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Gas Pickups vs Diesel

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tenbach79

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I know this has been brought up before but just wanted some more input on guys that use gas pickups. I have a 01 duramax and this last moth has been bad. New injectors, blown head gaskett and now I have a valve that is bad or a bad valve seat. Pickup has 215000 just thinking its time to cut and run from this thing. Hate to just dumped $5K into it and I just dont want to dump anymore money into it.

Looking at a GMC or Chevy gas pickups, dont know much about Fords but dodge to me is out of the question(just a personal thing). Anybody have good luck with them? Looking at going with a 08' or newer. Any help will be great.

Looked at a new duramax at a dealer this weekend and dang they are nice but $57,000 :shock: I just cant see spending that much money for a pickup.
 
sorry i cant help I have a 99 F150 has over 200,000 and still going strong.
This is my first pickup so I dont knwo if that is good. Shoer has a older ford but it hasnt been driven much since he has been over the road. Its a ford as well.
Good luck in your search.
 
The guy I'm day-working for here just dumped his 03' F-350 Powerstroke and went looking for a gas-powered truck...he took me with him (several times) to town, to get my honest opinions on all manner of trucks he was looking at. The only thing we DID'NT test-drive were Chevies or GMC's...although I saw a used one on the lot for $33k...with as many miles on the odo; it was a 4-door Duramax. Myself...I have a 'thing' with Fords, so I kept pushing for the F-250 with rubber mats, plain white with matte-black grille/fenders/and interior. It was NICE...but I have to admit, it just did'nt have the 'grunt' that the Dodge-Hemi had...and that's what he based his final decision on; we have an awful-looking Brown 11' Hemi automatic, and he's getting the flat-bed put on while he's roping in Reno. He had me drive the Hemi to town, and although it tracked nicely, had good fit and finish, and gobs of power...I just...don't LIKE it. My personal rig is a well-worn 92' Silverado long-box/ext-cab half-ton...and it's paid-off, so I'm a Chevy-Driving, Ford-Loving guy. I would'a bought the F-250, (even though it was 'weaker') simply because the body and frame are stronger, and Ford (compared to Dodge) really works hard to 'evolve' thier line of work-trucks, rather than completely 're-design' everything from top to bottom, once every 5 yrs.
 
have been pulling gooseneck flat hay trailers since '73 with a variety of 3/4 and 1 ton pick-ups, both gas and diesel and it seems that any fuel savings with diesel is quickly eaten up with higher maintenance costs. i too had a tough month, taking the rear end out of one truck (2800$) not only the diesel engines cost more to maintain but i'm not sure that the drive lines are engineered for the extra torque that diesels can provide.

one of the cheapest trucks i've had , to run and maintain was a late 80s gm 1 ton dually 4x4 with 454 on propane, cheaper fuel and gas maintenance
 
I have many farmer friends and so I see a lot of diesel pick-ups

We just sold our 1999 Dodge with the cummins - - - two transmissions, and about $4,000 in engine work over 320,000 miles. Plenty of power but so so fuel economy. Replaced it with a 2011 Dodge and hate the new truck - - - no power, no economy and the body is so thin if you trip in the garage and fall up against it your elbow will survive but the truck will have a dent! Also if you open the door into a motorcycle mirror the mirror is still in focus and has no damage but a dent in the truck door!

From all the trucks I've been around I feel if you can afford it get a duramax with the allison transmission, keep your water seperator serviced and you will not have injecton problems ( or pump ) and the fuel economy is good and power is geat. My son went with the dodge as it was $5,000 cheaper for the same specs but he is very dissapointed.

I feel the fords are a step above the dodge but they were priced the same as the duramax and I like the quietness and overall fit of the chevy.

I feel I would buy a well maintained fleet duramax with 100,000 miles before I would buy another new dodge if they were priced the same! I would go with a new ford if there was a price incentive over the chevy but it would need to be at least 10% cheaper or the chevy would come home.

I have a friend that disposes of "Duke Energy" trucks when they get around 90,000 miles and they are in my opinion in top shape and a geat value - - - most look like new and are serviced regulary and they put new tires on at the time of sale. They are on their first duramax trucks and I can't wait till some of them come available.
 
