Lots of advice, please

[Houndoc]

Here is the deal. I have an 04 GMC Yukon XL. Tows the boat (5500 pounds or so) just great. As a family rig, great for people hauling.

However, tow rating of 7500 or so pounds may not be up to our horse hauling needs (empty trailers run 4,000 pounds for a four horse bumper pull, then add 1k or a little more per horse.) Currently have three horse. Would like it to increase to 4-5 over the years.

Options would be:
2500 Suburban
3/4 or 1 ton van
3/4 or 1 ton crew cab truck (obviously best choice except for people seating).

Questions:
Any clear favorites or avoid at all cost thoughts on those?

Fuel economy (not just MPG but total cost) of 3/4 vs 1 ton, gas vs diesel? Any guestimates on milage you get real world would be helpful.

What would you consider year and miles max for good reliable transport? (the issue there being buying an older truck for the towing, something else for daily use). Such a truck would not get alot of miles put on it yearly, but there are a heck of a lot of areas between here and Lake Powell that I don't want a break down.

Thanks is advance!

 

[ID Bronco]

I have a 2000 3/4 ton suburban, with the 6 litre. It tows well, but only gets 11 mph on average. Maybe 13 if I am lucky. Great for hauling the kids and the rig to the trail. Because it's older, it wasn't too expensive and it runs well when I need it.

 

[RKCRWLR]

I pulled 8-9000 lbs with a 2001 Dodge 2500 CTD, auto, with edge EZ at got 17mpg. I ran 19-21 empty depending on speed. I could run 65 un Parleys. You can not beat the CTD for fuel mileage, but diesel has got darn high these days. I had the same truck, 2001, 1500, 5.9L Magnum, 4.10 gears and got 5 mpg pulling the trailer, and 14 empty. I topped Loveland pass in first gear floored. I hated that truck.

Chevy Duramax is a great puller but the mpg is well under the CTD. My buddy gets 14 empty with his DMax. I really think if your going to pull often and far, the diesel is the way to go, but at $4+ a gallon, its expensive to drive. Weight distribution and electric brakes are a must if your going with a tow trailer rather than a 5ver or goose. Tough decisions. I don't envy you having to make them!

 

[ATOYA4U]

Redrockcrawler on this board pulls a 44 ft enclosed trailer fully loaded it is about 18000#-20000# with a 03 duramax. also gets 12.5 mpg pulling that trailer. I have a 06 D-max LLY and I get about 12 towing also!! Diesels are great for power but gas prices are rough.
__________________
It's only money

 

[Meat_]

Personally I shy away from anthing more than a 2 horse trailer with anything smaller than a 1 ton. You have to remember, it's not just 8k lbs.... it's 4,000lbs of trailer + 4,000lbs of weight you can't ratchet strap.

I have a '98 Cummins duallie auto, pulling 9k I get 11.5mpg doing 75mph all the way to Moab. I get 15mpg all around driving empty (empty = empty +-2,000lbs). I think my injectors are plugged, so my mileage might go up after I change those.

 

[GOAT]

My friends all bagged on me for buying a V10. It was getting 10-10.5 with 3.73s towing my single jeep on my old 18ft bubbas. It now gets anywhere between 8.5-9MPG pulling my 14K gooseneck and 13MPG average unloaded. Not bad for 160K with 4.56 gears and no major issues.

Gas has it's drawbacks as far as power goes, but if I wanted something fast, I wouldn't waste money on a truck.

FWIW, Unless some miracle occurs, gas is going to be the way to go for recreational towing (non-commercial)

If you're a chev guy, the 8.1s are pretty sweet. Other than that, 12 valve cummins all the way.

JMHO

 

[Houndoc]

Diesel guys, about what do you get empty/regular driving?

The harsh reality I have realized is that my life has become too complicated to have two vehicles (the Yukon and Monty) to 'do everything'. In reality, I need a tow rig that sits most the time 'cuase they suck so much fuel, a good trail rig, a commuter for me and a people hauler (sounds better than mini-van, doesn't it?) for my wife.

 

[mbryson]

Diesel guys, about what do you get empty/regular driving?

The harsh reality I have realized is that my life has become too complicated to have two vehicles (the Yukon and Monty) to 'do everything'. In reality, I need a tow rig that sits most the time 'cuase they suck so much fuel, a good trail rig, a commuter for me and a people hauler (sounds better than mini-van, doesn't it?) for my wife.

