Diesel vs gas......................

[blt2ski]

OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diesel, pro and con, I will either leave your thread, or copy and paste pertinant info to the 4 posts of pro and con of diesel or gas. This can include the GM 8.1 vs Dmax or Ford V-8/10 vs PSD etc too.

Be real and honest in you answers, not hear say, flaming etc PLEASE!

If posts are good ones, I will leave, if inflamatory or trolling in nature, they will be deleted! I will get this stick'd to the top for future parusing for those that need this type of info.

Added 6-23-04

We are getting closer to answers I am looking for etc.

Stuff like Ken's - T-Bone posts are good. There are a few others of you that have not posted, some with a 9 point question and answer type to figure out how you went with one or the other. If you are one of those, PLEASE repost in this thread. I may have to look up whom has done this and PM you, but if you think this is you, you now know what to do.

Also, for those of you with $ per gallon for either fuel right now, I would prefer to see a post with ...."in my area, diesel is typically .10 less than unleaded" then explain your numbers. As currently in the Seattle area, diesel and unleaded are any where from 2.05 -2.30 per gallon, with mid test .10 more and premium about .20 more, with equal high low splits. Two weeks ago those prices were upwards of .30 -.40 per gallon more. people were posting $ per gallon that were for me. "I wish" If someone is reading your post a year from now, they may want to know where your paying 1.65, when the price of fuel is over $3 per gallon. Let's keep prices out of it if possible.

Bert and tin tipi, got into a good discusion on the pros and cons of RPM's, drive train etc. I would prefer to NOT see the quote of the other in responding threads, maybe just write a quick wording of re tranny gearing, instead of the whole 40 words or so in that paragragh, so the repsonse is shorter if possible quicker and easier to read etc.

I have deleted some 15+/- posts, that were off topic etc. Please note, I am trying to keep this at the top, as the ONLY gas/diesel thread in this area. So if one is trying to decide, we do not have to go thru this BS any more. As such, I will be deleting ANY future posts close to resembling this type of topic. I may have to change "this" title to a better one, if one has a better sounding title, to be more positive, better claification, let me know here, or in a PM/e-mail, what ever you feel most comfortible with.

Again thank you for all of you that are keeping responses positive, etc.

Also we could use a few more positive reasons to go gas, as many can see I have both gas and diesel, both have a place! Both have positive reasons to buy that fuel, lets keep the threads etc to that purpose only!

Marty

[Hannibal]

Be careful in choosing an extended warranty. Most are carefully worded as to what is covered and what is not. The catch is, if a non covered item such as "belts and hoses" causes a covered item to fail, then the covered item is also not covered. This leaves a huge loophole for them to wiggle out of. It's usually a non covered item that causes the failure of a covered item.

[RFOneWatt]

Hannibal wrote:
Ah, now I see the red marks in the video. My F250 doesn't have those. Aside from the diesel fuel note, my gauge cluster looks like yours. It also has a huge radiator and a good size transmission cooler for the TS transmission. Probably why I have no issues. The outside temp gauge is one of the things I miss the most from my Rams. Even a Prius has an outside temp display. Good luck with that IH/Navistar. :B

I know -- Ridiculous, huh? (The temp gauge) - Now I'm going to have to put an aftermarket unit in somewhere.

I had the trailer towing package with transmission cooler on the previous truck... Which BTW was an EXPEDITION. NOT an F250.

I think that explains a few things running through your mind.

Yeah, I'm hoping I got a good 6.4. Since I put so few miles on it I think I am going to invest in the extended warranty sooner rather than later. Ya just never know.

[durallymax]

Hannibal wrote:
Ah, now I see the red marks in the video. My F250 doesn't have those. Aside from the diesel fuel note, my gauge cluster looks like yours. It also has a huge radiator and a good size transmission cooler for the TS transmission. Probably why I have no issues. The outside temp gauge is one of the things I miss the most from my Rams. Even a Prius has an outside temp display. Good luck with that IH/Navistar. :B

My farm tractor and wheel loader both have outside air temp gauges too.

[Hannibal]

Ah, now I see the red marks in the video. My F250 doesn't have those. Aside from the diesel fuel note, my gauge cluster looks like yours. It also has a huge radiator and a good size transmission cooler for the TS transmission. Probably why I have no issues. The outside temp gauge is one of the things I miss the most from my Rams. Even a Prius has an outside temp display. Good luck with that IH/Navistar. :B

[RFOneWatt]

Oh, no -- wasn't a problem time at all in this video. Just an example of the sound of the engine with the pedal to the floor while climbing a quick grade. This would be perfectly acceptable as you say. I'm talking about when I was in situations like I described above, where it's to the floor for extended periods of time.

