What fuel mileage do you get in your 3/4 or 1 ton diesel? Which brand is best?

[tractorshopper]

Clay, current truck is a '06 4X4 Lariat with 5.4 Triton. It handles the loads I've put behind it, pretty well mostly locally. Rated up to 9,600 lbs IIRC. Not bashing it at all. As you and STx suggest, it will pull those loads in normal circumstances. I'd argue though that when you get to 10,000 lbs, in my opinion only, it is not the right truck. It's too light by itself and you're at it's max. I don't want to be at the max and I may get a bigger tractor and trailer and don't want to limit myself, which is why I'm going larger. Never been comfortable at 7,500 lbs with stopping if someone were to pull right out in front of me (even with my trailer brakes). I live in a hilly area, haven't suffered to pull uphill at all locally, but get anxious going down hill with this load. Always have to drive much slower under that kind of load. Stability is not as good as a larger truck stability would be due mainly to the weight of the towing vehicle.

My main bad experience is that I've pulled a 7,500 lb box trailer to Colorado and back with this truck, through the Rockies, and it does not do well at all with that. At altitude going up the continental divide, it was really struggling to get over the top. The last mile and a half or so, the truck started flashing error messages including transmission issues under the strain. Had to ride the brakes a lot on the way down and when not on brakes you can feel the trailer pushing you around. Got 6.5 mpg on the way out there and 8.5 mpg on the way home. My truck had 4,000 miles on it the one time I did that. Had only made a about 6 payments. I pulled into Gunnison and came this close to trading it on a 2500 Chevy on the spot. Shouldn't have called my wife, because she talked me out of it ;-) We have to take my buddy's F-350 now on our hunting trips, but would like to be able to alternate this trip as well since we go every other year or so. We used to take a smaller trailer with less stuff and alternated each trip. Just don't want to be limited in any way with my next truck.

 

[jk96]

My 2012 Ram 2500, 6.7 Cummins, auto, 4.10 axle ratio, gets 13.5 mpg around town, around 16 mpg hwy unloaded and 10-11mpg towing our 11000# 5th wheel.

About the same here. 2012 Ram 3500 dually, 6.7 cummins, auto, 3:73. Avg 13.5 around town, 15.5 unloaded hwy at 75mph or 17 unloaded at 65 mph which I just can't do. Towing with decent load about 11 mpg. Towing with last heavy load NW Missouri to Grand Rapids, MI total truck plus trailer 28,000 lbs avg 9.2 mpg.

128,000 trouble free miles so far. Love the truck.

 

[FatTire]

One more big plus for the GM 3/4 ton is the exhaust brake that works with the cruise control system. I had to haul my tractor and all attachments on a 20' trailer from up near the canadian border 2 hours down to my place when I bought it. Halfway to pick up, lost the trailer brakes due to an electrical issue.

roughly 8,000 lb load through the mountains back to the house, the exhaust brake combined with the engine brake in tow/haul mode handled everything fine and I really only had to use truck brakes when coming to a complete stop for traffic lights.

Unless I am mistaken Chevy/GMC is the only 3/4 ton with an exhaust brake included.

Ford also has exhaust brake -- they do work well.

 

[jk96]

Will add that I have a 3 friends with 2012 or newer 3/4 or 1 ton fords with the new 6.7 diesel. All have had no issues and have been solid trucks. My only complaint about the 1 ton Ford is that the friend works for me and we often meet and swap trailers at the end of the work day to save him some drive time back to my shop. His ford drags *** under a heavy load compared to my dodge. The rear squats more than my liking.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I have had all big three. All bought new with diesels, except the hummer and pulled heavy with.
2006 ram 2500
2001 hummer H1
2010 Chevy 2500
2011 ram dually longhorn
2012 ram dually longhorn
2013 f350 cclb

My 2011 ram was a lemon and bought back. For the way ram handled it, I swore after I got rid of the replacement I would not go down that road again. The 13s and up have some great changes though

I love my ford. Has been a fantastic truck. I'm due for a new one since this one has 38k miles or so and my wife wants it instead of her 13 f150. I love that idea because I like the truck. I test drove the new dually heavily loaded and they hit it out of the park. It's a game changer truck for everything except the mileage. I got on the interstate and set the cruise at 70. Reset the meter and just cruised. It barely make 14. This one had 4.10 rear end and the rpms were around 2200. 3.73 would be better but by how much?

Test drove the 16 high country since the 17s weren't out yet. Loved the truck and the power. Mileage on the same test was about 18. This isn't scientific but in my experience is usually pretty indicative of how it might be.

For me, we're gonna wait for the duramax to come out and then revisit the subject again. Only thing is we have a bang up ford house and the Chevy dealer looks like a ghost town

Brett

 

[STx]

Clay, current truck is a '06 4X4 Lariat with 5.4 Triton. It handles the loads I've put behind it, pretty well mostly locally. Rated up to 9,600 lbs IIRC. Not bashing it at all. As you and STx suggest, it will pull those loads in normal circumstances. I'd argue though that when you get to 10,000 lbs, in my opinion only, it is not the right truck. It's too light by itself and you're at it's max. I don't want to be at the max and I may get a bigger tractor and trailer and don't want to limit myself, which is why I'm going larger. Never been comfortable at 7,500 lbs with stopping if someone were to pull right out in front of me (even with my trailer brakes). I live in a hilly area, haven't suffered to pull uphill at all locally, but get anxious going down hill with this load. Always have to drive much slower under that kind of load. Stability is not as good as a larger truck stability would be due mainly to the weight of the towing vehicle.

