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Diesel Pickup

J

john in la

Well-known Member
Location
What part of in La do you not understand
With oil down in the $46 range gasoline has been coming down. I noticed a station today where gasoline was $1.73 and Road Diesel was $3.00 a gallon.

Makes one wonder..............

If these guys that bought a diesel pickup a while back for a keep up with the jones status symbol are regretting their choice now.

Somebody somewhere along the line is making a killing on diesel fuel prices right now.
 
Same here. I tow a trailer load often so I went for the mpg loaded. From what I have seen, the gas truck mileage drops more than a diesel when it is loaded like mine. The diesel will use the torque to move up the hills better.
 
I left gas powered pickups in 01 after buying a gm 6.0 engine. Have had 7 powerstrokes since 7.3s, 6.0s and 3 of the newest 6.7s. Yes diesel trucks are expensive to purchase and maintance is more expensive, however the resale on good used diesel trucks is unbelievable even those with very high miles.
Diesels certainly aren't for everyone, but if you have the need their worth every penny.
 
I read this post and had to come back to it and reply. I loved big block Fords in my Towing truck, until I bought a 7.3 diesel. When it comes to brute power you can not compare gas to diesel. With that being said, its a shame that we have been taking the massive screwing on fuel, both gas and diesel, that is up until now. I could care less what happens to wallstreet in the same fashion that they cared about me when I saw my life's savings and investments go down the crapper! I hope that they have to wash your windows and give candy to the kids [like it was in the sixties] to get you to buy a gallon of fuel! Ya, my big truck is parked until I need it and I am driving my gasser. By the way since fuel has gotten cheaper, I know that groceries, tires and shipping and handling will get cheaper.....You think?
 
I have only diesel pickup trucks(5 of them),i bought them all used at one time or an other and at less than 4.5 grand each they're cheap.
Even with diesel prices what they were at $1.20 ltr i am money ahead but then i pack only maybe 30 k/year on all of them combined.
To me it don't make sense parking the diesels (which are paid for) and than shelling out an x amount of money for a gas job for me and one for the wife so we can drive a bit cheaper on gas.
The whole fuel price game can change on a moment notice anyway.
I ain't complaining.
 
I bought my 2000 7.3 diesel f250 used in 2004, fuel then was $1.73 a gallon, now it's $3.09 a gallon. I did tow a trailer 5 days a week. Truck has 194,000 miles on it, only thing iv done to it were a water pump, and altnator. Besides batteries, oil and filter changes, ect. I don't regret buying a diesel pickup. I think the guys that don't own one and don't know anything about owning one seem to like to knock them. For what I do with my truck and how problem free it's been I don't regret the decision and you couldn't pay me to go back to a gas truck.
 
Diesels certainly aren't for everyone, but if you have the need their worth every penny

And that is the key words.
I can agree that nothing beats a diesel if you tow a large trailer.

But I know several people; mostly city dwellers; that own a diesel pickup and have never had a ball mount in the receiver; or the biggest thing they pull is a boat.

Thing that made me think about it was a guy at work complaining about the price of diesel.
Only trailer he has is a boat and it is small enough you could pull it with a bumper mounted ball.
 
(quoted from post at 19:25:18 01/15/15) I trade [b:ec77f7e3a0]PowerStrokes [/b:ec77f7e3a0]every couple of years just to pizz people off. :>)

Allan
Click to expand...
feel you, ye shoulda bought a GM,... i still drive the first one i bought used in 96..its got over 700 k km on it now.
 
I wondered when someone would mention that last part about groceries, tires, etc. Funny that the were quick to raise everything blaming it on fuel, but no mention now when fuel goes down. Much like real estate taxes when the real estate market dropped through the floor......but my taxes sure never went down accordingly. go figure.
 
RON,
No worries the New congress wants to raise the fuel tax NOW as the fuel prices are down !!!
GOOD IDEA
NOT
My gosh,as soon as the average AMERICAN can barely survive they(both parties) figure how to keep us underground!!!!!!!!
 
