Finding Diesel

freddmc wrote:
"Ok, I have owned diesel vehicles for 20 years, and reading these posts has confused me! I have never used gasbuddy on any other app. Driving on Interstate's you will see signs about services provided at the next exit, gas stations with diesel are listed, if it does not specifically state diesel, then do not exit there"
From my perspective its not so much where diesel is available but rather the price. For example in B.C.(Canada) i can pay 4.73 per US gallon whereas if I go to Wash state(20 miles or so) the price is 3.75(Cdn). I can hold 110 gallons so Gas Buddy is my friend. SAving almost $100 isn't chicken feed.

Don't put any common sense in this Fredd. Been wondering where those millions of diesel powered rigs get their fuel for years now, lol.
Plus we are only 4 pages into stories about filling tanks and fuel mileage!

op wrote:
Finally, not a diesel question, but does a longer bed truck make a HUGE difference in the towing experience? We have a long bed with crew cab!

Thanks!

Towing experience ?? I assume you mean handling
I've owned several of both. Bed length on the trucks I had had nothing to do with my towing experience.
For my use Length of the trucks wheel base had to do with how well my rig handled.
However one of my current trucks has a 140" wheel base and handles a heavy GN trailer better than another of my trucks with a 168" wheelbase.

When looking for the green handled diesel pump......make sure its not gas.
Some folks have reported green gas handled pumps in certain parts of the country.

Not sure if it was mentioned, but you should carry a spare fuel filter. I always carry a spare and just this past week, the "water in fuel light" came on in my truck for the first time since I've owned the truck (8 years). I filled up at a station I normally don't use and think they may have had bad diesel.

I recently installed an 85 gal. fuel tank from a semi in my truck.Plumbed it into the filler pipe with a manual valve. It worksd like a dream as it flows 1 gallon per minute so when the main tank got down to almost empty I stopped, turned the valve andf drove for another 25 minutes to refill the tank, then stopped again and shut off the valve. Took approx 30 seconds to stop, turn valve and return to driving. If I was going to use this a lot I would probably install an electric valved,

Prior to my 1500 mile trip (first leg of a return trip) I sat down with gas buddy and determined the best place i,e, chepest to refill along the way. I was able to make the whole trip on one fill-up at the cheapest place in Canada for fuel vs stopping 4 or 5 times where it was more expensiver and inconvenient.

The tank is round and takes up a little more space than a rectangular one but it is easily removablde (approx. 15-20 minutes) for when I don't need it.

Installation was easy, operation is simple and I have piad for the whole thing in the first trip.

wjlapier wrote:
Hey everyone. Just wanted to say Thanks!

We drove from Walla Walla to just before Boise and still had a 1/4 tank ( 36 gal tank I believe ). We hit heavy downpour from a huge thunderstorm. Never a problem. Side wind and head wind--nothing. I'm sold on this truck. The problem with the Suburban was wind--and sometimes road conditions. Scary driving at times. Yes, we have a stabilizing hitch. Still, that did nothing for my confidence when we had 30-40 mph headwinds going into Maria's Pass the last two years. Never felt the truck move in the wind or the heavy downpour this last trip.

Back to my concern about filling up. And using Google Maps. When we had the Suburban I would take a good look at the route we would take. Use street view to see how the pumps were lined up with the station. Once, we got into a situation where the pumps were perpendicular to the building. We had to wait until some cars parked in front of the station moved so we could move. And even after we finally got away from the pumps we weren't out of there. It wasn't something I would care to repeat. Give me pumps parallel to the building anyday. The Suburban did about 8 mpg with our trailer. The truck did under 16.

Anyway, thanks again for the headsup regarding the gasbuddy app. I'll keep an eye on it in the future.

Sounds like your truck is a winner. Glad you like it. Can't beat the diesel for power and economy.

Happy Camping

wjlapier wrote:
Hey everyone. Just wanted to say Thanks!

We drove from Walla Walla to just before Boise and still had a 1/4 tank ( 36 gal tank I believe ). We hit heavy downpour from a huge thunderstorm. Never a problem. Side wind and head wind--nothing. I'm sold on this truck. The problem with the Suburban was wind--and sometimes road conditions. Scary driving at times. Yes, we have a stabilizing hitch. Still, that did nothing for my confidence when we had 30-40 mph headwinds going into Maria's Pass the last two years. Never felt the truck move in the wind or the heavy downpour this last trip.

