Diesel or Gas

[laj]

Originally Posted by NevadaNick

Dollar wise the gas truck is probably the best bet. I bought a dsl pickup because thats what i wanted.

thats the best way to make a decision. buy what you want. no other reason needed.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by grindstone01

I agree with that.
Another benefit of diesel is the exhaust brake and that I can carry a 100 gal aux tank in the truck bed, so getting fuel during most trips is not needed. I would not carry a 100 gal of gas around in a truck bed!!

Why? I went with a 40 gallon that also had a massive tool chest. I like carrying the clunky, dirty stuff in the box and not in the cab. 40 gallons of gas don't scare me nor does 100.

[grindstone01]

]

Originally Posted by kdauto

Why? I went with a 40 gallon that also had a massive tool chest. I like carrying the clunky, dirty stuff in the box and not in the cab. 40 gallons of gas don't scare me nor does 100.

One spark and there will be a different result in gas vs diesel. Also, a fuel tank in the back of a pickup box is not very well protected from a puncture. There is a reason that commercial gas tanker drivers are called suicide jockey's.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by grindstone01

]

One spark and there will be a different result in gas vs diesel. Also, a fuel tank in the back of a pickup box is not very well protected from a puncture. There is a reason that commercial gas tanker drivers are called suicide jockey's.

A spark? Like from what? The tank is all aluminium. There is no fuel pump inside either although that'd be fine too. It is really thick-walled. I tend to avoid drive-by shooting zones although with an aluminium tank all that'd do is create a leak.

The only time a tank is dangerous is when it's empty or almost empty. Fumes need to be close to stoichiometric ratio to ignite anyway.

Puncture? Only thing that could puncture it is if I am a dumbass and load a bunch of shrap pointy things and leave them loose in the box and drive like an idiot. Of course, a meteorite could fall and puncture it, yeah.

[laj]

a suicide jockey is someone carrying dynamite, not gas.

[Skylor]

Originally Posted by kdauto

All I'm saying is any diesel truck I've seen hauling a 10 000 lb+ 5th wheel all seem to get 9 to 11 MPG tops. Lots of people use some fuzzy math and get weird numbers. So much wind resistance on a 12' + 5th wheel or even some tall travel trailers that high MPG ratings are unheard of, I don't care what the tow vehicle is.

Most gassers seem to get 1.5 to 2MPG less on average,same road, same load.

*****That’s not true at all******* I have a 3500 RAM Megacab with a 6.7l Cummins and a lot of my friends have diesels.....Cummins/Duramax mostly. If you get a chip and tune it properly ($300-$600), you can easily get 21mpg+ towing 20,000lbs.


One of my buddies with his RAM tows a 35’ 10,000lb TT and steadily gets 25mpg.

With work, I tow weekly 15,000lbs+ with a big dump trailer and get 22-25mpg. My TT is tiny. It’s only 21’ and 4,000lbs. I get in the mid 20’s mpg with it easily.

[69Stang]

Dang, what did I do with that flag?

[Spdracr39]

Truth is:
Diesels get better mileage, Cost more, have better trade in value, Can pull more, Aren't as loud and obnoxious as they used to be, cost more to service, last longer, and are more expensive to repair.
Gas engines pull well, get crappy mileage, usually pull enough, are still expensive to repair, and are not available in many trucks over 3/4 ton with out special ordering.

End result is as stated somewhere above, buy what you want it will work for what you need if the weight capacities aren't exceeded.

[theoldwizard]

Originally Posted by spdracr39

Truth is:
Diesels get better mileage, Cost more, have better trade in value, Can pull more, Aren't as loud and obnoxious as they used to be, cost more to service, last longer, and are more expensive to repair.
Gas engines pull well, get crappy mileage, usually pull enough, are still expensive to repair, and are not available in many trucks over 3/4 ton with out special ordering.

I agree with ALMOST everything you said except, gas engines are a LOT less expensive to repair compared to diesel ! Never heard of pulling a cab to change a head gasket on a gasoline engine.

The real bottom line is,

• What is your gross combined weight ? Diesels will haul more.
• How many miles per year do you drive ? If you aren't putting OVER 30K a year on the vehicle, you will never recover the initial cost.
• What percentage of those miles is at your gross combined weight. It it is less than 25%, again, you will never recover your initial cost.

It is much too early to tell, but the new Ford gas 7.3L in combination with their new 10 speed transmission could be a "game changer". With 10 speeds, their ratio should have a wide enough spread to keep the engine at near optimal speed, loaded or unloaded.

If you follow the Medium Duty Truck market (which really includes all Class A and most Class C motor homes) the "fleet buyers" are dying to get their hands on this combination

[jjackrash]

Originally Posted by theoldwizard

The real bottom line is,

• What is your gross combined weight ? Diesels will haul more.
• How many miles per year do you drive ? If you aren't putting OVER 30K a year on the vehicle, you will never recover the initial cost.
• What percentage of those miles is at your gross combined weight. It it is less than 25%, again, you will never recover your initial cost.

That's a fine "bottom-line" list if you are a commercial driver, fleet buyer, or on a tightly limited budget. I personally don't need to justify my purchase to any bean counters, so (within reason) I buy the truck I am going to enjoy driving and hauling my toys around the most. I prefer driving a nicely equipped GM diesel over any other gas truck, loaded or unloaded, and I am not all that concerned that it costs a bit more to drive the truck I want to drive. The diesels, IMO, are flat-out more enjoyable trucks to drive.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by Skylor

*****That’s not true at all******* I have a 3500 RAM Megacab with a 6.7l Cummins and a lot of my friends have diesels.....Cummins/Duramax mostly. If you get a chip and tune it properly ($300-$600), you can easily get 21mpg+ towing 20,000lbs.


One of my buddies with his RAM tows a 35’ 10,000lb TT and steadily gets 25mpg.

With work, I tow weekly 15,000lbs+ with a big dump trailer and get 22-25mpg. My TT is tiny. It’s only 21’ and 4,000lbs. I get in the mid 20’s mpg with it easily.

Attachment 267311

I'm glad those mileage figures work for you. Please don't take this personally but I can see no way where those figures hauling those weights are even possible.

Deleting emissions, removing exhaust components will likely up the MPG a slight amount, there's no way you're doubling them.

[Skylor]

Originally Posted by kdauto

I'm glad those mileage figures work for you. Please don't take this personally but I can see no way where those figures hauling those weights are even possible.



Deleting emissions, removing exhaust components will likely up the MPG a slight amount, there's no way you're doubling them.

I have a stock gas tank and I’m averaging 600 miles to a tank. When I fill up it’s usually around 28gal.

[Rhagfo]

Originally Posted by jjackrash

That's a fine "bottom-line" list if you are a commercial driver, fleet buyer, or on a tightly limited budget. I personally don't need to justify my purchase to any bean counters, so (within reason) I buy the truck I am going to enjoy driving and hauling my toys around the most. I prefer driving a nicely equipped GM diesel over any other gas truck, loaded or unloaded, and I am not all that concerned that it costs a bit more to drive the truck I want to drive. The diesels, IMO, are flat-out more enjoyable trucks to drive.

I agree, we bought our 2016 Ram CTD 3500 DRW, not to save money, but for the ease of towing our current 12,500# 5er, and the next 5er in the future that will likely be in the 16,000# range.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by Skylor

I have a stock gas tank and I’m averaging 600 miles to a tank. When I fill up it’s usually around 28gal.

You have a unicorn. I wouldn't be spreading the word too much, some black helicopters could be showing up and your truck will disappear. You know what happened to the guy that invented the 200 MPG carburetor right?