John.......ittza ol' price'n'demand thingy. Whats the TEMPERATURE rite now? And the difference between heating oil and diesel is??? COLOR. While I bought a 95 Dodge Cummins Diesel, I bought it 'cuz I HAUL trailers. I typically gitt about 22mpg runnin' empty. My other semi-retired vehicles are Volkswagen Rabbit pick'em-ups which got me about 40-45 mpg. I suppose I need to gitt'em runnin'. Diesel grows moss when it sets a long time. I quit drivin' in 1998 when I retired from BOEING, a 60-mi commute to my sheep ranch at the foot of 14K Mt Rainier. .......diesel Dell
 
I will stick with my dodge gas trucks, they get similar mileage to a diesel, and matimence is a fraction of a diesel not to mention how much more a diesel is over a gas new. When pulling I can afford a little extra fuel, and the gas with the right gears will pull anything you wanna pull behind a pickup. I have three gas dodge trucks, a old 360, a 6.4 hemi and a 8.3 viper motor in a srt10
 
Wouldn't trade my 1993 Cummins dually for any pickup I've seen 280,000 miles never had to add oil between changes 17mpg city up to 24 Freeway
daily driver till I retired last March service Trans twice one radiator 3 batteries brakes and tires still better driver and more mileage than buddies new eco-boost.
 
I would like to see some comparisons on direct injection gasoline to diesel engines. They should perform similar.

Anyone with experiences?
 
I have owned 1 ton trucks cense 1982 and the biggest thing I could say about all those trucks is this, They all sucked gas! I never had one get over 14 mpg in the summer and 9 to 10 mpg in the winter. That being said my first diesel was a 96 7.3 Powerstroke that I bought in 2011 with 84.000 miles on it. Now it took 6 months to get the bugs worked out of it but once I did it gets 21 mpg in the summer and 16 to 18 in the winter. Better fuel mileage more power so what more can you ask for? I do wish they would quit jacking us around on fuel prices as it is a joke now. I don't know if I will ever own another diesel on not but for now I will enjoy the one I have. Bandit
 
I had a 90 f250 diesel for many years when the fuel prices were close. When it rusted away, I replaced it with an 01 gasser as my daily driving changed to less than 10 miles per day unless on service calls. With the gasser getting 13 mpg and the diesel getting 17 mpg, I would be able to pay more for diesel and still be ahead to a certain point. I am really disappointed that the diesel got better mpg with a loaded 14k gooseneck trailer than the gas gets empty. I would go back to a "pre-technology" diesel if I could find one.
 
95 cummins12 valve here ,,. best dodge ever.. diesel will get cheap after winter is over ,, home heating oil ,and diesel to jet fuel conversion causes hi prices ,, as to the dum statement about guys buying to be macho,, maybe in your little yupi dippyty-doodo suburb neighborhood ... but out here on the farm, I choose to own a diesel BECAUSE , I need , ,most of all power , dependability , versatility , power RELIABILITY , SIMPLICITY , POWER, and long lasting power ,and, economy is a major factor ,, too ,, mile for mile , year after year , load after load , trip after trip ,you just cant beat a cummins 12 valve diesel
 
Well I have 2 F350's one is a 95 5.8 gas auto 4.11 gears and a 96 7.3 diesel auto 4.11 gears. The 95 I bought new the 96 I bought used in 2011 with 84.000 miles on it. The 95 new got 18 mpg on the road new and about 13 around town, After 30.000 miles it went down to 14 mpg in the summer and 10 mpg in the winter and would not get any better no matter what I tried. The diesel on the other hand is 21 mpg summer and 16 to 18 mpg in the winter. Funny thing is both trucks were built on the same line 1 month apart and the 95 was built after the 96 was, So the 96 is a month older than the 95 go figure. So I guess that's about as close as you can get to compare the 2 trucks gas vs diesel. Bandit
 
my 97 Dodge still gets about twice the mileage as anyone I know here with a gasser, even pulling my 5th wheel fully loaded and in wind I get 12 mpg running 75, running empty 18-24 in city/hi-way with a trailer, and it will Pull,,, am I upset No Way! I know the newer dsls do not get the mileage the 12 valve engine get but compare apples to apples, the dsls will out pull the gassers when they are loaded and really working and for the most part on less fuel if you use your truck to get grocery's then why would you want a dsl? I use mine for working I am very happy with mine and when I do decide to get another when this one needs replacing I will get another dsl, but that may be a while as mine only has 160,000 on it now and runs as good as when new, I am betting she will run 400,000 or more before the time to trade is near,, and I may not live that long lol
cnt
 
Just pulled 25000 gvw on a 4 hour trip mixed hwy and Fwy miles 13 mpg at 70 mph . If I didn't know how to work on diesels I don't know if I would own one because shops are outrageous on maintenance and repairs 70 bucks to change a fuel filterbut since I do all the work myself it's not too bad
 
The 1999 Ford 7.3 diesel I have on the farm gets around 14 MPG pulling and hauling replaced the GMC 454 that got around 7 MPG.and the Ford would blow by the GMC.It has 150,000+ miles with no mechanical issues other then oil changes,brakes 1 time etc.Plus its a smooth ride.
 
