3.0 liter diesel half tons - real world experience

Well in gods country, gas hasn’t been below $3 in a few years. The Shell Station by work is 3.49 for regular and 3.79 for diesel. Cheapest gas I’ve seen here is $3.11 at Arco and about 3 miles away is a Mobil that all grades are over $4, which is actually surprising to me that they even get business, but they do.

 

I have a 2016 EcoDiesel which I have loved until these past few months. There is a current recall that involves the EGR cooler, apparently, FCA is having a tough time pushing out enough to replace all the effected models. Mine cracked around Thanksgiving, dropped off, got a loaner and a month later gave it back to me with a new OLD part tossed in because they can't make the newly designed part fast enough.

As someone above said, the all new EcoDiesel is supposedly a vast improvement.

I love the look of the Ram over most other trucks, they drive very well and have been told by many that the interior is nicer than most of the competitors. My 2C.

 

Yea this kind of stuff is a bummer in general. The real question is if you had to do it over again now, would you still opt for the diesel? Or would you be just fine with a 400hp v8 gas?


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I have never driven an eco diesel but I have the 5.7 in a 2019 Laramie and am actually buying a 2019 2500 Laramie Cummins this weekend. With the 3.21 rear end the hemi can get decent mileage and is pretty damn fast/ fun to drive but I also only put on 15k a year so the economics of the ecodiesel didnt make sense.

There will be people that say a truck is a tool so interior isnt important but I disagree. I'm not working out of my truck, it's a "toy" and place I spend a lot of free time so I love my Ram interior.

 

If you only put on 15k miles a year why buy a diesel?

 

Buying a new truck in general falls way under the ‘want’ category than need for me. But To me the appeal of the small diesels are range, towing advantages/feel and cheaper to fuel (sorta/maybe/kinda).


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Diesels are a pleasure to drive.

Getting on the on ramp, or accelerating around a truck on a big grade? just a little throttle, an it goes, no drama. Same if you`re towing.

Gasser? Lots of gas , two downshifts, screaming engine. If you`re towing anything substantial, you might just have to wait.
I would never go back to a gasser if I can help it.

My 2500 gets 23-25 empty on the highway, is comfy for all day, and laughs at just about any load.

 

Knowing what i know now, I'd at least take the Hemi for a test drive to see if it'd make me happy. Something about the low end power of a diesel I've always enjoyed over gas. Two of my riding/ track buddies have always owned the Powerstrokes... fell in love with diesels since then.

From what I've been hearing, the all new Eco and the new Chevy diesel 1/2 tons are going to be hard to beat, they're both claiming over 30 mpg highway....

 

Basically what cav said, I will be towing my 10k lbs toy hauler quite a bit. The 6.4 hemi would have pulled it for sure but I want to set the cruise and just let the engine lug me around.

I also have a 25 minute hwy jog just to get into the city/work so getting 19mpg with the cummins vs. 14.5mpg is nice. People also forget when "but diesel fuel is more expensive" that most vehicles require at least mid-grade while towing. Around here, mid-grade is about the same price as diesel.

How well do these 1/2 ton diesels hold their value? My 5.7 value dropped like a rock. Just another reason why I was ok with the 2500 Cummins, I know it will hold up for awhile.

 

Which 2500 is that, 2006ish Dodge?

My previous 2000 Ford 7.3 got 8-10 towing and around 15 hwy.

My 2002 duramax gets a little better, 10-12 towing and I think 16-17 hwy, but it needs injectors so haven’t driven it in awhile.

2008 Ford 6.4 F350 dually, stick, gets 8-9 towing and 13-14 Hwy.

All these MPGs towing are in California with a 26-28 ft long toybox with some mountain passes and non towing is usually driving 70-80, wherever traffic lets up.

My friend Tige had a 2006ish Dodge Cummins 2500 and he was getting 24-26 on the HWY. I wanted to buy one of those but always worried about dodge unreliability. I think those had bad transmissions, but he didn’t keep it long enough to find out.

