Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Newer diesel which one?

I think it's more than just the govt. although that's bad enough.

Diesels generally have a rather steep, short torque curve, thus the multiple gears in a big rig.

People like the way a gas engine excellerates, so diesel engines were tweaked to put out a broader torque curve. Evidently that hurts mileage.

I have a friend who for years drove an early Dodge Cummins, the 5.9 L. That truck gave over 20 mpg, he claimed 22 mpg on the road. The Ford 7.3 was a great engine, too. Then Ford went thru a series of "improved" engines, some pretty bad.

The latest diesels have all that EGR stuff, multiple sensors and electronic gadgets and they don't give near the mileage the early ones did. I think part of that was consumer driven, wanting a different torque response. Of course, the govt. made their contribution.

Anyway, they ain't what they used to be...

DF

Given a similar emissions set-up, I think my 6.7L Ford would match or even exceed that old 5.9's fuel economy while delivering significantly more HP/TQ over a wider RPM range and due to reversing the flow and greatly shortened exhaust-gas pathway, would continue to have the throttle response of a gasser.

It will certainly match it. "I may have heard of a guy" who did a full delete on his 2011 or 2012 (can't remember which, whatever year they first began using the "Scorpion" 6.7L as it is referred too at Ford.) "I heard" he did away with the EGR and DPF systems, as well as all of the passive catalyst systems. He has a straight piece of four or five inch pipe from the turbo to the factory exhaust tip. He's running a tuner set to STOCK, only to deal with the missing emissions systems and his PCM.

If you look at truck close, you can notice blackened soot on the stock exhaust tip, which is generally clean on those trucks. As well, even at normal driving, the turbo spooling up and the barking wastegate are clues that something isn't exactly stock.

He claims 18-22mpg, dependent of course upon whether he is running empty or towing, city or highway, etc., etc. I believe him, he's not a the kind of feller to exaggerate much, and I know plenty of older Cummins and 7.3 Powerstrokes that pull that kind of mileage, pre-emissions of course.

"I may have heard of a guy", sorta reminds me of the Viagra commercial where a guy is asking question for "his friend"...

DF

Right!! Same concept, different motives!!

Just sucks that if you buy a new $55-80k pickup you have to void your warranty or take your chances with it leaving you stranded. My uncle drives a 2015 f350 with the 6.7 for work, state vehicle so no mods at all. His emissions system clogged up and crapped out at 20k miles or so and the whole rig shut down, no limp mode or nothing just flat quit. Had it towed to the dealership and they replaced the entire emission system from the turbo to the tailpipe. It was under warranty but billed out at almost $5k.

I may have heard tell, somewhere, that in these parts, diesels where certain parts fell off sell for about $5K more than stock diesels. They said. Who knows?

The new emissions systems work ok as long as the truck is frequently used under heavy load. Idle a lot, pussy foot around a lot and the system will load up with soot and crap out. Drive it like you stole it. Our new Kenworth actually has a smaller motor in it than we would have liked because the smaller motor increases average engine load and that decreases expected down time.

The dealers were loaded with the Dodge Eco Diesels in the Midwest and couldn't sell them. I went to a Ford 6.7 and am well satisfied. More than enough power and very quiet. I pull a 39 foot 5th wheel and a 6X12 trailer with a side by side and it handles it easily. Previously I owned a 7.3 and 2 6 liters. The 7.3 wouldn't handle a 28 foot Montana and it had every toy on it you could imagine. Both 6 liters gave me good service. I wanted more power and did not want to bullet proof my last 6.0 so I traded with no regrets. I stayed with Ford because every other brand in the Midwest was rusted out after several years. I use a 1994 Ford Ranger and a1974 Ford F250 Highboy for hunting.

Most likely way too much time running @ less than full operating temp. Maybe lots of idling time or maybe lots of low-speed use. During my last oil change I asked the service guy about DPF and how long they last as I'm closing in on 130K on mine. He said the only chronically problematic trucks were operated by state DOT and had tons of low-speed/low-temp time and lots of idle time.

