I'm looking at getting two different trucks right now. My biggest concerns are being able to tow my 19 ft bass boat and miles per gallon.

The first truck is a 99 Dodge 2500 with a 5.9L V8 GAS engine, so we're talkin 10-12 mgp I think and obviously it will tow the boat fine. It is a VERY clean truck with 90,000 miles, its selling for $9,000.

The second is a 1994 Chevrolet Z71 1500 with a 6.5L DIESEL engine, so I'm thinking 17-20 MPG and it will tow the boat fine, maybe even better than the Dodge. It is also a VERY clean truck but has 160,000 miles on it, selling for $7,000.

Actual pulling power isn't a big deal here, I'm just wanting to pull the boat. Which truck will be the better buy for me, the gas with higher MGP or the diesel with more miles and more cost to maintain?

Thanks for yalls help! I sure need it!

Go with the Chevy more towing power, better fuel economy, way better transmission. Funny thing is both vehicles engines are at about half their life expectancy. As far as cost to maintain I have never heard of a Chevy(including diesel) costing more than a Dodge or a Ford to maintain, always the opposite.

MPG is dependant upon the rear gearing. 3.73 rear is more fuel efficient than a 4.10, but the 4.10 will give you more towing power. Diesels are more touchy with MPG than that of their gas counterparts. More you flex your ankle for "smilage" the lesser the MPG gets. Go for the diesel. Of course, we're all baised anyway :)

1994 half ton will have 3.42 or 3.73 rearend, either would be great for mileage.

Only problem with it is that its a LD engine, but with only a little work, you can disable the EGR and free up some considerable HP.

Talk him down on the price a little, pop the hood and start checking it out, if you can see the injection pump, look for a green or blue tag, if it has one then tell him the pump needs to be replaced with an updated one and he should drop the price.

Have a look at the air filter, pull the boot off the turbo inlet and check for end and side play in the shaft. Pull the oil filler cap off while the engines running and listen, tell him its gonna need a timing chain and has a lot of blow by. Check the 4wd, comment on any driving noises, anything you can find.

Looks good, and thats not an awful lot of miles, but you should be able to talk him down atleast a couple g's. Its an eleven year old truck.

Hi Texas Diesel Guy,

What are your recommendations for how to disable the EGR system?

Sincerely,

Rob :)

You can do it the easy way, just plug the vacuum line that operates the EGR, just make sure you leave the vacuum line that runs to the BARO sensor.

But they way I prefer to do it, is to pull the intake manifold off and put in HD gaskets.
This blocks off EGR flow to the EGR valve so open or closed it doesn't do anything.
Also eliminates problems with the valve or the gasked underneath leaking exhaust in the intake.