I've got a 99 F-250 (gas) Auto tranny ,5.4L . Has 253,000 miles Runs good. Burns a qt of oil between changes.About the only problem I've had was a spark plug blew out about a yr ago.
 
I guess I'm not a lot of help either, but will include my 2 cents. I figure if your gonna pull the cummins is gonna do the job. It has to be set up to pull though...the new 6.7L is a pooch and has too many problems with emissions. Unless you spend the $$ and do the deletes they are worthless. I will however stick with the 5.9L cummins we have with a manual tranny....only way to pull! She has go fast parts and can pull like no other...not to mention look good doing it!! 8)
dodge.jpg


If I had to pick a gasser though I would stick with the Chevy, they ride nice and I just like the power better than that of the 5.7L dodge has out...and I just cant do fords (sorry) :roll: . I have a hard time with any of the new pickups though...you just cant beat a Chevy 350 for versitility and ride....but all the new stuff is made from aluminum cans!! :roll: Again in my opinion, no matter how strong the tranny is, manual was still the best for pullin'. Hope you find what you are looking for....the best vehicle around is one that suits you!! Good Luck!
 
Turns out the best pulling truck built is this :wink: :
018-3.jpg


The 7.3L is pretty incredible, in stock clothes it made more horse power and torque at lower rpm than it's closest competitor (Dodge), lasts forever, cheap to fix (in relative terms), and for a small amount of money can make BIG power.

Anyway, as I understand it, the new f150 Ecoboost is pretty hard to beat. They have a GVRW better than the 3/4 tons did a few years back and the new motors are making big horse power. Even the little V6 is making 365 hp and 400 lbs of torque, and a friend of mine tells me he's getting 25 mpg driving the oilfield roads. Best part is these trucks weren't made with our tax dollars.
 
Thanks for the input. I know everyone has there opion on which is the best a buddy of mine is all ford period. The problem with mine is the year if you went with the duramax from 03 and on all the injectors are external and are easier to change. Drove a new gas and a new diesel the same day and the gas was louder than the diesel but with the diesel you got to put in urea to help with the emmision crap. Fuel mileage going to go down with a gaser but I just cant see spending a extra $7000 for a diesel if a gas one will do the same job.

I really like my Chevy with the allison never had a problem with it until this last month. Dad has a dodge I like it but its like riding in a tank all the hp in the world just a crappy ride and a tinny body.
 
Perhaps the ultimate is to rebuild your own.......few years ago we had a contractor installing pasture pipelines. He was driving a Ford 4X4 with a 12V 5.9 cummins installed.......said it was the only way of getting a decent engine in his personal choice of vehicles. :lol: :lol: We've had excellent luck with these engines....oldest one has 500,000 k & never had the motor touched....just keeps on going & can't be beat for fuel economy.
 
I have a 97 and 03 powerstrokes and wouldn't drive anything else. The 97 has close to 300,000 and the 03 has close to 200,000 miles and all I have done to them is change the water pumps, starters, oil change, and had the injectors clean on the 97. I take pretty good care of them, but to work the hell out of them when I have to. I have Superchips in them and when I drive right the 03 can get 25-27 mpg not pull anything. I have had gas trucks, but after all the computer junk on them where I couldn't work on them I quit buying them. I get most of the parts from junk yards when I can. It saves a ton and the parts are still pretty good. The Good old 7.3 will last for ever if take care of.
 
There are lots of 7.3s around with 4 to 500 k on them . But they dont make that one anymore . The 5/4 fords blow their plugs out of the heads . The 6 . 0 Chevys suck gass bad .Chevy duramax cost a fortune to work on . & the new dodge have no fuel economy .

Shot runs in cold weather gas is the answer . If you pull much & long distance diesel would be better I think .
 
When I bought my latest "everyday" pickup, there was NO DOUBT it had to be a Ford. I will not support car makers who had to be "bailed out", I don't care if their vehicles were head & shoulders above the competition's, I will in no way support them. I wouldn't own a Doodge, anyway, and the Government Motors' have such a Mickey Mouse 4WD setup it's pathetic.

I ended up with the 5.4 gas engine in the F250. I bought a nice 2007 model (this was almost 1 1/2 years ago) with the 5.4 for the same or less money than a 2001-2003 with either the 7.3 or the 6.0 diesel. The difference in price was quite remarkable, $3,000-10,000 MORE for the diesel, and they all had a jillion miles on them. My 2007 had 110,000 miles on it.

