Why Diesel???

[RobertN]

Why diesel?

I needed a 3/4 ton to haul a large camper. As long as I needed a 3/4 ton...

When I bought my '01 RAM, diesel was cheaper than gas. My previous Ford F250 gasser got 10mpg empty, and was comparably equipped to my Dodge. 16mpg vs 10mpg, the diesel got the vote, especially for the power and mileage. I looked at other bigblocks available at the time; still low mileage for the power in a comparably equiped truck

The diesel also made power at a nicer rpm. Gas engines can pull very strong, but you're going to rev them up, and really sacrifice mileage.

If I were in the same position now, I may rethink it. Diesels are even more expensive options now. I do not need that power as often any more. And... Gas has been running 30-50 cents cheaper a gallon around here for a while...

I can also relate this from being around fire engines for a while. I knew a guy who picked up a late 50's American LaFrance with a gas engine. Ran good, pumped good, but got 2mpg. He sold it, got a little later one with a Detriot diesel that got about 8mpg. The gasser was also huge.

 

[crbr]

They may approach big rigs in HP, but torque? the 8.9L Cummins in the Fire Engine at our station is 350HP, but over 1200ft/lbs torque. That's 2X the torque of the current motors in the "big-3" diesel pickups.

That would be, without a doubt, correct. Pick-up trucks are light duty. Period. And that would be relative to anyone's way of thinking.

Same as these small tractors with huge expectations and resulting problems.

It's a wish and a let down to think otherwise with light duty engines in light duty vehicle trucks. Big trucks to pick-ups = apples to oranges.

I use a diesel burner for the torque to tow through the hills here in East TN without gas-lugging. Torque. Done deal.

It's a diesel thing. Some get it, some don't. In either case, please don't be offended.

$0.02

 

[jcmseven]

crbr and others:

I am not offended personally at all. I like my diesel and will likely keep it for hopefully many years to come. My main question revolved around these Toyota ads and the testing that showed the Toyota to be the quickest accelerating with and without a load. That said I know my diesel will out climb any gasser when loaded and the torque is certainly there, but I do not like the fact the gasoline powered trucks are starting to infringe on diesel territory. Also, I realize that the big rig diesels generally make over 1000 pound feet of torque, but a few Dodge tuners out there HAVE achieved that number, and yes, in a pickup truck. My 7.3L Ford dynoed at 765 pound feet and 352 rear wheel horsepower before I let it go. True these trucks do not make big rig torque, but they all make more hp and torque than most diesels used to and are a far cry ahead of the light duty diesels of yore.

John M

 

[crbr]

crbr and others:

I am not offended personally at all. I like my diesel and will likely keep it for hopefully many years to come. My main question revolved around these Toyota ads and the testing that showed the Toyota to be the quickest accelerating with and without a load. That said I know my diesel will out climb any gasser when loaded and the torque is certainly there, but I do not like the fact the gasoline powered trucks are starting to infringe on diesel territory. Also, I realize that the big rig diesels generally make over 1000 pound feet of torque, but a few Dodge tuners out there HAVE achieved that number, and yes, in a pickup truck. My 7.3L Ford dynoed at 765 pound feet and 352 rear wheel horsepower before I let it go. True these trucks do not make big rig torque, but they all make more hp and torque than most diesels used to and are a far cry ahead of the light duty diesels of yore.

John M

Yes Sir, I understand your point. Just having a little fun with the forum. But that's just me...

Tuners present other problems. They serve a purpose but with that comes other issues for another forum all together. KennedyDiesel knows that.

I am perfectly pleased with my stock 07 GM LBZ engine at 360 / 650.

Gassers want in on the marketable action, and utilize the (initially) uninformed as their market target. That and a lesser price tag. There comes a point to where if one reallly has to ask how much one costs, they don't need to consider that market genre. Diesels are like anything else, in that they have their own product costs in all areas. Gassers want both worlds and present it in a way of playing on the arm-chair quarterback (no offense intended to anyone).

Hook them up bumper to bumper in opposite directions.

 

[KeithT]

I think the Tundra is a great truck, my problem with it is the payload capacity. If you connect a 10,000# trailer at least 10% should be on the tongue. What is the GVWR on the new tundra and what do they weigh? If I remember correctly the payload capacity is around 1500#.

I bought my Chevy 2500 HD mainly for this reason and i got the Duramax because I like diesels. I am sure the 8.1 available at the time would do the job for me too.

 

[cp1969]

John Bud brings up some excellent points.
Not to mention the fuel itself. The properties of gasoline vs diesel must be weighed against the cost fuel & mileage. 1 gram of diesel will produce considerably more btu power than a gram of gasoline...

There is an advantage for diesel in the way we buy it, but not at the gram level. Grams are a unit of mass (or weight) and diesel and gasoline have about the same amount of energy per unit weight (about 120,000 BTU/lb). If you'd have said 'gallon' instead of gram, you'd be correct. The advantage is we buy fuel by volume (gallon) but burn it by weight (pound) which accounts for about 14% of their 30% advantage diesels offer over gas engines in fuel economy.

If they ever start selling fuel by the pound or energy content, that advantage goes away.

 

[wushaw]

I recently test drove a Tundra with my girlfriend...she is wanting something other than the 4.7 Ford she has now, we drove the 5.7 and floor shift, If I were buying a 1/2 ton today it would be the Tundra, it has the power and braking preformance unlike any stock 1/2 ton I have ever driven.

I like all my diesel motors I have...four to be exact ranging from 15hp to 425.
Tractors, lawnmower and truck.

As far as pulling heavy loads it's hard to beat a diesel.

Diesel for a job commuter there is always the VW diesel that gets something like 50mpg.
The only gas motor that can do that is the hybrid and there is no gas motor that can compete for the big rig market.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Why a diesel?

Because it sounds like THIS (my truck btw ):

YouTube - New Straight Pipe Video!

 

[Z-Michigan]

I recently test drove a Tundra with my girlfriend...she is wanting something other than the 4.7 Ford she has now, we drove the 5.7 and floor shift, If I were buying a 1/2 ton today it would be the Tundra, it has the power and braking preformance unlike any stock 1/2 ton I have ever driven.

Getting slightly off topic, drive a Chevy Silverado 2007 or 2008 model before you decide on a Tundra. The improvement is amazing.

 

[npaden]

We went through this when purchasing our 2005 Chevy Silverado Z71. To upgrade to the 2500 HD 4X4 with the duramax and allison transmission was a $9,000 option by itself but when it was all said and done we were looking at a net purchase price of close to $12,000 more with the HD options, towing packages, etc.

Our pickup pulls our 7,000lb trailer loaded to capacity fine and will pull it at 75 mph if you can stand to listen to it revving in 3rd gear, but we just couldn't justify the extra money for the diesel. Mathmatically it wouldn't pay for itself without being used to pull a heavy trailer several times a week and we probably pull a heavy trailer every other month.

I would love to have the diesel, but just couldn't justify it.