Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Pickup truck-Diesel or gas?

Question for the AK residents on here. What are your preferences when it comes to fuel options? Advantages or disadvantages between diesel and gasoline? Any other vehicle related issues that might be important to someone looking to move to Alaska?

IF you have electricity to keep a block heater going for days at a time, then maybe diesel makes sense if you have a need for the towing power. If you plan to live off the grid, I would forget about diesel. Diesel has been more expensive than gasoline for the past few years.

For Alaska, if I had a choice and wasn't towing a large trailer everywhere I went, I would go gasoline every time...JMO

If someone is asking should they buy a diesel truck, then my immediate response is no. When you need one, you won't be asking others should you buy one.....

IMO, diesel is worth it if you are towing often or heavy. Even then, a case can be made for gas vs the increased costs.

For short runs/grocery getter - definitely not.

...and I'm a diesel fan and have one.

I have 3. One of them in good operating condition.... You rode in the blue and red Chev, Mike. Fishing rig that doubles as carnival ride. Got a near identical GMC in red, given to me - bad motor. Probably going to have the engine from blue and red put into the all red this winter.

50 below is a bit hard on diesels and diesel owners - but we use the Expedition for that. I love my Ram 3500, especially in the milder coastal climate and summer temps we are mostly in - when not in Kotzebue.

Gas. One word of advice is if you can find a nice boat with a cabin down south cheap, buy it. You can flip it for a profit in SE with little problem, or you can keep it and be able to get out and do a lot more than you would be otherwise . I am amazed at how much boats cost here in Ketchikan, it is ridiculous.

That was an "E" ticket!!!

Don't live up there, but it's damn cold here and I've started my Cummins a few times in -18 to -20 below without being plugged in and it's fired right up (use synthetic 5w-40 and treated fuel of course).

Worst part about a diesel in the winter is it takes forever to warm up.

Spot On -

Diesels need to run long enuff to reach normal op temp for more than a few minutes. This allows the engine to lubricate properly and last longer.

In our part of the country 'right now' diesel is only a few cents more /gal than gas BUT I wouldn't count on that lasting long.

Jerry

I wouldn't own a diesel pickup newer than 2006 or so, when they started DPF and exhaust filters in '07.

If you must have an automatic, there's no reason to get a diesel this day in age...

I live in Maryland where it rarely ever gets below 0. I've got a piece of crap '99 F550 with a power stroke that won't start without being plugged in if it's under 50 degrees. Most of my big trucks won't start without being plugged in if it's below 10 or 15.

If I lived in AK and didn't NEED a diesel, you couldn't pay me to have one. Matter of fact, if I didn't have to own trucks for my business, I'd sell them all. They're a pain in the azz, especially when it gets cold.

This too. All the new trucks have to use DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) which is basically water with urea in it that is injected into the exhaust system for the good old EPA regs. They're even more of a PITA. The truck will need to be warmed up substantially before the exhaust system will work because the DEF needs to be thawed out. They have coolant lines that run through the DEF tank in order to thaw and keep it from freezing solid. Then if you have computer glitches or sensor issues, your really screwed. Plus the DPF needs to do a burn off (regen) periodically. If you're on dry leaves or grass, it could light the place on fire or melt the asphalt.

another vote for gas. I have a '06 duramax diesel but would not get another diesel unless towing heavy frequently is planned.

I run gas trucks, pard has a diesel. His pulls better has more torque, but he's had major problems with it.


I may buy my first diesel for a strictly lower 48 truck to pull our 5th wheel. But it's warmer down there.....well most of the time

Speaking of boats... We have a few down here...one that rarely gets used, and needs a new fuel tank is a tank of a 21 hydrasport CC, open of course, 200 Johnson. Runs rough really well, etc... Wife says dump it, we'll never use it up there...

I have a flat bottom tunnel with a 25 on it, I know, shoudl be a jet, that can be solved...

I have an airboat...thats a no brainer mostly.

But being inland around Delta Junction, is there any use of teh 21, haul it to Valdez to fish the salt as often as we can or just not good enough for AK salt?

Thanks for the advice guys. I've never owned a diesel and was curious to see what everyone's take on them was. I'll stick to gas. I'll probably still trade in for something newer that gets better mileage than the 14mpg I'm getting with my '05 Sierra.

It takes about 30 sec. to dump a 2.5 gal jug of DEF into the tank about every 5000 miles. Definitely not a PITA. Just another fluid to check, and the computer does that for you.


I'll have to check my book, but my understanding is that the heater is electric. It works automatically.

That is the case for every vehicle now.

The fire stories are about 10 years old. That problem has been resolved.



The new diesels are very clean operating and probably cleaner than many gas rigs still on the road.

They drive almost like a gas truck (acceleration and performance) and can't be beat for HP and torque.

That said, my caveat above still applies.

Pretty much this.

Used to be though that you would buy a diesel to get a vehicle that would go into 200k for miles. Gassers have gotten a lot better and getting high mileage out of them isn't as much of an issue.

Unless you're towing a lot - IMO it's not worth it.