Believe me, I would have killed to be able to keep that truck. I absolutely loved it. (I had leased four of them prior, since I was 18 years old!) My F250 isn't remotely as comfortable or feature rich as that truck. I don't even have a freakin' outside temperature gauge on my F250 (and it's mostly loaded, all leather, etc!!) With a sticker price of $55,000 it's really sickening. I have leased all of my vehicles up until my last two trucks. When I bought that one I was buying a "Tow Vehicle" that I would be able to KEEP and use for many years to come, even when I eventually upgraded to a bigger trailer.

When I had all of the "overheating" problems out west I was VERY upset as I put a huge cash down payment on it and knew I couldn't keep it. There was no way that vehicle would last the amount of time I needed it to last running it like that summer after summer after summer. I realize that it's designed to do it but it just wasn't enough truck for my needs. I was planning on having a child soon (who is one year old next week!) and knew I wouldn't be able to keep buying new vehicles anymore. I didn't want to be out west five years from now and drop a trans or have an engine explode on me in the middle of nowhere. Yes, of course it could happen with any vehicle anytime but I like to play it as safe as I can. If I were able to keep that truck it would be paid off by now. As it is now I'm stuck with 21ish more payments on this beast:

Ford F250 Super Duty 6.4 Powerstroke Diesel

If you look close in that video you'll see @ 5500 RPM the little lines on the tach are red. I have a daylight picture somewhere if you make me dig it up.. hahah...

Now on the F250 there is NO redline or red-dashes on that tach. 😉

Haha..


Not too quiet.

Not offended by the music. I like Nelly's Country Grammar CD. However, I'm seeing a casual subtle rumble 3800rpm at 60mph for extended time and the temp gauges look normal. The tach shows 7k rpm max with no redline. This is what I see towing our 5th wheel up the Blue Ridge grades at 60mph in summer heat. Still not seeing a problem. You sure you're not blowing smoke to justify the diesel. No justification needed. Wanting one has always been all the justification I needed. I have no regrets with any of my trucks gas or diesel.

[Hannibal]

RFOneWatt wrote:

Hannibal wrote:
There's no red on the tach. 4500rpm is normal operating rpm for the 5.4L under load. Won't hurt a thing. The videos sounded like a nice quiet ride to me. But, I'm glad you're happy and worry free now. We're very happy and worry free with our 5.4L as well. If not, I would have traded it for my 7th diesel long before now.

Found a video of the dash. The tach is red @ 5500 RPM.

This puts it into perspective: (Please ignore the background music - it's raunchy and disgusting. Turn volume way down if kids are around)

Not too quiet.

Not offended by the music. I like Nelly's Country Grammar CD. However, I'm seeing a casual subtle rumble 3800rpm at 60mph for extended time and the temp gauges look normal. The tach shows 7k rpm max with no redline. This is what I see towing our 5th wheel up the Blue Ridge grades at 60mph in summer heat. Still not seeing a problem. You sure you're not blowing smoke to justify the diesel. No justification needed. Wanting one has always been all the justification I needed. I have no regrets with any of my trucks gas or diesel.

[RFOneWatt]

Hannibal wrote:
There's no red on the tach. 4500rpm is normal operating rpm for the 5.4L under load. Won't hurt a thing. The videos sounded like a nice quiet ride to me. But, I'm glad you're happy and worry free now. We're very happy and worry free with our 5.4L as well. If not, I would have traded it for my 7th diesel long before now.

Found a video of the dash. The tach is red @ 5500 RPM.

This puts it into perspective: (Please ignore the background music - it's raunchy and disgusting. Turn volume way down if kids are around)

Not too quiet.

[Crabbypatty]

Im with Paul CLancy, though I drive a gasser 454cu in a 2500 Suburban, towing without straining is priceless. The lack of stress during the journey is a big part of rv'ing. Setting up the tow vehicle to match the rig your pulling is a big part of the equation. Whenever we hit the road, I always see someone pulling to much rig with too little a vehicle. Eventually we would like to trade up to a fifth and when that happens, it will be a diesel for the torque and better fuel mileage.

