All my ant-diesel sentiment aside, I think you would be seriously limiting yourself by making a diesel engine a requirement. 10k is not going to find you a 'nice' diesel truck. I have seen 01-02 4wd 7.3s with 100k+ going for over $20k. That is an 8+ year old truck for what I paid for my 1/2 ton NEW!

I too once thought I needed a diesel, but my Bronco+ trailer only weighs about 8500lbs, so I knew I didn't need one You don't need one either, but you want one, which is fine, I just think better trucks can be found in that price range if you take away the diesel part and start looking at 1/2 tons.

I disagree with Hippy on the whole put money into a 78 Bronco and DD/wheel it. I had aspirations for the whole RRDH thing, but turns out it is much more fun to wheel without worrying about the several hundred mile drive home.

Cons:
more expensive up front
more $ to maintain
more $ to repair
more $ to fill up (i think?)

Pros:
circle jerks with Tyler and Travis
you can pull 4 rigs across I70 once a year
copious amounts of smoke
higher resale if you don't rice it out
you can idle all night

Its your decision