I know this topic is always beat to death but this situation is slightly different. It's not about which is better for towing I know that already. Maybe just some advice from someone who has been in my shoes. I have a 2015 Ram 2500 ccsb 4x4, 6.4 hemi and 4.10 gears. We recently upgraded the tt to a 2017 jayco eagle 324bhts. It has a dry weight of 8900lbs and gvwr of 10900 I think. The Ram does okay. The transmission gearing really stinks in this thing as it is geared for a diesel rather than the gas engine as it shares same ratios as the 68rfe. I plan to upgrade in 6 months. Budget wise I can go diesel if it's basic truck or used one optioned up. It would be Ford or cummins. If staying with gas which I am not sure if it makes sense to it would be a new Ford with 4.30 gears. What would you guys do?

 

Gas and 4:30 gears... as long as you are OK running higher RPM's.

less trouble. less maintenance and cost. my opinion.

I carry 1,500 in bed.. and trailer is always over 9,000 pounds..
I have run the WV and NC hills. and Texas at 100 degrees.

most goes with diesel.. lower rpms and vibrations.

 

​​​​​​​I am okay with higher rpms. Where we live it is mostly flat. We do about 8 trips a year. With one or two trips about 4-8 hours away. One trip is to southern ohio with some hills. The possibility of a 48 gallon fuel tank is very appealing as I think I would go to a 8 foot bed this time. Also my truck only sees about 5500 miles a year. However I also don't wanna be down to 7 or 8 mpg while towing either.

 

for New truck diesel is a 10k up charge.. 4x4 is 6k up charge..

then all the fancy inside stuff.

I get 8 to 9 towing my rig... oh, my truck has 150k miles.. 99 percent original.
I tow 1,800 miles ( 4 days )... and then the return home. N.E. Ohio , South Texas, N.E. Ohio.

 

Mileage is really not factor if you consider the difference in the cost of diesel versus gas. I get about 9 towing and about 15-16 running empty with my gasser. My 7.3 is about 2 miles per gallon more doing the same.

In my opinion, it really is just a matter of which drive train you prefer. If you really never want to see 8 mpg towing, buy diesel, but again that is a heck of premium for how few miles you tow each year. I you want something that can pull your house off its foundation, go diesel. No wrong answer here, just different choices.

Steve

 

Have you considered tuning you Ram? Some of the tuner get rid of the sloppiness out off the transmission shifts, also if yo add 4.56 to that Ram it's going to be a pulling monster.

 

I have thought of going to 4.56 gears. The transmission itself I do not care for. I believe I could tolerate it more if it were mated to the Cummins which it was tailored for originally as the 68rfe. The Ford transmission is a much better unit and has the true manual mode. My friend says to just go diesel and get it over with. However before I bought this Ram I was gong to order a Ford gasser with 4.30. Opted for the Ram as it was cheaper and seemed as though it would fit the bill and wouldn't have to wait 6 or 8 weeks. I like the Ram truck itself the suspension is nice and all other features are good. The engine sometimes does not inspire confidence either with some intermittent smoking at startup and loud lifter noise at startup sometimes. All of these which people say is normal for the Hemi. I am noit buying into it. In the end I want a truck that will pull 10k well that I can keep for a long time after warranty is out. Would like to keep it for 10 to 15 years. My gut says gas but my brain and eyes say diesel.

 

The same is said about the Chevys lol... "they call it piston slap and that it's normal" bull, I've fix a couple of the 6.0 vortecs at work with the so call "piston slap" 99% of time it's an oiling issue. Good motors though.

 

From a total cost perspective, my diesels are costing me more to maintain than the gassers.

Given the low annual mileage, my vote is to see if you can get a live tune. Also, check on the Dodge forums for inputs specific to that rig.

 

I've worn your shoes. We just sold our 15' F250 4x4 gas truck for a Diesel. And it killed me, I loved that truck.
There was only one reason .. Power. My 6.2 w/3:73's performed flawlessly towing our 9-10,000 lbs Trailer here, and around Florida. 60-65mph, 9-10mpg. It was the perfect Tow rig for that trailer. But, we've changed. As trailers get bigger, there's more wind resistance, more resistance more RPM's less MPG's. Higher elevations, same situation. Don't get me wrong, the better towing gears will help, just not enough to make it worth it. Get it over with .. buy the Diesel.

 

Thank you sir..This was the info I was looking for. Frankly I have been leaning towards the diesel. If I am going to spend money it may as well be a diesel. Now just have to decide which brand. I like them all and have been researching them all as far as maintenance items and service repairs. Normal maintenance items seem to be the most difficult on the Cummins due to filter locations and the fuel filters cost 100 bucks for the set. However the Cummins may be easier to work on if need be due to having more room under hood. The duramax and power stroke seem to be about the same except for the duramax only having one fuel filter and its located through fenderwell. You can get an access door to put on to make it easier. If anyone has any insight on these matters it would be great!

 

I have a 6.7 right now but I'm really a GM guy at heart. I just traded a Duramax in recently. They are pretty solid engines. If your looking at the 2017 Duramax it's a whole new animal than in the past. I'm pretty sure it has a Denso fuel system now so time will tell how well it holds up. As far as the fuel filter in the fender well, it's actually pretty easy to get to. Using a drill with a 10mm I could get the cover out in no time.

 

​​​​​​​It would be a 2015 or 16 duramax. Is the filtration as good on the duramax as it is on ford or cummins having a dual filters?

 

I would say the filtration isn't as good on the Duramax just having the one filter and all. The Duramax years you're looking at uses the Bosch cp4 high pressure fuel pump and they didn't use a lift pump in those years so it put some stress on that HPFP and it would grenade taking out everything down stream. This is the same pump that is used on the Powerstroke, admittedly, I don't know much at all just yet about these engines, however, I haven't seen any complaints about the cp4 with Powerstroke.

 

Some background. I own a small fleet of trucks both gas and diesel. The gas are less expensive to maintain.
I had a F350 SRW, CC, 4x4, Supercharged V10 gas, 3.73 axles and hauled my slide in camper and towed different things for work and play. Performance was never a problem. When going for my new truck, I did not really want a diesel, but after driving a friends 15, and much investigation I got the F350, DRW, CC, 4x4, 6.7 with 3.55.

Man am I glad I did. When going around Arizona, with a lot of 6% grades. My impression is both hold speed climbing, but the gas downshifted, the diesel did not. Going down hill, the diesel with engine brake is awesome. That alone made the decision worth while. My loaded MPG is to close to call between them. When unloaded the diesel has a 1.5 MPG advantage. The overall driving experience is better. So I say, if you tow or haul and it is affordable, go diesel for the overall driving comfort.

I drive a lot and had absolutely no desire to get a 4.10 axle. I have stuff like that in my fleet and I did not want it for my personal use.