The Gasser vs Diesel Thread

So let's start out this reply with you need to read my original post again.

I went backwards in years, down in mileage, and it cost me 5k.

I get 20mpg on the highway. The picture of my dash is from a trip i took to Baltimore this spring. I didn't believe it so i checked it and it was 20.4mpg.

I have also attached a picture of the trailer i towed back from PA as you requested. 20140926_134845.jpg
20150808_182804.jpg
I pulled across the rock quarry scale by my house when i got back and the trailer w/truck and the 4 wheeler in the back of the truck came in at 15,230lbs. The last time i weighed my truck with a full tank of fuel it was 7120lbs.

My registration is exactly the same because i transferred the tag with the same weight from the other truck.
The taxes on the '05 is less than it was on the '07 because it is based on year of the truck not engine in it. I paid $104.21 for taxes on my current registration card.

Yes a diesel truck does cost more to buy and it does cost more to maintain. But if you want a diesel truck and can afford it why not get one. You can't take the money to the grave with you.
 
Mac5005 said:
In comparison to my avalanche. You paid 8 grand more for a year newer, 10k more miles, and a diesel.

8 grand buys me 3800 gallons of fuel @ $2.10/gallon and gets me 38000 miles, roughly. Basically 3 years worth.

How much are the taxes on that truck each year? I'll look at my registration and post what it is on my truck.

Weighted tag price is the same no matter vehicle.
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My only argument is if you wanted to try and sell to upgrade tow rigs, the diesel will still be worth 8 grand more and likely easier to sell a high mileage diesel over a high mileage avalanche.
 
Hell, I got damn near $8k for my 04F350 diesel with 325k miles on it and it needed all new injectors and a new radiator.

It was an XLT, so nothing special. I'm still puzzled how I got that $ for it. Guess it's the new rage in investments. Buy a diesel truck low and sell high after it had 300k miles!
 
rockcity said:
Hell, I got damn near $8k for my 04F350 diesel with 325k miles on it and it needed all new injectors and a new radiator.

It was an XLT, so nothing special. I'm still puzzled how I got that $ for it. Guess it's the new rage in investments. Buy a diesel truck low and sell high after it had 300k miles!
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It worked for me and it worked for you. Let's start a pyramid scheme!
 
jeepinmatt said:
It worked for me and it worked for you. Let's start a pyramid scheme!
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Add in selling 100k plus mileage TJs for $10k and your business is fool proof (or is that proof there are fools haha :D)
 
Gas station in east Charlotte I pass on the way to work:
Gas - $2.13
Diesel - $2.03
That would make it tempting if it were the same everywhere.
 
I'm about to go get around 75+ gallons of diesel in Lake Wylie, SC for $1.92 per gallon. LOVE IT!
 
So I'm going through this debate. Was going to post a thread but found this old one. Here it is 2019 3 years later. Ford has the new 7.3 push rod motor coming out and it seems like fleets are dumping diesel in favor of gas motors in some of their trucks. I'm curious if any of you are rethinking the go diesel or go home thoughts?
 
Just re-read this whole thread. My last 5 trucks have been diesel, and my next one will be. After that, it's too hard to predict because there will be some battery powered options that don't currently exist. But I'm a cheap bastige and it's gonna be a long time before they are in my price range. I use my truck like a truck should be used, regularly hauling crap in the bed and towing stuff. A half ton would suffice 80% of the time, but when I have equipment behind me, and I'm dragging 12k pounds, I want a long heavy rig with good brakes to control the load, and plenty of power to pass buses full of nuns!

My truck has to serve as occasional family hauler and DD, so I want something nice enough to throw the kids in and take the wife to a nice seafood dinner. I also have gotten used to cooled/ventilated seats and remote start, so, for me, I want the newest possible truck with a ton of all highway miles so that the truck is in like new condition but the value is significantly depreciated, and I get the benefits of a newer truck at less than the cost of a 99 7.3 or Cummins. Also, since it's already near the bottom of the depreciation curve, when I sell it a few years later, I can pretty much get my money back. Im 4 for 4 on making money when I sell my trucks, but that's not normal and I don't expect it to last.

Most if these comparisons I see are for 1/2 ton gassers vs 3/4-1 ton diesels. Nowadays there's a slew of 1/2 ton diesels to be had. And they all will average in the 25mpg range with mixed driving, and approach 30mpg highway. Compare that with 15-17mpg mixed and 20mpg highway of the modern gasser 1/2 tons, and that's a 50% fuel economy delta. Same size truck, so no difference there. Maintenance costs are probably similar too. Reliability is still to be seen, but if I were buying a new truck, I'd take a serious look at the little inline 6 Duramax.
 
