A Diesel Is Not Worth It!

[DerekW]

dont we all need a vehicle to change the spark plugs, cap, rotor, and the one of the many problems with the vortech i am working on now a new distributed cuz the distributer gear has about 30degree of play on the cam sensor and cap to rotor???





Oh and I seriously would like to upfit my ram and loan it to my buddy in the PD cuz they honestly need to catch on they could double their mileage and lessen brake repairs if they upgraded to rams with Diesels that have WILD PPE Tuners, air and exhaust, and electric fan. I get upset when I see my tax money going out the window -officers at full throttle then full brake coming into neighborhood, make the turn at the stop sign and floor it, brake turn in the drive and shut it off. calmly walk inside a house with no smoke rolling out widnows and guns still on their sides just a normal day coming home from work. how bout my other buddy does 80 mph in a 50 going home with me paying for his fuel. get that man a cummins diesel!!!!

 

[BradyWilliams]

Diesel vs Gas

Yes diesels are different, they need to be maintained more exactly. Filtration is more important, the use of fuel additives is a foregone conclusion. But the performance that is now common place in these trucks we drive, has not been replicated by the gasoline industry. I remember pulling my RV up mountains at 45-50 mph if you had the best gas truck ever. That same truck would overheat, vaporlock, and drink gas like crazy. Best fuel mileage my gas trucks ever got pulling trailers was 7 or maybe 8mpg. My diesel pickups now pull bigger trailers at speeds of 75-85 over the same mountains and get 11-13mpg at that speed. Granted some of the new trucks now do not get as good of fuel mileage when new and untouched. But most new trucks do pick up more mpg later when the engine breaks in a bit and tunning products we are all running now has been installed. Tuners or downloaders that we have to choose from give 35-50hp for a gas truck. Diesel tuners or downloaders can see an increase of 100-200hp. Thats some cheap hp in my book. The sled pulling industry would not be what it is today without the diesel pickup. The diesel pickup is here to stay for good reason. They perform a quality service for they're owners. Just some thoughts I wanted to point out. Thanks

 

[AKaiser]

This is the thread that never ends...

Sure, it has premium startup costs (add $5000+ new) and greater cost/mile, but the longevity and fuel cost/mile is, to me, worth it if you're going to drive a full-size pickup anyway.

 

[JVantreese]

Life is short.

I have read many economic and business reasons why a diesel can outshine a gasser. I just want to add that I find my diesel a FUN truck to drive. Life is short... . have fun. :-laf

 

[JDiepstra]

So Chris, what did you decide? Any purchases? And are you happier now?

 

[Jeremiah]

Diesel v. gasoline

Reading these posts reminds me of people who ride dirt bikes. Some of 'em prefer thumpers, so named because they have 4-cycle engines and low-end torque. You can hear 'em chugging their way up mountain trails at low rpms. Thump-thump-thump.

Others prefer 2-cycle gas-and-oil engines that depend on high rmp for power. They scream up mountain trails at 8 or 9000 rpms. Zzzzzzzzz-
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

However, neither bike gets to the top of the hill quicker than the other. The difference is how you want to get there. Want a screamer? Buy a gasser. Want a thumper? Buy a diesel. Me, I like diesels.

Maybe that's why I ride a Honda 600cc XR1. My riding buddy prefers a KTM 250, a much smaller (and lighter) engine with higher rpm. To each his own.

 

[SShafranko]

Diesels (cummins) are the best. I love pouring black smoke all over the toyota prius, listening to the turbo whistle in the passanger seat of my cab, changing filters, waking up my neighbors at 1 am(why is that truck so loud?), pulling the injectors out to put new ones in that will make me pour more smoke past the prius and onto the honda hybrid next to it, And i tow absolutely nothing!!! I put 81,000 miles on her in one year, never used an addative in the tank and never let some shmuck touch her period

 

[AClayton]

. I had a Vortec gasser before my 01"When loaded dump trucks would pass me going up 6% grades and I'm just barely maintaining 45mph in 2nd gear with my gassers tonque out . I decided to go diesel and haven't looked back. I maintain speed and have plenty of reserve power for passing if need be and still get 13mpg towing. Egt's were a problem until my new Spearco was installed.

