Greetings,After a recent 9000+ mile trip from California to Halifax, Nova Scotia and back, I've gotten pretty fed up with the excessive price of diesel. On average it was 10-15 cents more per gallon across the country. Add to that the added expense of DEF at $13 per 5k miles, and the extra cost for oil changes and maintenance and the $$ start adding up. Add on to that the restrictive performance mods for a diesel here in California and you really cannot do any upgrades to the engine. So my questions to this august body of knowledge is...What will I lose (apart from MPG) going from diesel to gas? Will I miss the torque when my Lance 825 is on the back? HP numbers are not tremendously different, but at 800ft lbs of torque for my 2013 6.7L diesel and only 430ft lbs for the Gas, I'm wondering if there would be a noticeable loss. Can a 6.2L be reasonably upgraded to improve the torque?I know that I'm going from about 14mpg with the camper in the diesel down to around 9mpg with the camper for the gas engine. Unloaded there is about a 2mpg difference. So, the challenge is posted...please let me know what your thoughts are. Thanks.BG

I won't talk you out of it. The power of a diesel is nice, but in my situation if could do it over i would have opted for gasoline.

Best to compare cost per mile instead of MPG. Then you can compare apples to apples, except maintenance costs. Diesel fuel stinks, isn’t available everywhere, and costs a lot more in initial cost and maintenance. ‘Nuff said for me.

What do you want to hear? The 6.2 is a great engine as-is. Get the 4.something rear axle if you are concerned about torque. As long as your little Lance is all you want to haul... Of course twice the torque makes a difference. Only you can decide how much that means to you. It will rev higher. The 6.2 likes that.This camping season, my real world fuel consumption with a Northstar Arrow in the back was better than 19L/100km or 12.5 mpg. That was going around 55 on the highway (trucks over 3500kg/~7800lbs are limited to 80kph/50mph here). I hear it uses more when you go faster.

d3500ram wrote:I won't talk you out of it. The power of a diesel is nice, but in my situation if could do it over i would have opted for gasoline.The EU3000 is a pretty big generator, where do you store it on your camper?

pfidahospud wrote:Best to compare cost per mile instead of MPG. Then you can compare apples to apples, except maintenance costs. Diesel fuel stinks, isn’t available everywhere, and costs a lot more in initial cost and maintenance. ‘Nuff said for me.Excellent idea. I'll crunch the numbers out to 100,000 miles and see which one comes out on top. The diesel also weighs more and costs more initially ($8k...CHA CHING!)

Considering moving from Diesel to Gas...talk me out of it?

bwlyon
Explorer
Nov 20, 2018
Here’s my 1 cent worth! I love them, owned them, own one. With that said the one I own is a ZR2 Colorado. The camper sits on my 15 Ram 3500 Mega Cab, SRW, 6.4 liter gasser. I couldn’t ink out the cost difference! The truck reliably gets 14 mpg avg. hand calculated empty. With the 5100 lb wet camper in the back it gets between 8-11 mpg hand calculated with an average of 9.4 mpg over 5700 miles on a trip from Missouri to California. On the interstate I ran 70mph on the two lanes whatever the roads dictated with the camper on. Would a Cummins with an exhaust brake be nice, sure, but I can thumb the gear select switch to get braking and power in the hills. The 6.4 hauls my camper just fine. Now if I was loaded with money, would I get diesel to haul the camper maybe, but I would have money to burn!
mountainkowboy
Explorer
Oct 16, 2018
jaycocreek wrote:
OH I thought it meant the gasser does not have an exhaust brake and does not descend as well as a diesel equipped with an exhaust brake

Don't forget were talking about truck campers here,not huge fifth wheels or travel trailers...I have not met a hill yet that hauling my TC that the engine compression alone doesn't keep me where I want to be..

Even at 17K gross, my old 460 didn't have any issues going up and down the grades. I have a manual and compression braking is very effective.
Optimistic_Para
Explorer
Oct 16, 2018
jaycocreek wrote:
Don't forget were talking about truck campers here,not huge fifth wheels or travel trailers...I have not met a hill yet that hauling my TC that the engine compression alone doesn't keep me where I want to be..

Yup. If your fifth wheel is so huge that you NEED a diesel engine to drag it up and down the Rocky Mountains, you don't need a pickup with a diesel, you need a Volvo or Freightliner. They have sub-forums devoted to these rigs over on Escapees.
jaycocreek
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2018
OH I thought it meant the gasser does not have an exhaust brake and does not descend as well as a diesel equipped with an exhaust brake

Don't forget were talking about truck campers here,not huge fifth wheels or travel trailers...I have not met a hill yet that hauling my TC that the engine compression alone doesn't keep me where I want to be..
Lantley
Nomad
Oct 16, 2018
Bedlam wrote:
It just means that you are descending the hill at too fast a speed for your weight at that grade. Adjust your speed and the gasser will hold the grade. Will a diesel with exhaust brake hold it better at higher speeds? Possibly, if you are willing to pay the higher acquisition price.

OH I thought it meant the gasser does not have an exhaust brake and does not descend as well as a diesel equipped with an exhaust brake
Bedlam
Moderator
Oct 16, 2018
It just means that you are descending the hill at too fast a speed for your weight at that grade. Adjust your speed and the gasser will hold the grade. Will a diesel with exhaust brake hold it better at higher speeds? Possibly, if you are willing to pay the higher acquisition price.
deserteagle56
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2018
valhalla360 wrote:
Optimistic Paranoid wrote:
OK, I have to ask. What about Hill Descent Control? Does that not use engine compression and the transmission on gasoline engines to minimize the use of brakes?

Yes it helps but not as well as a good exhaust brake on a diesel.

Exactly! I've watched with alarm as on a steep downhill slope my V-10 in Tow/Haul runs the engine right on up to redline, at which point I get scared and start using the brakes. The engine brake on my Cummins has never found a grade it could not hold a load back on.
valhalla360
Navigator
Oct 16, 2018
Optimistic Paranoid wrote:
OK, I have to ask. What about Hill Descent Control? Does that not use engine compression and the transmission on gasoline engines to minimize the use of brakes?

Yes it helps but not as well as a good exhaust brake on a diesel.
valhalla360
Navigator
Oct 16, 2018
Bedlam wrote:
My point was that unless you are towing a heavy trailer and carrying a camper at the same time, there is no need for a diesel. Even the the largest grades hauling the largest truck camper can be handled by a gasser.

Thanks for the clarification. Your first post sounded like you were telling him to get a diesel. Sounds like we are in agreement. :C
Bedlam
Moderator
Oct 16, 2018
2013 was the first year of DEF in the Cummins used in the 2500 and 3500.