Looking for advice on first truck purchase

[1leg]

Just incase you had not seen this thread yet!

Must read for a Suburban builds
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27847

 

[chasespeed]

Hey, I wont lie.... my LONG term goal... is to de-tune my 12v, and stuff it in a Sub........

And stick a 24v back in my truck(emissions will dictate when this happens)........

Chase

 

[1leg]

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46078

 

[RR1]

Yeah, I guess I never thought of the "driveway swap"...lol. I am kinda new to the 4 x 4 truck world...lol.

Buddy of mine just did a driveway swap, it was huge pain in the ********.

I am with you, rather have a big block....can rebuild the BB several times over for the cost/hassle of a diesel swap. I used to be a heavy equipment operator...love getting into my BB gasser. It is quiet, doesn't stink like the 7th level of Hell.

I'll give up a little mpg and power...don't see what the fuss is over a diesel. I guess after being on a dozer for most of my life, I am over diesel.

 

[redthies]

I just bought a diesel to replace my bigblock gasser. I ran diesel equipment for years as well, and yes, it does stink. But after towing my trailer to Mexico and back to Vancouver and paying as much for fuel as I did for the truck, I am loving diesel again!

 

[pulltilbroke]

You also have to look at longevity, with religous maintenence a Cummins will go a million miles, with good maintenence it will go 500,000, with bad maintenence it will go 300,000, Mines at 370,000 and still goin.

A Cummins will outlive any other part of a truck. You have to remember the B series was originaly designed for medium duty trucks and industrial equipment.

A good rebuild with a Big block will go about 100,000 or a little more.



I'll keep drinkin the Cummins kool Aid:smiley_drive:

 

[RR1]

You also have to look at longevity, with religous maintenence a Cummins will go a million miles, with good maintenence it will go 500,000, with bad maintenence it will go 300,000, Mines at 370,000 and still goin.

So will a Toyota gasser.

A Cummins will outlive any other part of a truck. You have to remember the B series was originaly designed for medium duty trucks and industrial equipment.

Yeah 'cause the Cummins will rattle and shake the truck apart, plus the weight kills front ends.

A good rebuild with a Big block will go about 100,000 or a little more.

Yep, I am fine with that. Takes me 15+ years to rake up 100'000 miles on my truck. My heavy towing days are over, I only use the truck for camping and hauling dirt bikes, no reason for me to have a diesel.

 

[pulltilbroke]

I'd like to see a Yota that went a Million without an overhaul, we've had 2 of em and one went 275,000 and needed 2 headgaskets and a bunch of other little crap, we sent it down the road with a bad headgasket, BTW this was in a 85 LWB 4x4 pickup with a 22r, The other one was a 2wd lwb pickup and it was missing and burned a lot of oil.

A good running Cummins shouldn't shake at all, yes they rattle but somthing is wrong if its shakin.

As far as the front end, thats what they make king pin Dana 60s for. I havn't done anything to mine in the last 4 years and 125,000 miles except for brakes and packing the bearings every spring and fall. I still don't understand why Dodge started using CAD balljoint axles under Cummins trucks in the 2nd and 3rdgen flavor.

 

[RR1]

I'd like to see a Yota that went a Million without an overhaul, we've had 2 of em and one went 275,000 and needed 2 headgaskets and a bunch of other little crap, we sent it down the road with a bad headgasket, BTW this was in a 85 LWB 4x4 pickup with a 22r, The other one was a 2wd lwb pickup and it was missing and burned a lot of oil.

A good running Cummins shouldn't shake at all, yes they rattle but somthing is wrong if its shakin.

As far as the front end, thats what they make king pin Dana 60s for. I havn't done anything to mine in the last 4 years and 125,000 miles except for brakes and packing the bearings every spring and fall. I still don't understand why Dodge started using CAD balljoint axles under Cummins trucks in the 2nd and 3rdgen flavor.

Buddy of mine owns a Toyota repair shop, he has several customers with well over 500'000 miles on the original engines and trannies. It can be done, just because you couldn't them to last that long doesn't mean it can't happen.

You can try to talk them up all day long. Sorry man, I do not like diesels, smelly noisy things. It sucks having to follow one on a trail run. Then there is the guy who has to start it up in camp and let it idle, fuming up the whole camp.

