Tow vehicle for 2520

[Drasp42]

Hi everyone,
I currently am towing my new (to me) Parker 2520 dv with a 2003 f250 with the 6.0 diesel. The truck has been constantly unreliable and I want to get rid of it for something more dependable. I am open to gas or diesel because I only have to tow it 15 miles to the launch ramp. What would you suggest? I cant afford to buy brand new so i am currently thinking used dodge 2500 with the 5.7 hemi. Some guidance would be appreciated! What do you tow with and have confidence in?
Thanks

 

[Bryan 2530]

I tow my 2530 with a 5.7 HEMI with no problems and my truck has 1500 suspension, so a 2500 should be fine.

 

[gw204]

I used to lug my old 25' Grady Sailfish around with an '03 Ram 2500 QC 4x4. It had the 5.7, 5-45rfe auto and 4.10s. It wouldn't run with the diesels but it did everything I asked it to do. A little sluggish off the line when pulling, but that was it.

My longest trip towing the Grady was right about 400 miles one way. If I kept the speed right around 63, I could get 9 mpg HEAVILY loaded. Any faster than that, the mileage would drop off to closer to 8.

My brother and I used his GMC 1500 HD to pull the boat up to Conn. when I sold it. His truck had the 6.x motor and while it did seem to pull harder, my 2500 handled the load much better and was a way more comfortable ride.

One thing to note with the HD Ram is that Dodge got away from Dana axles and started using AAM. Those have a helical limited slip instead of the more traditional clutch type. At about 25,000 I started getting a brief shudder from the rear end when accelerating from a stop around a curve. Dealer told me to change the lube (I was skeptical) and they were right. No friction modifier necessary, just quality synthetic gear lube. The diffs have a reusable rubber gasket so changes were a piece of cake and I got in the habit of doing them every 20,000 to 25,000.

I would definitely buy another one.

 

[gw204]

Oh, maybe B-Faithful will chime in to offer his opinions on how it sounded w/ the Flowmaster 50-series single in/dual out. :lol:

I really liked the Magnaflow I put on after the Flowmaster system.