Request tow vehicle recommendation for our Sundance XLT 277RL

Sandi is retired and I expect to be in April. We are taking delivery of the above fifth wheel and are considering buying either an F250 gas 6.2L V8 or an F250 diesel 6.7L V8. Our dry weight is 7466 lbs. We expect to be on the road about three months out of the year.

Not sure if the gas truck will be sufficient to tow the above 5er. Any comments appreciated.

Hi Bob and Sandi,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. You'll find a lot of useful information here along with a great bunch of people who aren't shy about giving help, including advice on what kind of truck to buy - right down to the color choice.

I'd recommend the diesel. If later on you decide to move up to a larger trailer, you won't have to change the truck. Also take a look at 3500s. The difference in price is maybe $1000 and the increased payload capacity will be there for you if you ever upgrade the trailer.

I agree with Dan, Most people that start out with a gasser end up going to the diesel .

Buy the most truck you can afford at the time and upgrade later on.

If you can afford the Diesel go for it. Gas will also do it and more practical if it is the primary vehicle.
If retired you will surely get a larger RV if you do buy the diesel. My diesel does not know the weight of my RV other then me not overloading it.

I always say that bigger is comfort for travel living and smaller is ease of manuver that we seldom do compared to living in comfort.
What I mean to say is that living in the unit is far more important then traveling when we spend very little time on the road.













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Hind site here. Started with a 1500 gasser. Big bucks.

Traded for a 2500 oil burner. More big bucks. Lost thousands on that trade.

Traded the 2500 for a 3500 DRW oilburner. More big bucks. REALLY LOST BIG BUCKS ON THAT ONE. I could have saved thousands had I bought the right truck the first time.

Bob-Sandi-Bartell said:

Sandi is retired and I expect to be in April. We are taking delivery of the above fifth wheel and are considering buying either an F250 gas 6.2L V8 or an F250 diesel 6.7L V8. Our dry weight is 7466 lbs. We expect to be on the road about three months out of the year.

Not sure if the gas truck will be sufficient to tow the above 5er. Any comments appreciated.

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For only a very few dollars more you can upgrade to an F-350. It will be the same truck as an F-250 only with a larger carrying capacity. Gas or diesel? You need to decide that. Of course a diesel will have way more towing ability but the cost of owning and operation is more...Don

Diesel engines will last longer, return more at trade in time and will give better fuel mileage when pulling. All the Big 3 trucks are good.....depends on what you like. The 2011's 250 and 2500's all can pull a small LM and toybox. Not sure about the other 2....but a 2500 Chevy/GMC is rated to pull a 5er weighing in at 17K. Go drive them all and pick one.

Although I generally concur with the diesel over gas and 3500 over 2500, there's an important factor yet discussed and thats NEW vs USED. We were able to purchase an absolutely like new two year old F250 diesel with 28,000 miles for 1/2 the cost of a new one. Ours even came with the hitch!

Get on Auto Trader and start looking. It will take you a while longer, and you may have to drive a ways to pick it up, but I can assure you that you'll be grinning all the way to the bank. I just did a quick search within 200 miles of where i live and found:

2008 F350 single rear axle 4x4 diesel with 26,800 miles for $37,000
2008 F350 dual axle 2wd diesel with 61,000 miles for $28,500
2008 F250 single axle 4x4 with 24,013 miles for $33,500


Our purchase was contingent on a thorough inspection by a Ford dealer that I paid for. I'd definately recommend determining if all service work has been completed, oil changes performed on schedule, and any factory recalls completed before you take possession.

Good luck and happy camping.

Randy in Florida

To answer your question about a 6.2 F-250 towing a ultra lite XLT Sundance... Gas engines have come a long way, you will have no problem at all with (400+hp/ 400+tq) That truck can tow double that weight. The gas and diesel trucks have the same brakes, axles, transmission, springs, etc. A reason you may want a diesel is for towing the heavy weight trailers 12,000lb and up. The diesel will cost you more to buy $8K+ and cost more to run and maintain. For that trailer the gas F250 is overkill, the diesel F250 is overkill x2.

I have owned 3 diesel trucks, 2 used and the worst one was the new one that I could not do any changes till the warranty was over. I would buy a used diesel long before buying a new Gas truck. Beside why needing a new Diesel to do 20K miles per year. I bought mine 5 years ago for less then 50% of a new one with 65K on it and after 5 years I have bearly over 100K on it and to me its much better then when I bought it.

In the past diesels were hard to find and very pricy, but now with the numbers traded in every year it has become a buyers market. When I bought my new one in 98 there were hardly any good used ones available for a decent price so new was a no brainer.

