OK, so I'm taking a "mini-retirement" and me and the family are hitting the road in a fifth-wheel for a while (one year give or take). I'm in the market for a crew cab diesel truck (leaning towards an Ford but still considering Chevy/Dodge).

I'm essentially trying to minimize the overall cost ownership for a year of pulling the fifth-wheel, including depreciation, maintenance, fuel economy, and likely repairs. I'd also like a truck that's relatively easy to sell when I'm done.

I don't want to spend more than $25K but I will if I have to. Would I be likely to lose less money overall if I raised my budget to $30K, or could I even do this on $20k? Any advice would be appreciated.

Everything else (luxury, trim level, auto/manual tranny, etc) is secondary. Which truck would you guys get in my position?

 

get a 99.5-03 7.3 and have a reputable diesel shop go thru it. service the trans with synthetic atf, service the engine with anything but rotella

 

Do you plan on moding the truck or leaveing it stock. If you are moding it then a 6.4 powerstroke. If its gonna stay stock you could pick up a decenct 5.9 cummins.

 

Just stay away from the 6.0 powerstroke and youll be fine. I would suggest the 7.3(99-02) or any duramax