What to get Diesel/Gas 1/2 or 3/4 tone

[green-horn]

Well that settles it! Get neither......just get rides from friends gas/diesels!!:d

 

[chadwik74]

Just bought my first diesel(Cummins) this Jan and will never go back to gas. Love it!! Feels like a sports car on the highway when you want to pass!

 

[Bogger]

I ended up going diesel as well....

Not because it was diesel but because the truck I liked happened to be a diesel....

 

[RMK Junky]

The key aspect to owning a diesel is to treat it with repect. Try to stay away from hard cold starts, give it proper warm up time, and be faithful with oilchanges ( I go on engine hrs not mileage) and maintenance. Anything abused whether gas or diesel will be costly. The V10 engines are just as expensive to repair. Mind you a large part of any cost is labour.

 

[Bogger]

The key aspect to owning a diesel is to treat it with repect. Try to stay away from hard cold starts, give it proper warm up time, and be faithful with oilchanges ( I go on engine hrs not mileage) and maintenance. Anything abused whether gas or diesel will be costly. The V10 engines are just as expensive to repair. Mind you a large part of any cost is labour.

50% of my front end repair cost was labor.........

 

[RMK Junky]

Shops around here run between $95 and $110 an hr so it don't take long to add up. I don't mind their hrly rate...but be honest. You really gotta watch some guys.

 

[P_ZIZZ]

I have recently went to a diesel myself. I bought a 6.0L ford and coming from the 8.1L gas jobber with an allison tranny in my 3/4 ton GMC its a night and day differance! I loved my GMC I was getting around 16 to 17 mpg with hypertech, air raid cold air, throttle body spacer and a cat back exaust system. The truck also had a inch lift running 33's on 20's. When I would pull anything with that truck my milage went down to 8 - 10 mpg which was brutal!! But I think that kinda set up is exaclty what you need! You dont have to worry about the short drives and when you wanna pull stuff you got the jam!!! I love my diesel and have put 30 000 kms on it and I havent had it a year yet. But I do a bit more than average pulling and have a long comute to work every week. Hope this helps you out a bit!

 

[crooklyn]

Ok so i have made up my mind and going DIESEL

so is is one i found, whats your opinions?

2003 Ford diesel F-250 lariat quad cab
6.0 turbo diesel 400hp and 650ftlb of torque
changed all the injectors replaced the starter, batteries, transmission, oil pump, ac condenser, u joints, ball joints. After market parts include all new 2 inch lift leaf springs, volant intake, 4inch turbo back exhaust, dual front shock kit, dvdplayer two ten inch subs, options include heated leather seats, power everything

 

[P_ZIZZ]

You will be happy with that truck!! Congrates!!

 

[Transporter]

Not alot of good advice flying around this thread. Big difference in cost of repairs when you use your truck for work on the farm or out in the patch and not just as a car driving around the city.Blow the headgaskets on that 6.0 your looking at 5 grand to fix. Tranny $7000. I did both plus 76 hours labour was charged. Good thing it was warrenty. That being said I have an almost new 06 f350 for you to buy.

 

[crooklyn]

Not alot of good advice flying around this thread. Big difference in cost of repairs when you use your truck for work on the farm or out in the patch and not just as a car driving around the city.Blow the headgaskets on that 6.0 your looking at 5 grand to fix. Tranny $7000. I did both plus 76 hours labour was charged. Good thing it was warrenty. That being said I have an almost new 06 f350 for you to buy.

yeah covered under warranty but then what? at some point it does run out and a $15k bill is crazy.
From search and reading forums a lot of guys swear by the 7.3L or go Dmax.

 

[Transporter]

260 000km on my 02 F-150 only thing I have ever replaced is axle seal. Put spark plugs in too I guess because I was bored. Trucks are going to break down gas or diesel our 7.3L has broke down too and we did manage to fix ourselves a few times.Front end parts are always stretched and need replacing on it.Probably keep that gasser for another 20 years parts are cheap and abundant.They are all worth nothing in the end.What ever you get though get something that the previous owner hasnt modded it will bite you in the you know what.

 

[Cyle]

Not alot of good advice flying around this thread. Big difference in cost of repairs when you use your truck for work on the farm or out in the patch and not just as a car driving around the city.Blow the headgaskets on that 6.0 your looking at 5 grand to fix. Tranny $7000. I did both plus 76 hours labour was charged. Good thing it was warrenty. That being said I have an almost new 06 f350 for you to buy.

The best advice possible is to stay away from the POS 6.0 powerstroke. It is an absolute knightmare to work on, and is a knightmare to keep running.....it is NOT worth buying, you couldn't pay me to own one.

