Couldn't find a forum area where this question seemed on-topic so it's going here by default.

I'm curious about the benefits/drawbacks of gasoline engines vs. diesel for a pick-up truck. I'll be looking to replace my Dodge Ram 1500 in the next year or two and am thinking that maybe its replacement should be a diesel - specifically a Ford F250 Super Duty. I've never owned a diesel of any kind before and am not really knowledgeable on auto mechanics. The truck is personal use and is my main transport around town. I don't do heavy hauling frequently but like having the capability if the need should arise.

My reasons for considering diesel:
Engine longevity
Fuel economy


I've googled this topic and the results were inconclusive. Thanks for any input.

Gas vs Diesel. Depends on your country.

In the middle east where gas prices have been fixed for decades , either fuel does not matter in terms ofthecostoffilling the tank up.

In the UK most truck users prefer diesel(cos you can use the 'red' farmyard diesel to avoid paying 'blue' diesel costs at the UK tank - "Legal, just as long as you do not drive on a public Highway officer".

The UK has two levels of 'Duty'(Diesel tax) dependent on whether you pretend to be a Farmer or not! . My UK buddies tell me that all the 'Gyppos' buy the cheap red diesel and illegally avoid paying tax - they are given favoured status as an 'Ethnic Minority' so the Irish Gypsies or Pikeys are freely allowed to get away with Crime.

In Australia Diesel is the best way to go, even offshore in NZ or over here in Tasmania.

For the US gasoline is getting a tad too costly.
The only pickup I have is an '80s C-10 454 8' longbed stepside Chev (7.4 litres) -'the last of the wooden bed GM pickups ever made' - but for every day town driving daily due to weather factors I have a 4.6 litre (v6 Ford Explorer), and a new full size 4wd Tahoe 5.7 litre - all gasoline driven which is getting a tad too expensive.

To minimise your costs I advise switching to Diesel, and if you are not knowledgeable about mechanical issues and rely on outside expertise - it dont matter if you get the Diesel.

Diesel is the way to go.

Good Luck

"Das the Quoll man"

:D

There is no question about it. Diesel is the way to go.

The man who hauls the food from my farm switched from a Ford V-8 gas to a Nissan Panel truck with a 4-banger diesel.

He makes one trip where he used to make 4 trips and instead of an average of 10 mpg he gets a full average of 18 mpg.

My other friend works for a furniture store has a panel truck with a Chevy 350 Vortec v-8 and he gets an average of 7 mpg with the same load as the Nissan 4-banger.

The 4-banger is a standard and on our hills which are very steep he only has to go down to 2nd gear and around to 40 mph.

Deisel trucks have twice the power as gas.

I bought a Ford XLT Lariat with a 300 straight six gas and I am lucky to 13 mpg tops. I got all the power I need but I see people with 4-wheel drive F-250’s that use diesel and they get much better service than I get.

If you treat them right a diesel truck will give you twice the service and twice the mileage.

If I can get enough money I want to sell my two of my trucks and get a Dodge diesel.

I know my next car will have a nice Turbo Diesel dropped in it.

Great for economy, and power.

I'm thinking of grabbing me a VW TDI Golf/Rabbit, and getting me close to 50 MPG.

Why not start a Pick up truck thread all onits own for us good ol country boys .

Lets talk Fleetsides,Doolies, stepsides, stylesides, oakbeds, rigs and bed protectors.

Stuff that really counts in life, instead of all that kooky Skadi stuff about Nordoid Med cranial phenotypes and other dull ass boring crap.

Any one else ever done any quarter mile drag racing with a hopped pick up truck?.

[QUOTE=Dasyurus Maculatus]
Any one else ever done any quarter mile drag racing with a hopped pick up truck?.[/QUOTE]

A gutted S-10 with a $3,000 350 count?

That thing was so fast someone pulled up and traded a mint condition 61 ford falcon to it.

[QUOTE=Der Henker]Couldn't find a forum area where this question seemed on-topic so it's going here by default.
.......
I've googled this topic and the results were inconclusive. Thanks for any input.[/QUOTE]
I've found a compatible thread:
http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?p=95077#post95077

[QUOTE=Kind Lampshade Maker]I've found a compatible thread:
http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?p=95077#post95077[/QUOTE]

Sowhat do you drive inAustria KLM?. I dont think they still make diesel Borgwards? or NSU's with the rotary Wankel engines?in your part of the world in the lee of the old Iron Curtain.