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I can't believe I started this thread.
 
ghost said:
So I'm going through this debate. Was going to post a thread but found this old one. Here it is 2019 3 years later. Ford has the new 7.3 push rod motor coming out and it seems like fleets are dumping diesel in favor of gas motors in some of their trucks. I'm curious if any of you are rethinking the go diesel or go home thoughts?
Click to expand...

Fleets are dumping diesels because many of them spend lots of time idling and it’s hard on the .gov parts. Couple that with the repair costs of older CP4 trucks and many fleets are just sick of modern diesel upkeep. That’s pretty much the short and sweet of it.

Modern gas trucks tow and stop just as well as older diesels. Maybe someone will have the time and OCD to compare the new Chevy, Ram and Ford 3/4 ton and up gas options to similar diesels of 20 years ago, but on paper, the GCWR’s of today’s gas trucks rival the older diesels and they do everything else better in terms of ride and creature comforts.

I was hard up between a new 6.2 Ford and the 6.7 Cummins when I bought my new truck. For me, the Ford would have done almost everything I’ll ever need, except haul some of our larger equipment around the in-laws. Considering we have become a lot more involved with helping them as they get older and their trucks do too, I opted for the Cummins simply for the convenience of being able to move anything besides the excavator.

For the average person in this hobby, you don’t need a diesel these days if your usual load is a bumper pull equipment trailer or car hauler with a rig on it.
 
I was always a gas truck guy basically due to barrier of entry (price) since I primarily had pre-2006 trucks. 7.3 trucks were more expensive to buy than 460 trucks, plus peak numbers were almost identical and power curve differences were negligible to me. Started dabbling with 6.0 trucks, until they started rolling whatever the opposite of coal is, then made the change over 5.4 trucks...at the time, were significantly cheaper trucks. Biggest difference I noticed here was 6-8mpg’s vs low teens hauling 10-12k trailers daily. Didn’t really have the 6.0’s long enough for a fair maintenance comparison. 2017 made the big boy jump and added a new 6.7 Dodge to the fleet. Hands down, a much easier truck to tow that load with, but not necessary. If I was towing 20k+ daily, sure, but I don’t 90% of the time. Comparatively speaking, as @StretchASU pointed out, my wife’s new expedition hauls 10-12k as easily (and I’m more comfortable driving it) as any ‘old truck’ diesels I’ve had. And unless you’re towing to Harlan, depending on configuration, new 150’s are as long, as heavy and have more power than diesel 1 tons of 25 years ago that tons of guys still use today. On a go forward basis, I probably wouldn’t go one ton diesel again, and will go back gasser or entertain potential half ton diesels.
 
ghost said:
So I'm going through this debate. Was going to post a thread but found this old one. Here it is 2019 3 years later. Ford has the new 7.3 push rod motor coming out and it seems like fleets are dumping diesel in favor of gas motors in some of their trucks. I'm curious if any of you are rethinking the go diesel or go home thoughts?
Click to expand...

The 7.3 just arrived on the lots in my area. Curious to see what that engine feels like with a 10 speed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've been eyeing the 3.0 Ford and Dodge 1/2 ton Diesels but there may be two rigs to tow in my future so I'm also looking at the 6.7 powerstroke too. Not new. I don't think I'll ever buy new but you never know. I think the Chevy's look like ass. I like the Dodge ok but every one I have ever been in wasn't that comfortable. @jeepinmatt so when you have bought them in the past is there a year or mileage point you go by? Like say 2 - 4 years old with no more than xK miles?
 
ghost said:
I've been eyeing the 3.0 Ford and Dodge 1/2 ton Diesels but there may be two rigs to tow in my future so I'm also looking at the 6.7 powerstroke too. Not new. I don't think I'll ever buy new but you never know. I think the Chevy's look like ass. I like the Dodge ok but every one I have ever been in wasn't that comfortable. @jeepinmatt so when you have bought them in the past is there a year or mileage point you go by? Like say 2 - 4 years old with no more than xK miles?
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For me, it's mostly about cost. I'd rather buy a truck that has had 50k miles per year put on it and 4-5 years old, than one with 25-30k miles per year. Generally, the ones that have 50k miles per year were driven a a fuel tank full at a time between stops, whereas the 25-30k mile trucks were driven stop and go from job to job, and gotten in and out of 20 times a day, so the seat/door hinges/steering wheel/etc all have a lot more wear. The only thing that gets much wear from highway miles is the driveline, and those parts are much more durable. For me, the sweet spot is a truck that's about 4 years old and 200k miles, because they are the same price as a truck that's 10 years old with 200k miles, but all the plastic and rubber stuff is much newer and the truck is just generally in better condition.
 
jeepinmatt said:
For me, it's mostly about cost. I'd rather buy a truck that has had 50k miles per year put on it and 4-5 years old, than one with 25-30k miles per year. Generally, the ones that have 50k miles per year were driven a a fuel tank full at a time between stops, whereas the 25-30k mile trucks were driven stop and go from job to job, and gotten in and out of 20 times a day, so the seat/door hinges/steering wheel/etc all have a lot more wear. The only thing that gets much wear from highway miles is the driveline, and those parts are much more durable. For me, the sweet spot is a truck that's about 4 years old and 200k miles, because they are the same price as a truck that's 10 years old with 200k miles, but all the plastic and rubber stuff is much newer and the truck is just generally in better condition.
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Sound advice. I can dig it.
 
