New 3/4 ton pickup milage/other questions

[Anonymous-0]

Need to add another pickup. Don"t put very many miles on each year--under 10,000--pickups set curbside at jobsite all day, so unless you guys tell me otherwise, I don"t think a diesel is worth the extra cost. Have been looking USED all winter, hard to find a reg cab 4X4 "plain-Jane". A late model used fancy truck costs as much or more than a new XL (Ford) or WT (Chevy).

Trusks in my fleet now have the GM 6.0 with 4.10 rear ends and get TERRIBLE (9)mpg. I also have 2 pre-triton Fords with 351"s and 4.10 rear ends and they get about 11 mpg, but arent near as powerful as the Chevy"s.
1) How do the new 5.4 Fords do for milage (F-250)?
2) Would the 3.73 rear help fuel economy much on the Fords, and would they still pull 12,000 lbs adequately on short trips?
3) Would the 5.4 triton have more power than my 351"s? The 351"s are no match for the GM 6.0"s.
4)How are the new Chevy/GMC 3/4 Tons with the 6.0"s on milage, and would the 3.73 make much of a difference vs. the 4.10?

I can buy a new 2008 F-250 XL reg cab 4X4, automatic, cruise, tilt, trailer tow pkg,snow plow pkg, air for $24,000 "out the door", meaning tax, title, license---total amt of check. (Truck lists for $30,350). How does this sound? Chevy"s are higher at dealers I have checked so far.

Thanks for all help.

 

[HeyPigFarmer]

For the miles, unless the trucks sit and idle all day I wouldn't buy a diesel, waste of money for only 10,000 per year.

I have a 2001 F250 with the 5.4, 4.10 gear 5sp manual and it gets around 12-14mpg driving around depending on how far I go. It does have more power than the 1995 F250 my brother had with the 351 and 4.10 gears. The 5.4 in my truck is only 250hp and 350 ft-lb where the new 3valve 5.4 is 300hp and 365ft-lb. So it should pull better than mine.

In my opinion the 4.10 vs. 3.73 difference in mileage doesn't make that much of a difference, I always go 4.10 because it's nice to have that little extra power.

When it comes to a plain work truck I don't think you are going to find one any cheaper than a Ford.

 

[DoubleR]

I brought a new 07 chev. 6.0 with the 410 gear 6speed auto. I put about 10,000 mi a year on and like you could not justify the diesil either. I get about 11-12mi per gallon driving around. Depending upon the trailer and the load I get 8-11mi per gallon pulling. Does a good job pulling but is expensive to just drive around. Hope this helps

 

[Anonymous-0]

Got a 07 GMC 2500HD Crew Cab 6.0/6spd auto/3.73

I have not worked this out with a pencil but the brain on the truck says it is avg 13.3 but only drops to 13.1 when pulling 3h steel slant load full of tack and horse muck.
Truck will be a year old in June and have not had any problems.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Opposed to popular belief I have read several articles that claim the fuel milage difference between the 4.10's and 3.73's is nil with modern engines. In the mid 80's and before you had low powered engines and the need for 4.10's to pull was obvious. Today you have 300-350 horse engines with the torque to boot so you are probably better off with 3.73's to utilize all that power. I tend to beleive what they claim. Seems most of the 6.0 GM's are getting 11-15 mpg pulling or empty and the 5.4's are about the same. If you like Fords and you get one at that price they by all means get it! Not sure even that cheap I could drive one but hey... it will have a warranty!

 

[Anonymous-0]

My 07 Dodge with a hemi and 6 sp manual and 3.73 gears, 2wd, gets around 15 back and forth to work, 20 miles, 45 to 50 mph some stops. On the highway I don't know. With a trailer and 5-6000 lbs gross milage goes down, but I don't know to what.

 

[JRM]

I think I would look at a Ford with a V10. I doubt that you would lose much as far as milage goes and would have plenty of power for towing. I went from a GM 1 ton with the 5.7(350?) in it to an F450 with a V10. The V10 does at least as good as the Gm did on fuel. The GM was always working hard, the V10 barely breaks a sweat.

 

[OliverGuy]

I"ve got all gas Chevy"s in my fleet and they all get 8mpg more or less when loaded. Doesn"t matter if it"s 5.7 Vortec, 6.0 or even an 8.1. I"d keep buying 8.1"s if they still made them for the pickups. Anyway, if you can get a new Ford for that price and you like it, I say that"s a heck of a deal and it"s under warranty. Most of our older trucks have the lower rear end, but the two newest ones have 3.73"s also. They also have GM"s 6 speed which I think helps with a really low first gear. My 2 cents.

 

[John M]

My 2500 is on order, should have it by Memorial Day. GMC let me put on the truck what I wanted, in any color. If Ford would have done that, I would have gotten a Ford w/ a V10, but Im pleased.Ford wouldnt let me put a King Ranch coor on a Lariat,so I got the GMC instead. Looks better than the Chevy IMO. Hows the ride empty on yours? The one I test drove was a little stiff, but I blamed that on it being a new truck.

 

[mj]

I got 21.5 mpg (hand calculated) on a 2800 mile round trip (western CO to Weslaco, TX) with my 2005 Dodge/Cummins 2500 4x4 6-speed manual. Pulled the Toy down and came back light. Just driving to town and such it averages 16.5-18 mpg.