Ron,
I recently went thru your same problem.
After being a die-hard GM truck guy for the last 16 years, I finally had enough of the poor electrics and crappy fit and finish of the interiors that were always falling apart. I went looking at Dodge and Ford instead with the nod going to Ford because of the cab size. With my height, the Ford felt twice as big as either the Chev. or the Dodge. I wanted a crew cab for the family.
I was specifically looking at the new Ford 6 litre Diesel for towing a new 24ft Weekend Warrior that weighed about 9,000 lbs fully loaded. Then a freind of mine (a Ford Service Mgr.) told me that the new diesels are having a few teething problems in '03 and that the 7 litre diesel was still a better choice for now until they get the problems resolved with the newer engine.
Then, I started looking at prices between the V-10's and the diesels. The diesel crew cab with cloth interior was $10,000 more than a fully loaded V-10 gas engine. Plus, Ford had special financing, a rebate, and the dealer was more willing to work a deal on the V-10 than they were on the diesel.
Plain Jane Diesel: $38,000 with no incentives offered.
Loaded V-10: $28,000 after rebates and dealer incentives.
I just took a 2,000 mile trip to Utah last week and my gas milage was 16mpg at 80 mph highway, and it gets about 12-13 around town. I get 9-10 while towing and it will do 65 mph up a hill with the trailer. I figured that the $10,000 that I saved on going Gas instead of diesel will buy me about 100,000 miles of driving before it breaks even with the savings of a diesel fuel mileage, and gas is a little easier to find.
If the price of the two trucks wer identical, it would have been the diesel hands down, but the gas V-10 was much, much cheaper out of the gate, and my Service Mgr. friend said that the gas engines are bullet-proof.
BTW, it only takes 6 qts. of
oil each
oil change too!