Diesel vs gas......................
OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diese...
Forum Discussion
Sport45 wrote:Jarlaxle wrote:
Plenty of them. My old F-350 had 366,000 miles & most people guessed it at having about a third of that. My uncle's Dakota looks like someone has turned the odometer forward about 200,000 miles (he has 280K on it)--it's been repainted (5 years ago), but the interior is original except the floor mats.
It's great to see others keeping vehicles on the road a long time, but I think we're the exception rather than the rule.
Happy travels!
If you don't need/want a brand new truck, or a diesel, you could probably track down a late model 3/4 or 1-ton Chevy with the 8.1L Vortec big-block V-8. At 496 cubic inches, it's the largest engine, diesel or gas, ever set into a pickup truck (not including the Dodge Ram 1500 SRT-10 which isn't much of a work truck). It is basically a 454 with a factory .437" stroker crank. A factory stroked big-block! That's pretty cool.
GM rated the 8.1L vortec at 340hp @ 4200 rpm's and 455 Lb-ft of torque at 3200 rpm's. There are also marine versions rated as high as 415hp.
Two guys at work have them and while yes, they are thirsty, no more so than the 6.0L trucks other guys at work are driving. Both the guys at the shop have 5-speed manual transmissions, but it is my understanding the automatic trucks used the same Allison 1000 as the Duramax, but you would want to check around to confirm that.
A lot of people stayed away from the 8.1L because of the worry about gas mileage and GM stopped offering the 8.1L a few years ago. It's possable to pick up a used one for a decent price simply because the market just isn't very strong for it. For someone looking for a damn-strong puller who doesn't want to step up to a diesel, GM's 8.1L Vortec may be worth looking into.
