Originally Posted by Anomic

Most ive towed with mine has been 7500lbs and honestly i dont think it wuld handle 20,000 under normal conditions. If its hauling farm equiptment 5 miles down the road at 25mph sure it will be fine. But not for highway/hilly use. Ive had it on the governor with my ~14000 gcvw trying to get up some west virginia hills. 27000lbs gcvw wiuld definently be 1st gear at 5800 rpm so i guess the automatic isnt really an issue! It wont be shifting anyway

If i was you and had my heart set on a gasser (i prefer them as well) it would be a 2010 6.8 with the zf6 (i also prefer a manual like you). For that kind of weight i would also look at 4.56 or 4.88 rear end. This would limit the top end and wouldnt work if you are one of those guys that like to go 80mph but would be fine otherwise.

If you need new the 6.8 and 4.88 rears can still be had in f450 chassis cab configuration and is rated at 18000k. But really for 20,000lb trailer id look at a medium duty truck.


I feel the same as you and when i saw that 2010 was the end of the standard transmission i went out and bought the last of the "real pickups"; a regular cab, v8 manual trans, manual transfer case. Im glad i have it! Just wish i had found a v10 but i was too late...