I like big trucks, and I like to drive fast.I'm really interested in the performance side of owning a modern diesel engine. My everyday truck use is nothing I can't do in a 1/2 ton gasser, but I'm looking for something to fly up and down the interstate with and race around town in.

Towing wise I pull a trailer with a couple of quads on it and one in the bed and occasionally a 21 ft. bay boat. Usually a couple times in the fall and winter I drive from South Louisiana to Nebraska and out West to hunt loaded down with gear, but not towing anything. All this with a 1/2 ton 4x4 and the gas mileage that goes along with it.

Also what draws me to a diesel is the potential to drive it for a really really long time. If properly maintianed and modded, will the hot rodding shorten it's life span significantly?

Sorry about it being long and drawn out and thanks in advance

 

Yes a diesel is for you but I think a diesel is for everybody. Do you really need a diesel no but nether do I. I look at it this way. You have a truck that will out pull the big gassers and do better on fuel then the small ones. The cost of buying a diesel is more but with better fuel mileage and less repairs I think it comes up to be cheaper in the long run. And if you are like me and drive a truck till there is nothing left in it and then fix it and drive it some more diesel has at least twice the life of a gasser. Yes if you crank it up it will shorten the life of the engine just as it does with a gasser.

 

I agree with what he said
but once you have a diesel you never want to drive anything else

 

and i agree with both of them nothing like owning your own diesel pickup and only a few things better

 

I agree with that. I didn't need a diesel let alone a 3/4 ton. I live in farm country but most of the time a 1/2 ton will do the same amount of work the bigger trucks do. I started off in my quest of more power with a 3/4 ton big block gasser, when I killed the motor in it I bought my diesel I have now (kind of a step backwards with the truck I got but its a start). I was always getting asked by my friends "what do you need a diesel for?" And I always told them that I didn't need one but I want one. I got one and I'll be the first to admit that its not exactly what I wanted but it is a diesel, I got my foot in the door in the diesel community and if I go back to gassers, it'll only be long enough to get cash to do a Cummins swap. I don't go with if you don't need then don't get it, I believe that if there's something that you want and you know it will make you happy, go for it. I knew that owning a diesel could be a HUGE expense, but in the long run, with at least twice the life of a gasser, more power(if its a modern diesel and not a dinosaur like mine), better fuel economy, and the satisfaction of knowing that you can blow the doors off of pretty much anything on the road makes it worth every penny. Just my 2 cents, sorry it was so long.

 

You can find out in two ways:
Calculating the average mileage in a year compared with the fuel consumption of a gasser and a Diesel.
You will have to be over a certain mileage before Diesel pays off.
Diesels are in general easier to tune than a gasser because Diesel will burn in a rate from 1:50 down to 14:1.
They afford less maintenance, no need of constant changing spark plugs.
On the other hand they need strict attention on filters and oil.

Just have a look at the commercial side. Nobody driving huge distances and/or huge loads uses a gasser. Business is Diesel!

 

Hey i dont need a diesel either but i got one, the only thing i regret is not getting a manual tranny, but hey it is what it is. As far a mileage and maintance goes id take the diesel over gas.

 

You know what they say. Once you go black(smoke) you never go back.

 

Thanks guys, I've wanted one for awhile, but kept talking my self out of it because I didn't need one. I keep coming back to them, so I do believe my next truck is going to be a diesel.

 

same here i went from a twin turbo sports car straight to a diesel truck and wont ever be going to a gas truck unless something happens and cant afford it, get the diesel bug and you cant get rid of it!