Back to my concern about filling up. And using Google Maps. When we had the Suburban I would take a good look at the route we would take. Use street view to see how the pumps were lined up with the station. Once, we got into a situation where the pumps were perpendicular to the building. We had to wait until some cars parked in front of the station moved so we could move. And even after we finally got away from the pumps we weren't out of there. It wasn't something I would care to repeat. Give me pumps parallel to the building anyday. The Suburban did about 8 mpg with our trailer. The truck did under 16.

Anyway, thanks again for the headsup regarding the gasbuddy app. I'll keep an eye on it in the future.

I'm a little late to this thread ;)

I plan my trips using google maps and http://www.findfuelstops.com/, which allows you to put in origin and destination, and will find all stops in between. I like to do this ahead of time in case I don't have cell coverage, especially if I'm going somewhere new. Every time I plan, I ponder how much more difficult all of this was before computers/internet/phones.

Hey everyone. Just wanted to say Thanks!

We drove from Walla Walla to just before Boise and still had a 1/4 tank ( 36 gal tank I believe ). We hit heavy downpour from a huge thunderstorm. Never a problem. Side wind and head wind--nothing. I'm sold on this truck. The problem with the Suburban was wind--and sometimes road conditions. Scary driving at times. Yes, we have a stabilizing hitch. Still, that did nothing for my confidence when we had 30-40 mph headwinds going into Maria's Pass the last two years. Never felt the truck move in the wind or the heavy downpour this last trip.

Back to my concern about filling up. And using Google Maps. When we had the Suburban I would take a good look at the route we would take. Use street view to see how the pumps were lined up with the station. Once, we got into a situation where the pumps were perpendicular to the building. We had to wait until some cars parked in front of the station moved so we could move. And even after we finally got away from the pumps we weren't out of there. It wasn't something I would care to repeat. Give me pumps parallel to the building anyday. The Suburban did about 8 mpg with our trailer. The truck did under 16.

Anyway, thanks again for the headsup regarding the gasbuddy app. I'll keep an eye on it in the future.

Lots of good info already posted. I'll add thing to be aware of at truck stops. In some states, Oregon being one of them, diesel is sold either with road tax or for truckers w/o taxes but they pay weight/mile tax. So..... be careful at truck islands. you don't want to stop at the island that needs a PUC permit to fill, not good, cashier is not going to like it, or you'll find it won't dispense because you don't have a permit number to enter into the system.

You'll know it is one of those islands because the price/gallon will be about $.25 or more less than regular diesel.

At least on the west coast I'd say 80% or more of the stations have at least one diesel pump. Finding it is not an issue, and in small towns with farmers, you may find more places to get diesel than gas. some co ops have lots of diesel islands and not many gas islands.

The Texan wrote:
And that is why I always try to run on the TOP ½ of the tank ....

There is another great reason for that.

Keeping the fuel cooler.

Especially considering the CP 4.2 Bosch pump used in Ford and GM diesels.

Mind you, it also applies to the Bosch CP 3 in the Cummins, as all of these return fuel to the tank.

But one of the reported causes of the mystifying failures of the Bosch CP 4.2 pump was owners running too low a fuel level in their tanks, and the remaining fuel heating up as it was returned from the pump back to the tank.

Mind you, as a former owner of a Ford with the CP 4.2 pump, I eagerly read as much as I could find about problems. Seems no one really knows, although a design flaw by Bosch is considered the biggest suspect.

But research has shown that many of the failures happened during or just after the hottest months of the year, and low fuel tank levels resulting in diesel fuel becoming heated was part of the problem.

"Ok, I have owned diesel vehicles for 20 years, and reading these posts has confused me! I have never used gasbuddy on any other app. Driving on Interstate's you will see signs about services provided at the next exit, gas stations with diesel are listed, if it does not specifically state diesel, then do not exit there"
From my perspective its not so much where diesel is available but rather the price. For example in B.C.(Canada) i can pay 4.73 per US gallon whereas if I go to Wash state(20 miles or so) the price is 3.75(Cdn). I can hold 110 gallons so Gas Buddy is my friend. SAving almost $100 isn't chicken feed.