[Paul_Clancy]

Ya this is a funny one. Bottom line is neither gas or diesel are right for all scenarios and where are you willing to compromise? I'd never go back to gas for rv pulling through the mountains, not after experiencing the difference. The right tool for the job depends on the job but on big grades and over 10k a diesel hd truck is that tool. I'm on holidays and what I want is relaxed towing and reliability - not guage watching and noise level headaches and "turn the air con off we're overheating". The confidence a proper tow rig inspires is priceless for me. For others not so much. Pick your poison.

[RFOneWatt]

Thanks!

Yeah, I honestly can't remember. All I really remember is the pedal being to the floor going 25-30MPH in 1-2nd gear with the engine screaming until the computer forced me to pull over. Not to mention the freaked out wifey -- when you have an eighteen wheeler on yer butt and nowhere in sight to pull over it can be nerve racking.

After that happened 2-3 times I had enough.

The thing that sucked was I HAD to keep driving but the gauges were all pinned by the computer so you couldn't actually see where the temps were. I suppose if it got really bad it would have went into limp mode but in the end I always found some place to pull over before that happened.

Sold it when I got home and never looked back. It was about four years old and only had about 20,000 (HARD) miles on it. One of the few times I MADE money on a vehicle though.

Was sorry to see it go -- I LOVED that truck -- but I needed a vehicle that could cope with the mountains.

For the record - This thread is HILARIOUS...

Hannibal wrote:
There's no red on the tach. 4500rpm is normal operating rpm for the 5.4L under load. Won't hurt a thing. The videos sounded like a nice quiet ride to me. But, I'm glad you're happy and worry free now. We're very happy and worry free with our 5.4L as well. If not, I would have traded it for my 7th diesel long before now.

[Hannibal]

There's no red on the tach. 4500rpm is normal operating rpm for the 5.4L under load. Won't hurt a thing. The videos sounded like a nice quiet ride to me. But, I'm glad you're happy and worry free now. We're very happy and worry free with our 5.4L as well. If not, I would have traded it for my 7th diesel long before now.

[RFOneWatt]

Ahhh! Ok, yeah - I couldn't remember. Maybe I was thinking "in the red"

Thanks for the correction.

Jarlaxle wrote:
4500 isnt redlined. The v10 will spin to 5000, the 5.4 will go a bit higher.

[Jarlaxle]

4500 isnt redlined. The v10 will spin to 5000, the 5.4 will go a bit higher.

[RFOneWatt]

Yep -- Very much redlined. 4500 RPM if I remember correctly.

The computer in the truck made me pull over several times on that trip. That's where it can be a bit white knuckle -- there aren't always convenient places to pull over and the computers in these new vehicles (unless you install aftermarket gauges) don't really let you keep an eye on engine/trans temps. I always assumed that I could watch the temp indicators and when they started to rise I could simply slow down a bit and find a suitable place to pull over and cool down. NOPE.. As soon as the engine/trans temps start to rise at ALL the gauges immediately slam all the way to the stop pin and the computer tells you to pull over immediately. Big PIA.

Yes, I know these engines are made to be driven that hard but I figure subjecting it to those kinds of conditions repeatedly would definitely shorten its life. Since this was the last new TV I'd be purchasing for a long, long time I needed something I wouldn't have to worry about, even when I decide to upgrade the trailer to something bigger.

No worries now. 🙂

Hannibal wrote:
That was redlined? What's redline with the 5.4L? The sound didn't indicate very high rpm at all. Pretty quiet if anything. I couldn't understand anything in the second video except a bunch of foul language, something about a cat house and a slow driver hogging the left lane. The third video also sounded like fairly low rpm. Monteagle is our biggest interstate grade and being less than 6k feet, power isn't a problem. Coming down the protracted grade with tow haul and cruise control on isn't a problem either. I've said many times I wouldn't want to take our rig to the Rockies due to altitude, not grades. You can bet most truckers are running against the governor up the grades and pushing redline coming down the grades as well. But, if a diesel makes you more comfortable, by all means that's the engine for you.:B

[Hannibal]

That was redlined? What's redline with the 5.4L? The sound didn't indicate very high rpm at all. Pretty quiet if anything. I couldn't understand anything in the second video except a bunch of foul language, something about a cat house and a slow driver hogging the left lane. The third video also sounded like fairly low rpm. Monteagle is our biggest interstate grade and being less than 6k feet, power isn't a problem. Coming down the protracted grade with tow haul and cruise control on isn't a problem either. I've said many times I wouldn't want to take our rig to the Rockies due to altitude, not grades. You can bet most truckers are running against the governor up the grades and pushing redline coming down the grades as well. But, if a diesel makes you more comfortable, by all means that's the engine for you.:B