First drive Ram 1500 diesel

jus2shy wrote:
I have to admit that Diesel prices are very... varied across the country. Which is why in Gas vs. Diesel posts, I typically like to say it depends on your area. But being a forum that can be seen across America, I like to just use averages. So the quick analysis would show a benefit for half of America and no benefit for the other half. However, I've always been suspect of Love's/Pilot/Travel Centers of America. Any fueling station within 500 feet of an interstate tends to command the highest prices in my personal observations (especially the truck stops here). Just drive off the interstate for half a miles or more and the prices drop tremendously. But we don't always have that option in the middle of nowhere LOL.

As for DEF, fuel economy on DEF that I've experienced unloaded is roughly 1,400 miles per gallon. So actually slightly less than 2% of fuel consumed. So every 100 gallons of diesel burned is 2 gallons of DEF or %5.00 worth of DEF spread out over 100 gallons of diesel. So this really adds about 5 cents per gallon of diesel. Really not much. Even the guys that tow hard are still sitting in a range of 1 to 3% of diesel consumed.

I get what you are saying about prices when traveling but I think it's important for everyone to do the math for their location since that's where most of the miles will be.

Really had no idea about DEF usage other than reading for the cars it was needed to be filled at every oil change which I guess is 7.5-10k. I figured it didn't add much.

Summer and winter gas did play a number on my 2010 F-150. I noticed a 1 to 2 mpg drop during the winter. However, on your F-150, are you configured with a max-tow crew?

Yup, Super Crew, Max Tow, 3.73's, 4wd, and short bed. Not the biggest but not the smallest either. I was figuring I'd hover just under 20 and I figure once things warm up it will be close there. If I had the 3.55's or the 3.15's I think I'd be over 20 but would loose tow capacity.

The Ecoboost is only truly more economical when you're not boosting (displacement on demand). However when fully boosted you have an effective 7.3 liter gas motor (assuming 16psi of peak boost). Currently with my diesel, I'm matching or exceeding the average on the 2013 v6 F-150's with my truck (my 3-month average is sitting at 19mpg mixed city highway).

Yeah I learned that with the Taurus. It will pull like a beast - put 4 adults in it and it will run up most grades near triple digits (I ran out of cajones before it ran out of steam) but the downside is you can practically watch the gas gauge go down. :) But it sure is fun! :)

I looked at Diesel before we got the F150. It's not my Daily Driver and from what I hear these new Diesels like to be driven so it seemed like even my plan of 1 week a month to work would kill a new Diesel. And considering the expense of repairing them I figure gas was the way to go.

Thanks, double check your owners manual. I was taken a back that my 5.4 specifically called out a semi-synthetic oil.

I'll have to check it. I know it lists some Ford specification and I was under the impression that all 5w20's were semi-synthetcic as that's the only way to make that spread. But I could be wrong. For the $40 the Ford dealer charges I hope they use the correct oil but even if not should anything have happened under warranty I'd fight that tooth and nail as they were the only place I had oil changes done. At 70k now on the Taurus I'm out of any warranty.

Good job on getting parts prices. I still wonder what the labor will cost but it should be similar on a diesel to do the job. Glad to see the injectors are cheap, I was expecting somewhere between 100 to 200 bucks being a direct-injection unit. I guess prices have dropped from the last time I owned a direct injection vehicle (Saturn Sky Redline 2007).

Yeah I was surprised how cheap the parts were - I was expecting a boatload for the injectors and fuel pump. I wonder if the mass production for the engines is going to drive the prices down.

I believe that this will be "Bust out the lawn chairs, crack open a cold one and see how it all unfolds" type of deal until the new engine drops and we start finding the weak points and the costs to repair them.

Yup. Chrysler has been down this road before wight he Jeeps and Diesels and it was not a success. With all the delays of this engine (it was supposed to be here at the end of 2013 initially) I think there are issues meeting MPG targets and such.

But it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Me? I like the lighter truck, turbo engines approach as I think it combines cheap fuel with OK fuel economy but the flat power everyone likes from a Diesel.