Some of you guys are so funny, you like living in the past as if things were made so much better back then, which they weren’t! I owned a 1997 3500 with Cummins, 2001 2500 with Cummins and while those motors were simpler than today’s the trucks had a lot of issues that kept a guy at the dealership regularly. I most recently had a 2014 Ram 2500 with a Cummins , drove it for 3 years and put almost 60,000 miles on it and it never went to the dealership for anything. Regularly got 20+ mpg on the highway and 18 mixed driving. I towed a 8000 lb boat from Central Texas to Venice,La in 100 deg heat several times and got 12-13 mpg and the truck didn’t even know it was back there. When I sold the boat I didn’t feel the need to have a diesel so I sold it. Been running a F150 for the last year and a half and since moving to Colorado I’ve been looking at Cabover campers and after looking at the ultralight campers that fit in the little F150 bed I decided that I want more. Plus I’ve been putting a lot of miles on the truck running all over this state and really didn’t want to end up with a ECO with 100,000 miles in 4 years . So I started shopping diesels again in the last month. GM is out of their mind, a nicely equipped duramax was way more than I wanted to spend. The F250’s in a nice packaged lariat was also quite high and after talking with a few guys that run the newer Ford diesels it seems they have quite a few quirks in their sensory. I ended up at the rams which IMO are at the point now where this 4th gen has had most of its quirks worked out (though I never experienced any in my last one) the Cummins with the 4th gen DEF is really pretty simple and not a hinderance like the DPF crap was. Was able to negotiate a really good price on a loaded Laramie and couldn’t be happier. This was my last nice truck purchase since I’ll be retiring before I’ll have the itch for a new truck, and kinda spoiled myself, never bought a truck that’s got all the goodies this one does. Had it two weeks now and after 1,012 miles of driving it it’s performing awesome! This pic is the readout since new for all my driving.




97 3500 worked hard but always being worked on



2001 Solid truck that ran great but had a mechanic on standby and Alaska winters ate seals from front to back every winter. Front end replaced after every other oil change!



2014 problem free

Well I thought it was time to update the thread. I put a deposit down on an 06 Duramax, if it passes 3rd party inspection it'll be headed my way. One owner (confirmed both by Auto Check and Carfax) just under 140K miles LT3 package, way fancier than I needed but the only truck I was able to get under LTV. Almost broke down and bought a 2013 Ram 2500 with 110K on it for $15K more locally, man it was tough to find anything under $40K once I got 2011 or newer and under 100K miles.

I found the truck in Flint Michigan of all places, paid an extra $350 to have a 3rd party inspection done on it with fluid analysis. If that all passes then I need to find a shipper to have it delivered or a cheap flight to Flint and drive like hell to get back to Colorado. First time I have ever tried to purchase a vehicle off the web, can't tell you how nervous it makes me.

Get lots of photos of the undercarraige. Flint, Michigan you say? More that a good chance it's been in the salt.

It has only been in Flint since July, and from the pictures I got it doesn't have rust issues. It passed inspection with oil analysis, so it's my truck now. I just need to figure out how to get it home.

I just had mine fixed for that ,Accelerator senor (might be wrong in the name) was the cause. $600aftermarket Ekline, Dodge, same maker is $1000

Taylor, I'd just grab a quick flight and go pick it up. Get the hell out of Flint and plan a nice trip back. Good time of year and a good excuse to get out.

Problem with that is I don't have a normal work schedule with normal weekends, and due to family emergencies I'm out of vacation for the year. So flight, lost wages, and diesel will be a wash. I'd like to drive it home and may do it, but it won't be a a nice easy going trip back.

I test drove a brand new 2018 Ram 2500 a week or so ago. Tradesman, crew, reg bed, 4x4.

The base models are nicer than a lot of older fancy trucks. I was shocked how nice the base model Ram was. Only options it had was the chrome appearance package and the Cummins diesel. Sticker was $52 or $55K. I bet some careful shopping would get that truck for mid to low $40's.

I don't know this truck is pretty darn fancy.

That's an 06 or 07, I suppose.

It is an 06 pickup.