I have really been wanting a Crew Cab truck and I found a 2012 F350 6.2 Crew Cab long bed XLT with manual shift 4x4 and vynl floors, pretty much everything I would want in a new gas truck. Has 160K on it and they have it listed for $21,000. I know people are towing with these trucks but how good do they actually do? Will they tow 10K up hill at 70-75 MPH on the Interstate like a diesel will or would I be disappointed if I went from my 7.3 Powerstroke to a 6.2? It has 3.73 gears in it now buy I would be regearing the axles to 4.56 or 4.88 if I got it and running at least 35" tires.

 

LOL, I have a 2011 CC SB 4X4 with a 6.2 and there is no way they will pull a 10,000-pound trailer uphill at 70-75, but neither will your 7.3 Powerstroke unless it is heavenly modified. I have an 11,500-pound toyhauler that will pull a 6% grade at 50mph in second gear at 4600RPMs. I could turn it harder but I don't want to on a long grade. I could probably do 60mph if I wanted to turn it 6000RPMs but doubt it would last long. My truck has 3:73 gears. I have a friend that has a 2001 7.3 Powerstroke CC SB 4X4 and my 6.2 will pull with his and maybe a little better and he has a smaller lighter toyhauler.

 

If you're coming from an OBS PSD I think you might find performance comparable but it'll be at ~4500rpm rather than ~2500 (or whatever)

If you're coming from an intercooled PSD you may be disappointed.

Will it hold 70 to 75 with 10k GTW? In CO, that might be a bit of a stretch. Closer to sea level and assuming winds aren't horrendous, probably.

Too bad it's not a '13 for the bigger brakes.

 

In my 7.3 I can climb a hill at 75 MPH with 10K behind me and not even downshift unless it is a really long climb and EGTs get to high then I have to drop a gear. I know a 6.2 would have to turn 5-6K to keep it at max HP when going up hills and I am OK with that, just don't want to be stuck having to slow down to 50-55 MPH on hills.

 

The 6.2s like the rpms when loaded heavy.

They are not a diesel, but tow fine.

I would look around more and find one that has the axle you want in it already


Good luck, Arne

 

The problem with all these threads is that altitude and trailer cubic displacement varies widely. When I'm pulling heavy-ish loads it's typically pallets of material on a car hauler or even a deckover, but that's still a HUGE difference from an enclosed trailer/toy hauler. Even a full size truck on a car hauler is less drag and surface area than a larger enclosed trailer.

 

I don't tow campers or enclosed trailers, I have a 20 foot flat bed equipment trailer that I haul vehicles with and occasionally a Tractor weighing up to 12K, but I rarely tow more than 10K, usually around 8K. I also use my truck for offroad recoveries, so I would put at least 35s on the 6.2 truck, along with lower axle gears, lockers and a winch.

 

Has the Ford 10.5 rear and Dana 60 front, those are the axles I want.

 

I think you'll like the 6.2 then, but IMO 4.30 with a ~32" tire is just adequate, so I'd add the proportional gearing for your additional tire diameter then bump up to the next step to offset the additional air drag from sitting higher and tire weight.

Then again I run typically 6500 to 12000 ft. If you're lower you can maybe get away with a LITTLE less gear. Also I have not tried any tunes but guys seem to suggest 5 Star can make a noticeable difference.

Still, the 6.2 is an impressive gas engine relative to any previous gasser, but it's no diesel.

 

Short answer………….no way! Especially with big tires.


Also with big tires and deep gears, you probably need to haul the gas station with you on your trailer if you are going to run it that hard.

As far as a tuner in these, I put a 5 star tune in mine when I had it and I couldn’t tell that much difference. I think those that say they are getting huge performance gains are most getting the placebo effect. (They spent the money, so it must be making a difference)!

Another thing, the gassers don’t have the cooling systems that the newer diesels have, so if you are wanting to run that hard you *may* have issues there in summer heat, IDK.

Good luck

 

I feel like anyone getting a gasser for a tow rig shouldn't be worried about mileage. The 35 or 37 (depending upon who you believe/what you read) tank is great. It's gonna guzzle gas and if you're getting 8 or 9 mpg when towing, who cares?

The cooling system seems solid, although I have to wonder how sensitive the gauges are.

I actually just got my gauge to move slightly over midway where it always sits. It took GTW of over 17k (NOT advisable) and the final headwall of Wolf Creek westbound to do it. The truck started cycling the fan clutch HARD so it was apparently trying to dump a significant amount of heat.

I also descended in first at 25-30mph tops, but I still had to gently tap the brakes repeatedly to keep speed under 30. By the very bottom at the Falls my right rear was smoking as it always does, but we were at the bottom at that point. It always starts right rear, left rear, then the pedal gets spongy and that's when ya start singing "If you don't apply some brake real soon, they're gonna have to scrape us up with a stick and a spoon "

I need to look into just swapping the rear to '13+ as that's pretty easy IIRC (the front requires new knuckles, again IIRC)


17,130 by my math. Somewhere outside Fairplay. Anyone know that Buena Vista has a fairly new TSC?? We do now!

 

I haven't heard of the 6.2 having overheating problems.

 

​​​​​​I've never got mine hot and only once had the fan come on and that was climbing a 14% grade in Utah pulling our 16K trailer but you have to keep the space between the radiator and the cooler in front of it cleaned out.

Denny

 

Towing flat stuff like that isn’t an issue with 6.2/3.73 with 33 inch tires. Getting much past 10k and you will start feeling “heavy” when accelerating.

I have had 2 and one with 5 star and the 5 star really improved the shift points. The 2013 has better brakes.

On my current one I planned the same as you with a front elocker and 4.56. 35s or 295/70/18s. I ran across a 2017 6.7 and am selling this one.

 

I test drove it today for quite a while and it pretty much killed my Idea of getting a 6.2. The truck rode worse than my leaf spring 7.3 trucks, the 6 speed transmission was slow shifting and would hang gears, far worse than any 4R100 transmission truck I have driven, and the 6.2 felt no different than the 5.4 work trucks I used to drive other than it had a slower shifting transmission that had to downshift 3 or 4 gears when you mash the gas down instead of 1 or 2, throttle response was terrible as well, step on the gas and wait for something to happen. I figured a newer 385 HP 6.2, 6 speed coil spring front end truck would be a big improvement over old 5.4 4 speed truck but I was wrong. The 6.2 doesn't compare at all to a 7.3 Powerstroke, I am sure it would probably outrun a stock 7.3 but once you put a chip on the 7.3 no way. A friend of mine has a 2002 F350 Crew Cab long bed 4x4 auto truck with 3.73 gears that I installed a Hydra chip, intake, 4" exhaust and a monitor on, I have driven it several times and it is twice the truck that 6.2 was, it pulls harder, has better throttle response, quicker shifting, accelerates quicker and rides better. Mine with a 6 speed manual and all of those mods plus bigger injectors and a turbo it a beast compared to his. To all of you 6.2 owners, thanks for the advice and I am glad you are happy with yours, but I will for sure be keeping my 7.3 and either looking for a crew cab 7.3 or maybe finding a cheap Crew Cab truck with a bad motor I can swap my 7.3 and 6 speed into.