Diesels= no more for me. I'm done dumping money in them. From as early as '02 f250 to '08 f550... Ford Chevy and dodge.

All gas for me now, and I drag upwards of 18k, weekly and sometimes daily.

Current fleet;

2000 f450 cc v10/zf5 manual 2wd flatbed, 160k $5000

08 f250 reg cab 5.4/5r110 2wd longbed, 300k $2500

'16 Chevy ext wb 3500 6.0/6l90 passenger van, 30k $20,000

Sold the deckover trailer yesterday and tomorrow I'm picking up a second van;

'12 Chevy ext wb 3500 6.0/6l90 cargo, 200k with a new trans from GM, $3500.

Gas is 20-40 cents cheaper at pump, relatively no difference in fuel mileage when towing in my experience (since the EPA stepped in in 2008 models) , and upwards of $150 savings at service intervals.

Noteworthy;
Gas motor goes down, changed in a weekend for less than $2k with a good mileage salvage yard motor.
Diesel goes down it's never been below $6500 in repairs and takes weeks sometimes months to be completed. Last one; I bought the v10 truck for less than the cost to repair the diesel-(btw that I spent thousands on bulletproofing only to make it 60k miles) , 2.5 yrs strong now.... and I put a 100k mile motor in since then for less than 1500.


Btw, the f450 v10 is in the transmission shop now getting full rebuild for bad main shaft.
It will be for sale upon completion for anyone interested.

Van life baby....






Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
jeepinmatt said:
For me, it's mostly about cost. I'd rather buy a truck that has had 50k miles per year put on it and 4-5 years old, than one with 25-30k miles per year. Generally, the ones that have 50k miles per year were driven a a fuel tank full at a time between stops, whereas the 25-30k mile trucks were driven stop and go from job to job, and gotten in and out of 20 times a day, so the seat/door hinges/steering wheel/etc all have a lot more wear. The only thing that gets much wear from highway miles is the driveline, and those parts are much more durable. For me, the sweet spot is a truck that's about 4 years old and 200k miles, because they are the same price as a truck that's 10 years old with 200k miles, but all the plastic and rubber stuff is much newer and the truck is just generally in better condition.
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mcutler said:
Diesels= no more for me. I'm done dumping money in them. From as early as '02 f250 to '08 f550... Ford Chevy and dodge.

All gas for me now, and I drag upwards of 18k, weekly and sometimes daily.

Current fleet;

2000 f450 cc v10/zf5 manual 2wd flatbed, 160k $5000

08 f250 reg cab 5.4/5r110 2wd longbed, 300k $2500

'16 Chevy ext wb 3500 6.0/6l90 passenger van, 30k $20,000

Sold the deckover trailer yesterday and tomorrow I'm picking up a second van;

'12 Chevy ext wb 3500 6.0/6l90 cargo, 200k with a new trans from GM, $3500.

Gas is 20-40 cents cheaper at pump, relatively no difference in fuel mileage when towing in my experience (since the EPA stepped in in 2008 models) , and upwards of $150 savings at service intervals.

Noteworthy;
Gas motor goes down, changed in a weekend for less than $2k with a good mileage salvage yard motor.
Diesel goes down it's never been below $6500 in repairs and takes weeks sometimes months to be completed. Last one; I bought the v10 truck for less than the cost to repair the diesel-(btw that I spent thousands on bulletproofing only to make it 60k miles) , 2.5 yrs strong now.... and I put a 100k mile motor in since then for less than 1500.


Btw, the f450 v10 is in the transmission shop now getting full rebuild for bad main shaft.
It will be for sale upon completion for anyone interested.

Van life baby....






Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
To me these two are very helpful. Right now I don't want to have that $5K repair. A 4 year old diesel with all that emission crap worries me and the funds would not be readily available for deletes and tunes. I'm dealing with that with my '14 Jetta TDi right now..... I'm thinking IF I do anything I just need to get a little newer 1/2 ton with less than 185K miles. The other part of me see's the 08 5.4 with 300K up there and think I'll just rock on with my current 09..... Thanks for all that put up with me bringing out a dead thread!
 
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