The Gasser vs Diesel Thread

RatLabGuy said:
thats great if you already HAVE the truck. But show me where I can buy a diesel that is otherwise comparable in used-up-ness to a gasser for the same price. Like you said, you MADE money on the value
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shawn said:
Decks are 7'-6" clear minimum by code.

If you put a lift on your 2500 "tow rig", that's your own problem.
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not in raleigh 6'8" at north hills :)
 
BIGWOODY said:
I can sell my truck for damn near what I paid for it 10 years and 100k miles ago. That won't happen with a gasser.
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Case in point:

Check out this 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Truck on Autotrader

Check out this 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Truck on Autotrader

Dealer listings for trucks "kinda like mine" for $20k. Mine is a loaded leather 6spd, and I only paid $19k for it ten years ago.


6BangBronk said:
Why do I find conflicting reports every time I try to google this? Where does the Dodge Ram website get their information from?
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Fawk if I know. That's just some dude with a website.

The FSM says 7500/15000 for a 2003. That's what I go by.

BRUISER said:
not in raleigh 6'8" at north hills :)
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The bar is at 6'-8". The deck is 7'-6" clear. Either way, my Dodge on 285s fits at North Hills, same as it fits everywhere else.
 
shawn said:
The bar is at 6'-8". The deck is 7'-6" clear. Either way, my Dodge on 285s fits at North Hills, same as it fits everywhere else.
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so does your truck hit the bar when driving in?
 
With my Tundra, I dont have to wait on the fawker in the prius to get out of the way of the diesel pump. I can use any of them. Most gas stations around here only have 1 or 2 diesel pumps with a gas pump at the same spot.

I only tow about 2 times a year. Couldnt justify the extra expense.
 
RatLabGuy said:
thats great if you already HAVE the truck. But show me where I can buy a diesel that is otherwise comparable in used-up-ness to a gasser for the same price. Like you said, you MADE money on the value
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There's a reason I sold the Chevy too, and it wasn't because I wanted to lose money on the next truck ;)
In fact, I bought the Ford before I sold the Chevy. The key is to not pay too much to begin with. For every tard trying to sell an 01 7.3 Ford for $25k, theres a real person selling an 08 6.4 Ford for less than half of that.
 
jeepinmatt said:
I bought it in 2012 for $6700 with 280k miles. I sold it in 2015 for $9000 with 335k miles. I spent about $600 in maintenance on ball joints, TRE's and an AC compressor over the 3 years I had it.
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That is just nuts and proves how popular diesel trucks are right now.
 
Diesel was $2.19 in Tennessee last weekend and consistently 30 cent more than gas everywhere. It's $2.39 in Durham right now and consistently 20 cent higher than gas. So the difference in NC is only 8% between the two.

Although NC rapes ya you still can't complain since there's no end in sight before it goes back up.

Regardless, my fill ups are timed to be anywhere but NC when I travel.:beer:
 
I bought my 2001 Dodge Ram 4x4 CTD 5spd quad cab short bed in the late summer/early fall of 2006 for $15,000. It had 166,000 miles on it. I have correctly measured 19.5 mpg empty on the highway and 13.9 mpg towing my Samurai. I bought it because everyone else who towed their junk to the trail owned a diesel. I now rarely drive it. I have probably put 2k-4k miles a year on it each year for the past few years. It has 230,000 miles on it now. I may or may not replace it with another diesel when the time comes.

I change the oil every 7,000 miles.
 
DSM Turbos said:
Wheel base is longer, and it is taller. Not by a ton, but still there is a difference, which does make the parking deck more of a pain in the ass. It can fit in a deck fine by height, it just sucks to get around even more in the deck with a bigger truck.

for the 2006 Silverados.
1500
220-249" L x 79" W x 71-75" H

2500
225-259" L x 80" W x 76-77" H

3500
225-259" L x 80-96" W x 76-77" H
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I don't know man I worked for Chevy during 2007 and unless you mean '07 body styles which are different between the classic and the new body style then I don't know where you're getting the 5" wheelbase difference. The fenders, cabs,and bedsides are the same, yes the frame itself is taller. Hoods/grill/bumpers are different, but there isn't a 5" wheel base difference between a reg cab long bed truck 1500-3500 series or extended cab short/long bed, etc. You got a link or something?
 
I'll add some gasser info.

Not the first time I've typed this but can't find original to quote, I'm not going to debate gas vs diesel, to each his own.

My dads tow rig/ fishing truck:

97 K2500 suburban 454. 285's w/ 4:10s. Paid $4600 for it with roughly 50k miles from a dealer that sells a lot of govt fleet vehicles. Manual windows, power door locks, rubber floor.

Empty gets 13-14 mpg.

Towing 9k lbs on flat ground 9 mpg.
Towing 9k lbs in the hills 6-9 mpg.
Has no problem keeping up (65-75mph) with 05/06 cummins 6spd with similar load.


My 04 avalanche k2500. 8.1L. 285's with 4:10s. Paid $13k for it w/ 86k miles. Loaded w/ all options, even desired color.

14.5 mpg empty @ 75 mph
9 mpg empty in town.

1 mpg decrease towing 3k lbs 6 x 10 enclosed trailer.

Towing 7400 lbs, 9 mpg @ 70-75 mph, flat ground.
Towing 7400 lbs, 6-9 mpg @ 55-70 in the hills.
Towing 7400 lbs, 3 mpg @75 up hills like fancy gap/ black mountain, maintaining speed regardless of throttle/gear selection.

No problem keeping up with 05-06 stockins cummins 6 spd and my dads 454 above. Except when jeff drives the cummins like it's stolen.


Work truck #1, old tow rig.

