Thinking about a diesel truck - got an opinion?

I have had a Ford, a Chevy, and a Dodge.

Ford was my first, it was a 7.3 regular cab long box. It was not a bad truck, but underpowered, hot air truck, and maintenance parts were extremely expensive for the engine. There were a lot of year specific parts on it also. Mine was a 95.

Next diesel truck was a 2000 Chevy K3500. Extended cab, dually. Nice truck. Rode great and looked great. Got good mileage, but was unreliable. Parts were cheap, but I had to buy a lot of them. 6.5, not a Duramax. My friend has one that has been good to him.

Now I have a 1996 Dodge with the 12 valve Cummins. This is a great truck. Loads of power with just an intake, exhaust, and adjusted pump. Parts are cheap and easy to get. Tons of them in local salvage yards. The forums are great. Its definitely not as well built as the Ford, but comparable to the Chevy.

914Driver wrote: Leaving VIR with stickers on your car?; sponsorship = commercial, pay up.

Say what?

I know I'm gonna catch some flak for this one but here goes.

I know the new age of turbo diesels are the cat's meow, so to speak but have you thought of something a bit older? I picked up an 88 K2500 for a grand about 9 years ago, and aside from having the radiator core cleaned and tanks rewelded, a new clutch pack, and because it was a bear to start when cold, I went ahead and replaced the glowplug controller. It needed nothing more than fuel and oil changes for the 5 years I drove it. I recently looked at a 92 F350 dually 2 wheel drive, for a grand. Only reason I passed on it, was I couldn't quite come up with all of the cash for it, and the guy didn't want to come off the price. Don't blame him, it was a REALLY nice truck. The K2500 with 36in tall truck tires on it had no problems what so ever pulling a Uhaul car trailer loaded with a third gen camaro and spares @ 80mph indicated down the interstate, don't recall the mileage but it didn't hicup once during the trip, granny 4 speed, couldn't really talk in the cab at those speeds it was more like yelling at your passenger. But if I dropped it down to 65 indicated, which with the taller tires on it was still running 73ish I could avg 27-28 mpg, 6.2 diesel 4wd 4spd, really miss that truck, sold it to my cousin who's in the process of boosting the piss out of it. The F350, when I talked to the owner of it I asked him what kind of mileage he was getting out of it, "mid 20's unloaded, low 20's high teens loaded" that was a 2wd 7.3 5spd truck. Now both of those trucks were non diesel, but if you absolutely have to have a TD a phone call to banks can fix that for ya, I think the turbo kit installed on my K2500 was quoted around 4500.00 for kit and installation. The 6.2 had well over 300k miles on it when I sold it, still running other than it was getting really hard to start.

Unless you need the 4wd, go with 2wd and a manual, the mileage benefits are amazing. Same goes for the turbo, granted it makes getting on the interstate and up to speed a quick thing, just be patient and let the big stroke engine do it's thing.

oh yeah, the 88 3/4 ton rode worlds better than my old man's 03 F150.

Whoops, those two above posts were supposed to be under my handle not my wife's......the hazards of using the same computer.

Just watch the GVWR on some of those NPR's.. I remember reading somewhere that some of them have a pretty low GVWR like 12klbs or so.

Maybe you should check out http://www.penskeusedtrucks.com/ <---

Now if you really want off the wall..

purchase http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-Volvo-VNL64T-660-Cummins-400hp_W0QQitemZ220528337531QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCommercial_Trucks?hash=item335883627b

(don't worry it's an autoshift)

Now Add a toilet etc to make into an "RV" ( like these guys http://www.jackdanmayer.com )

Remove one axle for better MPG.

Then you can relax and be a pimp...

unless you do what my father does.. run veggie oil.. he pays about 25cents a gallon

I like piggy backing a Smart Car, but don't have a CDL.

914Driver wrote: I like piggy backing a Smart Car, but don't have a CDL.

Don't need. If you register as a RV and stay below 26,000lbs(I think) you're OK.

Check this bit.. http://www.jackdanmayer.com/registration_and_legal_issues.htm#Licensing

ignorant wrote:

914Driver wrote: I like piggy backing a Smart Car, but don't have a CDL.

Don't need. If you register as a RV and stay below 26,000lbs(I think) you're OK. Check this bit.. http://www.jackdanmayer.com/registration_and_legal_issues.htm#Licensing

If its registered as an RV the weight limit doesn't apply. Something to think about when you see some geezer with 45 foot of motorhome and a toy trailer on the back pass you doing 80 on the highway.

Dave, Mental; you guys have vans to haul your junk around don't you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-CHEVROLET-CONVERSION-VAN_W0QQitemZ230413924891QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item35a5bd7a1b

What about a G20 diseasal? Heavy enough not to get pushed around by a trailer but desealey enough to be less expensive to run.

Whaddaya think?

Dan

Dan,

I know it's not a diesel, but check out this hauler. It's already been converted to include race storage space and living space.

http://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/1521917895.html

I HAVE A GREAT RUNNING AND LOOKING 2001 FORD E-350 BOX TRUCK/VAN. THIS IS A 14FT BOX ALONG WITH A POWERFUL 5.4L V8 ALL DONE UP ON THE INSIDE WITH 7FT OF LIVING SPACE WITH 2 SEPERATE BUNK BEDS AND 7FT OF WORK AREA!!!!!!! PERFECT FOR THE MOTO-X RACES!!! THIS TRUCK ONLY HAS 140000 MILES, I HAVE ONLY USED IT FOR A FEW TRIPS TO THE MOTO-X RACES AND FOR MY MOVE 2 MONTHS AGO FROM CHICAGO. I NEED TO SELL DUE TO NOT BEABLE TO PARK IT AT MY APARTMENT. PLEASE MAKE OFFER!!!!

I WILL ALSO BE OPEN TO TRADING FOR A JEEP WRANGLER OR CJ. EMAIL OR PHONE

I'm keeping my Ranger so I need a back seat. But that is a nice one!

Someone on here had a C-30 (?) bread truck that fit an MG in the back, $1500.

Dan

I've owned 3 duramax's, never had any problems just always upgraded. Ford hasn't built a reliable motor since the 7.3 Dodge has a reliable motor but the truck will fall apart long before the motor, I've owned them I know. I prefer the Duramax, if you can get an 06' or later with the 6 speed Allison even better. Right now I have an 04.5' with 100k miles on it. I tow my car hauler quite a bit. The last long trip was 2300 miles towing about 7k lbs and I averaged 17mpg(hand calculated). If you are looking ofr a van then loof at the dodge sprinter, many configurations and diesel too.