Is A Diesel Truck Better For Towing A Fifth-Wheel Than The Gas One?

It is not a surprise that most pickup trucks we see on the streets run on gas, and it certainly makes sense why, though what about going for the diesel route if towing is on your mind?

There must be a reason why such engine option is available on all of the serious heavy duty trucks, right?

Yes it is

The reason why a diesel is the best route to go for is primarily because it can tow more.

Diesel pickups can easily pull at least 2,000 pound heavier trailers; this number can certainly be significantly higher, depending on the type and build of the vehicle. Being able to pull more is crucial when the topic is about fifth-wheels, as depending on their size, they can weigh a lot.

In other words, there are campers a gasser would not be able to deal with, and a diesel could.

But this isn’t just the only thing that makes these sorts of engines stand out when we talk about towing a trailer – here’s a list of other features which makes it all worth it.

Superior in mountainous regions

If you think of pulling the fifth-wheel full time, that is to say, through the whole country, a diesel based pickup will deal with any hilly terrain with a ton less strain.

This is not only because these types of engines have more torque – diesel is not affected that much by the higher altitude, therefore the power loss isn’t as prevalent.

Seriously, the difference is night and day – for instance, even if a gas pickup truck could tow as much weight, i would be surprised to not see it revving like crazy climbing the same path a diesel would quite literally breeze through.

More miles per gallon

It’s a fact that any diesel vehicle is going to be more fuel efficient, so is the same for the trucks this post is around.

Are you going to save more because of this? Probably not, as this sort of fuel is usually more expensive, which evens it all out.

But if you will be traveling frequently and a lot at once, keeping the tank from depleting quicker is a huge benefit many owners highly appreciate.

Safer

How so? It’s all because of the exhaust brake many of the modern HD trucks come bundled with.

What it does is essentially automatically decelerate your vehicle whenever you take your foot off the throttle, when the feature is enabled that is.

It is a huge help to have such a feature when towing anything really, especially a heavy fifth-wheel.

However, gas can still be great…

A diesel truck is the number one choice for those who really intend to pull the biggest of the fifth-wheels and do so more or less all the time, so if you don’t need that criteria, a gas one should work just as fine.

Really, as long as you stick to the maximum towing capacity of the rig you have, a gas pickup will be able to cope with the same job, especially if you’re the kind of person who camps every other weekend.

Gasser makes even more sense for these types of people as they are easier to come by in good quality, not as expensive to either buy or maintain.