(quoted from post at 20:42:43 01/15/15) RON,
No worries the New congress wants to raise the fuel tax NOW as the fuel prices are down !!!
GOOD IDEA
NOT
My gosh,as soon as the average AMERICAN can barely survive they(both parties) figure how to keep us underground!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Wait, I thought the team that's in charge now was about smaller government, slashing spending and cutting taxes?

You mean that one side is no different from the other? GASP!
 
I've been thinking the same. I hear some wild claims about diesel fuel mileage but I've never experienced them.

My 1994 F250 Ex-cab, 4WD, 7.3 turbo-diesel gets a best of 17 MPG on a flat highway when empty. 4.1- axles and E40D overdrive auto trans. 13-14 stop-and-go driving.

My 1992 Dodge W250, Ex-cab, 4WD, 5.9 turbo-intercooled Cummins 5.9, 3.50 axles and 5 speed Getrag 5 speed manual (with OD) gets a best of 20 MPG on a flat highway. 15-16 stop-and-go.
driving.

My neighbor's 2003 Chevy Duramax with the Isuzu-Durmax diesel and Allison trans gets a best of 16 MPG on a flat highway run.

My 1988 GMC Suburban with a 6.2 diesel, 3.73 axles, 4WD, and TH400 auto trans (no lockup or OD) gets 17 MPG on a flat highway and 13 MPG "around town."

My 1986 Chevy K5 Blazer with 4WD, 6.2 diesel, 3.08 axles, and 4L60 autot trans (OD and lockup) gets 20 MPG on a flat highway and 16 MPG "around town."

My 1985 Iszuu mini-truck with 4WD, four speed stick and 2.2 diesel gets 27-28 MPG highway or empty. Seems to get the same not matter what I do and top speed is around 65 MPH (which it never sees)l

My 1991 VW Jetta with a 5 speed stick and 1.6 diesel gets 48 MPG on the highway and 38 MPG "around town."

I'm using a 1995 Ford F150 4WD right now with a 300 straight-six. E40D trans. Gets 17 and sometimes 18 MPG on a flat highway run. Cheaper to drive then ANY of my full-size diesels.

I also just met a lady with a newe 2015 Chevy Cruze diesel. It gets 46 MPG highway and 33 MPG "around town." The gas version is cheaper to buy and cheaper to buy. Gas version gets 42 MPG highway and 33 MPG "around town." So right now - the diesel costs $6.28 to drive 100 miles on the highway. The gas version costs $4.69 to drive the same 100 miles.
 
I forgot to add we have Hills out here in Wyoming,, some times a uphill pull for miles, my buddy from MI came here and said he had no idea what hills were until the trip here, and for what its worth the tractors I carry weigh up to 20,000 alone and still the truck gets that mileage lol
cnt
a179473.jpg

a179477.jpg
 
My 6.4 hemi gets about the same as my 5.7 hemi did, 17 unloaded, 9-10 loaded, a new diesel won't do much better.
 
I keep reading "my wonderful 1990,1995, 2000 or 2005 diesel pickup. Those trucks 2005 and older are rusted through , even the 2000 trucks are rotten even if oiled. They are worn out and done for.
Last time I checked the calendar it was 2015 with more expensive diesel fuel, a $11,000 diesel option and 2015 emissions equipment.
If anybody hasn't noticed the glory days of the diesel pickup from 1989 to 2007 when the diesel was far superior , are long gone. In fact diesel advantages were declining in the 2000's when electronic controlled injection pumps and common rail injection was introduced.
You can thank the tofu eating green weenies in the EPA who can't stand the sight of a diesel stack blowing black soot under load. If the EPA had thier wish the public would have only electric vehicles.
If anybody hasn't noticed recently. Gassers don't have points, carburators, choke, heat rider valves and non lockup automatic transmissions. Quit living in the 1980's or earlier.
Pickup Gassers with port injection and now direct injection rival diesels in power, torque and fuel efficiency at a fraction of the cost and maintenance .
 
(reply to post at 09:08:19 01/16/15)
Click to expand...

