Older Dodge Ram diesel for towing

[radioouman]

My wife and I have a boat that we tow to lots of different lakes. The Dakota pulls it OK, but we'd like to have more space and I'd like to have more power when pulling up the hills on the interstate, and better gas mileage wouldn't hurt either. I'm thinking about buying a late 90s Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins diesel.

My Dakota gets about 17 mpg at best (4x4, V8, auto, with a cap). Pulling 1500 lbs of Seadoos drops the gas mileage to around 14. Pulling our 3000 lbs boat + trailer drops the mileage to around 12. Will the diesel do better?

 

[Vette73]

I would wait a couple more months when $4 is the norm for gas, as it is for diesel right now. Trucks will cheaper, of course selling your will also be harder.


Diesel does well when towing, but as stated above diesel fuel cost a good deal more now so figure that into your equation.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Yes, google a bit, some of the Dodge diesels got ~19-22 mpg and it doesn't seem to matter if they're pulling a load or not. I knew a lot of farmers that loved that model because of the MPG and of course the durability of the engines.

I'd look for a 5 speed MT to get that kind of MPG. The trick will be to find one with less than 200K miles on it.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I would wait a couple more months when $4 is the norm for gas, as it is for diesel right now. Trucks will cheaper, of course selling your will also be harder.


Diesel does well when towing, but as stated above diesel fuel cost a good deal more now so figure that into your equation.

I'd just bite the bullet now, diesel fuel prices will drop a bit in the near future, you should be able to get an awesome deal now because of the disparity in price.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

My dad's '99 Cummins gets 14 towing a 9000LB 35' travel trailer over mountains. My brother in law's '03 does surprisingly better.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Getting a 2500 Diesel to tow a 3000lb. boat kinda sounds like getting a 20 ft. U-Haul truck to haul a cooler with you to the beach.. What about just upgrading to a standard ram, F-150, or Silverado? Gas is still cheaper right now anyways.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Getting a 2500 Diesel to tow a 3000lb. boat kinda sounds like getting a 20 ft. U-Haul truck to haul a cooler with you to the beach.. What about just upgrading to a standard ram, F-150, or Silverado? Gas is still cheaper right now anyways.

None of those trucks will get better gas mileage though. They'll get worse since they're bigger bricks.

 

[Josh123]

I love my '06 Cummins but I never really pull anything with it lol. Has a lot of power though 🙂.

 

[drnickriviera]

I'll break down the models for you
1st gen 12 valve engine 89'-93'
2nd gen 12V 94'-98' fairly desireable because the 12V still used a mechanical injection pump/fuel pump with the newer body
2nd gen 24Valve 98.5'-02' Truck I have. Serious fuel issues. Fuel pump can go bad and take out the injection pump. Electronic injection pump, so it's easy to add fueling computers.
3rd gen 24Valve with direct injection. 03'-07' Better fuel economy and more power.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

The latter models are bad, bad boys. They are some pullin, gas saving mothers, best truck on the market in my opinion. But like DrNick says you should stick with 03 and newer.

The older ones are louder than hell, and either have fuel system issues or don't get great mileage. But they all pull like crazy, nothing like 600ftlbs of good ole diesel torque

 

[radioouman]

Thanks for the info.

I'm sure that I would get worse gas mileage with a full size V8 truck than I get with my Dakota while pulling the boat. No point in buying a full size, half ton.