I'm a Dodge man, have 06 Ram 1500, it's rated for 7,800 towing I think, has the hemi, up to 122 thousand miles on it. Bought a pop up trailer tent camper, it's 3,400 pounds empty plus 2 adults, 3 kids, 2 dogs and all the crap to go camping for 1-2 weeks, truck does fine, feels great with it behind it and still will go 70-80 on the freeway easy.

The only problem is the mileage isn't great, I average 12-14 normal driving which for me is 5-10 over the posted limit normally, then 8-10 loaded down with everything for the trip. But it also has a leveling kit and bigger tires, exhaust, cold air intake, plus it sounds so nice when you give it the go juice.

My wife had a 2010 Ram 1500 with a hemi, leveled with bigger tires and such too, got a little better mileage and power, plus it was rated for 9,000 pounds(maybe more)

The newer trucks have advanced leaps and bounds the last 5 years, the interiors are far superior with the new gadgets and such.
Going diesel with newer trucks can be better but they're also a lot more spendier to maintain and diesel is general however much more per gallon, plus the 10 plus grand more to start out out the lot, plus the stupid diesel exhaust fluid you gotta add to keep the epa happy. Pretty much all newer rigs can go forever with good maintenance as long as it doesn't get the fun electrical problems that can happen.

This is pretty much the answer. When Ford still had their twin I beam front suspension I would say Ford for sure. These days the big 3 are pretty much neck and neck.

Just a little history on myself, I'm a 21 year veteran diesel mechanic. My love for diesels runs deep, but diesels are a work horse. Let them idle around most of their lives and they are worthless. A good mid sized gas V-8 is the answer for the occasional trailer towing, yard waste hauling daily driver truck.

DIESEL! I have had two 1995 gas trucks, and was happy to get 10 mpg going downhill with a tail wind. My current is an 8L V10 Dodge that gets 7.5 mpg. Most newer diesels get better millage than my Subaru.

Been working on diesels since 1980 and still at it.
Plus an minuses.
Solely depends on what your going to use it for AND how you drive. If you space out after a couple hours on the road towing and just keep up with traffic, going up hill, get a gas mtr. Seen the go pedal destroy many a diesel mtr.
If pouring urea into def tank every so often, higher price for simple filters, high quality oil prices and not buying diesel at the cheapest place but a place that does high volume, get a diesel. Avoid def and get something pre 2008.
I can't give an unbiased opinion on a dodge, haven't worked on a Cummins since 1989. Wanna talk Ford 7.3, 6.0 and chev 6.6 great. Newer diesels are spendy and I won't own anything post 2004 1/4 and would avoid the 6.4 like a plaque. 6.7 stepped up the game, along with price.
I've got a 2003 F350. F250/350 same trk, different spring packs, that's it.
I "can" get 20-22 mpg on the freeway on cruise. Around town and back an forth to work I pull in 14-15 mpg.
I've loaded 4100 lbs in back of mine, bags helped. Normally pull a 30' trailer now but few years back would haul my race car, trailer and all spare parts all over WA and MT without an issue and running overly hard still hit 11-12 mpg using only egt and boost gauges to manipulate the go pedal.

thanks... very good points...

The newer half tons are better at towing than a 1 ton from the 90s. I have heard amazing things about the F150 EcoBoost. I have 4 buddies that own them and swear by them. They Tow like hell and 23 MPG.