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Who tows without a diesel

R

REDCRO_REDNECK

1/2 ton status
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I post this question up because after reading on this board for a while the opinioin of most is. (paraphrase) you cant tow without a 1 ton with a diesel!

So, how many people grew up like I did and used 350's for pulling?
 
Growing up we had a 1 ton with a 454 we used for towing. Now we have a 3/4 ton with a 6.5 that we use or if its some serious towing we can always used a semi.
 
I do currently. I have a 350 vortec motor in my 3/4 ton suburban. It does gret on the flat lands but on some of the really long steep hills it slows. I'm going to LOOK at a Ram 2500 diesel in 2 hours. If I don't get it then I will try a cam & chip upgrade. But we are getting close to buying a new car anyway so i might as well buy the Ram :D
 
I do moderate towing with my 72 K5 with 383HT.
I tow either an 18 foot travel trailer that weighs about 5k loaded,
or a flatbed trailer that can handle 5k.

It does a fine job.

Additionally, it is equipped with a frame welded hitch and I use a equalizer setup when I tow the travel trailer.
 
Well, we do most of our towing with a 1 ton diesel now, but until we bought it, we'd used all 350's and one 5.3. Towing with the smaller gassers wasn't bad at all, just had to be more attentive and let the vehicle slow down in the hills instead of setting the cruise. It can be done, and frankly I don't have a problem with it, it's just a lot easier to have a boatload of torque on tap.
 
I understand that it is easier to tow with more power, but like most people here I am not a "trucker". And since I only do seasonal towing, like alot of people here, why is it when someone has a towing question the answer is always 1 ton diesel.
 
I post this question up because after reading on this board for a while the opinioin of most is. (paraphrase) you cant tow without a 1 ton with a diesel!
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The Ones who usually say that are the ones with a small penis and need something big to make up for it.
 
Well, until recently (last 3-4 years), the big gasser was more tourqe than any diesel out there. At least in chevy. My buddies '97 k2500 with 454 had way more torque and of course horsepower than my '97 k2500 with 6.5TD
 
My current tow rig is an '03 2500HD with the 6.0L gasser. A diesel would be great but I just couldn't justify the extra $5,000 purchase price for my occassional recreation towing use.

Regarding people saying you need a 1-ton diesel............they tend to lose sight in the difference between what is absolutely the "best" for the job versus was is more than adequate for the job.
 
REDCRO_REDNECK said:
And since I only do seasonal towing, like alot of people here, why is it when someone has a towing question the answer is always 1 ton diesel.
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I agree, 1 ton diesels are completely over rated. a 3/4 ton diesel will do just fine. :rotfl:

Well, until recently (last 3-4 years), the big gasser was more tourqe than any diesel out there. At least in chevy. My buddies '97 k2500 with 454 had way more torque and of course horsepower than my '97 k2500 with 6.5TD
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Yeah, but get up in the hills and the 6.5TD will at the very least keep up with your buddies 454, and probably pass it. With using just slightly over half the fuel consumption.


To original poster,

Only recently have I had my Ram Cummins and have always towed with gas pickups in the past. Heck, before my Ram, I pulled everything with my 10" lifted K5 with a built 406 mouse. :laugh:

With today's larger gas engines, they will pull almost as well as the diesels on flat land. It's in the steep hills and fuel that makes the diesel so valuable. Another BIG reason why diesels are getting so popular, not refering to towing, is hop up potential. Where a Dmax GM and 8.1L BBC Gm might run side by side in the quarter stock, chip the Dmax and it's GONE.
 
I know that some out there just want to drive a diesel that is fine, I drive one from my company and it is novel. I use to like driving it the first week now I look at it as free feul and don't care to drive it. (1993 dodge CTD)

I am a basics kind of guy, my 1987 is a scottsdale and I love rubber floors, vynle seats, roll up windows. It does anything I need and then some.

