Question for diesel owners

ol' grouch wrote:
I'm probably going to repeat what others have said but I'll just mention what I've had experience with. I've got two 3/4 ton trucks. A 2001 Ram 2500 4X4 with the 5.9 gas engine and a'97 F-250HD with the 7.3 turbo diesel.

On fuel, newer trucks are designed for the ultra low sulfur fuel. They have all sorts of emissions controls that extra sulfur will destroy. If you get an older truck, just put 4 ounces of 2 stroke motor oil in when you fill up.

Both trucks have 3.55 gearing. The gas engine is more responsive but the oil burner will pull more steady. The gas engine you can just start and go. Diesels like to be warmed up a bit. You MUST keep your fuel fresh with the diesel. Water will collect and also paraffins. Basically, the fuel will gel in really cold weather. Winter blends on diesels are designed to not gel. I found that out the hard way when I drove a truck years ago. We filled up in southern Arizona. We would change drivers each time the one tank was almost empty and would switch drivers then. A few miles out of a truck stop in Minnesota, in December, we switched the tank to find the one tank was jelly. Guess who got to hang off the back with a can of starting fluid to get the last three miles.

The gas truck sits a lot but always fires up and if it sits for several weeks, it doesn't mind. Like others have said, a diesel needs to be driven. Mine sits for a week and it isn't happy until it's good and warmed up.

If the truck is ONLY going to be used for hauling your camper, I'd go with a gasser. If you plan to drive it for other reasons, go with an oil burner. My Dodge gets 11-12 miles per gallon. The diesel gets 16-18mpg. Diesels are more expensive to own and maintain but hold their resale better. Mine also rides better but the gas truck was a commercial farm truck before I got it so it has really heavy springs underneath.

ol grouch...this may have been true in older diesels. The new common rail systems do not require warm up, and most use grids now rather than glo-plugs. 2-3 seconds when you turn the key and you're good to go. We use our diesel truck all winter in New England, have been in temps -35*F. No problems at all. In fact driving a diesel nowadays is no different than gas.
Winter blend fuels are are what you find at the pump in all cold regions...whether it is gas or diesel.
The days of finicky diesels are over...and have been for at least a decade.
I bike to work and sometimes don't start the truck for 2 weeks or so. No problem. No additives. Just start it and go.