Several nice things about the gas engine.....didn't have to plug it in, doesn't cost a fortune to service, the mileage is decent, and, not to mention, for the difference between gas and diesel, I can afford to fill the gas burner up with the money I saved on the purchase price.

One other thing to consider....I don't care what brand you own, the ones with the diesels are too damned heavy on the front end, and this will get your behind stuck in a lot of instances. I am really amazed at how that F250 handles in mud & snow, even with straight tread tires on it. It's kinda like the weight of the gas engine is just right and makes a perfect balance of sorts. I can't say that about the diesels.....just too much weight on that front end.

I know everybody would like to be the "King of the Road", but there's probably less than one in 10 members here who can actually justify owning the diesel vs. the gas burner, if you are really honest with yourself. How many here are hooked up and pulling a loaded trailer 75% of the time? Not that many, I'll bet. Dad always told me, "You gotta feed the horses, whether they are in the barn or under the hood". So if the gas burner sucks the fuel down once in a while, you are still ahead of the game.

Just my 2 cents worth. Now back to your regular programming.

BTW...I am a firm believer in Royal Purple synthetic oil, it will increase your mileage somewhat and sure helps the cold weather starts.
 
Ok after Loomix and his common sense commentary I am going to add my 8 cents worth.

Here there is a dedicated diesel always hooked to either a stock trailer or a flat deck. It moves most days doing something. The cummins is nice the mileage is poor, the maintenance is high. It is backed up with a Chev gas 8.1, the power is great, the gas mileage is poor, the maintenance is never ending including the Alison transmission. If you don't ever want anyone to pass you and have an endless supply of money for gas and maintenance and a back up for when it is in the shop... I recommend the very comfortable Chev with an 8.1. (discontinued anyway)

On the lighter duty side I really like our Dodge with a 5.7 hemi except that in its first 15000 km it has been in the shop 3 times. Might need to rethink as at least the Chev was always dove hard. This truck hardly gets off the highway.

Last but best here is a 78 ford here that has wrapped the odometer so many times we can't remember how many are on it. They don't make them like they used to. :cry:
 
We are one of the few (as mentioned above) that have use for
a diesel. Last year, because of selling some cows, we needed to
buy something...our '06 Dodge diesel was in great shape, but we
decided to buy a new one with the automatic transmission. Mr. FH
was always a stickler for manual transmission (but now he's old :wink: ).
Our pickup hardly ever goes anywhere without being hooked to one
trailer or another. The pickup rides really good, seats are comfy,
so far the fuel mileage sucks.

The new Fords are interesting, but unproven. We were Ford folks
for years and years. We bought the first Dodge as a used 1997
(felt like traitors to Ford) but we have driven Dodge's ever since
and haven't had any problems with them. Ours have all been
one-ton duallys. We have NEVER been Chevy pickup people, but
we do live GM's SUV's and that's what I drive.

As for the pickups--gas vs diesel--I would have gone for gas,
but every dealer we talked to said after having the diesel they
didn't think we would be very happy with a gas engine. Mr. FH
uses ours to deliver mineral, 7 ton at a time on roads that aren't
the best and he still is really happy with the Dodge. I wish the
fuel mileage was better. We don't have to add the urea on this one.
Do you suppose it will get better fuel mileage when it gets broken in? :p :wink: :D :D :D
 
Ty and I both have our '06 5.9's chipped which helps mileage quite a bit-they seem to get better mileage at 70 than slower. All of the big three can break your wallet in the shop. I had a little Toyota diesel in the 80's that was an awesome little truck-45-50 mpg.
 
The shop is what I worry about as well with these new trucks. From my understanding, you have to pull the cab off of em to do anything. If that is true, I don't see how that makes any sense- other than to a mechanic. I'm looking for a slightly used model to avoid this.
 
02 duramax has got 240,000 miles on it but did cost $4000 for new injectors a year ago, but can get close to 25 mpg on a road trip, empty, it is a crew cab long box too. wish I could get another just like her.
got a old 94GMC 270,000 miles needs a new clutch , h3 motor put a 350 rocket in it at 175,000 and 30,000 after that a service station put the wrong oil filter on it so made them put another rocket in.
 

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