jcmseven
Veteran Member
Fellow Posters:
I was in one of my rare objective moods today and pondered this thought for those that own and use pickup trucks daily. I am not speaking of those who use medium or heavy duty trucks, but rather those of us who might be using a 3/4 ton or one ton truck and doing so heavy towing, etc., but mainly also use our trucks as daily drivers and haulers, but perhaps do not tow daily. Is the diesel worth it??? Why would a diesel have an advantage here??? My question is sparked by going with my friend today to test drive a Toyota Tundra. I must say for a half ton truck, it was a really nice vehicle. There were some aspects about the trimwork, etc., I did not like that much, but for driveability and performance, it seemed really top notch. This made me research "why diesel???" This past April I bought a 2008 King Ranch diesel Ford. It retailed at the time for nearly $60,000. My friend, so thereafter, bought a GMC Duramax LTZ, retailing for over $53,000. We both have been most-satisfied with our trucks. I have assorted friends who have purchased or looked at Dodges, all of which were slightly north or south of $50,000. The Toyota, fully spec'd was: $41,000 and was selling for $34,000 with rebates. My Ford gets about 17 mpg on highway empty and about 12 towing my roughly 9000 pound load; my friend's GMC, roughly the same. The Toyota was rated for 14 and 18 for MPG and has a rated towing capacity only 2500 pounds less than mine and my friend's truck. I have always though I was buying diesel in part due to resale and in part, longevity but is this really true?? My dad is kindly letting me borrow his 2001 F150 two wheel drive truck to run short errands in a drive to work right now. It has 206,500 miles on it and literally--aside from some creaks in the door facings, runs like new. Burns no oil and gets over 18 on the highway. With the new particulate filters, can we say for sure the diesel now outlives a solid gasoline engine??? Is the fuel economy really that much better?? Is it at all?? I recently looked at an article which tested examples of the "Big Three in diesel and gasoline models--most in 3/4 configuration, and half ton. The Toyota was included in half ton. The summary is that the diesels all performed similarly, with the Chevy accelerated both empty and loaded slightly quicker than the Ford or Dodge, but all three were very close. The Ford V10 blew away the gas powered field in the 3/4 size, and came VERY close to matching both the empty and loaded performance of the diesels, despite making only 462 pound feet of torque, v. all the diesels' 650++. In the half ton, the Toyota walked over the field and was actually the fastest overall even pulling a 10,300 pound load, which is--in essence--its max towing. It also turned in by a slim margin, the best fuel economy in the test of both diesels and gas engines. This prompted me to say, "Are all we diesel pickup owners wasting our money buying diesels?" Why is it that a half ton truck with "only" 401 pound feet of torque can run away, both empty and loaded from three diesels, each making over 650 pound feet of torque and with very good transmissions/axle ratios. Why is it that a V10 Ford gas engine can nearly match the performance of all three diesels, while making 362 hp and in the mid 400's in torque, while carrying a similar chassis weight?? Inquiring minds want to know. Please do not misunderstand me, I love my diesel and my good friend would fight the devil himself for his truck, but are we really getting an advantage in buying diesel, especially with fuel costs as they are?? I was curious to hear from the group on this one.
John M
I was in one of my rare objective moods today and pondered this thought for those that own and use pickup trucks daily. I am not speaking of those who use medium or heavy duty trucks, but rather those of us who might be using a 3/4 ton or one ton truck and doing so heavy towing, etc., but mainly also use our trucks as daily drivers and haulers, but perhaps do not tow daily. Is the diesel worth it??? Why would a diesel have an advantage here??? My question is sparked by going with my friend today to test drive a Toyota Tundra. I must say for a half ton truck, it was a really nice vehicle. There were some aspects about the trimwork, etc., I did not like that much, but for driveability and performance, it seemed really top notch. This made me research "why diesel???" This past April I bought a 2008 King Ranch diesel Ford. It retailed at the time for nearly $60,000. My friend, so thereafter, bought a GMC Duramax LTZ, retailing for over $53,000. We both have been most-satisfied with our trucks. I have assorted friends who have purchased or looked at Dodges, all of which were slightly north or south of $50,000. The Toyota, fully spec'd was: $41,000 and was selling for $34,000 with rebates. My Ford gets about 17 mpg on highway empty and about 12 towing my roughly 9000 pound load; my friend's GMC, roughly the same. The Toyota was rated for 14 and 18 for MPG and has a rated towing capacity only 2500 pounds less than mine and my friend's truck. I have always though I was buying diesel in part due to resale and in part, longevity but is this really true?? My dad is kindly letting me borrow his 2001 F150 two wheel drive truck to run short errands in a drive to work right now. It has 206,500 miles on it and literally--aside from some creaks in the door facings, runs like new. Burns no oil and gets over 18 on the highway. With the new particulate filters, can we say for sure the diesel now outlives a solid gasoline engine??? Is the fuel economy really that much better?? Is it at all?? I recently looked at an article which tested examples of the "Big Three in diesel and gasoline models--most in 3/4 configuration, and half ton. The Toyota was included in half ton. The summary is that the diesels all performed similarly, with the Chevy accelerated both empty and loaded slightly quicker than the Ford or Dodge, but all three were very close. The Ford V10 blew away the gas powered field in the 3/4 size, and came VERY close to matching both the empty and loaded performance of the diesels, despite making only 462 pound feet of torque, v. all the diesels' 650++. In the half ton, the Toyota walked over the field and was actually the fastest overall even pulling a 10,300 pound load, which is--in essence--its max towing. It also turned in by a slim margin, the best fuel economy in the test of both diesels and gas engines. This prompted me to say, "Are all we diesel pickup owners wasting our money buying diesels?" Why is it that a half ton truck with "only" 401 pound feet of torque can run away, both empty and loaded from three diesels, each making over 650 pound feet of torque and with very good transmissions/axle ratios. Why is it that a V10 Ford gas engine can nearly match the performance of all three diesels, while making 362 hp and in the mid 400's in torque, while carrying a similar chassis weight?? Inquiring minds want to know. Please do not misunderstand me, I love my diesel and my good friend would fight the devil himself for his truck, but are we really getting an advantage in buying diesel, especially with fuel costs as they are?? I was curious to hear from the group on this one.
John M