Hey b&d you can get down off your soap box now. Have you given any thought to the fact if you spent more time getting your "wife's honey do list" completed and less time on your "soap boxes" that your wife might let you buy that new MFWD cab tractor for snow removal that you once dreamed about!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :wink: :lol:
 
Our '13 2500 Silverado sure isn't doing better than any diesel, though I know of some diesels that are only doing as well as it. At 14mpg empty in the summer, with a featherlght touch and 8-9 mpg towing, it's worse than the '94 with 5.7 that it replaced. Sure it's got lots of power, way quicker than the '94 and will give a diesel a run, but we didn't buy it to race, just to get the job done. It's pretty disappointing that after 20yrs time, that's the best they can do. MK
 
I beg your pardon, my truck has ZERO rust! I do not live in the rust belt, Think before you type, this is a great forum other than things like this,,, I happen to Love my truck and do not need to run out and buy a new one to keep up with the "Jones"
cnt
 
My 1994 F250 7.3 diesel is spotless. I.e. no
rust. Has 260,000 miles on it and runs like
new. Came from Arizona and here in northern
Michigan - I refuse to drive it in the winter
and expose it to road salt.

The 1995 Ford F150 I'm driving now is also
spotless with zero rust. It's primary use
since new has been to plow our mile and a half
long private road in the winter. No road salt.
Has a 300 six and gets pretty much exactly the
same fuel mileage when empty at my diesel F250.
This gasser is certainly cheaper to drive.
 
My first Ford truck with a diesel was my 1985 F250 4WD Ex-cab. Had a 6.9 International Harvester diesel, 4.10 axles, and a C6 three-speed auto trans. Best it ever got was 13.5 MPG empty and "around town" 9-11 MPG. A very rugged truck but a dog on fuel mileage. It was OK when diesel was cheaper then gas.
 
I think you are making a generalization that is unreal. There is a place for a Diesel and a place for a gasoline engine. I do believe the gap is closing due to turbos and direct gasoline injection. The new Diesels with DEF and turbos have much better power and economy than the earlier ones.
 

Hey b&d you can get down off your soap box now. Have you given any thought to the fact if you spent more time getting your "wife's honey do list" completed and less time on your "soap boxes" that your wife might let you buy that new MFWD cab tractor for snow removal that you once dreamed about!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :wink: :lol:[/quote]

Let me go and check what she says and I'll get back to you on that .
 
(quoted from post at 10:46:01 01/16/15) I beg your pardon, my truck has ZERO rust! I do not live in the rust belt, Think before you type, this is a great forum other than things like this,,, I happen to Love my truck and do not need to run out and buy a new one to keep up with the "Jones"
cnt
Click to expand...

I was talking about the typical driver, not the exception. Btw how much cheaper is the diesel fuel for that 20yr old truck than diesel is for a new truck?
 
I bought a diesel truck not to keep up with the Jones, but to pull my trailer. At the time and for a good week or two after that diesel was priced below gas.
;-)
 
I bought a diesel pickup because it will pull my 14K# trailer and get 14 MPG on the highway while keeping up with traffic (within reason). The truck is an 03, has 112K on it and I plan on running it until it literally rusts apart. A gas truck would do it too, put the big block would be screaming on the hills and suck gas to the tune of 7-8 mpg.
 
(quoted from post at 10:24:15 01/16/15) I bought a diesel pickup because it will pull my 14K# trailer and get 14 MPG on the highway while keeping up with traffic (within reason). The truck is an 03, has 112K on it and I plan on running it until it literally rusts apart. A gas truck would do it too, put the big block would be screaming on the hills and suck gas to the tune of 7-8 mpg.
Click to expand...

Same here...
 
I guess my Dads depression era experiences still work in my reckoning. I have a 1998 GM 2500, 2WD diesel pickup. It has 350,000 km on it. Rusty-Yes, worn- please define. Everything works, Power windows, powerlocks,cruise,air (like I need that right now!) I gave $4000 for it six years back, have spent $2000-$2500 in repairs (brakes all around, glow plugs,batteries, just like you would on a 5 yr old truck)AND it has been to Timmins,Ont and Algonquin park on two different camping trips this year. $700 to $1000+ a month on vehicle payments? Not a chance! My Dad haunts me enough as it is LOL!
 
Thank you for recognizing my diesel truck as a "status symbol"; at my somewhat advanced age, I feared I would die without being acknowledged as a peer of the Joneses, a goal which I've let guide ALL efforts and decisions in my life. I'll RIP now!
BTW-NO regrets and thanks again.
 
