Buying DEF - where?

[catkins]

I am new to the diesel side and am curious as to where to find DEF to purchase? Checked the local Walmart and no luck. Is it generally easy to find on the road? Taking a major trip from the NW to the NE and then down to AZ for the winter eventually.

Thanks for any information!

[Charlie_D_]

guidry wrote:
Someone in a prior post said that a Walmart had received a returned DEF box and found that it had been refilled with plain water. I always check the seal now. OP, sorry for hijacking your post but I felt it important enough to mention and hope you didn't mind.

BTW, I get my DEF from Walmart and keep an extra box either in my garage or bed of the truck while traveling long distance.

An excellent point to beware of. Be certain that the secondary seal is intact. I got burned on a 5 quart container of oil that I had purchased for an oil change.. Had used oil in it.

[wa8yxm]

Most truck stops have it both in the C-Store and in many cases at the pump island (Selected islands well marked).

Most any source of Diesel will have it in the store as well.

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Blaster Man wrote:
Should be available at your WalMart...mine have it.

It's cheapest @ ALL Walmart Supercenters. It's even available @ the small Walmart Supercenter in Branson, Missouri.

[Blaster_Man]

Gunship Guy wrote:
I've had no problem getting DEF at Walmarts regardless of city/state. It's also available at truck stops for much less when purchased from the pump in the truck lanes.

Should be available at your WalMart...mine have it.

[jwmII]

Wal Mart Sams Club Costco, auto parts stores, Truck stops both in store and at the pumps. It's pretty common and getting more so.

[DSDP_Don]

When DEF first came out, it was placed on the passenger side of side radiator motor homes because there was no room on the driver's side where the radiator was located. After a lot of complaints, they're now fitting them in on the driver's side.

Everyone's driving habits are different and we're not typically on a long enough trips to empty the DEF tank before we get home. I could see it being more of an issue with full timers or snowbirds. I keep a couple of boxes in my garage and refill the tank when I get home. If we do go on a long trip, I throw a couple of boxes of DEF in my storage bay. It's not a big deal to add a 2.5 gallon jug to the DEF tank. For me, saving a $5 - $6 dollars on 2.5 gallons of DEF by buying it at the pump, isn't worth driving in backwards or searching out DEF stations. We don't buy fuel at truck stops, and very few stations in California are selling DEF.

I do carry a 2.5 gallon jug sold just for DEF and the magnetic nozzle ring in case I can buy it easily at a pump. I'll just fill the DEF jug and keep it onboard.

DEF consumption and refilling really isn't a nuisance.

[Mr_Mark1]

I have just now filled our DEF tank for the second time (16 gallon tank). Our chassis manufacturer moved the filler to the driver's side on the 2015 model (maybe the 2014 model too). Anyway, the clerk had to explain to me the process of working the pump with DEF. Unfortunately, the girl told me wrong so the DEF wouldn't activate.

Since the DEF tank wasn't totally empty the first time I waited until I needed diesel again. The process to fill, is to fill with diesel first, put the handle back in the holder, then hit the big blue DEF button to start that pump.

The DEF handle is behind a separate door that you slide up so that there is no confusion to accidentally pick the wrong handle. Since I can go about 2,300-2,400 miles on my DEF tank, it's not a big deal.

I paid $2.88 a gallon for DEF, $2.91 for Diesel at the T/A truck stop in Wilcox, AZ.

MM.

[JumboJet]

cKarlGo wrote:
When I was motorhome shopping, I noticed that the Thor diesels all had the tank on the passenger side and found that to be very odd.

Probably just trying to save an "uninformed" person from accidentally pumping DEF into their diesel fuel tank.

[DSDP_Don]

It's good to know that Amazon has it.

[Bugman114]

I used to be a trucker and I'd see RV pulling in thru the pumps the wrong way many times to fill the DEF tank. Not really a big deal if the truckstop isn't busy. Pilots are usually a very small truck stop and going thru the wrong way can be next to impossible without getting stuck. Flying J's, loves, TA's and Petros are generally a lot bigger in size, so pulling in the wrong way isnt a big deal since theres no chance of getting stuck unless its busy. Just be careful if you decide to fill a container and walk it around to the other side. That stuff is super corrosive, don't spill it on anything important.

[catkins]

Thanks all for your comments. Steep learning curve now being in diesel land. LOTS to learn so I will undoubtedly be back with more ............... appreciate the wisdom here.

FYI - my 2014 Tiffin Red has DEF on the drivers side.

[guidry]

Someone in a prior post said that a Walmart had received a returned DEF box and found that it had been refilled with plain water. I always check the seal now. OP, sorry for hijacking your post but I felt it important enough to mention and hope you didn't mind.

BTW, I get my DEF from Walmart and keep an extra box either in my garage or bed of the truck while traveling long distance.

[J_Walker]

I have a Thor Palazzo with the DEF tank on the passenger's side. Thor was not the only company to do that and the story is that the fuel stations were not clear that they would put the DEF pumps on the driver's side. A Tiffen Pheaton of the same period has the passenger's side fill. When you fill a container from the DEF pump you need to have a DEF magnet collar to activate the pump, available online. I have all of that and when I attempted to fill up at a Pilot station I got about a gallon of DEF before the pump shut off. The cause is unknown but I will try again another time. I believe I was too close to my credit card limit. In the meantime I bought four of the 2.5 gallon containers of DEF at a NAPA store. New things are difficult to deal with.

[lanerd]

I've heard that the RV mfg'ers have move the DEF tank on 2015 motor homes to the driver's side. Haven't seen any 2015's, but it is strange that originally they all put them on the passenger side.

Last year I bought my DEF at our local Walmart and recently went down to purchase another box full, and was informed that they no longer carry it due to it having a short shelf life and that they have experienced a lack of sales on it. Found it for almost the same price at the local NAPA store.

Ron