This is my 2014 F-350….
6.2L V8
4.30 Limited Slip
4wd
9.5’ Gooseneck brand flatbed
Chassis cab (heavier springs than the pickup)
Empty weight just under 9,000 pounds
GVWR 14,000
The trailer was a 16’ Diamond C that weighed a bit over 5k, empty. It was rated at 14,900 GVWR, but occasionally went a little heavy.
Did I use all of the RPM’s when pulling larger hills? Yes. Does it get good fuel mileage? No. Do I wish I had a diesel? Absolutely not.
Here are the times when I would recommend a diesel:
You always are towing over 15k
You regularly need to tow 20k, or more
You drive with a trailer over 15,000 miles, per year
You live at a stupid high elevation
You have the money to burn on a diesel and down time won’t adversely impact you
The diesel WILL tow better, no way around it. For towing under 14k, the diesel is not generally necessary.
One of the biggest handicaps of the gas engines is the rear axles they get paired with. Almost all of them come with the higher gears to save fuel. This makes them not very good, for pulling. Get one with low gearing (high number) and they are much different, capability-wise.
The gas motors I would recommend are:
Ford 6.2L (MY 2017 and later got a torque bump): this is the weakest I would recommend
Ford 7.3L I saw the other poster said they suck, I haven’t seen that, but don’t have much experience with this model
GM 6.6L The county road and bridge started using these and they have impressive towing and are holding up well
Ram 6.4L This is my least favorite, because of cylinder deactivation. Strong motor, when working
My truck weighs so much and has such stiff springs, a SRW would be better on ride and fuel. My truck beats the tar out of you unless you put a thousand pounds on the bed or about 7k behind it.
I recently got this Thunderstruck bumper replacement on: