Why Diesel???

KICK · Oct 27, 2007

rback33 said:
I could get to 60 dang fast though, after that...OTOH, a LOT of today's big trucks have automatics in them. Never driven one, but have seen a ton of them roll through our plant. I have no clue now many speeds they have or how they are geared. Oh... and I still have my Diesel.

Allison World Series trannies most likely

not that common in OTR but in refuse hauling, transit they rule

very good gearboxes

most of em have 6 speeds, but since they have a torque converter with lockup they get torque multiplication on accelration and lockup which gives the fuel economy of a manual.

Renze · Oct 27, 2007

Mahana79 said:
Back to the original question..............Why diesel?????

i will probably never own another gas vehicle.

i choose Diesels for the economy and torque.

For me the same. I usually buy older, higher mileage vehicles because i'd rather have an old strong rig than a modern tincan for the same price.
My volvo 850 TDI does 30 mpg average, even though i tend to do 180 km/h on the highway to catch up some time after i waded through a traffic jam on the way to work.
Both traffic jams and top speeding make cars use more fuel.

Last week i picked up a tractor 220 km from here, with an ultra lowdeck trailer with them little 12" balloon tires, that have a lot of rolling resistance.
going back and forth, empty and then loaded with an 1800 kg tractor on a 900 kg trailer, it still did 22 mpg.

for the rest, a diesel is way nicer in crowded city traffic, as i dont have to negotiate between clutch and throttle to take off, i can just slowly engage the clutch and start rolling.

I'm having my 3rd diesel now, neither of the engines has been touched.

Z-Michigan · Oct 27, 2007

KICK said:
I have a 93 fullsize with 4.3, currently has 248,000 miles. doesn't use any oil between changes, still has 55 psi oil pressure.

***

still gets 19mpg on the hiway

funny thing is our family business had 5 more trucks over the years with that engine and we never had any problems with them. some of em lived a pretty tough life on top of it and weren't maintained in the manner that you would expect for long service life, yet they soldiered on for a long time

sorry if they aren't all that modern but change for changes sake doesn't make much sense to me.

whats to improve?

I worked for a business that had 3 Chevy Astro vans with the 4.3L. Used mostly on the highway; not driven like limos, but not pushed real hard either. They were in the shop practically every month, and engine problems were the main reason. Maybe the 4.3L got better since then, I don't know. That's my personal experience with them.

As for 19mpg on the highway, Chevy's 5.3L V8 does that pretty handily now, as do lots of other engines (both V8 and 6 cyl) with more hp and usually more displacement.

KICK · Oct 28, 2007

if and when I get another truck, I would prefer it had more cycls, but the one I got shows no signs of failing, so 4.3 it is.

the why diesel thing is the whole point of this thread, I guess its up the the individual to figure out if or why they want one.

same with a v8 or 6 argument.

RobertN · Oct 28, 2007

KICK said:
same with a v8 or 6 argument.

Inline 6... Had a V6 in my old Jeep. Great running, short motor that fit the old short body CJ series. Like the grunt torque of the inline six. Even better than a V8 sometimes...

dgl24087 · Oct 28, 2007

Z-Michigan said:
I worked for a business that had 3 Chevy Astro vans with the 4.3L. Used mostly on the highway; not driven like limos, but not pushed real hard either. They were in the shop practically every month, and engine problems were the main reason. Maybe the 4.3L got better since then, I don't know. That's my personal experience with them.

As for 19mpg on the highway, Chevy's 5.3L V8 does that pretty handily now, as do lots of other engines (both V8 and 6 cyl) with more hp and usually more displacement.

I had a 1989 Chevy S-10 4x4 with the 4.3, I traded it away with about 195,000 miles on it, replaced 1 water pump and 2 starters. Later had a 2000 S-10 4x4 with the 4.3, traded it away in May with 99,000 miles, never had any repairs.