Back in 2006 I bought a new super duty... everyone of my friends said I needed a diesel ... I opted for a 5.4 gas instead my needs were pull a open car trailer with a f-1 or f-100 on it, I never had any issue with the truck and it has been great! I still have it!!! All of my diesel friends had moved on some to gas motors. So the ultimate question is what do you intend to pull with your truck?

 

If you step on the gas and nothing happens for 3 seconds than there's something wrong with your truck. I can hit 60 from a stop in 7.5 seconds with 800 lbs in my bed.

 

Maybe a 5 star tune is the answer. 0 to 60 in 6 seconds! That's a lot faster than a stock diesel! Damn that's faster then most old muscle cars and with the terrible 3.73 gears too!

 

Your coming around John! I want you to like your 6.2. One thing I've found with the 3.73 vs the 4.30's, my dads regular cab with 4.30's doesn't seem much quicker at full throttle than my 3.73 crew cab. It does feel much more responsive in traffic or pulling out down low in the rpms where the motor lacks power. The 6.2 loves to rev and makes it's power up high in the rpms, the 3.73's leaves the motor up in the power band longer at full throttle. Don't get me wrong, these aren't race trucks, and I would much prefer to have his lower gears, and I will in the future.

To the OP, 10k 100 miles per month, no way I would have the head aches of a diesel for that. Been there, done that, never going back.

 

Which diesel did you have? I was considering the 7.3L diesel, and from what I've read so far, these are pretty solid trucks.

After reading all these posts, I started looking at gas trucks and found this one:
2009 Super Duty Ford 250 6.8 V-10 with 70K miles for $18K. Double the price of the diesel but way less miles on it than the diesel. How can I find out which gear ratio it used?

Now is it true a diesel engine will last much longer than a gasser? I really wasn't looking to spend that much but if I am going with gas, and if the longevity of the gas engine is much less than diesel, then I wouldn't want to buy a gasser that had as much miles on it as the diesel I am looking at.

 

Gas gas gas gas gas!

 

Your assumptions are pretty common when I recommend the deeper gears.
I ran my 4.88s with stock-ish sized 32" tires for 2 full years before I upgraded to my current 35"s (the taller tire plans were the reason for the 4.88s). With the 32"s and 4.88 it turned 2600 RPMs at 70 MPH in OD, it pulled a little better than the stock 7.3 F-550 I have used on similar size and weight trailers in the past. In stock form with the factory 3.73s I used to get 14-ish MPG and with the 4.88/32" combo it got 12 MPG. But the towing (9,500 lb toyhauler) went from a stock 6/7 MPG up to a solid 9 MPG with the new deep gears, since this rig is our tow vehicle almost exclusively its a good match for us. Now with the 35's and the same 4.88 gears (effective 4.39 ratio) it gets 12.5 MPG solo unloaded on the highway and 8 to 9 MPG towing the current 11,000 lb TT with a best yet 420 mile trip at 9.4 MPG. With the current 35"/4.88 combo it turns 2400 RPMs at 70 MPH. That may seem like a lot of RPMs to the diesel folks but for these gas engines that is far from screaming, don't forget these things can rev up to about 6 grand.

 

Now mind you my experience with diesel comes from 20 yrs ago and it was from working with my dad on Semi Trucks. Diesel trucks as another said like to be driven and you said you planed on 100 miles a month, that's not driven and when you do this things breakdown. Is that a good truck sure will it pull what you want to pull sure, will it cost money to repair yes unless you can work on it yourself. Diesel mechanics are harder to find than gas mechanics. The V10 will do good by you and mechanics are everywhere. I just moved up to a F 250 6.2l V8 and it maxes out about 12000 lbs towing. Here is another thought there are trailers that are called light and ultra light these weigh a lot less but are as big as the 15000 lb trailer your talking about. I have a 30 ft lite trailer 2 slide outs can sleep 6 full bathroom 2 queen size beds and a full size using the kitchen table 7500 lbs. If it wasn't a lite version it would weigh 2500 to 5000 more lbs. I did pull this with a 1/2 ton truck short distances like your talking about . Now I was pushing it to the max but it lasted 10 yrs and 140,000 miles and most work I did was the normal maintenance. I have been either towing a large boat or a minimum of a 25 ft travel trailer for over 30 yrs. The 1/2 ton did what I wanted while I was working and couldn't go away for a long time. The final answer is you've done your homework and only you can say what you want and need. Good luck and have fun.

 

I've had a 250k 7.3 that nickeled and dimed me to death, and a lower mileage 6.0 that bit me bad just out of warranty when I could not afford to fix it. With that said, if I was buying a older used diesel, it would be a 6.0, but It would be made dependable and I would have an account set aside for repairs. They will run circles around 7.3's and get better fuel mileage.

It's very common for a v10 motor that is maintained to last 300k. An old 7.3 MAY last you a million miles, but it's not uncommon to spend enough by 200k, (injectors, harness, sensors, etc) to be able to dang near afford a new gas crate motor. Some of these diesel guys will laugh at that, but not everyone can do all these diesel repairs and labor is expensive on top of expensive parts.

With that 09, you get a better riding truck with coil springs, a better transmission, better interior, bigger brakes, and the later model v10 with more power. It will be a much more reliable truck. Is it going to rev on the big hills with 10k behind it, yes. Some guys can't get past that after owning a diesel. But unloaded, that ability to rev is also why a stock gasser will out run a stock diesel even though the diesel can make twice the torque.

You wanted opinions, these are mine, and you know what they say about opinions.

 

The newer 6.2's are even more daily drive friendly with lower gears because of the higher overdrive gearing in the transmission. Dads 4.30 truck with the tiny stock 245/75r17 (31.5") is turning just over 2k rpm at 75. Makes accelerating while staying in 6th effortless. I too will be going to a 4.88 with a 35" tire.

 

All comments here are spot on, except in my case, maintenance on my 285k mile 7.3 has not cost me much more than any gas engine I've maintained. I also do all my own wrenching so labor isn't factored in. Heck, I spent more time and money keeping my POS 3v 5.4 Expedition running that I do my 7.3. They key, even with gas trucks the vintage we are talking about is maintenance. Any diesel with unknown maintenance history is a major gamble, same can be said for a 150k+ mile gas engine. Also to note, us diesel people love talking about how our engines can go a million miles, but often neglect to mention the truck itself is the same between gas/diesel, so when buying higher mileage examples of either there is likely issues that will need addressing such as ball joints, u-joints, brakes, etc...

 

I think a point is missing here..Transmissions...

many Gas has a less capable then diesel... and older diesel transmission are not as capable as the 2011 and up trucks. gas or diesel.

but the 6.2L Gas has the same as the Diesel.. that is big. except for 2017,,

just something else to conciser. and my opinion.

so if you get a 175,000 mile plus truck.. look into rebuilding the transmission SOON,
except for the 2011 and up

 

My 1500 mile trip took me through five Midwestern states: Michigan,Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, mostly along the interstate. This was last week, mind you


Gas was always at least $.20, and as much as $.35 less than diesel.

Figure about 8-10% cheaper per gallon, on average, which offsets some of the fuel economy disadvantage.

The real savings is in the initial purchase outlay. Resale will be worse with the gas, but I probably made that up in the stock market in the last month, since I didn't invest in a depreciating asset, ie a high priced truck.

 

The bottom line is, if you want a Power Stroke, go get yourself a Power Stroke. Don't try to justify it. Don't confuse your needs with your wants.

 

Amen brother, amen! Truer words were never spoken, IMHO.

Steve