 

[cbmkr]

went from dodge 2 wd hemi empty 14 mpg, towing 27' camper 6 mpg no power



2006 dodge 2wd Cummins empty 23 mpg same camper 15mpg lots power only 14K

miles

there's your difference

 

[CUMMINZ]

My 6. 7L 07. 5 has gone from 8. 8mpg @ 4400 miles and after having the G30 flash and adding my home made cold air intake and 5" MBRP DPF to tip... I am seeing 14mpg while towing @ 11,000 miles.





2007 RAM 3500 6. 7L MBRP 5 Inch install today



2007 RAM 3500 6. 7L Cummins Diesel engine mods

 

[JDiepstra]

My 6. 7L 07. 5 has gone from 8. 8mph @ 4400 miles and after having the G30 flash and adding my home made cold air intake and 5" MBRP DPF to tip... I am seeing 14mph while towing @ 11,000 miles.





2007 RAM 3500 6. 7L MBRP 5 Inch install today



2007 RAM 3500 6. 7L Cummins Diesel engine mods

So what you are saying is that as your truck is breaking in and you do some mods it top speed has gone from 8. 8 mph to 14 mph? That still seems pretty slow. I get about 100 mph out of mine. :-laf

 

[CUMMINZ]

I made corrections. Miles per gallon. Top speed of 108.



CumminZ

 

[AMcCormick]

This is my first diesel and I'm glad I bought it, I like my truck. My old truck was a 97 1/2ton Dodge it is a good truck but just no grunt. 1/2ton trucks just dont make sense to me. The same size as 3/4-1ton but no grunt, weak drivetrain, and unstellar mpg. I know that its just the overhead but it reads 24-26mpg @ 65-70mph. Old truck would get 22 empty and have to down shift to pass or on any little incline, this truck just rips along. I know there are mixed feelings, but I can run biodiesel which I think is a step forward not the end all be all cure but a step forward. When I go to Mex it will be easier to get fuel and able to drive much further on one tank. Its a big truck thats fun to drive and I can tow damn near anything. I like seeing a Corvette and a crew cab dully lined up on the track. I like my DIESEL truck and am glad I bought it.

 

[RKelly]

Is it cheaper to buy a diesel in the long run?

With 280,000 miles on my 1999, and still running smooth and strong, for as long as she'll go... ... . 300,000 easy. Maybe 400,000 or 500,000 ?????

I would have had to buy TWO gassers to last over 300,000 miles.

In other words, I bought ONE $30,000 truck instead of TWO $25,000 trucks.

I think that's cheaper. And no, I don't have a lot of money into parts. Just basic stuff.

 

[BHolm]

I have a 1/2 ton Silverado 4 door short box 4x4 as a rental right now while my truck is in the shop to have a dent removed. Right when I started driving it I noticed the structure was pretty flimsy. It has a lot of body shake for GM's newest platform, I know my Dodge feels much more solid with 96k miles on it compared to 16k for the Chevy. That surprised me some, I know I am comparing a half ton and a 1 ton but I expected better.



Next I checked fuel economy. Doing the same driving I do with my truck, mostly empty these days, some city, some mountain, some highway, I ended up with a nearly identical 17. 5 mpg. It definately doesn't have near the pasing power my truck has, which is a big deal with all the two lanes I run. So actually I am probably running it easier than I do my truck. I took it over the pass last night to a forest service meeting, 50 miles each way with nearly a mile vertical change in each direction. I was running it fairly hard up the hill on the way home and my buddy in his lifted '04 CTD smoked me up the hill AND around the corners.



The bright spot is regular gas is 50 cents a gallon less so roughly $15 per fill up plus the original premuim for the diesel. I seriously considered making the change for a day or so. Then I remembered buying a 2500 Hemi and running that for a while. Much better than this 1/2 ton Chevy but still, I just wasn't happy with it, which led me to the truck I currently own.



So "worth" is a variable and a choice. I already have the CTD, couldn't get any lower payments by trading to a half ton gasser at this point, and I just don't like the car/truck. It is homley as heck, I hate the steering, the seats, the stereo, and the mere thought of a 1/2 ton truck. The diesel is worth it to me in soooooo many ways. I'll gladly pay the premium.

