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3.0 liter diesel half tons - real world experience

Discussion in 'General' started by nlzmo400r, Feb 19, 2020.

?

Which and why?

  1. GMC - like a Chevy, but nicer and worth the extra $

    18.8%
  2. Chevy - same as the GMC but cheaper

    21.9%
  3. Ford - Something about strokin'

    21.9%
  4. RAM - You spend all your time driving in the truck and it has the nicest interior

    37.5%
  1. nlzmo400r

    nlzmo400r Well-Known Member

    Ford recommends premium for towing with the eco boost. It makes perfect sense. Running a heavily turbocharged engine on pisswater under load potentially up hills in the heat? Yikes.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  2. JBowen33

    JBowen33 Only fast on Facebook


    I have a 14 2500 with the 5.7 hemi, I notice no difference between 87-89 towing or not towing.
     
  3. casjoker

    casjoker Refusing middle age

    2016 Chevy crew cab Duramax stock with 78,000 miles real-world mpg both hand jamming and computer are within .5 mpg of each other:
    HWY averaging 80-85 generally around 17 mpg. If I keep it around 65 I can get 19 sometimes 20mpg.
    Towing a 26 foot 72000lbs camper 11-13mpg if I keep around 67. If I jump up to 75 I get high 10s, low 11s.
    Around town consistently 15mpg unloaded. These numbers are almost identical to my 2006 GMC with a duramax.

    2014 Toyota Tundra I would get 15-17 on the hwy usually closer to 15. Pretty similar around town, again usually closer to 15. Towing fucking forget it. If I hooked anything bigger than my 14' duck boat I could never get above 10. Hauling the same camper 8mpg going 62mph. If anyone can get double digits towing anything more than a little red wagon with a Tundra they are using black magic.

    2018 GMC Serria 21-23 on the HWY, 18ish around town and again single digits towing the camper even under 65mph.

    Sorry, no experience with the 1/2 ton diesel other than driving a coworkers ECOdiesel a couple of times and seeing a Nissan with its guts all over the road on an onramp while it was pulling a small farm tractor.
     
    turner38 and roy826ex like this.
  4. backcountryme

    backcountryme Word to your mother.

    I had 3 tundras through the years at a former job. They are great trucks, but I am convinced they have a sensor in the hitch. As soon as I got within feet of a trailer the mileage tanked. Didn’t seem to matter what kind of trailer I towed. They suck for that.
     
    casjoker and nlzmo400r like this.
  5. nlzmo400r

    nlzmo400r Well-Known Member

    ^ Got a giggle out of that. Everyone with Tundra experience complains of fuel economy. But I honestly never hear any complaints aside from that. So I guess there’s a trade off everywhere.




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    dobr24 likes this.
  6. zertrider

    zertrider Waiting for snow. Or sun.

    Yeah mileage never gets great, but also never goes back to the dealer. So far at 60k miles anyways.
     
    dobr24 likes this.
  7. roy826ex

    roy826ex Been around here a while

    I beg to differ, owned 3 Tundras and the last one a 2014 was a meltdown pos and showed me the company as a whole is a pos to.

    Remember this, 5.7L equal cam tower leaking pos! It is not a valve cover type repair. Google it, the problem is widespread and Toyota covers it up and ignores it. That truck had many many other engine related issues and they lost a very loyal customer over it. I owned 2 Tacoma’s during the 3 Tundra times.

    One bad apple...
     
  8. Inst Tech

    Inst Tech ain't no half steppin

    I put 150K on an 07 Ram 6.7. At 40K DPF plugged on the way to first race of the season. 2nd time EGR stuck open and plugged the new DPF and left me stranded in the hood with my toy hauler on the way to TWS. Deleted and was fine except for going through 3 front ends.

    In 2016 I was dead set on getting the ecodiesel. I drove several but felt too slow getting on the freeway. Ended up getting the Hemi that I had to rev the shit out of (fun though) drank 87 like crazy.

    My 2018 Ram 6.7 will get 20 on the hwy but I don't really care what it gets cause it's PIMP! And I like to lagga lagga lagga.
    You only live once. Go get one.
     
    masshole and aftriathlete like this.
  9. tony 340

    tony 340 Well-Known Member

    @Nizzmo400R

    Do you have any of the big box clubs around your house for cheap fuel ?

