I know this place is a diesel forum but I'm sure a lot of you guys have experience with gassers too. I'm looking to get a new truck but not as a work truck basically just as a daily driver and to play. I ski in the winter and mountain bike/water ski in the summer so I've got gear and people I need to haul. Of course I'll haul stuff and trailers here and there but not often. Anyway question is I'm trying to decide between a 3/4ton HD with the Diesel or a half ton pickup with the 5300 V8.

My buddy has a 1500 Z71 with the 5300 in is and is getting somewhere around 16-18mpg which seems to be about what I've been finding on this forum people are getting with their 2500HD duramax's. So it seems, besides the initial cost of buying the truck it wouldn't really cost that much more if any to actually run the 2500hd over a 1500.

So what are the pros and cons of living with the two day in and day out?

Dude, sounds like you just want to "GO" and not wait around. Get the gasser and be done with it. You'll spend more getting the diesel than you will ever recoupe just "playing around" with it. If you ever buy a diesel truck just for "MPG" ...... you're not off to a good start. If you are concerned about money just get the gasser. A diesel truck is bought for pulling, driving long distance, hauling and motor life. MPG is just an added extra for those of us that spend a great deal of time behind the wheel. If a diesel were only good for fuel mileage........I doubt 10% of the folks here would have one.





Wait to start..... not bad but it will vary with the temp.


Warm up......... just can't flogg a cold diesel. It's really hard on it when it's cold. Oh yeah, you said you ski? Warm up will take longer as well...unless you want to take the time to plug it in at night.


EGT's.........each to his own. I don't kill it unless it's under 330. That means you'll be stiing in the truck on really hot days for a few minutes...just to turn it off.


Fuel filters.......... not always...but must be changed after gettting a little bit of bad fuel. Diesels are more sensitive to "bad" fuel.


Tires...........the tires will cost more because you're driving a "heavy" truck. if you buy cheap tires.....don't ask me to scrape you off the road. And, if you do skimp and hit me from a blowout or something tire related... you'll pay for the rest of your life. Well, that's what my Lawyer says.


oil changes are fairly close to the gassers intervals. Gassers are 7,500 and the diesels are 10k. The only difference is the gassers cost 30 bucks to change and the Max costs a little more...maybe 90 bucks (10 qts oil), plus a fuel filter (20-40 bucks) and an Allison spin on (10 bucks) and the oil filter.


Finding fuel......... that can be a real PIA!





But Hey, if you got money to burn and want a nice play toy that is always ready for work, jump in! Heck, you could just get that Diesel VW Torauge thing or save some dough and get the little diesel jetta thing.





Getting my flame suit........http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif

Burner - Hey thanks for the response! This is the kind of information I need to know. As I am a newbie to diesels.

The finding fuel thing was probably the biggest worry I had/have about getting into diesel so I'll have to scope out my usual paths of travel to see what's offered where I'll need fuel.

As far as shutting down with high EGT's how do the europeans get away with so many diesel cars on the road? Do the cars not generate the kind of temps that the trucks do? Do they just not care about it? Also what kind of problems do you run into shutting the truck down when the temps are high?

For the warm up do you fire the truck up and let it warm up before you deive it? Or just not drive it very hard until the engine reaches operating temp? I know that running a cold motor hard, gas or diesel, isn't good for it so I almost always let my Jeep get to operating temp before it sees any hard acceleration or high RPM's

As far as tires go, I research the things I buy to the bitter end before I spend my cash. If something doesn't make sense for me to buy I won't do it no matter how good of a deal it looks like. Which is why I don't buy things terribly often because when I do it usually ends up costing a lot of money. Not always but usually. It's that you pay for what you get thing...


I know it probably doesn't make sense for me to get a diesel but I'd just like to have the extra power when/if needed and running a gas motor that makes that kind of power uses a lot of fuel.Edited by: WAskier

have you rode in your buddies 5.3? those things are pretty strong! i think as burner said you would be more suited with the gasser. will you do your own maintenance? if not diesel maintenance is alot higher than a gasser. i have had both and if i ever do over again i would buy the diesel again. i tow frequently, although the HD gasser would probably get the job done for me, but the diesel has much more power. basically boils down to preference. if you want it and can afford it, get it. wil

Sold my Z-71 to buy a new truck. Took the plung and bought the Duramax. Maintenance costs are higher. I could never afford this truck if I didn't perform my own maintenance so, if you don't have the time or tools get the gasser. Fuel mileage is higher than what my 350 TBI got. Love the space of the crew-cab!

When you talk about maintenence are you guys talking about routine things like fluid and filter changes? or more complicated things that I don't know about?

I've done a lot of work on my jeep, my buddy and I have had the intake and exhaust manifolds off, put the suspension on, and done a lot of electrical stuff so I'd say I have a strong basic sense of mechanics as far as cars/trucks go. And I do plan on doing what work I can without sending whichever truck I get to the stealership.

Oh and anyone else with any thoughts about the EGT's and warm up that burner brought up?

EDIT: I just read the reccommended maintenence list and none of that sounds like anything I wouldn't be able to do.Edited by: WAskier

Jameson, Sounds like you're readdy for new truck....or at least a good used one. The "power" part........well that goes hand in hand with EGT's. You may be one of the few who don't want any more zip in the truck...then again, you may. EGT's are exhaust gas temps. Europeans buy diesels cars for the MPG and don't seem to all too worried about the exhaust temps when shutting down...eh? I'll ask you what coking a turbo means...............then, you tell me?