My main bad experience is that I've pulled a 7,500 lb box trailer to Colorado and back with this truck, through the Rockies, and it does not do well at all with that. At altitude going up the continental divide, it was really struggling to get over the top. The last mile and a half or so, the truck started flashing error messages including transmission issues under the strain. Had to ride the brakes a lot on the way down and when not on brakes you can feel the trailer pushing you around. Got 6.5 mpg on the way out there and 8.5 mpg on the way home. My truck had 4,000 miles on it the one time I did that. Had only made a about 6 payments. I pulled into Gunnison and came this close to trading it on a 2500 Chevy on the spot. Shouldn't have called my wife, because she talked me out of it ;-) We have to take my buddy's F-350 now on our hunting trips, but would like to be able to alternate this trip as well since we go every other year or so. We used to take a smaller trailer with less stuff and alternated each trip. Just don't want to be limited in any way with my next truck.

You're right, stopping it is more important than pulling it. I towed a 9,000# 29' bumper pull travel trailer to Colorado with my 7.3, we stayed in Pagosa Springs which is right at the continental divide, and had to pull one serious pass between Santa Fe and Pagosa. Going up wasn't much of an issue, coming down I downshifted and used the engine to control my speed. It really wasn't bad. On the way home, we hit a snow storm at the pass, it wasn't fun and in retrospect, I probably should have waited another day but, we just took it slowly and made it through without any problems.

I still would get the gas engine over the diesel if I was buying new though. I'll keep my current truck until I can't make it run anymore to avoid the diesel emissions issues. The Ford 6.7 has a good reputation but, I've heard of some turbo problems with them and the turbos aren't cheap. I really don't know about Dodge or Chevy diesels, I've always been a Ford guy so I never really looked at them.

 

[tractorshopper]

I'd say I've also mainly been a Ford guy, but not sure why. Have had more Fords than anything, Dodge's 2nd, Saturn's 3rd, and only one GMC S-15 way back when that was already old when I bought it and it cracked the block shortly thereafter. I'm not diehard about this, I guess I've just mainly always like the looks and creature comforts better. That said, the truth is I've had more problem free miles on a 2001 Durango than any vehicle I've ever owned. My daughter is driving that one now. Heard all the horror stories about Dodge trannies, etc, but that thing has been bullet proof. I also love my wife's Fusion. That thing is fun to drive, but it's too new to tell right now. Had Sync issues with the Nav system 3 times already. Screen would go haywire and need recalibrating and the clock is always resetting itself for no apparent reason. I'm sure all have their problems with the new computerized stuff.

 

[Soldier415]

One more point on the diesel vs gas engine, diesels hold their resale value WAY better. Especially here in the northeast.

 

[Soundguy]

A family members 3500 duramax will do 18 unloaded on the highway, and 11 loaded with a 12k fifth wheel. He claims his 7.3 did better unloaded and the same loaded. My gas truck does maybe 12 on the highway and 7-8 with my 11,000k GN.

my f350 with a 7.3 and 4:10 rear will do about 15, maybee a hair better unloaded, and 11 loaded, 14k gooseneck. it's a 99 model, little long in the tooth, DRW.

 

[zing]

This is my truck and what I tow most frequently. Truck is a 2011 F250 with 6.7l turbo, odometer is at currently 110k miles, trailer is 37 foot all aluminum with a flat front. Truck had 23k miles when I got it 4 years ago, so I have had it for a while. My experience according to the computer ( I don't track fuel and calculate manually, so no idea how accurate it is) is...

- Empty, city driving (stop and go commuting) I get 14-15 mpg.
- Empty on the highway avg 75 mph I get 20.5 mpg.
- Empty on rolling and winding country roads doing 55-60 mph, I get 24 to 25+ mpg.
- Pulling the horse trailer with 3 horses (my usual load) and a few thousand pounds tack, hay, water etc, I get 12 mpg.

The difference of 55-60 and 75 mph is big because the rpm is about 1800-1900 at 75mph but just around 1500+/- at 55-60mph and there is so much torque that it will seldom downshift to 5th gear when it is empty, so if you are willing to putt-putt along it really does sip the diesel.

As per some other people's experience it does squat more than I like with a bumper pull trailer, but with my gooseneck I do not have any issues even when loaded to trailer's capacity and lots of weight up front in the tack area. It really is a great puller though, with plenty of power for what I use it for. No issues passing on the highway with the trailer loaded and doing 75 mph or in hilly/mountainous areas. Feel totally safe with the family on board pulling a load to horse shows, which was my primary reason for wanting to go for more than a 1/2 ton truck or gas engine. It is one thing to white-knuckle the occasional short trip, but you don't want your trailer to bully your truck around if your family is on board while driving on the highway. For me the extra cost up front and cost of maintenance (oil changes alone are $250) is paid for in peace of mind. I plan to keep it as long as I can, and as per most coastal and snow area dwellers I expect it will probably rust out before the engine goes.

Hope that real world experience helps with your decision. Good luck whichever way you go.