Jumping off the Diesel Bandwagon - UPDATED
Well, after two Cummins diesels that I thoroughly enjoyed, I am going to place a factory order for a RAM 2500 with the 6.4L Hemi, 4.10 gears, rear air suspension, Laramie and plenty of added options. ...
Forum Discussion
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Lot of good stuff coming.
jmtandem mentioned oil squirters on the new Ram 6.4L and that is apparently the new HD norm. Ford did that in order to make the Turbo'd 3.5L EB pistons live and I notice that the Ford 5.0L V8 got them too, although they are not Turbo'd at this point. But the pre-design lends itself nicely.
One other great carry-over (besides turbos) from diesels exists in the gasoline Direct Injection(DI) debut. It is possible to entirely eliminate the gas throttle body with DI. Although gas traditionally needed a stoichiometric ratio mix, it can now be fired by directing a rich mix near the plug, only possible with DI. The gained advantage is the same good pumping open-throttle efficiency that diesels currently enjoy with no wasted, and unnecessary, vacuum. The same near-plug DI, stratified-charge mix also allows ratios as lean as 22:1 at very light throttle, all controlled by lightning fast computer, which I believe the EB currently does.
Supposedly, Ford is coming out with Hybrid F-150/Expedition power in the near future. They have to... to meet the newest approaching EPA mandates for CAFE. Check out similar links on the page I linked, including some possible(?) hybrid fleet power for the Super duty.
Recently one of our forum members has picked up a late model Silverado Hybrid (we PM'd) which he is very happy about at the moment. He may choose to share his towing experience with all of us in the future, when this confounded snow goes away. I hope he does share, good or bad. He studied and considered the truck very carefully before buying.
Personally, we hedged our bets with a couple of older vehicles. We used to tow with either a Ford Ranger (Mazda) or a V-10 Excursion, mostly the EX. We sold the small 3/8's ton Mazda pick-up and bought an older diesel crewcab just for the fun of it. We can now tow our 30 footer at reasonable speeds with either, depending on fuel prices or whatever. The V6 Ranger was a dog as can be well imagined. The gas EX makes a good foul weather rig (our more efficient Prius high centers over 8" snow), but I was quite surprised to see the 7.3 diesel cabin heater warms up in about 6 blocks travel. It has a loose plastic grill insert set that can be left in all year, if the intercooler can stand it. I think I'll install an engine heater that should make it warm even faster, as it starts rough when real cold. Once in a while we still need an open pick-up, even in winter.
Wes
...
Lot of good stuff coming.
jmtandem mentioned oil squirters on the new Ram 6.4L and that is apparently the new HD norm. Ford did that in order to make the Turbo'd 3.5L EB pistons live and I notice that the Ford 5.0L V8 got them too, although they are not Turbo'd at this point. But the pre-design lends itself nicely.
One other great carry-over (besides turbos) from diesels exists in the gasoline Direct Injection(DI) debut. It is possible to entirely eliminate the gas throttle body with DI. Although gas traditionally needed a stoichiometric ratio mix, it can now be fired by directing a rich mix near the plug, only possible with DI. The gained advantage is the same good pumping open-throttle efficiency that diesels currently enjoy with no wasted, and unnecessary, vacuum. The same near-plug DI, stratified-charge mix also allows ratios as lean as 22:1 at very light throttle, all controlled by lightning fast computer, which I believe the EB currently does.
Supposedly, Ford is coming out with Hybrid F-150/Expedition power in the near future. They have to... to meet the newest approaching EPA mandates for CAFE. Check out similar links on the page I linked, including some possible(?) hybrid fleet power for the Super duty.
Recently one of our forum members has picked up a late model Silverado Hybrid (we PM'd) which he is very happy about at the moment. He may choose to share his towing experience with all of us in the future, when this confounded snow goes away. I hope he does share, good or bad. He studied and considered the truck very carefully before buying.
Personally, we hedged our bets with a couple of older vehicles. We used to tow with either a Ford Ranger (Mazda) or a V-10 Excursion, mostly the EX. We sold the small 3/8's ton Mazda pick-up and bought an older diesel crewcab just for the fun of it. We can now tow our 30 footer at reasonable speeds with either, depending on fuel prices or whatever. The V6 Ranger was a dog as can be well imagined. The gas EX makes a good foul weather rig (our more efficient Prius high centers over 8" snow), but I was quite surprised to see the 7.3 diesel cabin heater warms up in about 6 blocks travel. It has a loose plastic grill insert set that can be left in all year, if the intercooler can stand it. I think I'll install an engine heater that should make it warm even faster, as it starts rough when real cold. Once in a while we still need an open pick-up, even in winter.
Wes
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