Gas motor future

[rlwithrow]

Looks like the big 3 are coming out with some larger gas motors. Is this going to be a trend in the future? With the cost of a new diesel and the price of fuel, will the big gas truck make a come back for the less than heavy duty service needs for some of the mid sized campers? I have an 8.1 with 54,000 miles and I think it does a great job with my 29 foot 5th wheel!

[jimcumminsw]

You would not be asking this question if you have ever pulled with a DIESEL engine pick-up truck. In fact RAM is now offering a diesel in the 1500 model and Nissan will offer one for 2015MY for their pick-up truck.

Jim W.

[450Donn]

In the rest of the world diesels are the norm. Gas motors are the exception. Mainly because of the far better fuel economy and longevity with a diesel.

[jamesrxx951]

Originally Posted by 450Donn

In the rest of the world diesels are the norm. Gas motors are the exception. Mainly because of the far better fuel economy and longevity with a diesel.

Yes true but the rest of the world does not put emission restrictions on diesels like the US does. Today's diesels you can wrap your lips around the exhaust pipe (little harder on the Ford dual tip set up) and breath better then if you were in a park. This emissions stuff does not come cheap. Hopefully in the near future the prices will come down because diesel is a more efficient way to go. Just cost more.

[Scotter]

Had diesel. Was great at power and was great while it had a full warranty.
After warranty hang on to your socks because every trip to the shop cost a grand or more.
Also did not like sooting up my nice building every time it started.
And the cost of diesel, oh well.
Mileage, not much different.
I will keep my gasser until CNG is made easier.

[Arch Hoagland]

Originally Posted by rlwithrow

Looks like the big 3 are coming out with some larger gas motors. Is this going to be a trend in the future? With the cost of a new diesel and the price of fuel, will the big gas truck make a come back for the less than heavy duty service needs for some of the mid sized campers? I have an 8.1 with 54,000 miles and I think it does a great job with my 29 foot 5th wheel!

I had not heard they were going to build bigger gas engines.

Could you point me to any articles on this subject?

[wardy]

Diesel is the best for reliability. Even aviation is now offering diesels as avgas becomes more regulated until gone. Yes, diesel cost more per gallon but it also contains more energy.

[terry735001]

i all so have a 8.1l and its has all most or little more power then the 320 HP DP motor i had

and for 1 part that costs 1500$ fro a DP motor i can go on Ebay and get a hole 8.1l motor and would cost around 800 to 1200$ low miles

any cost saving you have on fuel on a DP is lost when a repair shows up / tow to shop

us smaller load 26000 lbs guys do it are self type guys that are not trying to show off on the HP games move and stay with ..like the 8.1l or the 454 as the parts are every where and not hard to come by when out on the road

like me i got a 2006 8.1l with only 30.000 miles on it for 750$
then i got a 2004 allison MH 5 speed for 150$ with under 30.000 miles on it

yes i do under stand on ppl with high loads and on the road every day getting up the miles as at that time you can save on the gas over cost

but if you have a DP and your cost for fuel is only 5000 to 6000$ a year then a DP is not for you as the cost fro the DP and then the cost of a tow here and there / repair


then its better to save 80 to 40.000 on the cost of the Rv and running cost and go with a gas er

i am sure i am going to get it fro posting this LOL with the guys that all ways say 100.000 miles here still going strong but to them i say look up a fuel pump or a turbo or manifold then the cost to install it

so i am happy to see a lot lower end RVs coming out as alot of ppl think the cost of this is lower then get in to it and cant stay in it or have lost a lot of money moving down to a smaller rv as the cost is to high

so i am happy to see there still making the 8.1 L and now a 8.8L

[450Donn]

Originally Posted by jamesrxx951

Yes true but the rest of the world does not put emission restrictions on diesels like the US does.

Not totally true. Based on EU standards our current diesels would probably not make it. EU has had DEF for years, We made it mandatory, what two years ago. I do agree that third world countries have no regulations, but they also have the smog to prove it.

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by Scotter

Had diesel. Was great at power and was great while it had a full warranty.
After warranty hang on to your socks because every trip to the shop cost a grand or more.
Also did not like sooting up my nice building every time it started.
And the cost of diesel, oh well.
Mileage, not much different.
I will keep my gasser until CNG is made easier.

I am waiting for a LNG conversion. Working in trucks now but can't leave the fuel in tank very long. Have to have steady use.

[glennwest]

I put over 200,000 on my 2005 GMC dually and never spent a cent on engine other than normal maintenance. It was in as good a shape and power as new also. No way gas will do that especially towing 17,000 lb camper.

[dbear]

My cousin works for local phone company. He said that for the last 2 years now, all the light duty trucks and vans are gas. The diesels would run forever, but the bodies would fall apart after 250k miles. Newer gas engines get that, so going back to gas made more sense from a $$$ standpoint despite that they idle them for extended periods.

I noticed the airport parking shuttle buses changed their fleet from Ford diesels to Ford LNG gas.

Granted neither company is using them in a towing application, but clearly the modern gas engines have enough longevity to be considered viable.

[rlwithrow]

Don't get me wrong because I have driven diesel dump trucks for 8 years and there is nothing like the power of a diesel. There are many of us that don't want to live in a 5th wheel and travel the country after retirement. Many of us just want to hit the weekends with a nice camper or maybe a few weeks out of the year on a longer trip and don't want to spend $120,000.00 on a dually and a Montana. I could easily see about a $12,000.00 difference between a diesel and a new big gasser,, being the nudge towards buying a new truck to do double duty for camping and short trips to work. GM, Ford and Dodge have gassers now in the 6.2 to 6.4 range but the horsepower and torque are still well above the range of highway speeds. I'd like to see a 7+ liter motor with 500 ft. lbs of torque at 2200 rpm maybe with a turbo or super.. Is that too much to ask?

[VanDiemen23]

UPS is moving from diesels to gas. would be interesting to see their take on the economics.