Diesel power...pros and cons

[wildwilly4x4]

Originally Posted by racin69z

One big con that I have not seen mentioned is the weight. I don't think a dana 44 will survive long with all the extra weight. I have one friend with a 2003 dodge that has already had to replace all the ball joints.

You would probably have to do a dana 60 swap at the same time, so add about another $1000-1500 to the bill.

Lynn

If you run a 6.2 or 6.5 GM diesel there isnt any need for axle swappin. GM built them on 1/2 ton platforms for nearly 10 years, and alot of them are still on the road. Best I could tell a fully decked out 6.2/6.5 wieghs somewhere between a small block and a big block......judging buy how hard it was to move the cherry picker around, and moving the motors by hand on the floor.

[1962k20]

I had a 81 5.7 "converted deisel". What a turd!! I think I spent more time workin under the hood than driveing that truck. Parts were stupid expensive, even back in the 80s. Im sure there made better today. But after owning a 5.7 I still cringe on the thaught of buying another deisel pickup.

[milled]

their's only one name in diesel....Cummins 6bt or lighter weight 4bt, same as the 6bt minus 2 jugs.

The early internationals thru the 7.3 idi were good as well. 6.0's 6.4l JUNK!

Duramaxes are a very impressive motor but is very complicated and im not a fan of v8 diesels.

For big rigs cat is the name of the game cummins still do verywell here to detroit 12.7 aren't bad.

If anyone is concidering a diesel swap go with the best made cummins. , gm 6.2's and 6.5s don't last very long when worked.

[D13]

Well, at 198K my 87 6.2 just got $800 worth of parts. Not a bad deal. for a 23 year old truck. but you have to understand a 6.2 is a diesel equivalent for the 305 not a 454!

Parts for diesels are expensive, and they do wear out. The key is to keep up on the maintenance, clean fuel, and every couple years give it a good going over. Which the PO sort of did. A fuel filter cost $15, it's picky about which oil (and it holds 8 quarts!), etc. But how many gassers go 200K without a rebuild?

Tow power, big block or turbodiesel. Drag racing, gasser. Fuel economy with the same HP, diesel. All around cost and daily driver, give me a fuel injected gasser every day.

What I finally came up with is if you tow heavy loads (over 5000#) long distances, regularly (not 3 times a year!), diesel is cheaper than big block power. For daily non-towing driving, at 20,000 miles a year, it's $900 in fuel between a 6 banger and a 383, and another $500 for a 454. It's $400 less for a diesel. So how many years to pay back your Cummins converison? But it's different and fun and gets attention and the cops haven't figured out how to write tickets for excessive smoke yet.

FYI, I own an 87 1/2 ton 6.2 diesel, a 99 3/4 5.3, and have had 90 454SS and 90 4.3 W/t, 81 3/4 ton 250, 72 C30 402, etc. And what am I going to build next? 82 1/2 L6 250 A-833 manual overdrive on E85.

So drive what you want, or pick which powertrain fits your needs.

[thirdstreettito]

Can we get this thread closed? Its becoming a pissing contest.

[87fleetsidedude]

my 305 gasser is at 180k and it's running just fine, it doesn't consume oil or anything like that but i've changed the oil every 3 months or 3k miles and run fuel injector cleaner through it every 5 fill ups havent had to do anything, just like a diesel if you take care of it it will run a long time,