Who said it doesn’t pay to drive a 1/2 ton diesel Ford.

Hammerboy wrote:
This^^ It makes no sense to me to buy a 1/2 ton diesel, no sense at all.

Dan

Did you ever consider that some people don't tow heavy and need a fuel efficient vehicle for daily driving? I mean, you are aware that there are other people in the world besides you... right?

ScottG wrote:

mkirsch wrote:

KD4UPL wrote:
Why does everybody always act like diesel 1/2 tons are something new? GM had diesel 1/2 ton trucks, Blazers, and Suburbans from about 1982 until about 1999 I think it was. They didn't sell that great then (maybe that's why nobody knows about them). Why does everyone want one now?

They didn't sell great because the 6.2 and 6.5 diesels were gutless, garbage engines.

Bingo.
I had a 82 6.2 - it was well into its second set of injectors and pump at 100K and mostly worn out by 150.
And OMG was it a pig.
I only bought back in the day because it was the cheapest way into a used 3/4T truck.

Man does that bring back some bad memories.

Gosh some of you all will really freak out when you hear we want to trade in our Fusion for the F150 diesel when it becomes available. We probably won't even tow much other than a utility trailer with it either! HORROR!

As someone else said, we want what we want. We can afford it, so why not?

I had a 6.2 in an 84 4X4 3500 SRW. I put 225K on it when I sold it. one injector pump and about 10 starters was the extent of my issues mechanically. Yes it was gutless but put in context of the time, so was everything else during those years. I am not saying it was a great motor, just my experience was mostly positive. What makes things different now is the cost of the diesel option in a half ton, the mpg return and towing capacity. Ram seems to have found a sweet spot, good mpg and middle of the road towing, Nissan missed it on about every account in my view, we will see how Ford and GM do. I don't think these trucks are going to fly off the shelf unless they can kill it in the mpg dept. With fuel rising, that might sell more of these pickups. I don't think that the points that resonate with the 3/4-1 ton crowd is going to be the same that motivates the 1/2 ton diesel buyer.

mikeh449 wrote:
I had a 1984 chevy 1/2 ton with a diesel engine factory installed

Those early NA light duty diesels were pretty bulletproof, but I'd expect that out of something that weighs 400lbs and had the same hp as my riding mower!
6.5TDs were actually great light duty 1/2 ton diesels though, if GM hadn't employed the Midvale School for the Gifted engineering team to design all the peripheral equipment.
One look at a 5.9 Cummins or a 7.3 IHI of the same vintage made you wonder why GM didn't drug test their engineers.
But it was the first half ton that got decent fuel mileage and had enough power to tow or at least get up n go.

Terryallan wrote:

73guna wrote:
While I agree most will probably never make up the price difference, there is nothing like towing with a diesel period.
I've towed with both and if financially able, I will always purchase a diesel when the time comes.

I get that with the larger diesels in the 2500s. But the diesel they are putting in the 150s have less HP, and torque than their gas counter parts. So you are in truth paying more for less.

This^^ It makes no sense to me to buy a 1/2 ton diesel, no sense at all.

Dan

mkirsch wrote:

KD4UPL wrote:
Why does everybody always act like diesel 1/2 tons are something new? GM had diesel 1/2 ton trucks, Blazers, and Suburbans from about 1982 until about 1999 I think it was. They didn't sell that great then (maybe that's why nobody knows about them). Why does everyone want one now?

They didn't sell great because the 6.2 and 6.5 diesels were gutless, garbage engines.

Bingo.
I had a 82 6.2 - it was well into its second set of injectors and pump at 100K and mostly worn out by 150.
And OMG was it a pig.
I only bought back in the day because it was the cheapest way into a used 3/4T truck.

gbopp wrote:
I bet if you drove carefully, kept the tires properly inflated, etc, you could recover the cost of the diesel in 300 years rather than 333 years. :B

You would never know as yours woukd be buried in snow most of the year :B

KD4UPL wrote:
Why does everybody always act like diesel 1/2 tons are something new? GM had diesel 1/2 ton trucks, Blazers, and Suburbans from about 1982 until about 1999 I think it was. They didn't sell that great then (maybe that's why nobody knows about them). Why does everyone want one now?

They didn't sell great because the 6.2 and 6.5 diesels were gutless, garbage engines.

Someone will show them the HOW2 DIY...Home.Made.DEF...


Click For Full-Size Image.

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
Wonder how many more decades they will have to add to that when somebody reminds them to fill the def tank?