Ultimately a diesel will get the best fuel economy towing,.. particularly an older Ford with 7.3 and manual tranny,.. or 2001 - 05 Dodge with manual tranny. I've owned the Ford,.. and talked with several guys with the Dodge. Usually 15 - 17mpg towing a light car and 19 - 22 mpg empty.

As for gas trucks,.. 3/4 and 1 tons will not get you very good economy. No matter what gear and tranny you set it up with. But having talked with a few people who own 1/2 ton GMC and Chevy's 03 - 07 with either the 4.8 and the 5.3 2wd trucks are getting 20 - 22 highway and 13 - 14 towing a light car. Thats not too bad. Ford 4.6 and 5.4 trucks wont get more then 8 - 10 towing. My father inlaws MarkIII E150 conversion van with 5.4 gets 17 mpg empty on a good day highway. 8 - 9 mpg when I tow my car to the track.

I have trailer brakes and the van is not exactly ideal pulling my trailer. But I'm like you,.. I dont have anything else at the moment,.. and still debating on what exactly to get. I want something with enough power to pull it,.. but not going to kill me at the pump. Bio diesel with a vegi system seems to be the cheapest,.. but who wants to pump and filter grease traps every week for fuel?

New diesel trucks are so taxed with emissions crap,.. they arent getting any better economy then gas trucks.

What to do?

Hurst