Diesel vs gas for truck campers?

twodownzero wrote:
Automatics are fine if you prefer to give up the durability for convenience.

Guilty, as charged.

For Fords, there are some youtubes where people have added cord inside the window trim.

Here's one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XR-J7VTN80

Fords don't have doors that bend with the wind ;)

^ No cure that I've found. Starts at about 80 mph with my rig, no wind. Toss a headwind into the mix and I'll back er down in speed just cause the noise is deafening and sounds like it's going to pull the doors off!
Kid made the mistake of opening the window once. Had to slow down to like 45 mph before it would roll all the way back up with that headwind.
Sure is nice being able to roll on the go pedal in top gear grossing 20k uphill at 8000ft and pull away from the crowd!

In the past few days I put 2,882 miles on the rig in the above photo. Yesterday morning I topped off the fuel in Cheyenne, Wyoming and headed west on I-80. As those of you know who've driven this section of interstate before, this is high country. Cheyenne is over 6,100 feet in elevation and I-80 goes up to 8,530 feet before dropping down to Laramie which is "only" at 7,200 feet. The road then climbs way high again for miles before dropping back to just over 6,000 feet in western Wyoming. This would have been a piece of cake - except there was a storm system moving through and multiple warning signs on the freeway told of winds from the west/southwest at 35 mph gusting to well over 50. The temperature at Cheyenne was 41 degrees (and 40 mph winds) but it dropped to 30 degrees over the high passes. For miles between Laramie and Rawlins the snow blew in great white sheets across the roadway - no doubt it would have stuck to the road surface if it wasn't moving so fast because of the wind.
The Ram/Cummins shrugged it all off. No matter the elevation or the powerful head wind I could accelerate at will in 6th gear - although I prayed that the tiedowns were stout enough to hold the Bigfoot in the truck bed. Warnings were out against taking "light" trailers on the road until the winds died down and I saw one - about a 34 foot camp trailer - that didn't take heed on its side in the ditch. A few miles later in the median was a small car that had rolled. Some of the worst driving conditions I've encountered, requiring full concentration on staying on the road. I fueled again at Fort Bridger, 332 miles from Cheyenne. The worst mileage I got on this trip - 11.6 mpg hand calculated - but then I figured I might as well have been driving 110 mph (60-65 mph + up to 50 mph wind speed). Best mileage I saw this trip was 15.6 mpg.
I doubt any gas-powered rig (and I've owned plenty) could match this kind of performance.
The most annoying part of this section of my trip was the wind noise. The fierce winds flowing over the cab were sucking the tops of the doors away from the body and also sucking the heat out of the truck. Has anyone found a cure for that?

Reddog1 wrote:
Does anyone on the forum really know why the Ford, GM, or Dodge does anything?

We seem to only know after they release something. Even then, it's hard to figure out the reasoning. It's ok though because we all can switch trucks which is a big advantage of having a TC.

Gray is better than Pea Green, but not as good as Red. I got an additional 5 MPG after switching to a red truck.

No hijack or disrespect intended, just an attempt at a bit of humor. Does anyone on the forum really know why the Ford, GM, or Dodge does anything? Steve said his info on the Ford was from a Ford press release. Anyone have a source for info on the GMs or dodge or is it just speculation?

Wayne

Definitely grey is better. :)

I think maybe something has been overlooked here. Have you ever considered the color of the truck might make a big difference?

Wayne

This is the reason I will never own a gasser. 22,000 pounds and we go up and down high steep passes in 100* heat