Diesel truck discussion

I'm averaging 13ish MPG pulling a 10k lbs camper and closer to 11 MPG with the equipment trailer.
2017 Ram/Cummins.

 

My Duramax is similar. Although not as good empty and not as bad loaded. I get 17 to 18 empty and 11 or 12 with 12000 on the back.
I think I've come to the conclusion that most guys who can't justify buying a diesel either don't need it, have never run one, or they have run one when they didn't need it. And most guys who run one brand beat on the other two. I've had a dozen or so new vehicles, both gas and diesel, in the last 30 years and one thing is for certain. There is no replacement for a diesel in a heavy duty truck. You can look at horsepower numbers all you want, but when you hook onto a trailer the diesel shines.

 

I'm looking for an old IDI, don't want to pay 300+ to replace 1 injector.
The news ones might be nice but my pocketbook isn't that deep and you shouldn't have to spend several k to have a dependable engine (head studs cough)

 

what tranny?

 

Good points,my current truck is a ‘07 f350 6.0 with 173k, my previous 2 trucks were duramax’s. The 2001 lb7 had the dreaded 96 volt injectors. I had just short of 300k when I traded on my 06 Duramax it has 250k and needs a new Allison. Before that a ‘93 cummins, rebuilt Tran at 280k, sold it in the high 370k’s. Had a ‘89 cummins prior had 250k when I traded for the ‘93.

All these trucks have been good trucks, the each had something that was not the best of the series, year, model, etc. They were good trucks to me, no real complaints to speak of. I kept up with mantainance and repairs. They all got 16-22 empty and 11-15 loaded.

When you need a diesel nothing else will do. When you need 4x4 nothing else will do. I agree that many don’t need a truck or diesel or 4x4. It’s Merica get what you want, don’t use it for what it is, then put up a mint, hardly used 4x4 diesel pickup that they took a huge depreciation on. I am going to want a nice, gentle used truck at some point.

 

upgraded Aisin..........

 

When I saw that early this morning I researched it for hours. Sounds like a beast! A good tranny with a Cummins would be a start. Now just get Fiat out of the equation.

 

A friend of mine owns a tow company. Sold all his diesel Fords and replaced them with V10s. Cheaper truck & maintenance. Fuel is cheaper, but a V10 with 4:88 gears consumes a lot more fuel, I so it's about a wash there.

The biggest advantage? Hes has not had to make a payment on a truck that literally hasn't earned him a dime that month since dropping the Powerstrokes.

 

I have avg. 21.3 on a road trip before, towing I do not usually go far enough to see the difference.

 

So I stand corrected. Ford did not own Cummins (No G.). A 10% stake. Hardly a controlling factor.

I know the comments about diesel not making sense for trucks today due to the additional cost of the motor, the additional cost at the pump, etc. For my VW Jetta TDI diesel has made perfect sense up until recently. Since 2014 I've been tracking my fill ups with the Fuelly.com app on my iPhone. I've tracked over 100k miles for average cost of $0.063/mile. Granted I drive 132 miles roundtrip for work three times a week.

Until recently there were only a handful of cars such as the Toyota Prius that got better milage. Hybrids were not a way I was going to go. The 2019 VW Jetta's get 30 city 40 highway, and real world tests are reporting 43mpg average. Which would put it lower than my $0.063/mile average due to the lower price for gas versus diesel.

 

Interesting way to categorize. I must not need one. I haul about 50 ton of round bales home from the fields a couple times a year, and haul the 18ft gooseneck stock trailer various places several times a year. I’ve done the same jobs with friends’ Dodge and Ford diesels, and loved using them, but simply couldn’t come close to justifying the extra expense for the little I do.
Edit: don’t get me wrong, I’m following this thread with diesel envy!

 

For the Powerstroke crowd more specifically the 6.0’s benefit greatly from Archoil. I use the friction modifier for the engine oil and their fuel additive. My duramax’s did not care about the brand just put something in the tank and it did on for additional fuel mileage. The 6.0 has only responded to Archoil. No idea why, just works. Alaska is on the D1 arctic from September to May. Your mileage may vary.

 

I have 4 diesels right now; 08 LMM dmax 2500, 05 6.0 F350, 05 6.0 F450 and a 2000 7.3 F450. I’ve had a couple other 7.3’s as well in the past. To be honest, they are all money pits.

The dmax has been the best drivetrain wise, but the brakes, paint and towing ability doesn’t match my fords. It’s a nice truck for towing around 8k.

Love the 6.0’s for the power and price. Maintenance and paying attention to your gauges goes a long ways with a 6.0, but you have to be anal about what parts you’re using. OEM filters only, ELC coolant, expensive oil with friction modifiers in it, etc. You will bite your azz using cheap parts or not doing things the right way. They are easily the best value when talking about used diesels though. Calipers seize up way too often, but the brakes are strong and the transmissions are stout. Tow haul mode works great and the suspension is built to haul. To be honest though, my F350 is broken (won’t build proper boost, nor tooend power) and we can’t figure out why after doing a lot of work. So some of the worries with the 6.0 are valid, but most of the problems are associated with the lack of care from the owner and lack of knowledgeable mechanics.

My 7.3’s get the job done, but a late model 5.4 will pull just as good and not give you all the headaches a 7.3 will (sensors, oil pans, oil coolers, injectors, injector harnesses, fuel bowl leaks, oil pedestal leaks, glow plugs and relays, etc). Plus the transmissions aren’t that strong. I’ve done a lot to my 7.3’s, so don’t expect them to be bulletproof. The current one I have is a little over 200k miles and has low compression across the board. It’s an F450 dump truck, so it’s usually always hauling something, but I’d hope for a little more longevity. I drove a Mack dump truck that had over 800k and the valve covers had never been off it. Didn’t use oil either.

I haven’t tried a Cummins, but a late model 5.9 isn’t too bad. I have 2 friends with 2003’s. One has a chip and a built tranny, it runs good. The other one is stock and a turd performance wise, feels like driving a 7.3. I’d love to try a 4500/5500 dump truck, but there aren’t many out there and/or way over priced.

As for new trucks, the 6.7 ford is solid and the body shouldn’t rust out. The Cummins seems alright, but lots of little problems from the guys I talk to. The duramax runs strong, but they have issues and the L5P can not be tuned. GM has the computer locked up tight, so you’re stuck with a stock truck and will be responsible with maintaining the emissions system if it were to fail, which can be pricey.

I’m gonna think long and hard about a gas truck for my next rig, but a diesel is awesome when you hook a trailer up.

 

Don't forget the cummins only has 6 rods and the others have. With 6 rods doing the same work as 8 they better be big.

 

They sold their share several years ago.

 

I think the new F-150 diesel is getting low 20's and the Ram ecodiesel gets 1mpg more. You can check on fuelly.com

 

Now the trans will only last 20k miles instead of 30k.

 

I get the American Towman magazine. It is way cheaper to get a gas wrecker or rollback. If I bought a truck like that, to actually make money with I would go with a gasser. My neighbor works as a mechanic for a bread company. They have all gas bread trucks now, 6.0 Chevy. He said they get 300k out of them. UPS is here now has some gas trucks. I can tell by the manifold it is an LS in it, probably a 6.0. The UPS guy hammers on that thing. He also throws it it park while still moving in reverse. I need to have a camera setup to catch that Our county is now buying gas powered school buses. Most companies are going away from diesel to a gas engine because the gas engine is cheaper to operate. I would not be surprised if we did not see some gas powered semi trucks again. Ford is putting the V-10 in the medium duty 650 and 750.