Having had a 6.2, your 8500 lb is a piece of cake for it, even with 3.73 gears. I pulled that much weight with mine several times, up and down the Rocky Mountain west, with no issues. But, when hooked to my 5er, which comes in about 13000 empty, and 13'6" high it was a different story. There was a 2 lane highway in Utah that had me down to first gear!!!!! I am not in a big hurry, even with my diesel, but that was a little over the top!! Now if I had 4.30 gears it MAY have been different, I don't know; but I am very happy pulling the 5er with my PowerStroke!!😀😀

 

A v10, 460, dodge hemi, or Chevy 6.0/6.2 are not going to fair any better in that situation. I'm not against diesels at all, and would never dispute they pull much better, that is comparing apples to oranges. I just have no need for one. I've had one before, and unless something changes in my life, I will not have one again. I wanted low maintenance and reliability that the gas offers.

There is a reason the rv manufactures are building all these huge fifth wheels now, because the diesels can tug them along almost effortlessly. If I had over 10k lbs I was pulling regularly, or even a 8500 lbs ginormous wind screen down the interstate, it would be a diesel.

We have 3 v10 flat beds in our fleet at work. I have towed a tri axle 30' gooseneck a couple times with it, once with over 20k lbs on it a short distance. Obviously 20k lbs plus the trailer is way, way to much. But even with the trailer empty, I was not very impressed at all. Granted, these are fleet cab and chassis that I believe have the derated versions. My main point is the 6.2 is a very capable and reliable motor that does its niche very well, especially if you use the transmission to your advantage.

 

I'm hoping that ford gives the new 6.2 a good boost in torque at least to be comparable with the 6.4 Hemi. Then with 430 rest should be an animal. I have takes to a few friends that work the 6.4 and say it's a towing machine. We see I guess