had 4.30's in my 01, so I would never be able to get anything really above 11mpg. So by going on that number, did some math with my father, it does cost more to run the V10 than the diesel. In the end I pay $2k more for the 02 diesel than my 01 V10.