Opinions needed on Tow truck - Diesel or Gas?

[Pantera]

My buddy reports that he gets about 20mpg with his Dodge dually Diesel. I wonder if he is pulling my leg?

[Enoch]

I have a 2000 Dodge quad cab Diesel 6wd. Dually. (Whew-say that 10 times fast) 5 Sp. with 4:10 gears. At 65 mph it's tack'in 2000 rpm and getting 18-21 mpg at 75 it's tack'in 2400 rpm and mpg is down to 15-16. I would suggest getting 3:54 gears as there is plenty of power and that would give you a better cruising rpm. I have 60,000 miles on her and would buy it again. I would prefer an auto on the next on. Hope this info helps. Rich.

[Pantera]

Thanks Rich that confirms what my buddy told me about his Dodge. I am with you about the auto but if I could get the 3:70 rear that would be my choice. Of course with a auto the 3:54 would be just fine.

I know that having the extra large 80 gal propane tank on my chev allowed me to buy gas where it was at a good price most of the time. I could go almost 700 mi on what was on board. I can see that holding the speed down would help the mileage on a diesel.

Pantera

[Chevy454]

A couple of things to consider...

You need to be careful when choosing your rear gear ratio...not only from a "power" or "mileage" standpoint, but more importantly from a "GVW" standpoint. If I'm not mistaken you loose a thousand pounds or more going from 4.10s to 3.54s on the Dodge. I hadn't thought much about it until talking to one of my buddies who tows his race car with a Dodge. If you're looking at towing a 2-car trailer with a 1-ton, then every little bit of GVW is gonna be CRITICAL, as you're probably gonna be close, if not over, your legal GVW.

As for the automatics, you'll LOSE power with the autos, especially on the Dodges. For their auto tranny to live behind the diesel(s), they had to detune them, thus dropping power/torque...yuck. And, IMO a standard will outpull an auto any day of the week. I would stay away from an auto, unless going with an Allison auto as in the newer GMC/Chevrolet offerings.

[toner]

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My buddy reports that he gets about 20mpg with his Dodge dually Diesel. I wonder if he is pulling my leg?

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My brother has a 96 dodge 1 ton dually diesel and gets 18mpg. Last summer he bought another one only it's a 01 with 4 wheel drive, still gets 17mpg running empty. My wifes' 03 2 wheel drive blazer only gets 17mpg (but that could be the way she drives it) .