whitescrew77

V10's can have their own issues, but get about 10 mpg unloaded. I had a new 6.2 f250 earlier this year and got about 12 - 13 unloaded. Pulling a 38' fifth wheel toyhauler, it got 6.5 mpg. Had to unfortunately bite the bullet and go diesel. Big gas motor works fine to a point. My 6.2 with 3.73 gears pulled my old 29' bunkhouse well. It was about 7500 lbs. total.

whitescrew77

The white gasser didn't like this camper so much. Fuel economy wasn't the issue, available torque to lug the load is the issue.

ThatNewWifeSmell

I had a 2001 7.3 Excursion with about 250k on it when I sold it. To pull a trailer like you describe, you will need to add bags on the rear. Otherwise it will sag badly. It was an absolutely amazing truck though if you didn't need bed space. The bastards are friggen heavy.

My buddy has a 6.0, 200k miles with a larger turbo, and still hasn't "bullet proofed" it. His truck has been just as reliable as my 7.3 was. Not every 6.0 craps the bed, but their reputation has dropped their prices below 7.3 territory so you can get good deals.

If I were you, I would definitely go diesel and I wouldn't hesitate buying a 7.3 with 150-200k miles. Even the 6.0 if you have the spare cash to bullet proof because you don't know the history of the truck. The problem with all of them is finding one that hasn't been beat to crap inside.

Lenn

I appreciate the info gents!

Red-Ford

One thing I haven't seen mentioned that I do remember researching about on the 6.0's is to stay away from the early ones. I have no experience with diesel engines just so we're clear, but all the research I did said stay away from the 03/04 6.0's because those were the ones with the majority of the issues. By 05 they fixed some issues (still used TTY head studs though) and were much more reliable.

Same thing with the V-10's, I know the early ones had a few issues including blowing spark plugs, but in the later years they got better.