Diesel SUV

[Dave MacArthur]

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who wants a Diesel SUV. Who makes one? The only one I know about is the Ford Excursion and this is the last year they will be made. Am I missing anything? Anyone know about future plans for Diesel SUV's? It seems to me that except for people who use their trucks for work, most of us have our trucks for towing and would buy an SUV instead.

 

[lmills]

Is that true? Are they going to stop building the excursion?

 

[rbattelle]

I have also heard the Excursion will be discontinued due to low sales. Personally, I would love to have a diesel Land Rover Defender. Alas, they are not available in this country anymore. But they are bringing the Defender back to the US in 2005, and I can only hope they offer a diesel option.



Of course, there's always the diesel Liberty which is supposed to be available in 2004. And I thought you could get a 3/4 ton Suburban with a diesel.

 

[TboneMan]

While not a large SUV, DC is suppose to release the Jeep Liberty with a 2. 8l 4 banger diesel next year (as a 2005 model).



I plan to be the first in line to replace my wifes vehicle.

 

[duaneparks]

Dare I mention the VW Tuareg? They will offer a diesel in it as well in '05 I believe. I realize we are pretty loyal to our Dodge trucks, but hey, if another brand has what you want, and it is a quality product, what's the harm in having it as a "second" car?



There were diesel Suburbans, but all the ones I've seen could have been better. I've always wanted to convert a Cummins Ram into a 4 door SUV like they have here:



http://www.bayerautoinc.com/Conversions.htm



Duane

 

[LightmanE300]

I'm in the boat of needing a 4x4 with a diesel. I'm currenty pretty set on a ram with a cummins, due to lack of choices. It's a bit bigger than I need/want, but I believe the liberty will be too small, and the Touareg too expensive.



The Touareg has already been released with the badboy TDI engine in Europe, and is rumored to make it over here to the states at some point. It's a V10 TDI engine, making some 330hp and 500lbs of torque. Similar to cummins power but in a much smaller vehicle. Supposedly it does 0-60 in under 7 seconds. Only downside is that it will be around $55k. Repairs may be expensive as well, imagine replacing 10 glowplugs!!



The liberty will be available late summer '04 as an '05 model with the 2. 8L commonrail injection 4cyl diesel. The engine is built by VM Motori in Italy, and the Liberty diesel has been out on the roads in the UK with this config for 2 years now. This will hopefully avoid the new bug syndrome(cough cough ford 6. blow). My thoughts are it's just too dinky and small. There is virtually no trunk space.



Excursions are way too big and slow and ugly for me. Therefore the only choice(since I MUST get diesel ) is the Cummins ram. Too bad those Touaregs will be so expensive. I'm excited about the beast though. I'm thinking of picking up a black 03 laramie in a week or two.



Another interesting diesel 4x4 that may come out soon, is the Crosslander. It's powered by a 2. 8L Powerstroke diesel and an Eaton transmission. It's way rugged, basic , and offroady. Options include air intake snorkel, winches, roof racks, light bars, etc. www.crosslander4x4.com

Here's a pic of one.

#ad

 

[d90boy]

Originally posted by rbattelle

Personally, I would love to have a diesel Land Rover Defender. Alas, they are not available in this country anymore. But they are bringing the Defender back to the US in 2005, and I can only hope they offer a diesel option.

Good choice!



Unfortunately that crosslander will not be coming with a diesel I don't believe. I heard they couldn't get the engine certified. Us Land Rover folks have been watching that crosslander very close, that 2. 8L motor is a direct replacement for the 2. 5L Land Rover motor. The 2. 8 also comes in a variable geometry turbo configuration. There's a black Defender 90 in the Breckenridge area running one of these motors. Last I heard the crosslander would get some gasser.

 

[DHawthorne]

You can get a Max in a Suburban now.

Suburbans have had diesels in them since 1982 when the 6. 2 came out. They lasted until the 90's when replaced by the same engine at 6. 5 with a small turbo.



There are a few around. The 85 I had went 260 K before my son sold it when he got his cummins.



I'm looking for one right now for traveling.

My wifes car just don't get it for long trips. The suburbans have 1000 mile seats in them. 3/4 ton is my preference.



Dave

 

[LightmanE300]

Land rover tdi conversions. You will pay a premium, but these guys do everything, and top notch work at that.