 

[Gibbs]

Everybody has chimed in so I figured I might as well do the same. My truck is my daily driver and with a 80 mile commute (round trip) with 80% hwy, 20% city I never get below 20MPG. That's no fish story. My last tanks MPG were 20. 8, 20. 2, and 21. 0, all hand calculated. I usually stay between 65 and 70 on the open road until I start hittting the traffic lights near work. Sometimes I drive faster when I'm running late, and I hot rod it when somebody wants to mess with me, thus the 20. 2 MPG on the one tank. Towing my gooseneck with my off road truck on it (about 11k lbs total) I get anywhere from 10 to 13 mpg, and that's driving pretty aggresively, usually running 80 to 85 on the interstate. It gets better when take it easy. I have 122,000 on the odo right now and haven't had any engine trouble. I change amsoil 15w40 every 20,000 with filter change half way thru. I change fuel filters (10 micron and 2 micron) and rotate tires every 5,000 miles. At one time I was trying to see how good of economy I could get, so I drove like grandpa accelerating from stops but was still staying at 55-60 when on the highway, keeping boost under 10 psi when I could, and my best tank to date was 23. 7 MPG. I think with a set of DDP 50 horse nozzles and some careful driving I could get 25MPG. This has been a great truck and with careful maintenance I hope to get 400,000 or more out of it.



Will

 

[Jeremiah]

Everybody has chimed in so I figured I might as well do the same. My truck is my daily driver



, and my best tank to date was 23. 7 MPG. I think with a set of DDP 50 horse nozzles and some careful driving I could get 25MPG. This has been a great truck and with careful maintenance I hope to get 400,000 or more out of it.



Will

Those are good numbers, Will. One BIG reason you're doing so well is the "2WD" in your signature. 4WDs get a bit less, although I've gotten 23 mpgs on a 700-mile highway drive where I didn't get above 62 mph. I typically got 20 mpg up and down the pass here in Colorado, but now that low sulfur fuel is de riguerre it's dropped down to 19. 5 or so.

 

[Gibbs]

I agree, Jeremiah. The 2WD helps out a lot, no front gears/shafts spinning plus its lower to the ground. But believe me, there's been a few times when I wish I had 4WD! But that's why I installed tow hooks, they've been a lifesaver.



Related to the topic on hand, I bought my truck to pull a gooseneck on occasion, plus I wanted to tinker around with some performance mods. I haven't regretted anything buying this truck, but just being an ST, I do miss the power windows/locks/mirrors that I had on '97 Honda Accord. But, the way I drove it (Honda) I usually averaged 26 to 27 MPG. I'm perfectly happy having the capability of my Dodge and sacrificing a little mileage vs the Honda, of course I know this is comparing apples to oranges. My truck also can haul more people than the Accord plus pull most anything you hook to it.



Will

 

[Jeremiah]

I agree, Jeremiah. The 2WD helps out a lot, no front gears/shafts spinning plus its lower to the ground. But believe me, there's been a few times when I wish I had 4WD! But that's



s that I had on '97 Honda Accord. But, the way I drove it (Honda) I usually averaged 26 to 27 MPG. I'm per.



Will

We have something else in common. My wife and I had an Accord, a 1990 stick shift w/4-cylinder engine. We drove it 334,000 miles. It had the original engine and same clutch. I got 155,000 miles out of the OEM brake pads! Being a 4-cylinder, it gave us 34 miles per gallon.



I attribute all of this to good maintenance, and also to plugging it in every night during the winter. I installed the block heater right after I bought the car because I believe keeping the engine oil warm pays huge dividends. I plug in my truck any time the temp goes below 20 F.

 

[cojhl2]

Those are good numbers, Will. One BIG reason you're doing so well is the "2WD" in your signature. 4WDs get a bit less, although I've gotten 23 mpgs on a 700-mile highway drive where I didn't get above 62 mph. I typically got 20 mpg up and down the pass here in Colorado, but now that low sulfur fuel is de riguerre it's dropped down to 19. 5 or so.

Heh Heh Heh,, You poor guys that don't have lockouts.



I just do not understand the logic of all the newer 4wd's.



My Dakota does not have lockouts either. All that drag makes for a bunch of wasted power.