AIR FORCE RETIRED "EITHER LEAD,FOLLLOW,OR GET OUT OF MY WAY"!
2006 GMC 3500 SLT CC DRW 4X4 D/A LBZ,PREDATOR & FS2500 OIL FILTER
2004 HR PRESIDENTIAL 30 SCD 5'ER.
CHEROKEE & CHEYENNE, MINI DOXIE'S
LOADED LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN, FLYIN LIKE A JET PLANE!!
Slick Lizard wrote: Got an itch to shop for a newer truck today since the 87 silverado is getting tired, My camper is a popup and only about 2100 fully loaded.
As one can imagine the lots are filling up with diesel trucks as people are trading them in for fuel saving cars. since I will be driving it almost daily I wasn't sure if I wanted a diesel or a gasser.
Well after hitting about 8 lots I find myself drawn between a 2002 Dodge diesel 2500 with the 5.9, a 2003 ford f250 with the V10, or a 2001 F350 7.3 diesel..."
JMO, but if you are towing a 2100 lb. fully loaded popup, and don't envision anything larger in the foreseeable future, you are looking at much more truck than you need, particularly since it is also your daily driver. An F-150 or even a Ranger V-6,, would work fine; I've done it and will do it again some day when no longer lugging a TT around the countryside.
I think there is some confusion here. We are talking truck campers, the OP is hauling 2100 lbs of pop up truck camper in the bed of his truck. An f-150 or Ranger would not be good choices.
I had a 99 V-10 a got about 10 mpg in tow 30' TT. small increase not in tow. i traded for 2001 7.3 and later found out my V10 could pull more. 7.3 got about 11-12 mpg. go to trailer life tow guide and check, this years were very confusing as to tow limits. with the price of diesel now i would get V-10.
06 F250 6.0 TD,SC,SB,4x4,Towboss,3.73 rear.Firestone air bags,285/70 R17 3795lb tires,18000 slider; 04 38' Jayo Designer "Legacy" 5er; all I need now is satilite TV and hit the lottery; NAVY,"WE'LL NEVER FORGET,land of the free because of the brave"
Get whichever diesel seems to be in the best condition unless the V10 is in definitely better condition. My former 2001 Dodge diesel regularly got 20-23 mpg highway empty with an infrequent 24 mpg. I'm a conservative driver in the 55-60 mph range.
RRUGG
2008 Dodge 2500 QC 4x4 SB Cummins 6 speed auto 3.73
1997 Holiday Rambler 29FK travel trailer
2006 Summit 22RB travel trailer
2003 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport
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As stated its a 2100lb slide in not a towable pop-up, sorry if I mislead you. This is our first truck camper and I can see a time in the near future where I would like to step up to something along the line of the many fine looking larger campers I see here.
Sorry the 87 Silverado 4x4 is not for sale I paid $800 for it 6 years ago and it has been a real good truck. DS thinks its his already anyhow.
Any one know of any slide in camper issues I need to be aware of for any of these? so far I am leaning towards the 02 dodge
On piece of advice - measure and make sure that your TC will fit into the bed of the new truck. Someone once told me that some truck bed sizes are shrinking.
SlickLizard you asked what I get for mileage. Last tank 9.8mpg with truck and camper in signature. Best unloaded, 13mpg driving no faster than 60mph. In comparison my 96 Dodge CTD with a camper 2000lb, plus a 3,000lb+ boat the worst I have gotten was 14.9mpg and ocassionaly as good as 16.9mpg. There is no comparison in pulling power on the hills, the v-10 will do it, but it works at a much higher rpm. Also the v-10 like any vehicle has its own set of problems like spitting sparkplugs and broken exhaust manifold bolts.
1999 Ford F350 4WD Crew Cab V-10 4.30 LSD Tow Package,Transgo,Rancho 9000xl's,Firestone Ride Rite Air Bags.SP Sway bar,HD rear spring pack,Vision 81's,Bridgestone M729 tires.
2003 S&S 9.5SCS Avalanche heavily optioned,Torque Lift tie downs with Fastguns.
I would go for F350 with the 7.3L. I have a 2000 F250 with 7.3, regular cab, 2wd, 3.73 rear, 6 speed manual. I get 18-19mpg with my Palomino 1200 popup. I am a little lighter than you but that shouldn't make as much difference as the popup frontal area. I just finished a 1200+ trip with the camper, mix of about 75% highway 25% city and slow back roads driving and averaged 18. I ran the speed limit or a little below most of the time accept for about 150-200 miles I was trying to keep up with m son who doesn't believe in economic driving.
Running empty on the highway I get 22-23mpg.
I figure diesel will eventually equalize with regular gas again, it might do it by not increasing as fast as gas, rather than going down.
the v10 has awesome power, it will pull/haul anything. i get 15 to 16 mpg on the freeway empty if i baby it(63mph). 10 to 12 with the tc in the bed. 12mpg if tis flat and not windy. drops fast to near 10mpg in wind or hills. i can load my camper and jeep on a trailer(near 16,000 lbs)8.7 mpg at 58mph. pretty much any diesel will get better mpg. fuel and maintenance has a much higher cost on a diesel though.
if you live in, or travel to the mountains alot its diesel all the way.
2003 and newer v10's have no issue with broken manifold studs or spitting plugs. 99 and 00 spit plugs out. 99 to 02 have bad manifold studs.
I do agree with joe_jeep that fuel and maintenance costs are more expensive on a diesel. You should change fuel and oil filters regularly and though you can go 6k for oil changes at 3+ gallons per change and filters that cost about 3 times a oil filter on a gasser.
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