I'll be back.

A duramax will cost you a ton of $$$. Next thing you know you will be upgrading the trans and throwing a big program on it and contimplating N2O, going to diesel events, drag racing, dyno days......its a sickness i tell ya, a sicknesshttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif


Other than the thing taking more fluids its not really more expensive than a gasser on the regular every day stuff. Not much more technical than a newer gasser either.


The low down on EGT's


To know what your EGT's are you need a guage. The harder you work your motor the higher the EGT's go, like pulling a trailer or just driving hard. The EGT's drop fast though once you are off the trottle. When you add a "box" or "chip" or otherwise tell the truck to dump more fule and make more power it also raises the EGT's. An exhaust wont really make more power but it will drop EGT's a bit. In factory form and even with some lower tunes you dont have to worry about egts' geting high but if you load up a big trailer and set the box to kill you can nuke stuff. If you are going to alter your truck from stock and get it dumping more fuel into the motor you need a EGT gauge or a pyro.


The whole let the egts drop before you shut her off.....


It is a good idea for any turbo vehical to let the egt's drop a bit before you shut it off. A hot turbo can cook the oil thats left sitting in it after you turn off the and it stops circulating. This is hard on any turbo vehical but a diesel especially one thats turned up programing wise can run hotter egts than a comprable gasser. Alot of people even guys here dont let thier truck "idle down". Like i siad egt's drop fast but that last 100 or so degrees can take a bit longer. While idleing your egts drop even more and its a good idea to not shut off the truck till the egts are 300 or so IMO. On my truck even if I have been working it fairly hard by the time i pull into my parking spot and put her in park I just need to let it idel in park for maybe a minute or less to get the egt's to drop. Lotsa guys dont do this and havent had problems but lotsa us are anal. So if you buy a diesel I would sugest let the truck idel in park with the air off for 30 seconds-a minute before you turn it off depending on how you have been driving it. And while warming it up or if you are going to let it idle any other time(when you arnt going to shut it off) idle with the air on. The air conditioning adds a bit of load to the motor and will raise the egts a bit.

what he said.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif


Good post Phill.

on the warm up.....I'm anal. I always try to plug it in if its cold outside(like below freezing or something-I have it set on a timer so it will start cooking a couple hours before i leave for work in the am) I let her idel for 5 minutes or so(all depends on how cold it is) with the air on(running the ari conditiong copressor puts a bit of load on the motor and this is good) but heat or defroster going, one nice thing about plugging in a truck you have pretty much instant heathttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cool.gif and then take off.


Regardless if its 10 or 100 outside i ***** foot it and do anything I can to keep the r's down till the thing is up to temp. I do this for gassers though too. I'm anal.


Lotsa people just hop in and fire it up and away they go.


Also on ideling for going into the store or something, my usual rule of thumb....if it will be over 5 minutes shut it down.JMO

What are these EGT things that everyone keeps talking about? http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif

especially the owning a duramax can turn into a sickness part righthttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Wink.gif


You know.....that gauge that you broke the needle off of durring the last dyno runhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Tongue.gif Or did you tape over it long agoEdited by: ratlover

I can't add anything to what's already been said with exception of the price of fuel.


Petro market stability being what it is right now, you need to decide how long you're going to keep the truck and how much you're willing to pay for fuel, be it gasoline or diesel.


The nice thing about diesels is they will burn a little wider varieties of fuels than the equivalent gasser.


Things going like they are might make soy fuel or other bio fuels more attractive.


Something to think about...http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Embarrased.gif

EGT stand for exhaust gas temperature. This is what they are letting cool down to 300 degrees before shut down. They are measured with a pyrometer gauge that you will have to add on your self. Just one more toy to buy.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

Diesels will hold their value better. Fuel filter needs to be changed say twice a year. My diesel was an accident. But hope to never buy a gas truck again.
WAskier; it sounds like you really don't need a diesel. But if you WANT one, than get. It should last into the high milage, if properly looked after. You just need a good understanding for how they work, and what they need. Kinda like a wife.
Read on and make your own decision. This way you will be happy with what you buy. Don't let someone talk you into something.
Good luck.

Thanks for the input guys this is really helping me out here. And as for the EGT thing...I know about turbos and how they need to be brought down to lower temps if you've been running them hard it just for some reason slipped my mind that the Dmax and most other diesels are turbocharged. I understand what you all are talking about though.


[QUOTE=ratlover]

A duramax will cost you a ton of $$$. Next thing you know you will be upgrading the trans and throwing a big program on it and contimplating N2O, going to diesel events, drag racing, dyno days......its a sickness i tell ya, a sicknesshttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif


Haha, well I know...but a gasser probably would too. I've got the upgrade bug bad no matter which it is. Although I don't think I want to go the route of doing too much to the engine. Besides probably a high flow exhaust system. I really like to keep that kind of stuff as unfooled around with as possible. I find things last longer this way.

I drove a 2002 2500HD dmax today and the traffic was kinda crappy so I never made it past about a quarter throttle and even that was impressive getting on the freeway. Man does that motor pull.

I know I know, for the things I'll use the truck for probably 99% of the time it'll be way overkill but it's good to have it when you need it right? http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Wink.gif

What are these EGT things that everyone keeps talking about? http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif


I found out if u put it in the intake instead u never have any trouble w/ hi temps again http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif


But u might freeze up the probe.

You put your vaccum gauge in the exhaust too right? http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Tongue.gif

If you can afford it why not? "The Bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten..." Edited by: Gruber