Today on my way to work I spotted 5 (five) women in their 30's driving crewcab diesels. (not loaded or ever loaded by looks of the trucks)

Then saw teenagers in Tahoes,escalades, suburbans. all nessary vehcles for the drivers I am sure!
 
I grew up towin with a 350 but under heavy load on hills it was bad (read slow) but it went up them every time. When we finaly blew the 350 (250k miles) we built an Olds 455 we had sittin around and never were wishin for more umph again.

I like gas because in the middle of NO PLACE I can get it.

The other side of that is my usual pull weight is south of 7000 pounds, if it was more than that more than 1 or 2 times a year I might consider a cummins.
 
I tow w/ a Dodge 360 V8 here. It's a '98 2500 and has 33" tires and 3.55 gears :eek: It's simply painful towing our ~8klb, 9' tall setup down the road. I can hold 65 on the flat if the wind's calm. With even the slightest headwind or incline, the trans is wanting to downshift to 2nd gear. On the steep grades, it's 1st gear, 35mph and me standing on the go pedal all the way up. We average about 6-7mpg while towing.

When we bought that truck we had no intentions of towing with it. We would really like a diesel to tow with and for the fuel economy they provide, but it's just not in the budget right now. We may consider re-gearing the '98 but that is a spendy process to make sure it's done right, and with spending ~$1500 to do gears, that's that much less we'll have towards a diesel when that time comes.

That's my gas tow rig experience.
 
Usually I'm towing with a 454. That truck is currently apart, and I have a Cummins motor which I want to someday swap into it. For the meantime, I've been towing with a 350. Definitely not very fast, and I'm not flying up any hills, but it works.
3671street05.JPG
 
Since i worked on towings for a little while, been around trucks: diesel and gas engines... In my own opinion 454's are hard to beat; Ill never forget when i had to go and pick up a burned taxi, the car was a 94 caprice i think and no need to tell you: they weigh a good 3500 lbs.

Anyways i hooked it up on the truck and took off without even touching throttle(manual transmission)...wich i tought it was pretty good for towing
a fair load like that.

So what im saying is big blocks are way better than them wannabe small CID diesel engines for 1 ton and under trucks.

For heavier trucks now, i totally agree: diesel power all the way...but not with a power stroke in a 15 000lbs truck :frown1:

Caterpillar,detroit,cummins- thats diesel engines
 
I remember growing up my dad had a number of trucks w/ 350's and then in the early 80's had two trucks with 305's :doah: He pulled everything from boats to tandem axle trailers loaded with lumber and 30 ft. campers. I agree bigger is better but a 350 is definitely adequate. 305 is pretty much a dog though. I regularly tow a 27ft. camper with my '90 K5. It has no problem at all.
 
and Mississippi is FLAT. Try pulling 8000 Lbs with a 350 uphill. Some of the hills here are 6 miles long and 25-30mph sucks.
 
I used to tow a 1840XT Case with my 77 Dodge 1/2 ton club cab. Course it has a mild 440, shift kit 727, 3.55 gears. That rig would run as fast as I wanted to go, got 11-13 MPG, as long as I kept my foot out of it.
 
big pappa b said:
and Mississippi is FLAT. Try pulling 8000 Lbs with a 350 uphill. Some of the hills here are 6 miles long and 25-30mph sucks.
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I think you might be a bit conservative, I tow with a 454 Vortec and going up the mountains (8,000. pounds in tow) WOT I am flying at 28 MPH, I would say a 350 would be more in the 19 to 20 MPH category. :D

Now, it does OK on the flats, but everytime I wheel I have to go in the mountains and 28 MPH is just not going to cut it, the next tow rig will be diesel powered.
 
Cummins Diesel

I've got a 2500 2001 Dodge 4wd with the 5.9l HO cummins and it's freakin unreal. I could'nt be happier. It also has a 4:10 rear end w/ a 6spd manual. To say the least it's a pulling beast, and gets 18.5 mpg when not towing......an engineering masterpiece. The other's are right, the difference is in the hills....BIG difference.


BroncKelly
 
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