01 k2500 suburban 6.0, 265's w/ 3.73. Loaded. Not sure initial cost. My mom bought with with 20k miles in 03. It now has 240k miles.

Empty gets 15 hwy and 12-13 city.

Towing 3k lbs enclosed gets 12mpg @ 70 mph.

Towing 3k lbs enclosed gets 9 mpg in town.

Towing 7400lbs gets 9 mpg @70 mph on flat ground. Will not run 75 mph consistently without downshifting and up shifting.

Towing 7400 lbs gets 6mpg in the rolling hills on the hwy @ 60-70 mph.

Towing 7400 lbs on the big hills gets 3 mpg. This is 2nd gear 45 mph @ roughy 3500-4500 Rpms in the sweet spot. This is all it will do. Multiple times dropped to first gear @ 4k Rpms, 17 mph, and turn the heat on high, a/c off, and windows down.

Will not keep up with anything above.


Work truck #2.

99 k2500 suburban 454, 3.73s, 245's.

Ex-secret service truck. Pulling 7400lbs will pass my dads 454 suburban pulling 9k lbs.

Gets identical fuel mileage as his 454 k2500 suburban.

This truck also gets identical fuel mileage as @stinkbomb v10 f250 towing his truggy on trailer.

Verified it towing from Johnson city to evarts back to Johnson city. Although I believe his truggy on trailer to weigh less than my jeep on trailer @ 7400 lbs. :flipoff:

These are hand calculated numbers and known distances from towing between eastern nc to easter tn, and ky, and to western PA multiple times.

Daily I pull a 3k lbs enclosed for work.

Not only is the initial investment much less with the gassers, we save yearly with k2500 suburbans by using regular $29 car tags. No need for weighted tags with suburbans. As I understand the law, we are covered towing up to 10k lbs with them being titled as "passenger vehicles".

I wanted an 04ish 2500 suburban when I bought my avalanche in 2013. I found the avalanche and suburban with same color, miles, condition, engine, options etc.

The suburban was priced $6000 higher than the avalanche. This savings is offset by the 17k lbs weighted tag required for the avalanche that is not necessary with suburban.
 
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Bought my 02 4x4 ECSB 7.3 6spd in 2010 with 146k for $12000. Not a bad price at the time considering the Brodozer Tax been implemented yet. Put balljoints, a SouthBend Clutch and the basic 7.3 mods on it pretty much right away and took it to 198k before I sold it for about the same as what I paid for it. I didn't want to sell it, I just had someone who needed a work truck and made me the right offer for the time. Side Note: I would unload my current 24V truck in a heartbeat for another 7.3/ZF6 truck.

I was looking heavily at 04+ 2500 6.0 Gassers when I bought my 99 4x4 24V Extended Cab 3500 truck. This is my second/third hobby behind riding dirtbikes and mountain bikes. And a gasser hauls those just fine. I might make 3-4 long trips a year and by long I mean 4+ hour pulls. Even less when I double up with someone on a goose. The ONLY reason I own it is because it was a package deal with my rig and I knew the person that had it before me and how he took care of it. It is nice having a 3500 because I can hook to just about anything I want, but do I need it, FAWK NO, and I know that. It was just a matter of being lazy and buying a rig and tow rig that were already "finished" instead of spending two+ years building my Samurai buggy and then buying another tow rig.

Hand calculated numbers (24V):
16.5-17MPG Empty daily driven 50/50 highway and city. I have never run a complete tank on the highway. Keep it under 72 @2000 RPM and the number climbs slightly. I'm a right lane bandit.
11.5- 12MPG Towing no matter what the load seems to be. Tow at 65-70 most times. Not trying to win any races.

My 7.3 truck shared most of the same mileage numbers as well towing relatively the same exact setup to the same locations and I drove the absolute dog shit out of it.

It can be argued either way and you can skew most of the cost analysis to sway either direction, but here is a diesel owner telling you that it is totally not necessary but it is nice to have.
 
This is all I can offer. After putting the last 150,000 miles on a diesel and then ~10k on a gasser.

Everytime I pull in a parking lot or drive through a downtown area, or turn into a tight job site I love my new gasser and wonder why I waited so long to buy it.


Everytime I tow any real distance with it, it does the job fine, but I always say at some point "miss the diesel"

Fuel mileage has been about a dead wash.
Oil changes are free for another couple months (30k miles) then we will see about the break down.
 
Ron said:
This is all I can offer. After putting the last 150,000 miles on a diesel and then ~10k on a gasser.

Everytime I pull in a parking lot or drive through a downtown area, or turn into a tight job site I love my new gasser and wonder why I waited so long to buy it.


Everytime I tow any real distance with it, it does the job fine, but I always say at some point "miss the diesel"

Fuel mileage has been about a dead wash.
Oil changes are free for another couple months (30k miles) then we will see about the break down.
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What gasser are you driving? I think you mentioned getting a really good deal on a Tahoe or some GM product in another thread a while back.
 
broncosbybart said:
Are you a NC native? Just asking b/c most try not to loose money when they sale something here.

Carry on.
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I am, but I just assumed it's a logical thing to do if possible. Why sale it and loose money when I could sell it and not lose money?:p
 
drkelly said:
What gasser are you driving? I think you mentioned getting a really good deal on a Tahoe or some GM product in another thread a while back.
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The wife has a Suburban, that was the really good deal.

I bought a Tundra and sold my F250 to Snappy.
 
6BangBronk said:
Drive thru's don't happen with a diesel if you eat on the road a lot.
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Oh yeah, having to shut the truck off so that the Taco Bell lady can understand that you don't want sour cream on your gordita... that's totally a reason for not buying a diesel.
 
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