Possible new class 5 rig. Am I nut's to choose gas motor ?

[86scotty]

There's your answer. The lean towards diesels is simply male human behavior. If there's a bigger, louder, stronger tool or toy I must have it.

Getting past this is a healthy exercise in maturity, IMO, but you'll never tell most guys this. I used to be most guys, I'm not trying to sound like a doooosh, but I want simplicity and reliability in a personal travel vehicle way more than I want cool.

And, the other part is, that some people actually need a diesel, but not 3/4 of the people who buy them.

 

[rruff]

...some people actually need a diesel

It would make sense if I was pulling a 30,000 lb trailer...

But I'd still need to delete the emissions...

 

[driveby]

Will you take this truck into Mexico where low sulphur might be an issue? If yes, gas. If no then diesel. Because. But either will do just fine. But you know, diesel is cooler than gas and you'll be looked down upon at the campfire

 

[klahanie]

There's your answer. The lean towards diesels is simply male human behavior. If there's a bigger, louder, stronger tool or toy I must have it.

Getting past this is a healthy exercise in maturity, IMO, but you'll never tell most guys this. I used to be most guys, I'm not trying to sound like a doooosh, but I want simplicity and reliability in a personal travel vehicle way more than I want cool.

And, the other part is, that some people actually need a diesel, but not 3/4 of the people who buy them.

Lucky for me I scratched the diesel itch with the current truck. Just because !

Yeah, if I go gas and some smart guy comes up to me and says, "Nice truck bro, sorry about your ****". I think I can get over it

 

[klahanie]

Will you take this truck into Mexico where low sulphur might be an issue? If yes, gas. If no then diesel. Because. But either will do just fine. But you know, diesel is cooler than gas and you'll be looked down upon at the campfire

No plans for MX. Usually camp alone. Don't have campfires.

 

[driveby]

The only other thing I think I can think of is weight. Gas motor is lighter than a diesel one. Will that mess with your fore and aft weights enough to matter? Probably not but one more small consideration.

 

[86scotty]

It would make sense if I was pulling a 30,000 lb trailer...

But I'd still need to delete the emissions...

The problem with that is that you breaking lots of laws they are starting to care about, especially if you go anywhere near CA. What's more, you instantly lose warranty and any possibility of ever taking the truck to a dealer for any maintenance. On anything new this is a very bad decision due to software and advanced tech that any new vehicle is slave to a dealer for.

You know this I'm sure but that's why it doesn't work.

 

[rgv]

I think your 8.5mpg and 11mpg estimates are pretty realistic, once you average in the slow speed stuff.

Then it just becomes $/year or $/lifetime of vehicle. There’s no hill that I know of west of SK that a 7.3 won’t maintain speed with only 12k and it doesn’t really get that hot often.

Resale may or may not factor in for you, but from what I see here (BC), used diesels premiums are generally higher than the sticker premium.

As an aside, I find it interesting how far we’ve come when a 7.3 Godzilla is considered to be ‘simple’.

 

[Todd780]

Will you take this truck into Mexico where low sulphur might be an issue? If yes, gas. If no then diesel. Because. But either will do just fine. But you know, diesel is cooler than gas and you'll be looked down upon at the campfire

This was st of my 1st thought. I think both would be fine. But in some of the more remote areas I wonder if diesel would be harder to find?

Just a thought. Don't know for sure as I've never looked into it.

Now I'm off to start another Tundra vs F150 thread...

 

[plainjaneFJC]

It would make sense if I was pulling a 30,000 lb trailer...

But I'd still need to delete the emissions...

Hard to do these days. Some states the Feds are coming after the owners when they go to sell and see it’s been deleted.

 

[klahanie]

I think your 8.5mpg and 11mpg estimates are pretty realistic, once you average in the slow speed stuff.

Then it just becomes $/year or $/lifetime of vehicle. There’s no hill that I know of west of SK that a 7.3 won’t maintain speed with only 12k and it doesn’t really get that hot often.

Resale may or may not factor in for you, but from what I see here (BC), used diesels premiums are generally higher than the sticker premium.

As an aside, I find it interesting how far we’ve come when a 7.3 Godzilla is considered to be ‘simple’.

Thanks for your thoughts on the mpg estimate.

Just to be clear, 12K is the current truck. Next one could be 15-16K IDK. Plus the king sized camper, larger dually tires. What diff that makes I have no experience other than driving a 5 ton moving truck.

As for resale, I do wonder the resale market for a largish camper rig that with a gas engine. Not that one can count on resale ...

But in some of the more remote areas I wonder if diesel would be harder to find?

Just a thought. Don't know for sure as I've never looked into it.

FWIW, anyone wondering. We've done a fair bit remote communities in Canada and sourcing diesel was never more of a problem than gas.

But I still would like to carry extra road fuel. And again, that's an easy option to get with a factory diesel build.
OTOH, we're seriously considering the plan to carry a generator. That would mean carrying a second fuel if the truck was diesel. So the usual, win some, loose some shituation.

Either way I hope to dump the LPG and use whichever road fuel for primary heating.

 

[driveby]

High idle diesel and DC-DC might negate that generator need. Plus you'll have room for lots of lithium for overnight AC (etc). Might solve your dual fuel issues.

 

[klahanie]

High idle diesel and DC-DC might negate that generator need. Plus you'll have room for lots of lithium for overnight AC (etc). Might solve your dual fuel issues.

Maybe. I have a lot of number crunching to do. Never had a large battery bank, generator or AC. The genny idea is mostly for AC and on demand laundry. Plus if I needed the power, I have access to it, tho perhaps not the circumstances to use it at the time.

In fact I was thinking of a, "Am I nut's to choose a built-in generator ?" tread but reckon it'd go down like a lead balloon. 🫤

 

[andy_b]

Maybe. I have a lot of number crunching to do. Never had a large battery bank, generator or AC. The genny idea is mostly for AC and on demand laundry. Plus if I needed the power, I have access to it, tho perhaps not the circumstances to use it at the time.

In fact I was thinking of a, "Am I nut's to choose a built-in generator ?" tread but reckon it'd go down like a lead balloon. 🫤

TL;DR - skip the generator, get more batteries.

You haven’t shared your budget (you don’t need too, necessarily) but with the cost of lithium ion batteries coming down and the space that will be available to you on a 550/5500 platform, I can’t think of any reason why you’d want to get a generator over additional storage capacity.

I can imagine if your use case involves lots of winter camping at high latitudes while using the minisplit to provide heat that battery capacity can be a concern. In that case, a generator may provide some peace of mind. Likewise, depending upon the battery system, AC, and washer/dryer you’re considering, you may run into issues of max current draw outstripping the battery BMS’s ability to flow that amount of current, but this can be planned for in advance and is most likely just theoretical.

Sounds like it is going to be a cool project.

 

[86scotty]

High idle diesel and DC-DC might negate that generator need. Plus you'll have room for lots of lithium for overnight AC (etc). Might solve your dual fuel issues.

Please don't camp near me if you're going to idle a diesel to charge batteries. Even a new quiet one with a stock exhaust.

I speak for everyone in the world I'm pretty sure.