Diesel,,,, the rest of the story??
As some of you may have read, I need to buy a bigger truck and am considering a dually ( among other things ). I've also found a few newer trucks with diesel engines that fall into my budget, but dies...
Forum Discussion
Well, I just moved up from a Daily Driven 2010 F-150 5.4L Crew Cab 4x4 to a 2013 RAM 3500 6.7L Crew Cab 4x4. The RAM is physically shorter than my F-150. I can tell you, I averaged 15mpg with my daily commute to work with my old truck. With my new RAM with only 2,000 miles on the clock, I've been averaging 18.5mpg (and still improving). That's a 23% gain in fuel mileage. I've only spent 7% more on diesel fuel per gallon versus 87 octane gasoline. So I'm coming out ahead on fuel economy. In fact, I'm driving a bit more since the fuel savings are significant every 2 weeks (I find myself spending $50 less every other week on fuel with my diesel travelling the same distances). That's a real savings. I turn my own wrench. Most new motors require a semi-synthetic or a full synthetic oil. My diesel only requires motor oil that perform to CES20081 standards with a CJ-4 rating which many regular dino-based oils achieve. So my oil change price increase was only $10 over my gasser motor in my F-150. And that's taking into account 7 quarts versus 12 quarts in the Diesel. I also plan on getting a FW within the next 2 years and I've been overloading my F-150 occasionally from hauling dirt and rock. So I figured it was time to upgrade. So in my specific duty-cycle, Diesel made good sense for me.
However, if you do a lot of short commuting (under something like 15 miles) or you do lots of stop and go with your vehicle, I would recommend against a diesel. The new diesels need to get up to and sustain a higher exhaust temperature to burn off particulate matter in the soot traps. They also need this higher temperature to use the new SCR systems that have been in effect on most diesels since 2010. Diesels are also cold-blooded engines, they take a while to warm up and get the oil hot enough to burn-off moisture and contaminants. If you don't have a drive cycle that gets these engines up to temperature then forget it. Get a gasser. You will be doing the diesel engines lots of harm because of lack of temperature.
And for the put-up or shut-up, here's my current ram's progress (You will need to click on the link to see where I'm at now. My lifetime average is skewed because of idling at the dealership and the upholstery shop):
However, if you do a lot of short commuting (under something like 15 miles) or you do lots of stop and go with your vehicle, I would recommend against a diesel. The new diesels need to get up to and sustain a higher exhaust temperature to burn off particulate matter in the soot traps. They also need this higher temperature to use the new SCR systems that have been in effect on most diesels since 2010. Diesels are also cold-blooded engines, they take a while to warm up and get the oil hot enough to burn-off moisture and contaminants. If you don't have a drive cycle that gets these engines up to temperature then forget it. Get a gasser. You will be doing the diesel engines lots of harm because of lack of temperature.
And for the put-up or shut-up, here's my current ram's progress (You will need to click on the link to see where I'm at now. My lifetime average is skewed because of idling at the dealership and the upholstery shop):
