New 2025 Ram 1500 with hurricane engine.

[WinterDeere]

I hear more and more HD truck guys saying they've given up on diesel, as the gassers have just gotten so much better over the last 20 years, that it's become almost impossible to justify the costs associated with diesel anymore. Think you'll be headed that direction, on the next one?

 

[mrmikey]

To me, it always seemed the cost of brake components (discs, pads) was much higher in the 1990's than today, when scaled for inflation.

Funny you just mentioned that. I just put new pads and rotors on my '19 Ram couple months back. Not top of the line but not cheapies neither $1,000 Canadian (US$ 705 Damn....didn't realize the exchange was that bad.) No labour, did it myself, just parts.

 

[WinterDeere]

…US$ 705 …

yep, that’s exactly my point. That’s only $350 in 1995 dollars. I couldn’t even do two wheels of a half-ton pickup for that money in 1995, let alone four!

 

[KennyG]

Costs seem high now, but even beyond inflation, you have to remember the old time costs. Tune up every 5 - 10K, oil changes every 2000 miles, tires every 15 - 20k. Also drum brakes that barely worked in the wet, no antilock, marginal power etc. etc. etc.

 

[ponytug]

I hear more and more HD truck guys saying they've given up on diesel, as the gassers have just gotten so much better over the last 20 years, that it's become almost impossible to justify the costs associated with diesel anymore. Think you'll be headed that direction, on the next one?

After my prior diesel developed a terminal case of metal fatigue on the block ($15k repair 20 years ago, 380k miles, two engines, three transmissions), I ran the cost/mile + engine cost/mile, comparing gas engines to diesel. At the then current diesel prices, the diesel would have needed to last beyond 300,000 miles to come out ahead. I would comment that here, the price of diesel generally tends to run at gas prices or slightly higher on a BTU/gal basis, and over the last decade, often just plain higher, at which point there is no ROI until you start computing complete engine overhauls.

The service costs on the newer pickup have been next to nothing with 5k oil changes, and a coolant change.

The replacement V6 gas engine had more than twice the torque and triple the HP, with double the gears of the V8 diesel engine and transmission that it replaced. So, yeah, I'm a happy camper, but I don't try to pull 20k pound trailers from a standstill on slope with a non-dually pickup either.

Yes the "old" engines were simpler to service, but tuning carbs and adjusting timing got old for me fairly quickly, especially owning vehicles that tended to lose their tune over short periods of time. I could go about the crap wiring and the number of engines that required fairly frequent spark plug cable replacement until one forked out for better quality ones, along with better plugs. I have one vehicle that I did change the plugs on at 100k miles, just because the service manual suggested finally replacing them, but they were spotless. Count me in on the "nope, don't miss those old engines", even if I do need a computer to run diagnostics on the newer engines.

I will say that the upside to the old engines was many of them often could be repaired in the field with duct tape, bubble gum, and parts stolen from the vehicle itself. That's not going to happen on the Hurricane engine.

All the best,

Peter

 

[paulsharvey]

So, it's not just engines and transmissions that have gotten better. Now it's the norm to not have to do any suspension parts till 200k. Shocks, springe, struts, are often original at 200-250k. Even brakes, generally, pads around 80, 160, and 240 give or take; but rotors, often still good till 200+. Window motors, we now expect to never need replaced. Not needing an alignment till 100k or more, ect. Fuel pumps often last the entire life of the vehicle. We are at the point, besides batteries, brakes, tires, and PM service, we consider any other parts failure a deal breaker

 

[DarkBlack]

Funny you just mentioned that. I just put new pads and rotors on my '19 Ram couple months back. Not top of the line but not cheapies neither $1,000 Canadian (US$ 705 Damn....didn't realize the exchange was that bad.) No labour, did it myself, just parts.

That’s really expensive. I usually buy my brake parts from Rockauto. Midrange front + rear rotors and pads for my older Ram 1500 is $288 includes shipping. A 2019 is $500. About $600 for a 2019 3/4 ton. Is yours a one ton?

 

[Hay Dude]

I hear more and more HD truck guys saying they've given up on diesel, as the gassers have just gotten so much better over the last 20 years, that it's become almost impossible to justify the costs associated with diesel anymore. Think you'll be headed that direction, on the next one?

No way.
Gas truck towing specs are still pretty much a joke compared to diesel on the cab & chassis weight trucks.
Ram diesel GCWR is 44,000lbs. Gas is way down from that.

Then there’s the fuel economy difference between gas & diesel, especially when towing. Gas is down in the mid single digits while diesel stays up in the low double digits.

For me it’s towing specs. Gas aint there. The towing numbers difference is a deal breaker.
For a guy towing lighter weights, gas may be fine.

 

[mrmikey]

Is yours a one ton?

Nope, 1500 Tradesman, no listing on Rockauto.
From the dealer the front pads were $370 for just the pads, yup....just the pads, Front rotors $274 each and that was jobbers price. Full retail was another $100 or so more each. I gave up after those prices, even the parts guy said "You're not going to buy them here".
The tradesman package is a bit more I believe.

 

[Hay Dude]

I hear more and more HD truck guys saying they've given up on diesel, as the gassers have just gotten so much better over the last 20 years, that it's become almost impossible to justify the costs associated with diesel anymore. Think you'll be headed that direction, on the next one?

When they build a gas truck that’ll do this 75 times a year, I would consider it.

Heck, my empty weight with trailer is 21,000
Now throw 13-14 tons more on the trailer lol