For that load, I'd definitely look at the Ecoboost. It'll tow that around with ease and be much cheaper on maintenance. And if interior space is a concern, the F150 cab is larger than the F250.

I've owned diesels in the past but can't justify them anymore. I just don't pull enough weight or pull often enough to need it. Used to be that the added fuel economy of a diesel combined with the fairly low additional cost at the dealer and a lower price for diesel fuel over gas, and you could break even at 80K or so. Today, fuel costs more, they cost A LOT more than gas engines, and the maintenance on them is crazy. You will never come close to breaking even. They still out tow anything out there, but doesn't sound like you need that capability.

Also, be careful with a lot of folks who share MPG on their diesels who are running programmers or chips. Those programmers completely throw off the computers in the truck and will make your MPG look a lot better than it really is. I've put chips and programmers on my trucks in the past and the power is great, but you have to hand calculate the mileage of you want it even close to accurate. All the numbers above look very doable. Beware of the guys saying they get 27-28 on the highway. They're looking at their computer.

My chipped 7.3L 4x4 Crew Cab would do 20 MPG empty on the highway no problem. My 6.0L 4x4 Excurion would struggle to get 16. Average mixed driving on the 7.3 was about 17. Average on the 6.0 was about 13.

I had a 2000 Dodge diesel and it would get a little over 20MPG. It would pull anything you hooked to it. Quit raising cattle and now just raise goats. Did not need that much power anymore and bought a 2013 Ford F-150 with the non eco-boost 6 cyl. It gets around 20 mpg on the road and about 15 pulling a 14' trailer hauling goats. Diesels have worlds of power but they are more expensive to operate.

2007 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9 6 Speed 4.10 Gears

REAL #'s

My 2000 Dodge 2WD w/ the 5.9 diesel and a 6 speed manual got 17-19 mpg. My 2009 Dodge 4WD w/ the 6.7 diesel and automatic transmission gets 15-17. Both were stock/no fancy aftermarket stuff.

This doesn't make sense to me, you trip miles divided by gallons don't = the mpg to the right.

I didn't get a full tank on the June 5 or the June 9th entry and it threw it off on those dates.

06.,,5.9 Bully Dog, lifted 0n 38s', a lot done to it
gets 20.4 highway, 16.8 in town, 12 when I run it hard, never will see a return on what I spent on her, never was my intention though.

2000, f350 7.3,,, 17.2 highway, 13 loaded

99 f350 7.3,,,average 15.4

2000 duramax 16.8 average

2008 duramax 18.4, efi live , economy tune

1994 6.5 chevy, 9.0 empty

If you are not going to work the hell out of it, get a 3/4 ton gas.
I have 3 gas trucks also for running small supplies and pulling light stuff. pretty good gas mileage for what hey are and what they do.

I loved my 5.9's cummings, good power and great milage. Had a 06 5.9 2 wd dually that would get 20 on the highway. My next truck was a 2010 2wd 6.7 dually would get 15 on the highway. My newest 2012 4wd thats three months old gets 13-14 at the most on the highway and thats babying it! I get ten pulling my gooseneck trailer.

Im assuming the 2010 and 2012 are dodges? If so doing a DPF and EGR delete will help a lot with the mileage. My cousin did the delets on his and gets about the same as what the 5.9's did.

2003 F 350 18 to 20 mpg. I don't have a heavy foot.

2007 5.9 35" Toyo's EFI live, with all the other stuff, 23.4 mpg, downhill, with my foot off the pedal, and just reset the over head!

My son always got a good solid 10 to 10 1/2 mpg out of his lifted 2008 F250 with OMG big Toyos and a 6.4 liter diesel. Now THAT is the unvarnished ugly truth!

Im wanting to do that just need to wait till my warranty goes out at 100k! Ive read they will run like a spotted azz ape after deletes!

whatever reading the overhead gives you, you can throw away because it is complete BS!

If your taco can pull it, you would be better off getting a 1/2 ton with a heavy duty tranny cooler.

The mpg will be similar to your taco, but tranny life and saftey will much much improved. The increased weight and wheel base will make towing a much more pleasing experience.

My 2011 6.7 getts any where between 15.5-20mpg depending on where I'm going and how fast I need to get there. I also pay a 40 cent a gallon premium for diesel

2012 cummins 4x4, 34's, replacement bumpers. 14-15 mix ave. 16 highway ave. 12-13 pulling ave.

I love my Duramax and all but if I was only towing a 2500lb trailer....or really even up to say 6000lbs I'd stick with a half ton gasser. Before I got my Dmax I had a Tundra and towed a 27' travel trailer that was probably around 6000lbs and it worked great. Gas mileage was not great but a travel trailer is like a huge sail. I only stepped up to a diesel after I traded that trailer for a 35'er that's over 9000lbs.

Bottom line if you are looking to save money (which talking about mpg would lead me to believe you are) then going to a diesel will not save you money. Will it tow like a champ...yeah but I think for your application it's overkill.

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up getting a 2008 GMC Sierra 4X4 1500. So far, it has averaged a combined mileage of 16.0 MPG vs my Tacoma's 17.1. I'm sure it won't struggle as much towing my Ranger.

Hope your happy with it. If you pay a little more attention to it and keep your foot out of it on takeoffs it should do a bit better than that.

Don't buy a 6.4 powerstroke if your lookin for mileage I get around 15 on highway and about 11 in city towing my 28' gooseneck camper around 8-9 it weighs less than 10k. I'm thinking of ordering the DPF delete kit and programmer but they are crazy high and hard to justify spending that kinda of money to gain 3-5 mpg.
Just my .02

I've got a 2005 Chevy Duramax/Allison 4x4 Crew Cab with 120k miles. It gets avg 17 mpg local driving. On open road the wind will affect the mpg more than anything. No or little wind it will get 19-20 mpg. I have a Jayco 34 ft travel trailer and truck will get around 12 mpg - again a headwind will lower that. I had 2500HD gassers but the tranny was always searching for right gear, so I went with diesel. I found the maintenance cost goes up with a diesel and I have done all of it on the truck. Cummins Diesel is bullet proof, but the Duramax is good too and the Chevy ride is best of the three. Ford's got problems.

Just to let you know, the DPF delete and such is not just for mileage. The DPF, EGR and all the extra emission crap they put on trucks these days are part of the problem with them. We have hot shot drivers and fleet drivers drop brand new trucks off with us to remove the DPF, EGR and install a tuner and exhaust on brand new trucks. The ones they don't are the ones they have problems with. Ever since i've done mine, i've had zero problems.

I finally deleted the DPF and tuned it using the H&S XRT PRO and use the Edge CTS insight for gauges. I also I stalled an Afe stage II air intake I'm getting around 17 mpg on highway I have 305-55-20 Nitto trail grapplers I'm running the hot damn 225 tune on it fun to drive for sure was hoping to get all the crazy MPG's people claim but I've had 5 dielses now never seen 20 mpg.

just got the same truck and getting around 15mpg average

I've gotten consistant 20mpg in an old dodge with a 12valve cummings and my 2011 6.7 psd (I have to baby it though)