When I decided to go from a motor home to a 5th wheel, I was trying to decide the best truck and 5th wheel for my life style. I searched the various forums and magazines for to educate my self. I eventually decided to go for a F350 diesel SRW because it has the latest drive train technology and had to fit in my garage while fitting into a normal parking place in shopping centers. After determining the best factory installed equipment I then decided to pick the largest 5th wheel that I could safely tow with that truck. I got the truck max suspension and tires available from Ford which included the snow plow package (provide heavier front end), 4X4 and 20 inch tires. Also, for stability improvement I include the camper package that has a rear sway bar that come standard with duallys. I then decided to get the Heartland San Antonio over the DRV Suites because I would need a dually to pull the DRV because of its heavier frame. I also found on the Ford users forum that the F350 SRW is under-rated GVW by 1500 lbs which provide a reasonable safety margin because I maxed out on GCW with the Landmark.
After buying the truck, trailer and installed a TrailAir hitch, I found the truck is very stable and sits flat and does not squat loaded with my stuff. I also weight the truck and found its axles, GVW and GCW are in Ford's specs--albeit maxed out for GVW The axles are well within spec. I filled the fresh and grey water tanks that put it over GCW and GVW to see how it performed and did not see any real difference in handling or stopping-- Ford did a great job with their new trucks. So them's my facts

Bob-Sandi-Bartell said:

Sandi is retired and I expect to be in April. We are taking delivery of the above fifth wheel and are considering buying either an F250 gas 6.2L V8 or an F250 diesel 6.7L V8. Our dry weight is 7466 lbs. We expect to be on the road about three months out of the year.

Not sure if the gas truck will be sufficient to tow the above 5er. Any comments appreciated.

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Hi guys, from the sound of it your Sundance is very close to ours. Dry weight on our Sundance 2800RL is 8750 lbs. The first picture is of the truck I had at the time which was a 2011 F250 6.2 Gas w/3:73 gears. We pulled the trailer from Kentucky through WI, IA, MN, ND, SD, TN, NC, and SC with no problems. I say no problems, but pulling in heavy mountains like E. TN and W. SD the truck knew the trailer was there. It never overheated or showed any signs of trouble. If there was one large complaint about the 6.2L it was gas mileage. I never got over 14.5mpg without the trailer and with the trailer it was more in the 8.5 to 9.5mpg range. For day to day driving the gas truck was a great ride execpt for the gas mileage. The picture below was taken as we were leaving for our first shake down trip after taking delivery of the trailer.


This picture is of the "beast". We still have the Sundance and love the trailer. The new truck is the 6.7L diesel. Without the trailer, I get in the high 18 mpg and if carefull push 20+ when the roads are more or less rolling as in western KY. With the trailer, I usually get around 14mpg unless the roads are pretty hilly. We've made much of the same trips through Eastern TN with the diesel as with the gas and what a difference. Honestly, I have to remind myself to slow down with the diesel. It really does not seem to be under any strain when pulling.

I was very concerned with buying a diesel. You should make sure of one thing about the truck you are looking at. Ford is a little crazy with the fuel tanks. The gas truck actually had a larger fuel tank (36 gal) than the diesel (26.5 gal). If there is one thing that has proved to be a real issue it is the fuel tank. I've got a couple solutions but have not make a decission as to which type of tank I'm going to upgrade too.

Best of luck. Hope this gives you something to think about. Either truck should handle the trailer without issue. Run the numbers and see if the $8k for the diesel plus the cost of fuel is worth it to you.

Tom & Millie
Sebree, KY.

ncc1701e said:

I was very concerned with buying a diesel. You should make sure of one thing about the truck you are looking at. Ford is a little crazy with the fuel tanks. The gas truck actually had a larger fuel tank (36 gal) than the diesel (26.5 gal). If there is one thing that has proved to be a real issue it is the fuel tank. I've got a couple solutions but have not make a decission as to which type of tank I'm going to upgrade too.

Tom & Millie
Sebree, KY.

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I certainly agree about gas tanks on Fords. A "little crazy" is kind as my thought was stupid. I had my dealer install a Transferflow underbed fifty gallon tank and it is the best thing I have done for that truck. It almost doubled my range and didn't take any bed space. Titan also makes an underbed tank, but my dealer uses transferflow so that it was I got. The dealer assured me that it does not affect the warranty. You have to have the computer updated to make it known that the tank capacity is fifty gallons so all the info on the display (Miles To Empty, miles per gallon, etc.) is correct. Instructions for updating the computer are posted elsewhere on this forum. I had to print them out and take them to the dealer as they didn't have a clue about the update.

Diesels are intended for higher pulling power and cost/mile is less than gas, but the cost of diesel engines vs gas does not justify that small savings, but the pulling power does. I agree that the fuel tank is small and limits the range. However, it is sufficient to travel between truck stops at 300 miles apart. I carry a 6 gallon jug of fuel, just in case I should need it. So far I haven't needed it, and I would stop any way after 250/300 miles of driving, to stretch and get a coffee. It has the same range that my motor cycle did, which I thought was about right for a stretch I guess I can not justify the expense to add an extra fuel tank for my needs. Six gallon cans are a lot cheaper.

I say go with the diesel, there are plenty of 08-10 6.4 liters out there like new, the diesel engine life and power is what you want.JMO