Having a diesel is like having a loud obnoxious foul smelling roomate, sure he might be splitting the expenses with you, but it is sure a pain in the ******** to have his stinky butt around. I rather pay a little more to have some peace and quiet, and a some "fresh" air.

Actually if you run the numbers, the gasser is far cheaper from the get go...takes a damn long time for a diesel to pay for itself. So I rather pay less for not have the lame ******** "roomate".

 

[IdaSHO]

So will a Toyota gasser.

Show me ONE toyota gasser, or ANY gas motor that will live more than 500k miles while hauling around 10k lbs of truck and payload, while getting better than 15mpg average.

You aint going to find one.

Diesels do what no gas motor can do.

Provide loads of torque, be VERY efficient, and last a long time.

Simple as that.

 

[RR1]

Show me ONE toyota gasser, or ANY gas motor that will live more than 500k miles while hauling around 10k lbs of truck and payload, while getting better than 15mpg average.

You aint going to find one.

Diesels do what no gas motor can do.

Provide loads of torque, be VERY efficient, and last a long time.

Simple as that.

The UPCHARGE of $6-7000 of a diesel over gas when new kinda kills

efficiency, plus you're going to loose a couple injectors on your way to the

500K mile mark, not cheap to replace. The diesel is going to rattle and spew

foul odor all the way there.

Diesels aren't the end all, they surely aren't KING. Sure they have their place, they aren't for every application. I'll stick with my gasser.

 

[Regcabguy]

One common thread I always notice on most gasser rigs is the need to carry additional fuel in cans. Diesels don't suffer the huge hit in fuel economy offroad. That being said,the newer gassers are certainly cheaper to maintain. Oil and filter every 5K,plugs every 100K and an air filter when needed. It'll be a gasser again for me when we tire of the popup.

 

[RR1]

One common thread I always notice on most gasser rigs is the need to carry additional fuel in cans. Diesels don't suffer the huge hit in fuel economy offroad. That being said,the newer gassers are certainly cheaper to maintain. Oil and filter every 5K,plugs every 100K and an air filter when needed. It'll be a gasser again for me when we tire of the popup.

Not on my '73 Ford F250 I have three tanks on the beast. Nearly 80 gallons of fuel with stock available tanks. I just flip a switch.:ylsmoke:

Cost wise during the life of the vehicle diesel compared to gas, it is probably a wash in the end.

I spent most of my life in and on diesels. I am over it. I was "Building my Own" on the Ford site, the diesel is a $7800 up charge!. I can get 12 mpg's, the 2-3 mpg advantage of of diesel motor isn't worth it.

 

[eugene]

Modern gassers can go a lot more than 100k, I've seen them more than that still running good. I had an old Chevy S10 with the little 2.5L and had to tear into it at 170,000 because the radiator blew and it overheated. Machine shop thought it had less than 70k on it because it looked that good inside. I've seen lots of old Chevy trucks that have had 250k or more on them with no engine work.

Main difference I need now a days is the diesels don't drop in economy when loaded. Take my 20mpg gasser and load the bed full and pull a trailer and it will drop down to 15mpg, take the same truck with a diesel and it will still get 20mpg with the same load. Thats why I wanted to get a diesel for a long time, but now with the tighter emissions and the special horse urine tanks I don't know it it will be worth it, probably cheaper in the long run to just get a little worse mileage from the gasser.

 

[chasespeed]

Okay... there is NO end all, be all.

I would NEVER compare a NEW diesel against a NEW gasser at this time. All this emissions stuff, is killing the efficiency and advantage.

THAT, and they are getting MORE complicated, killing another advantage, simplicity.

If you have a powerstroke, yeah, those HEUI injectors are painfully expensive.

My Cummins, has NO electrical on the engine, only for the alternator, gets around 20mpg unloaded.

BUT, at work, we still have a butt-load of old service trucks with 3-400k on them, THAT RUN.... no smoke, no issues. No engine replacements, or overhauls. But, they run on propane, not regular gasoline....and these are duallies, with service beds and are pretty well beat.... They were retired due to frame rot, and utility bed red.

One way or the other, its up to whomever is purchasing the truck, to determine which engine will best suit THEIR needs.

All the service managers in our company, have SRW propane fueled service trucks... but, us service techs, all our trucks are currently diesel....

Chase