Possible new class 5 rig. Am I nut's to choose gas motor ?
- Thread starter klahanie
- Start date
AbleGuy
Officious Intermeddler
I was late to the train on this discussion…but I’d hoped you would have gone for the diesel truck since you mentioned lots of mountain driving. I was thinking about how nice it would have been for you to have the option of an exhaust brake.Well she slipped in just before the tariffs/economic extortion become official.
Now the real work and expense begins !
Dealership owner/operator still figures, by going gas, we'll prob come out ahead at the end of the day. We'll see...
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See y'all on the flip side
With all the weight you plan on carrying, how comfortable would you be gearing down when going downhill over those passes?
Nope, but thx for the interest. Plse see below.
Well, I won't promise anything. I'll take some pics along the way and see how it goes...I look forward to watching the build. Here though, not instagram.
There's been a bunch of really great builds on here and I tip my hat to the posters. It's a lot of work to post on top of a lot of work already.
Speaking of IG, the box builder uploaded some stuff a while ago which I can share while I'm still above water:
layout, more or less:
All been done before but every build has a few special or unique features. One for us is a large wet room. Part will be toilet & washer, the rest a decent clear space for washing Windy (the Lab) if need be.
Hah, never thought it end up so big (12x7x7 interior), that it'd have a skylight or we'd go crew cab but ... so it is.
Still early days. Sorting chassis logistics then a mod or two at home, then to the body builders, then the real work - we do the interior
Don't want to jinx it so will leave it at that.
Yeah, thing is my wife REALLY had a problem with the regens with our 6.4. And didnt want to go there again if possible.
The newer diesels should be better of course.
My understanding is even so the DPFs will eventually fill to capacity and need out of vehicle cleaning or replacement. Who knows when. Maybe next owner, maybe not. That was the one problem we've had with our 6.4.
So we went different this time. Try gas.
Yup, mtn ranges to get through for just about any trip. We'll see with this rig.
Funny thing diesel is not much more expensive here than gas, so the break even calculation should shorter here than for many other folks. Thing is, its only break even. If its 6, 7 years we're no further ahead at that moment, just even.
If we go another 6,7 years with gas we'll be "in the hole". True.
But I look at it this way, rather than spending extra money on the diesel up front - and having a (repair or breakdown) worry, we spend extra money on fuel costs long term and we dont have that other worry. (??)
But yes, drivability will suffer ...
This vid fellow tests reviews F550 empty service truck towing 14k. Compares power to old 6.0 diesel. Starts down hill section at 8:18