Owned my diesel for 3 years now, haven't done nothing to the engine but regular maintaince, at 145,000km right now.

Buy a Cummins and you won't worry about the engine :d

 

[boiler146]

Heres my two bits Gents

I bought a 2001 Toyota Tundra with the 4.7 V8. The truck is totally bulletproof. I started out with a trailer Passport (ultralite about 4800lbs. dry YEAR 1).

Then Mama and myself took up quadding, so I needed a quad deck to haul the quads around (add another 400lb for deck and 550lb. per quad YEAR 2). I needed to get Air bags at this point to withstand the weight on the tail end.

After that we met a few friends that like to camp in the mountains and other certain areas without any services.... so now I haul my own water, genrator and groceries to supply for a week or so (add another 3000lbs. min YEAR 3). Not to metnion all the beer

Well it is Year 4 now and I bought myself a new diesel truck outta shear necessity. The Toyota was still making it happen but when I finished with that truck it would have been toast (not to mention some pretty steep grades losing brakes would have been scary).

NOW I'm looking at taking up skidoo'n, shopping out some toy haulers the list goes on.

Once you get the BUG you cant stop.

So ask yourself is skidoo'n with your buds in the mountains is all it going to be or is there more to it?

Do not go for anything under a 3/4 and if you go for the diesel in your age group, make sure you get maintenance records and a good inspection completed. And, buy a $500 beater for the 10km trips.

I have to agree with Bounce on this one. If all your going to do is rip back and forth from the mountains every second weekend off and it ends at that, gas jobs are just as good and you can use it as an everyday machine as well. Diesels can bleed you dry as an everyday driver and its hard on the engine.

 

[bigdaddy35]

I'm not going to discuss brands, but before you jump into the purchase understand diesels are expensive to fix and maintain. ex: $150 oil change for a diesel and $50 for gassers if you don't do it yourself. They don't do well with short trips and you have to put on big miles to justify the increased expenses of a diesel to purchase and maintain.

don't get me wrong, I love diesel trucks (yes even dodge and gm ), but they are not suited for some situations.


If I need a daily driver of 10km a few days per week with occasional towing/hauling 1-2X per month I'd probably pick the gasser 3/4ton or 1ton because a diesel may not be worth the extra $ IMHO.

 

[Cyle]

Yea gas or diesel depends 100% on the person.

I don't put on many miles, only 17,000km a year, but I plan to keep it for 10 years+ so the cost is well justified. I do all my own work, and it doesn't cost much at all to maintain. Plus I will be moving outside the city this year so the miles will be adding up.

It just depends what your looking for, but diesel has a ton of advantages in most cases that a lot of people miss. Example, they cost more, but they hold their value so much better, and if you already buy used, your even better off.

Short trips aren't a big deal, it needs to get to operating temp, but if it happens once in a while it's not a big deal as long as you change oil according to it. When I do it I leave it running, so even if i'm not driving far to a few places in the city I leave it running so it gets up to temp then it's no big deal. The worst thing for the diesel is turning it off all the time, if less then 15 mins, your better off to keep it running. Better for everything, and burns the same diesel anyway.

 

[mudboy]

I'm not going to discuss brands, but before you jump into the purchase understand diesels are expensive to fix and maintain. ex: $150 oil change for a diesel and $50 for gassers if you don't do it

Wow

where do you go that it cots $150.00 for an oil change ??? Just so I know not to go there. It usually costs me 100.00 at the stealership. Not much difference from a gasser if you are running full synthetic.

 

[REVGIRL10]

Personally I tow a 32' hauler and I have both a (gas) Chevy 4 door dually and a (duramax diesel) Chevy and im all for the the DIESEL!

 

[bigdaddy35]

I'm not going to discuss brands, but before you jump into the purchase understand diesels are expensive to fix and maintain. ex: $150 oil change for a diesel and $50 for gassers if you don't do it

Wow

where do you go that it cots $150.00 for an oil change ??? Just so I know not to go there. It usually costs me 100.00 at the stealership. Not much difference from a gasser if you are running full synthetic.

Universal Ford Calgary:
Engine oil and filter service
10 point inspection
23 point inspection (rotate 4 tires) $149.90

Places like Mr. Lube, Minit Lube etc are around $130 for the oil/filter service.

Not sayin' I pay that, but that's the cost around here.

 

[crooklyn]

Well, I finally made a decission.
I purchased a 03 Ford F-350 7.3L
It has 250k w/ 80k on new engine, 4 inch lift, Air bags in rear suspension w/ compressor.

Thanks all for the input and pointers.