SeilerBird
Well-known member
Well that was really rude. Does it make you feel like a big man?BRex said:
Gas or Diesel?
- Thread starter Tebpac
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
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Tebpac
Well-known member
;D
SeilerBird... No worries. I think I answered all of BRex's questions in the quote. I've been on forums for years now and getting flamed on occasion happens. I really do appreciate all of the help. I've researched the numbers and have hopefully done my homework but I always like to get opinions from folks such as yourselves to help shed some light on areas that I may not have considered, being a newbie to TT's. It's hard when new folks show up and ask a lot of the same questions over and over. Totally get it. I've been using the library here a fair amount and the search engine which sometimes doesn't help me find what I'm looking for depending on how I word my query. Thanks all for the answers that have been provided.
Happy Camping!
Todd
BRex said:While we are at it, what kind of tires should we buy, Goodyear or Michelin?
I've always been a fan of Goodyears but I could be talked into others...
And also, Amzoil or Mobil 1 motor oil in our gas or diesel?
Mobil 1.....period
How about those Fords, Chevy or Dodges?
Never been much of a Chevy or Dodge fan but the new Chevys look good. Still gonna stick with Ford though. My 97 F150 lasted 15 years without one mechanical problem. Rust on the other hand was a different story later in it's life. The Tundra I have now was a scratch I needed to itch.
5th wheel, TT or motorhome?
I thought we covered this? TT.... I'll type slower for ya
SeilerBird... No worries. I think I answered all of BRex's questions in the quote. I've been on forums for years now and getting flamed on occasion happens. I really do appreciate all of the help. I've researched the numbers and have hopefully done my homework but I always like to get opinions from folks such as yourselves to help shed some light on areas that I may not have considered, being a newbie to TT's. It's hard when new folks show up and ask a lot of the same questions over and over. Totally get it. I've been using the library here a fair amount and the search engine which sometimes doesn't help me find what I'm looking for depending on how I word my query. Thanks all for the answers that have been provided.
Happy Camping!
Todd
Charlie 5320
Well-known member
Under the circumstances with you driving so little in the winter, I'd be afraid of buying the diesel. Some of the newer Chevy and Ford heavy 1/2 tons have a pretty good tow rating. Buying TOO big is almost as bad as buying too little. The heavier the truck the rougher the ride, and the less mpg. My son-in-law has a GMC duelly quad cab and I wouldn't own a truck like that. It's ok when he had his 5th wheel but now even when he pulls his utility trailer it rides terrible. If a person is full timing they may be the right choise, if that's all they're used for. Don't sound like to me you are ready to buy your last truck. Buying too big now may make you hate it before you really need it.
Madcow
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2017
- Posts
- 45
There are a lot of variables to consider, and different folks will have different likes and dislikes as well as situational needs.
I like using a 2500 Chevy, because it offers not only significantly more payload than a 1500, everything about it is beefed up. Frame, brakes, suspension, etc. And real capability is more than just the engine and trans. it is a package deal. But I also like having a flex fuel gasser in it. I don't do Pike's Peak, Vail Pass, whatever. Most of my running around is below 5000 ft elevation. So the gasser does fine. And being able to use E85 really is icing on the cake.
Even then, I prefer small and light for a TT. Mostly because I prefer off the grid boondocks scenarios. I don't need to drag around a mobile home. But with a 3/4 ton, I have oodles of payload left on top of TT and tongue weight. My 2500, full of fuel, two people, and about 200 lb of stuff in the back, weighs in at ballpark 7200 lb. I still have 2300 lb of payload left.
With E85 at about $1.70 in my area now, and given that the pickup averages about 11 mpg on it (I know that sounds bad doesn't it?), still a diesel version of the same pickup would have to average for all miles (city, rural, Highway, etc) over 22 mpg just to break even on the cost per mile in fuel alone. Very few 3/4 and 1 tons with a diesel will average 22 mpg for all miles. Sure, they will bust that on highway miles alone, but on highway only miles, I can pull off 14 mpg with E85. For a diesel to break even on fuel cost it would have to get 28 mpg highway. I have yet to see a 3/4 ton diesel get 28 mpg highway except down hill or a killer tail wind.
But that works well for my needs. There is a place for diesel in certain circumstances. I use diesels for my commercial needs. And it is really a PITA when one gets a bad load of fuel, it is sub zero temps out, and the vehicle does a total shutdown along a rural highway at night and you are stuck out there in the cold changing a fuel filter. I had that happen twice in the same night on Hwy 20 in northern Iowa a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to a lousy load of fuel in Des Moines. Even the additive I put in when I fueled didn't help. I have no desire to mess with this stuff in my personal vehicles also. I already go thru about 20,000 gallons of diesel per year in my commercial stuff, no need to burn more in my personal vehicles. And any luster and ooh aah factor about diesel I might have had, died off several decades ago. It is just another fuel with a specific application.
I like using a 2500 Chevy, because it offers not only significantly more payload than a 1500, everything about it is beefed up. Frame, brakes, suspension, etc. And real capability is more than just the engine and trans. it is a package deal. But I also like having a flex fuel gasser in it. I don't do Pike's Peak, Vail Pass, whatever. Most of my running around is below 5000 ft elevation. So the gasser does fine. And being able to use E85 really is icing on the cake.
Even then, I prefer small and light for a TT. Mostly because I prefer off the grid boondocks scenarios. I don't need to drag around a mobile home. But with a 3/4 ton, I have oodles of payload left on top of TT and tongue weight. My 2500, full of fuel, two people, and about 200 lb of stuff in the back, weighs in at ballpark 7200 lb. I still have 2300 lb of payload left.
With E85 at about $1.70 in my area now, and given that the pickup averages about 11 mpg on it (I know that sounds bad doesn't it?), still a diesel version of the same pickup would have to average for all miles (city, rural, Highway, etc) over 22 mpg just to break even on the cost per mile in fuel alone. Very few 3/4 and 1 tons with a diesel will average 22 mpg for all miles. Sure, they will bust that on highway miles alone, but on highway only miles, I can pull off 14 mpg with E85. For a diesel to break even on fuel cost it would have to get 28 mpg highway. I have yet to see a 3/4 ton diesel get 28 mpg highway except down hill or a killer tail wind.
But that works well for my needs. There is a place for diesel in certain circumstances. I use diesels for my commercial needs. And it is really a PITA when one gets a bad load of fuel, it is sub zero temps out, and the vehicle does a total shutdown along a rural highway at night and you are stuck out there in the cold changing a fuel filter. I had that happen twice in the same night on Hwy 20 in northern Iowa a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to a lousy load of fuel in Des Moines. Even the additive I put in when I fueled didn't help. I have no desire to mess with this stuff in my personal vehicles also. I already go thru about 20,000 gallons of diesel per year in my commercial stuff, no need to burn more in my personal vehicles. And any luster and ooh aah factor about diesel I might have had, died off several decades ago. It is just another fuel with a specific application.
Larry N.
Well-known member
In my flex-fuel F-150 I lost about 3+ mpg over using E-10, so it was actually cheaper to use E-10, plus E-85 also has a bit less power.