Dodge is KING on mileage. Buy a stick for even better mileage (plus, the autos are known to need upgrades unless they are 2003 or newer). Keep in mind, diesel is at $4 per gallon today. I can't imagine what it'll cost in June.

My Powerjoke gets about 14-15 mpg commuting. I can get as high as 18 mpg on the open highway if I stick to 65 mph and am not towing.

If I had it to do over again, I'd seriously consider a V10 stick Ford. 2002 or newer.

 

[Rot Box]

The Cummins 5 or 6 speed has my vote--simple, economical, reliable, and powerfull.

Towing a big load costs a lot period. Unloaded the diesel will get better milage imo.

 

[BroncoMama]

Diesel guys, about what do you get empty/regular driving?

I hesitate to even put my two cents in here due to the delicate nature of this subject, but here goes...

I think it really comes down to what is most important to you at the end of the day. You could get everyone's opinion all day long, but only you know what you want to get out of this situation. If fuel economy is more important than being able to go the speed limit up a hill, there's your answer. If you need to get from point A to point B in a timely fashion, go with a diesel. We own two Powerstrokes and have no intention of changing that regardles of fuel prices just because we tow for living and you can't beat a diesel. The '01 on 37's (auto tranny) averages 15 MPG empty and 13 with Lemon Joy on the bumper pull. The '02 on 265's (standard transmission) averages 18 empty and 13 with 12,000 lbs on behind.

Best of luck in your endeavor!

 

[redrockcrawler]

i have had a both ford and chev trucks i perfer the chev duramax for you it would be like your yukon as far as interior and comfort goes all trucks get about the same mpg but for me it was comfort

as for mpg
empty 65 mph 23-25 mpg hwy
empty in town 16-20 mpg
towing 5000#-8000# 15-18 mpg at 65-70 mph
towing 18000#-20000# 11.8-12.7 at 65-70 mph
2003 chev duramax 3500 4 inch exhaust afe intake edge attitude progammer in stage 2 towing and stage 3 unloaded

 

[Houndoc]

i have had a both ford and chev trucks i perfer the chev duramax for you it would be like your yukon as far as interior and comfort goes all trucks get about the same mpg but for me it was comfort

as for mpg
empty 65 mph 23-25 mpg hwy
empty in town 16-20 mpg
towing 5000#-8000# 15-18 mpg at 65-70 mph
towing 18000#-20000# 11.8-12.7 at 65-70 mph
2003 chev duramax 3500 4 inch exhaust afe intake edge attitude progammer in stage 2 towing and stage 3 unloaded

Nice details, thanks! With empty mileage in that range, could pay the higher diesel cost and still break even on what we spend now (we get 16-18 mixed town and highway).

 

[Mope]

Some trucks don't do as well, keep in mind. My bosses 05 d-max, would get 12 around town empty, 16 on the highway at 65-70. 13 if 75+. When towing a 257 skid loader(~7000 pounds) on a tandem car hauler (2000), it gets 10 at 65. (9-10,000)
I have experienced many different results from the same type of trucks. Very interesting indeed.

 

[mbryson]

Some trucks don't do as well, keep in mind. My bosses 05 d-max, would get 12 around town empty, 16 on the highway at 65-70. 13 if 75+. When towing a 257 skid loader(~7000 pounds) on a tandem car hauler (2000), it gets 10 at 65. (9-10,000)
I have experienced many different results from the same type of trucks. Very interesting indeed.

Guys with Dmaxs that I know are getting about that. I have no idea which motor they are running or whatever (LLY, LL?, etc.), but that's about their mileage. Their mileage seems a little better than my Powerstroke, but neither V8 can really touch the Cummins from what I've seen (mileagewise).

 

[Elkhunter96]

Dodge has a great engine, I have not been a fan of the rest of the package. I personally drove them at work and liked them to an extent. At home, I run a 06 d-max with the same results as redrockcrawler. My dad's d-max is a 04 with 265 michelin road tires and he gets around what the dodge guys do. I just can't bring myself to take off the cool looking tires yet for a one to two mile gain in mpg. The reality is that all diesel trucks are really good vehicles, just pick which one you like the best

 

[ewander]

Well, I'm kind of in your boat. I bought a 95 12V Dodge extended cab 2500 and it is great. It easily tows my rig to moab and beyond, gets 15-16 mpg towing and 18-21 empty. It has 269K on it and runs AWESOME. I rebuilt the axles, put shocks, breaks, on it and did a few mechanical things, but with the extended cab and A/C it works great for what I need it to do. Based on the horse trailering issue you have, I would get a Dodge CTD, probably a 3/4 ton.

