I've noticed a lot of debate recently regarding both new and old tow rigs...gas vs. diesel, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton, manual vs. automatic, etc. And then, of course, there is which brand is best. I just wonder if we have become pampered by the later model truck's tow ratings and HP and torque numbers. I personally have an F350 LWB SRW Crew with V10 gas, automatic, 4.30 limited slip, trailer tow package with integrated brake controller, etc. I saw that someone had recently referred to such a combo as a "Dog" when towing. It got me thinking back to when I was a kid...my Father hauled us all around the country over a period of years with a 2wd F150 LWB with a small block and 4 speed. No trailer or camper package, no heavy duty cooling, no ABS. He installed a set of air shocks and that was it. I'm pretty sure my F350 has more torque in the wiper motor than that truck of his had. He hauled a 10 1/2' slide in camper and towed a HEAVY old AMF Crestliner 19' boat with NO trailer brakes. I never recall any issues as far as breakdowns or overheating, and never heard him complain about how hard it was to control. As a matter of fact, I remember him as always being happy behind the wheel, humming, whistling and so forth. For a number of years I towed a 20' Wellcraft Eclipse with a 1990 F150 4X4 SWB with a 300 six and a 5 speed manual and a 3.73 rear end. Never had any problem with it either...towed quite competently, actually. Anyway, just thinking we've gotten to a point where as a society we expect a lot more for our money (nothing wrong with that), but how much is too much. You can no longer select individual options in order to keep the cost of a utilitarian truck down...everything is "option packages"...you want a 3.73 limited slip, well you may have to purchase it in a package with power windows, heated and cooled seats, power moon roof, dual climate control and Kryptonite encrusted mud flaps. You get the idea. What do you guys and gals think?
Agreed--this TBN forum has a wealth of info on trucks and towing, but for a newby like me, it's a job to sort out the facts from the opinion when making buying decisions.
For example, I need to tow my parade tractors (one at a time), which weigh up to 4500 lb. The towing will amount to less than 4000 miles per year. After looking at 1T diesels and 20ft GN trailers, I'm pretty much going with a 3/4T gasser and an 18ft bumper pull car hauler. Lately I've been interested in the F250 with the 3-valve/cyl, 8 cyl 5.4L Triton gasser. I know many folks think the 5.4L is a puny engine for serious towing. So I tried to educate myself on that score.
I found the torque power curves for the stock 3V 5.4L
and for the much prized 1998.5 24V Cummins 5.9L turbo diesel (stock). Cummins, of course, is by far the preferred diesel engine for 3/4 and 1T PUs and the 24V enjoys an impressive reputation.
Diesels are touted for their low end torque (the grunt in towing), so I looked that these two engines at 2000 rpm. Interestingly, the hp and torque numbers are nearly the same
130 hp and 350 lb-ft for the Ford 5.4L
and
130 hp and 360 lb-ft for the Cummins 5.9L
Remember, that the Triton is a normally-aspirated, fuel injected engine while the Cummins uses a turbo to get its numbers.
Sure, the Cummins gets better fuel mileage and you can tune that engine to nearly double the hp and torque. And the resale value is better for the diesel, yadda, yadda, yadda.
But I'm only interested in doing a pretty simple towing job and can't justify the extra $5-6K for the Cummins and I'm not interested in performance enhancements. Stock engines will do my job fine.
Moral of this story: you need to do some legwork to get to the bottom of things.
