Move to diesel engines across the RV spectrum a fad?

If this diesel athing keeps up all RV's will be 60 ft. long and 27 ft. wide. New roads, new bridges Rome looked a lot like this in its early days.

D & M wrote:
I don't own a diesel but I have been told by diesel mechanics that diesel fuel tends to not store well and that diesel engines like to be run.. I have to put my rig up for 5 months every season. I would be concerned about the fuel system gumming up. Am I wrong?

Ask a local farmer where his 200k tractor is for 6+ months a year,or his 300k combine is for 10 months a year, or his diesel powered grain truck is for several months. All will start and go when the time comes to use them without problem. Oh, and the newer ones have to be tier 3 or 4 emission compliant.

BurbMan wrote:
How about you guys just read the 400 page sticky over in Tow Vehicles on gas vs. diesel instead of rehashing it all here?

Had to laugh when I read the first post from Burbman's link that was written in June of 2004.

"Paying $1.55 a gallon for diesel..."

How about you guys just read the 400 page sticky over in Tow Vehicles on gas vs. diesel instead of rehashing it all here?

Lowsuv wrote:
In actual practice the maintenance cost of my 2002 duramax pickup ( bought new ) has been maybe 5 % higher than my previous 6 pickups .
The 2002 does not have a jake brake but the 17.5 compression and the versatile allison transmission work great for serious compression braking down hills .
The brake shoes have never been replaced nor have the fuel injectors .
Humungous disk brakes just are not taxed to their limits like the half ton can be .
I have paid for my 10 quarts of oil at each change at my local dealer instead of the 5 in a gasser .
I have changed the tranny fluid and filters , flushed the radiator , changed the differential fluids by the book at the dealer .
The extra expense is the $90 fuel filter change every couple of years .
Diesel fuel costs more but i get 19 on the road instead of 12 that I got with my 454 vortec 7400 in a similar truck .
The diesel is quieter than my gasser on the road because the rpm is about 60 % of the gasser .
I was buying a new big block gasser every 5 years until i got this duramax .
It has been cheaper because I have little motivation to just get a new one .
520 ft lbs torque in a 12 year old diesel is still more than a brand new gasser .

X-2

I traded my Tundra for the same year Duramax and major maintenance cost is some what higher. Fuel cost is higher than the Tundra although I was running 89 octane in the Tundra. Mileage running empty is better than on the Tundra and getting and average of 385 miles per tank versus 300+ further offsets the expense of operation. I drive the Duramax the legal speed limit without worrying about the mileage, on the Tundra I was always aware and had to keep the right pedal as lean as possible.

Pulled my bass boat nearly 1800 miles and averaged 18.5 mpg which was 5 mpg better than the Tundra.

campigloo wrote:
I have driven a diesel for the last 7 years. I still wonder when I am going to spend all the megabucks people tell me I am spending. Oil changes cost lots more, unless you figure you change it half as much. Fuel price? So what, I much prefer to pay the lower per mile cost as compared to the per lower gallon price. We towed @12,000 miles last year, and I have yet to spend hundreds each long trip for a spark plug and coil pack. I don't have images of valves and springs jumping through the hood from high rpm. Changing the fuel filter costs about $65.00 and 30 min twice a year. Guess I just don't know where the huge maintenance bill are.

That IS where the savings are. You towed 12k miles in one year. For those that tow fewer miles the price per mile gets closer to gas. Especially with the new fuel efficient gas engines. The more unloaded miles the longer the payback.

Regarding the diesel fuel gumming up I have not had that problem .
My diesel sits for a week sometimes 2 during the summer months .
we have a sportscar that we use as much as possible during the summer .
My 2002 diesel is used for TT towing or boat towing but does not get used for everyday running around in the summer .
My 2002 diesel gmc is our primary winter vehicle because it is 4wd with its dedicated winter wheels and studded snow tires .
when we get a major snow storm the advantage of high ground clearance of an hd2500 really works .
A MAJOR advantage of diesel pickups is that the front axle weight is about 4-500 # more than a gasser .
The advantage of that very heavy steering axle works really well when towing a travel trailer .
It also works very well in 4WD in the snow because the front end is much heavier than the back end .
So the traction on the front means that it is being pulled rather than pushed which is a MAJOR advantage in the snow .

I don't own a diesel but I have been told by diesel mechanics that diesel fuel tends to not store well and that diesel engines like to be run.. I have to put my rig up for 5 months every season. I would be concerned about the fuel system gumming up. Am I wrong?

I have driven a diesel for the last 7 years. I still wonder when I am going to spend all the megabucks people tell me I am spending. Oil changes cost lots more, unless you figure you change it half as much. Fuel price? So what, I much prefer to pay the lower per mile cost as compared to the per lower gallon price. We towed @12,000 miles last year, and I have yet to spend hundreds each long trip for a spark plug and coil pack. I don't have images of valves and springs jumping through the hood from high rpm. Changing the fuel filter costs about $65.00 and 30 min twice a year. Guess I just don't know where the huge maintenance bill are.

In actual practice the maintenance cost of my 2002 duramax pickup ( bought new ) has been maybe 5 % higher than my previous 6 pickups .
The 2002 does not have a jake brake but the 17.5 compression and the versatile allison transmission work great for serious compression braking down hills .
The brake shoes have never been replaced nor have the fuel injectors .
Humungous disk brakes just are not taxed to their limits like the half ton can be .
I have paid for my 10 quarts of oil at each change at my local dealer instead of the 5 in a gasser .
I have changed the tranny fluid and filters , flushed the radiator , changed the differential fluids by the book at the dealer .
The extra expense is the $90 fuel filter change every couple of years .
Diesel fuel costs more but i get 19 on the road instead of 12 that I got with my 454 vortec 7400 in a similar truck .
The diesel is quieter than my gasser on the road because the rpm is about 60 % of the gasser .
I was buying a new big block gasser every 5 years until i got this duramax .
It has been cheaper because I have little motivation to just get a new one .
520 ft lbs torque in a 12 year old diesel is still more than a brand new gasser .