    BJ's by my shop sells gasoline/diesel cheaper than I get it tanker delivered from my fuel company.

    Sams club/Costco also works pretty well.

    Diesel opens a whole new can of worms for you. Winter fuel additive. Emissions shit. Fuel is always an extra .50/gallon or more Fuel filter changes are not cheap.

    Also in colder climates your motor will turn its own idle up automatically so you will burn a ton of fuel at idle.
     
  10. masshole

    masshole sixoneseven

    My Cummins is leaking oil again- that pesky oil pan gasket that's been already replaced once under warranty last summer.

    None of them are perfect and still love the truck.
     
  11. mattology

    mattology Well-Known Member

    I have a 2002 7.3 with 330,000 on it and the chassis is a bit tired, being a van and all.. i've thought about replacing it with a newer van or a truck+trailer...


    but i don't know if i can honestly do it. i love my damn 7.3 so much and it just runs and gets 19mpg no matter what i load in the damn thing... so...
     
  12. Lawdog78

    Lawdog78 Well-Known Member

    Just got back today and figured I would report since it was my first tow with the 3.0 I was impressed. Only got about 150 miles or so towing but if I lock it in 7th gear, I was at 70mph at about 2600 rpm (mine has the 3.55 ratio) and it did not even downshift going up hills. The 10 speed transmission is really smooth and impressive. I had no idea that in "Manual" mode it is like a true stick shift..you actually have to control the up AND downshifts!? I was playing around with it and got ready to merge onto the interstate and expected it to automatically downshift and instead I bogged it down. I read the manual but guess I misunderstood. You can still lock out gears in normal Drive mode and up or downshift as you please. Now that I"ve got the hang of it this will be huge. I reset my mileage as I was driving and it was indicating 12 to 15 mpg most of the trip. Not exactly accurate cause yeah it's the computer which can lie and it was only for a short distance but I feel like 11 or 12 true mpg towing is going to be doable, maybe better. Yes it was slow getting moving but much more of a pleasure to tow than with my old Tundra which would have been sucking down probably 8 or 9mpg and screaming the whole time. I still try not to think about that I could have gotten a brand new Ram 2500 for way way less but this is much more practical for my use. So far, I love it!
     
    Phl218 likes this.
  13. nlzmo400r

    nlzmo400r Well-Known Member

    That's good to hear. Although I must say, even at 40% better fuel economy, it's hard to justify on price alone around my area. Diesel is typically 25-35% more than regular 87Octane. But the low RPM nature of a diesel I'm sure makes it more enjoyable and 'easier' than a gas engine. 1500 diesels will become cheaper in years, but for now they're definitely at a premium being the 'new thing'. Still wouldn't consider a 2500 at all for my uses.
     
  14. Mechdziner714

    Mechdziner714 More Gas Less Brakes

    That new 7.3L gasser from Ford seems interesting, anyone try it out yet?
     
  15. prospected

    prospected Well-Known Member

    I thought TFL truck was reporting they built it for heavy duty use because the EPA was choking their diesel market
     
  16. JJJerry

    JJJerry Well-Known Member

    I've got the 10 speed behind a 5.0, it's pretty obvious that whoever designed the controls on that thing has actually towed something. I also put it in Manual, 7th gear when pulling my camper... make things drama free.
     
    Lawdog78 likes this.
  17. aftriathlete

    aftriathlete Well-Known Member

    What year Cummins?
     
  18. masshole

    masshole sixoneseven

    2015
     
  19. LossPrev

    LossPrev Well-Known Member

    That's part of it I'm sure but it's a replacement for the dinosaur V10. The 7.3 will replace it in all chassis cab use. 5 Star tuning(also partners with TFL) has some good youtube videos up on the 7.3.


    I know this completely derails the OP's thread but I just picked this thing up yesterday and I'm like a little kid with a toy that wants to share a photo haha My first HD and diesel, always had half tons

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2020
  20. rice r0cket

    rice r0cket Well-Known Member

    Meh, it's not really necessary. It might get you a little more oomph if you're towing up hills, but modern direct injection and knock control makes it really a non-issue.
     

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