 

I am really enjoying my GMC 2500 deleted!

Best part is the truck still looks 100% stock under the hood and at the tailpipe.

Runs great on the +40 HP tow tune. Transmission shifts better, more down low torque. No more DEF and no more regens.

The problem I see with these 1/2 ton diesels is they’re just borderline better trucks than the gasser counterparts. Sure they get a little better overall mileage but if I wanted a prius I’d a bought one instead of a large truck.

I would personally buy one of the new large V8 3/4 ton gas engine trucks before buying a 1/2 ton diesel truck.

 

Id argue the 3/4 ton is a completely different use case. Half tons are more than capable of hauling general crap, pulling a 6x12 enclosed trailer with a few bikes and gear in it and maybe pulling an open car trailer here or there. That's all I really need it to do. The diesels seem to be getting somewhere around 30-35% better mileage than their gas counterparts in 1/2 tons. So if there's no real drawback from a day to day living perspective to a diesel, then it's appealing in general.

I also don't think I'm pinning the diesels as 'better', but the appeals described above as well as the nice broad torque curve and ease of use is enticing. I wouldn't say they're anything at all like the 3/4T gas vs 3/4T Diesel differences.

 

I drive a 2017 Tundra. 5.7L 4x4 ext cab. This fall did an atv trip north. 1 Polaris RZR in the bed, a Polaris Ranger and an Arctic Cat Wildcat in a 23ft enclosed trailer. So about 6000lbs ish. 1200km round trip snd averaged 21L/100km which is 11mpg. Did the same trip previous year with my brothers 2016 Titan diesel, and it was 12mpg. Both trucks had the same tires, but the Nissan was crew cab, but only had a regular CanAm atv in the bed. For the difference, I will take the gas anyday, and not have to worry about DEF, DPFs, DOCs, injection pumps, and diesel headaches all around.
And before you say "longer oil change intervals", moot point as gas oil change intervals have gotten longer with Synthetic oils, and diesels have gotten shorter, and the amount used in a diesel brings them damn near even cost wise. Ecodiesel requires oil changes at 10,000miles. Same interval as the Tundra gas 5.7.

 

If you haven't checked out a 3.5 ecoboost, you should. Torque curve like a diesel. Falls short on economy though, both loaded and unloaded. Still good, but not mid-20's good.

 

I just got a 2020 Chevy High Country with the 3.0l duramax. It has been a hell of a truck so far. I picked it up and immediately hit the road for a work trip. I have 5500km on it now and it has so ar run flawlessly. I am getting around 33mpg so far, and it should get better. I am amazed at how much pull it has off of a stop. This really is one of my favorite trucks so far. And I go through a lot of trucks at work.

 

Nissan was a 5.0. Regardless run like the wind! Total piece of crap. Mine anyways. Rumor is Nissan is going to discontinue the Titan. Too bad really as it was a nice vehicle, when it ran.....

 

Oh, I need to add that I put TONs of miles on my trucks. The last one I had was less then 2 years old and I had 80,000 on it. The one before was right at 2 and it had 100,000. I have had this new one with the diesel for about 2 weeks and have already put 3400 miles on it. And the season is just starting

 

They dropped the 5.0 Cummins for 2020 and did a fairly substantial redesign, new tranny and revised 5.6L v8. I still wouldn't go near them myself but I'm probably just being an ignorant "big 3 only" truck guy.

 

This is what kind of steered me away from the Titan XD Diesel. Add to that dealing with Nissan dealers that are surely less familiar with their truck than the 'been around forever' Tundra. I was hoping a 1/2 diesel would be best of both worlds in terms of cabin comfort, value, power and economy.

 

I haven't driven a 3.5. All that was ready available when I test drove was 2.7 and 5.0 in SXT and XLT trims. The 2.7 was powerful, but had an awful throttle pedal delay. The 5.0 was much smoother overall to me. Maybe the 3.5 would be perfect, but finding a 19-20 3.5 seems difficult without going to higher trims. Event difficult to find in the Lariat.