I have a 2002 F250 V10. It has the 3.73 rear end. I currently tow a tag along. I am trading for a 35 ft fifth wheel gvw is 13K. Do I have enough truck to tow?
Also share pros & cons of diesel vs gas

 

Diesel fuel costs more per gallon. Maintenance costs are higher- two batteries, holds more oil, filters cost more. Also has two fuel filters to replace. Cost of engine is way more up front, I think about
$7000 right now.. Now you have to buy urea as well.

Advantages of diesel are better torque, less down shifting, makes towing less wearing on the human body. Fuel mileage while towing is better than gas.


It's going to take a lot of miles to pay for the price of a new diesel and for it to really pay off, a lot of that had better be towing.

I currently have a 2005 with the 6.0 but am sorry that I bought it. At the time I paid about $5000 extra for the diesel option. Right after that gas become cheaper than diesel. Considering that I only tow about 20% of the time, and most loads are at a max of about 11k, I should have went with the V10. On top of that I get an average of 14 mpg unloaded, not what I expected

As soon as the ecoboost comes out I am going to see about trading mine in.

 

are fuel prices the only reason you regret opting for the 6.0?

 

That and that the ride is extremely rough. What I mean is that with the solid front axle any bump that you hit it felt in the steering wheel. I have chronic tendonitis in both elbows and the constant movement of the steering wheel keeps my arms inflamed. I have put on an aftermarket steering stabilizer but it didn't help. Also had Ford tighten up the steering box and have monkeyed with the air pressure in the tires.

I just hate the 2 second turbo lag but have gotten used it to.

On the good side, this truck really tows well and hardly ever has to downshift. In 5 1/2 years I haven't had any repairs other than a leaking hydroboost and i was able to fix that by draining it and putting fluid with stop leak in it.

Most of my non towing trips are short so I am sure that has something to do with the low city mpg.

All in all, it has been a good truck and if it rode better I would keep it.

 

Steering stabilizers usually help with the "death wobble". Thankfully, I don't have it(or I just don't register it as such), but that fix usually does work.

Turbo lag can be eliminated as well. Typically it's a function of one's right foot, but you can also overfuel it a little more to help spin the vanes quicker. I have a 64mm turbo on my 6.0 and I have zero lag and the size of my stock 2006 turbo is 58mm. Quite a jump in size relatively speaking.

To the OP: If the v10 was a 3valve instead of the 2 valve that you have, I wouldn't worry about it. However, if you get a new 2011 SD to tow, you won't be able to get the v10 unless you get a 450 Chassis cab only. That's going to be the earliest model configuration that you'll be able to get a v10 in. I wouldn't do a v8 gas for 13k. It might be sufficient to handle it, but I just wouldn't take that chance. 13k would be borderline in my book even with the increase power output of the 6.2.

 

That V-10 should be plenty of truck to tow that 5'er. I, like johndeerefarmer had an 05 6.0L. I tow a 7000 lb. enclosed car hauler with it. I got between 11 and 12 mpg towing and 16 mpg running down the highway sans trailer. I now have an 06 5.4L F150 E/C and it tows that same trailer well. I get between 9 and 10 mpg towing and 17-18 running down the highway w/o trailer. Maintenance costs are 1/3 of what the diesel was. The diesel rode a little better, but I attribute that to it being a long bed and the F150 being a 6-1/2 ft. bed. Unless you are towing in the mountains or towing frequently, the V-10 will do the job well and much cheaper overall than a diesel.

 

7k is pretty different then 13k to haul. Also bare in mind that you have a 3valve 5.4, which puts your power output not too much behind a 2valve v10(what the OP has). Just something to keep in mind. Also as someone that tows ~16k regularly and have towed 13k quite a bit before that til I got the bigger horse trailer, I would want as a min. 4.10 gearing in a gas truck for towing that much weight.

 

I agree with the gearing. But fuel costs and maintenance costs are so much more on the diesel I would still stay with the 2 valve V-10 unless I towed very often or towed regularly in the mountains. If that were the case, I'd get a diesel.

 

I changed the steering stabilizer several years ago. I put a Rancho on it and it didn't seem to help much at all. The steering did feel tighter but didn't help with the movement. What I am talking about is the constant movement of the steering wheel from changes in the road surface. The best way that I can describe it is if I drive it across the pasture and let go of the steering wheel, the steering wheel is constantly moving. It might move as much as an inch back and forth depending on how rough the ground is. Does the same thing on the highway. If I drive the truck for very long, all of those micro-movements get the elbows inflamed and hurting like an SOB. Oh, I do get the death wobble from time to time and it's just down right scary- makes me feel that I have no control whatsoever over my truck.

I tried a Superchips programmer on it several years ago, and none of the stock tunes helped with the lag. I tried their redline tune which did help but didn't want to add a new exhaust at the time so I sold the programmer and gave up on that idea. I agree that how hard you press the go pedal makes a difference. I am more worried about trying to cross and intersection or something, where your instinct says to floor it and as you know that makes it worse. If it's a busy intersection I have learned to power-brake it but I don't like doing that so I don't unless I really have too.

One guy told me to put dual stabilizers on it but I haven't tried that. I think it's just that solid front axle.

Sorry to the OP for hijacking your thread, but as has been said several times if you tow a lot, the diesels are very nice just be prepared to pay for the privilege both upfront and throughout its life.

 

Thanks for all the help. You guys seem to think, I think, i have enough truck. I will be towing maybe three times a year on extended trips maybe cross country so some mountains. My 250 has a 3.73 rear end would the gas milage trade be worthwhile to go to a 4.10 rear? with that small amount of towing.

 

I would say you'll have a better idea after you do it once. See how it works out for you, then make the decision on gearing. Or, if you re-gear you could get a spare set of wheels with a little bigger tire for everyday use and put the factory ( smaller if you will ) wheels on for towing. The bigger wheels will in effect take a little of the gearing away for everyday driving and not running higher rpms. Just my crazy thought processes....