This being said, I also bought a mini-van recently and love it.

Eric

Diesel guys, about what do you get empty/regular driving?

The harsh reality I have realized is that my life has become too complicated to have two vehicles (the Yukon and Monty) to 'do everything'. In reality, I need a tow rig that sits most the time 'cuase they suck so much fuel, a good trail rig, a commuter for me and a people hauler (sounds better than mini-van, doesn't it?) for my wife.

 

[GOAT]

something to consider

From April 2008 Car and Driver Csaba Csere's article on Diesel Price Increase and America:

Article title is: (this is an excerpt)

Should American Vehicles go Diesel Just When the World is Running Short of it?


The advantage of a diesel is half what it once was. Is it likely to be further eroded over the next few years? According to Ron Planting, an economist at the American Petroleum Institute (API), most of the world’s rapidly growing economies, such as China’s and India’s, use more diesel and less gasoline from each barrel of oil than we do in America, where 40 to 45 percent of each barrel ends up being refined into gasoline. Although the energy demand of these growing economies is one of the causes of today’s record-high crude-oil prices, that growth is putting even greater pressure on the world’s diesel supplies.
The arrival of low-sulfur regulations has also added a few cents to the price of a gallon of diesel due to the more complex refining process required to extract the sulfur.

Basic economics dictates that when one commodity has higher demand than another, its price will rise faster, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen with diesel fuel and gasoline. So why don’t the oil companies simply produce more diesel than gasoline from each barrel of crude oil? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as twisting a few dials at the world’s oil refineries.

Al Mannato, a fuel-issues manager at API, explains that oil refineries tend to fall into two categories: catalytic cracking and hydrocracking. Most U.S. refineries are set up for catalytic cracking, which turns each barrel of crude oil into about 50-percent gasoline, 15-percent diesel, and the remainder into jet fuel, home heating oil, heavy fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas, asphalt, and various other products. In Europe and most of the rest of the world, refineries use a hydrocracking process, which produces more like 25-percent gasoline and 25-percent diesel from that barrel of oil. So the rest of the world is already maximizing diesel production. In fact, despite using a refining strategy that minimizes the production of gasoline, Europe still ends up with too much of the stuff, so it exports it to America—about one of every eight gallons of gasoline that we consume.

Meanwhile, Americans are already using most of the diesel fuel that our refineries produce, so if sales of diesel cars take off, keeping the diesel flowing here will put further demands on tight worldwide diesel supplies and probably cause the price to rise even more. Our oil industry could, of course, start converting its refineries from catalytic to hydrocracking and start producing more diesel and less gasoline.

Its a very interesting read on why diesel costs more and why most think its going to stay more and get worse.

Marcus

 

[sixb]

I think you definetly need a dedicated tow rig perferrable a diesel for a 4-5 horse trailer. With 4-5 horses you are gonna have atleast that many passengers so that means a crewcab and probably a trailer with a living quarters, my suggestion would be a 2002 4x4 F450 or 550 long bed dually crew with a 2002 cummins p-pumped 24 valve HO engine and a nv5600 tranny with a us gear od and 4.56 gears or a us gear under drive and 3.73 gears. For a daily driver I would consider a cng conversion on your youkon. We have a dedicated cng f150 and love it.

 

[Maverick]

In 2005 I debated on whether to get a Cummins quad or diesel excursion. I have 4 kids, and had a '99 burb 454. I've been VERY happy with my diesel X, in spite of the prices of diesel. That 3rd row and the DVD player has been totally worth it. Kids are growing and the megacab is very tempting, but I don't wanna start over with a payment.

FOr that much weight, you definitely want a 3/4 or 1 ton. I much prefer a diesel for moving that much weight, but either will do. Surface streets get me 11-13mpg. Highway is 15-16. Towing is 10-12.

What does your wife want? How many people/kids are you carrying around? My wife was very happy to get a minivan after I got the excursion and not have to drive the "tow rig". Previously she had been driving the burb.

Good luck.