I have a 2000 Ford F-350 diesel. It has 225,000 miles and works perfectly. Come to Minnesota, the heart of the rust belt, take a look and see if you can find any rust. I had a 2000 F350 V-10 for about a month. I took one trip of 15 miles with my tandem axel dually trailer and sold it. I know some of it is gearing but what a total gutless wonder. My diesel has all of the Banks upgrades and we load it down to 30,000 plus GVW, set the cruse on 70 mph, go 1,000 miles and it never shifts. If you are going to haul very heavy, I still think you need a diesel. Our next step is a semi. I don't think we will find a gas one so we will stick with diesel.
 
I have had many gas powered pickups and now have a 99 Dodge 2500 diesel. Love the truck. Have hauled many things on the trailer and bought the truck for the hauling ability of a diesel. I will never use a gas burner for hauling again.

Galen et all, there is a local interstate trucking company that I deliver to, I am a local truck driver here in Tacoma, that is starting to buy LNG powered otr trucks. The base engine is a cummins ISX that has had the head drilled for spark plugs. So the old stand by of the mechanics telling the driver to bring the truck in for a spark plug change is now no joke.

Leonard
 
Ford Egoboost vs Cummins, powerjoke, duramax.
Egoboost gets pretty good mileage empty. But with the power curve not coming in til waaaayyyy up there in RPM, you don't want to tow with it.
 
I wouldnt hold my breath.Just been getting new seed and tree catalogs and the price of dwarf fruit trees and standards in some catalogs is unbelieveable!
 
All of the pickups ive ever owned seemed to get the same mileage city or highway from my calculations.16 mpg. I got a paid for dodge dakota 1993 sport 2wd 3.9 automatic..Of course it is the short bed.It's on its second engine and tranny. Pull a trailor, get a new transmission! lol I am liking this truck more and more all of the time. Especially from the price of the new ones and space in the cab. The newer style with the tilt wheel i'd been jonesing for has less space than my 93. Getting rust thru around the wheel fenders.THough I'd rather have something newer with tilt,electric windows,club cab ,8'bed preferably stepside which they quit making,4wdand heavy enough suspension to pull a bumper hitch trailor Looks like unless i can get my old Ih running and roadworthy soon i am going to have to find a bigger truck . Now that i am retired(disability) i know my dream truck is going to be used at best.The trucks i've seen on the used car lots are either priced waaaay too high or they look good till you see the holes in the bed from rust.I'm not much of a mechanic so i need to be able to find someone who can work on what ive got and is honest. I just read on one of the forums how Ford is dropping parts for their older pick ups.I was a chevy guy thru 3 pickups but got tired of hanging doors and carrier bearings going out.Plus I've had the fuel pump go out in a few vehicles.Seeing the pumps with their bare wires in the gas tank doesnt seem the brightest idea and was going to buy a ford because of the things that go out most often are in the engine compartment and easy to get too. Not anymore.No answers here! lol
 
(quoted from post at 06:07:56 01/17/15) Ford Egoboost vs Cummins, powerjoke, duramax.
Egoboost gets pretty good mileage empty. But with the power curve not coming in til waaaayyyy up there in RPM, you don't want to tow with it.
Click to expand...

Curious what you mean by this, it differs from what I've read, I've heard it described as having "diesel-like" performance, performing well while towing. Looking at the numbers, torque rating is 420 lb-ft @ 2,500 rpm and 90% of that is available from 1700 to 5000 rpm. HP is 365 at 5000 rpm. Looking at a dyno chart, guessing about 200HP or so at 3000 rpm (I'm guessing at the wheels?). From memory, I think the '94 'strokes had around 420 lb-ft or so max at least on the early ones, and something like 200+ HP maybe (I didn't look them up)? They towed decent, not inline 6 decent, but decent. I don't have one, but I have been considering one, never been around one, just what I read in the numbers and on other forums with people talking about them, so don't know much.

I don't have a diesel pickup, I hire all of my hauling done, so I get by with a 1/2 ton. I could really use one though, would be much handier, I know it would cost more, but could be justified. I have neighbors that haul with semis for cattle, other neighbors that have hay companies with trucks etc. so I have them haul that in. And another neighbor that has a triple axle livestock trailer that I hire for smaller loads (he has hauled over 20,000lbs for me in that trailer, so not ~that small of loads for a pickup). He has a Ram 3500 Dually Cummins, fairly new, don't know if it's a '12 or a '13. Most of the neighbors have a diesel pickup, the last few years, more Rams are turning up, used to be more Fords. Despite people saying Rams fall apart, these survive fine out here, in pastures and being worked, and they like them. Not many gas pickups around for pulling.
 
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