I once had a mate who had a rear cooled 1950's Tatra - http://www.tatra-register.de/pix/museum.jpg.


And was the TATRA V-570 Beetle car THE FIRST VOLKSWAGEN!!! designed by Hans Ledwinka the engineer for Tatra and ripped off by
Hitler/Volkswagen>http://www.aerotatra.czweb.org/v570f.jpg

http://www.verkehrshaus.ch/de/museum/highlights/images/jpg/16.jpg

:cool:

[QUOTE=Der Henker]Couldn't find a forum area where this question seemed on-topic so it's going here by default.

I'm curious about the benefits/drawbacks of gasoline engines vs. diesel for a pick-up truck. I'll be looking to replace my Dodge Ram 1500 in the next year or two and am thinking that maybe its replacement should be a diesel - specifically a Ford F250 Super Duty. I've never owned a diesel of any kind before and am not really knowledgeable on auto mechanics. The truck is personal use and is my main transport around town. I don't do heavy hauling frequently but like having the capability if the need should arise.

My reasons for considering diesel:
Engine longevity
Fuel economy


I've googled this topic and the results were inconclusive. Thanks for any input.[/QUOTE]

Diesels are a good choice for most applications. Diesels produce more power, last longer, get better mileage, and require little maintenance. I have a twenty year old sailboat with a little Universal model 12 diesel in it. The boat weighs 8,000 lbs and the little engine pushes it at hull speed even in heavy weather, never a sputter or hesitation. Even in a marine environment they excel - all you have to do is keep the injectors clean and the fuel uncontaminated.

In the past the drawbacks of having a diesel in a vehicle were availability at the pump, the noise, and smoothness of operation. I have recently read that the newer diesel engines run much quieter and smoother.

It sounds like you really have a need for a serious pickup - unlike those of us who are city boys who just like trucks. So many city boys have these big trucks that won't fit in their garages, they only drive them to their jobs, never tow anything, and never even get the bed dirty. I have no use for a big truck that gas mileage is a consideration, but I love trucks. I have had SUVs, but I returned to the pickup with my last purchase. If I want to go out to dinner, we take my wife's car.

I have only had two pickups in my life - one was a Dodge Dakota and now I have a little Ranger FX4 which is damn near the size my Dakota was back in 1992. I needed a four wheel off road model because I go hunting down at my buddies farm or I sometimes haul the occasional load of yard debris. I never pull anything on the hitch - my boat isn't trailerable. Smaller trucks fit in my garage with my wifes Audi, my workbench, and I can still drop the tailgate and load up with the garage door down.

NSU sold the licence for the Wankel to others including “Fichtel & Sachs” who built a motorcycle using a rotary engine. Unfortunately, Volkswagen (the parent company of NSU) let the NSU Ro 80 die, through denying research and development grants for this fine auto. Instead of developing it further, a decision was made to stop production. Innovatively, very un-German, indeed
[QUOTE=Dasyurus Maculatus]
Sowhat do you drive inAustria KLM?. [/QUOTE]
If I had a woman, I could answer your question in its entirety
[QUOTE=Dasyurus Maculatus]
I once had a mate who had a rear cooled 1950's Tatra - http://www.tatra-register.de/pix/museum.jpg.
[/QUOTE]
I once had a mate who liked to get her rear cooled by a circumventing tongue, thereafter by a bag of nuts which made fanning motions.
[QUOTE=Dasyurus Maculatus]
And was the TATRA V-570 Beetle car THE FIRST VOLKSWAGEN!!! designed by Hans Ledwinka the engineer for Tatra and ripped off by
Hitler/Volkswagen>http://www.aerotatra.czweb.org/v570f.jpg
[/QUOTE]
To my understanding, the Tatra was concepted by the Bohemian, “Ferdinand Porsche” who was responsible for conceiving the Volkswagen and Porsche

[QUOTE=sean(doc)martin]A gutted S-10 with a $3,000 350 count?

That thing was so fast someone pulled up and traded a mint condition 61 ford falcon to it.[/QUOTE]

The first time I took my stock pickup truck to a local Drag Strip for a RWYB it beat an alcohol burning NOS injected blown 56 Chevy down the quarter mile.
:cool:

The '56 must have been slow off the lights.