What would you guys consider the ultimate towing vehicle for a 21' bass rig considering fuel milage, initial cost, maintinance costs, and towing power? Just curious

still cant beat the MPG of a diesel. I like my dodge. it is MY ultimate tow vehicle.

Love my powerstroke. It's 4x4 with the good engine and i get 15.9 mpg draging my boat around 75.

The older diesel 5.9 Dodge and the Chevy 6.6 are the most fuel efficient. The Chevy is now the only fuel efficient diesel. The Dodge 6.7 and the Ford 6.4 are not any better than a gasser in fuel economy and the cost of diesel is 12 to 15 percent higher than gas.
Any of the diesels will have more than enough power. The only gassers in that class are the 10 cylinder Ford and the older 8.1 Chevy which both are gas hogs.
Initial cost is probably the Dodge gasser. The Chevy and Ford are both close. Just what you prefer.
The Chevy 5.3 is probably the most cost efficient in pulling mileage comparing dollars per mile of fuel used. With diesel prices running 12 to 15 percent higher than gas the diesels are not a good choice unless you pull a 10 thousand pound trailer regularly.
Either of the Dodge and Ford gassers will be more economical than any of the diesels except maybe the Chevy. The Chevy diesels initial cost would make it higher in total cost but have significantly more power than any of the gassers.

All of the above is my opinion formed from reading about pulling trucks. I have done plenty of reading. I own a Dodge diesel and the 5.9 2000 that I own is an efficient engine.

Tundra 5.7

HUMMER !!!!

Nissan Titan 5.6

In my opinion it is not cost efficient at all to pay the additional cost up front as well as the maintenance, fuel costs, etc. for diesel.

Any gas engine above 5 litre would be a good choice for a 20 or 21 foot bass boat.

This is the "ULTIMATE" tow vehicle. $39900 get's you a bad boy.

39,900 is a lot less than a new F350..lol.

how many miles does that thing have?

If you want a Gas engine. go with a Chevy 2500.
if you want a Diesel engine if you can find a good used 7.3L that is the best engine/truck you could get. the 7.3 will get the best Gas Milage out of any of em. the chevy diesels drink gas pretty good. we have a 26' box trailer hooked to my dads 2000 7.3 he gets around 22 MPG hooked to a 2007 Duramax you get 15-16. Chevy has the Best Ride of them all. but the best all around truck would be either Ford or Chevy right behind Ford.

ill keep my 7.3 ford

"With diesel prices running 12 to 15 percent higher than gas the diesels are not a good choice unless you pull a 10 thousand pound trailer regularly."

Exactly, examine the cost per mile and gas is cheaper to run, period. Until diesel gets back down the cost of gas there is no savings running a diesel.

I get between 13-14.5 pulling my boat with my Crew Cab 4X4 GM 5.3L.

Right now on gas buddy the lowest gas in Dallas is $2.67 the lowest diesel is $3.14.

Beermill's truck, at today's rates costs .22 cents a mile to operate (fuel only)

My 5.3L GM costs .19 cents a mile (at 14 mpg) If you couple this fact with the $5-6000K premium you pay for the diesel option, there is no question which is more economical.

yup....it's benched my plans for a diesel...possibly permanantly, unless the price starts to come back to reality.

Me too. If diesel was the same price as gas I would own one in a second, but it doesn't. From what I've been reading, diesel should be going down in price soon. There is a shift towards making more diesel in 2008. I sure hope so, diesel is indeed a superior fuel to gasoline.