TDI landrover conversions

 

[Dave MacArthur]

Thanks for all the info so far. I just checked with my local Chevrolet dealer and they are not offering the Duramax yet in the Suburbans. Not even on the '04 models. This seems incredible to me. It looks like the only diesel SUV available is the Excursion with the 6. 0. I know there were problems with some of the early 6. 0's but have read that they are much improved for '04. Anyone know where I can get some real data on that? I think if Dodge made an SUV with the Cummins they would blow away all the sales at Chevy and Ford.

 

[MCummings]

Originally posted by DHawthorne

You can get a Max in a Suburban now.

I'd be interested in where you found this out.



Last I heard is that, IF, GM decided to put a 'Max in a 'burb, it would be de-rated to ~260HP, and would not have the Allison transmission. The biggest reason GM has not yet put the reliable 'Max in the 'burb yet, is because the Allison transmission takes up way too much space underneath. It's way to tall, and the 'Burb would need a 2" Body Lift just to begin to make things work. Same reason GM HD's have so much frame hanging underneath them, the Allison is very tall. Nothing like the tiny 47/48RE's in the Dodge.



My $0. 02

Merrick Cummings Jr

 

[DHawthorne]

DuraMax in a Suburban;



I can only point you to this web site which says its not available. Most dealers are stupid anyway and most don't even have a sales person that knows anything about what they are selling. If you sell them you should ask these people were they got their info



http://www.62-65-dieselpage.com/2001.htm



Dave

 

[DHawthorne]

Corrected, was thinking like you;



DuraMax in a Suburban;



I can only point you to this web site which says its available. Most dealers are stupid anyway and most don't even have a sales person that knows anything about what they are selling. If you sell them you should ask these people were they got their info



http://www.62-65-dieselpage.com/2001.htm



Dave

 

[KKaiser]

Just saw a beautiful FJ60 Landcruiser at Crater Lake, Oregon the other day. At first listen I thought it had a Cummins in it. Talking to the owner, I found out it's an Australia spec unit with right hand drive and a six cylinder Hino (sp?) turbo diesel. The thing looked and sounded great! Not that it matters, but it had Alberta plates. I want one.



I went to the Chevy site and it was a members only article. Anyone want to cut/paste or just give us a synopsis of the article?



Kent

 

[NC_Mog]

If you want to throw away a bunch of money, you can get a diesel Hummer H1. In wagon form, I'd consider it a SUV.

 

[KKaiser]

NCMog,

With that handle, we better get some pictures of that '67 in your readers gallery, not just he '03!



KK

 

[NC_Mog]

No prob. Just added a new album. Enjoy!

 

[KKaiser]

UniMog

Killer! When I first saw those in Germany in the seventies, I fell in love. What's the story behind it? Discovery, importation, etc... .



KK

 

[NC_Mog]

I had been looking for a replacement offroad rig, specifically a Mog. I wanted something stout right out of the box with minimal mods; that is, I didn't want to buildup a rig because of my lack of free time.



I found this one online at a dealer in Germany. Checked references and viewed everything from a distance via pics and correspondance with the dealer. Bought it and had it shipped without having seen it in person. It was a risk, but all references checked out and I knew the type of vehicle I was getting.



I picked it up at the port in Norfolk VA, and drove it home. Really that easy. I love the truck, it runs great, everything works and there is no rust. The only issues I've been having are electrical in nature and have everything to do with 36 year old wiring.



I've had it for a year but haven't gotten on the trails much yet. I got my '03 CTD to pull the Mog on a trailer. It will probably be next year before I can get out on the good trails (e. g. Tellico). My little boy needs to be a little older before he'll be able to spend all day in the Mog.

 

[d90boy]

That East Coast Rover doesn't do anything special whatsoever, they're just really good at playing their conversions up on their website. I've done 5 conversions and there's nothing ultra difficult about it.



I've been wanting a mog for quite a while, to make a work truck out of. I thought one of the Case 406 models would be cool. You gotta check out the pics on www.unimogusa.com That U2100 Ag model looks incredible. A friend of mine has 10 or so mogs from U1700s to 50s models to one of the military SEEs. They are very impressive and talk about fun to drive, the 1700 has an exhaust brake even.