Hi all. Been reading this forum for a while. Very informative.

I just ordered 2012 SD Lariat Crew Cab 4x4 with 6.2L and 4.3 gear. Currently I have 2008 Silverado 2500HD diesel pulling 37 feet Keystone Challenger fiver. Am fed up with multi leaks in Chevy truck (tranny line, steering, and transfer case leaks only at 42000 miles)

Anyway, the dry weight for the fiver is 11625 pounds with 1930 king pin pounds. The Ford web site says 4.3 gear with 6.2L engine can pull up to 14,900 pounds for fiver. Great.

Question: What happens if I had to stop the truck with the fiver on a steep hill such as stop light or anything? Will I have enough 400 lbs torque to try pull again? Diesel is nice but too expensive. Am I making mistake on this gas engine?

 

I dont think you will have any problems getting the load moving at a stoplight on a hill. It will be a totally different beast from the chevy though, first thing is dont be afraid to let her rev , gas motors make their power alot higher in the rpm range than a diesel does. Good luck and let us know how she does..

 

your gas mileage will be terrible, and the motor will have to work to move that load, how far are your trips? i would judge by that. if your going from state to state or cross country which im guessing you are, go for diesel

 

You certainly would have plenty of torque. See THIS THREAD, we just tested a similar truck to the max back in September. 2000silverbullet came out for our meet in Millersburg with his 6.2L/4.30 F350, and the trailer we used was weighed at over 15,000 lbs. You can watch a video at that link showing it starting nearly 23,000 lbs combined weight between the truck and trailer on a 20% grade. It didn't accelerate quite as fast as the 6.7L trucks did, but it did a superb job overall.

Check out the videos and see how they compare, the 6.2L will do a fine job with that size trailer. You won't get the same fuel economy the PSD gets and you will need higher RPMs to make the same power, but the $8,000 price difference buys a lot of fuel.

ON edit:

ANY engine in a pickup truck will really work to move that much weight. My 6.7L certainly did.

 

Thanks. Yep will need to have much higher RPMs when stopped towing. Looking forward to this new truck

 

Oh thats a given, a 6.7 would just have less struggle, all i was getting at.
Crazy what happened to your 6.7? I know you had a 2011 before

 

Campings are usually within same or next state. And only about 6 times a year.

What I learned from this forum is that when driving without trailer the 4.3 gear using new six speed transmission has much better MPG than old 4 speed transmission where it would waste gas with high revs on highway.

Right?

 

Wow. Great videos. Now I am less worried. Many thanks for sharing this.

 

You have to consider my perspective a bit when it compares to the other opinions. I have had two diesels, a 2008 6.4L and a 2011 6.7L. Both were great trucks but neither one was worth the extra premium for the diesel option IMHO. I don't tow every day, and therefore it would take a LOT of driving to make up the price difference, and on top of that I've been genuinely blown away with how well modern gas trucks can tow.

I think I've owned my last diesel, but a gas powered truck will be in my future.

 

Unless you are doing long hauls then the 6.2 would be just fine.

 

Get a 350 for the extra capacity of the rear axle rating.

 

Hmm. My 08 Silverado 2500hd is rated for 3267 pounds and I never had problems with the pin load. The 2012 SD 250 is rated for about the same.

Perhaps you want to expand the rationale? Thanks!

 

The F-250 will have a max GVWR of 10,000 lbs, and the truck will probably weigh around 7500 empty. This leaves you with a max payload of around 2500 lbs. The F-350 isn't limited to 10,000 lbs GVWR, so payload capacity is much higher.

 

Hmm. So the ford web site says 3380 pounds for f250 4x4 158" WB is wrong? Look at 2012 Ford Super Duty | View Payload Specifications | Ford.com

 

Found curb weight of 6787 lbs meaning 3213 payload max. Diesel is heavier and will have less payload.

Look at https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...Pickups_SB.pdf