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Basic overasked question. Diesel v Petrol


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I'm sorry, I did a quick basic search but I'm in a pinch. I have an opportunity gifted by gods gift (wife) to improve our towing situation and upgrade the truck. Currently have a 1500 truck and want a HD, is a diesel worth the extra expense/maintenance/fuel costs? Opinions vary I'm sure; however, I don't see how the same 6.2 motor will improve the pull as comfortably as a Duramax would (tow 7500lb TT plus 4 kids/dogs/attitude (teen daughter) and hopefully a golfcart. People have said a gasser would be enough... I would like a truck that I don't have to replace for 200-250k miles.

 

Gas and diesel are similar in price. What is a rational route? Not looking to beef up a truck, just need it to daily drive and tow the family TT

 

 

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NO question... DIESEL!! Even if you have a smaller trailer now don't sell yourself short on power, it could severely limit your trailer choices in the future, especially if you want to tow tandem. I switched from a 1500 to a 3500 diesel about 5 years ago and I will never go back.

 

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NO question... DIESEL!! Even if you have a smaller trailer now don't sell yourself short on power, it could severely limit your trailer choices in the future, especially if you want to tow tandem. I switched from a 1500 to a 3500 diesel about 5 years ago and I will never go back.

 

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What kind of mpg do you get commuting?

 

 

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Gas will tow it fine, diesel will tow it better. Diesel costs alot more in maintenance compared to gas. Both engines will last a long time if taken care of. Keep in mind repairs on diesels are very expensive. diesels also are meant to pull all day not be grocery getters.

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Gas will tow it fine, diesel will tow it better. Diesel costs alot more in maintenance compared to gas. Both engines will last a long time if taken care of. Keep in mind repairs on diesels are very expensive. diesels also are meant to pull all day not be grocery getters.

understood, i would do a bit of both with this... about 50miles a day in commute and 300-400 a month in tow.

 

 

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What kind of mpg do you get commuting?

 

 

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I have about a 30mile commute with a mix of traffic, been in the 15-16 range. All highway I get 21-22. Towing a 15,000lbs 5th I get around 10-11, drops as low as 8.

 

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I have about a 30mile commute with a mix of traffic, been in the 15-16 range. All highway I get 21-22. Towing a 15,000lbs 5th I get around 10-11, drops as low as 8.

 

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That's pretty impressive. I get about 16-17 (calculation is off with larger tires) with a 50-50 mix of city and hwy for my ~50 miles a day. 9mpg towing my TT

 

 

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I personally have never needed anything above a 1500. But, I've always had the frame of mind that even though diesels have great TQ, it just doesn't make sense to pay more for fuel and the routine maintenance is often more to justify getting a diesel unless I needed it. Of course diesel will tow much easier, but if an HD gasser can do it I would go that route. The only thing diesel really saves you in is not having to buy spark plugs. But, I've always heard you have to replace fuel injectors often in a diesel. Maybe it's not like that with the diesels we have in trucks that are less than 5 years old, but I don't know. I personally would just stick with gas unless you think you'll actually need a diesel.

 

It's still your money so it's still up to you.

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No way I would buy a "modern" diesel with the DEF and DPF...they are almost back to a point of being only practical for commercial life, not for the average guy like those diesels of the 90s and early 2000s.

 

A 6.0l will tow better than your average 1500 because of the rear gearing of 4.10, even with less HP. Plus the added payload, better brakes, better tires, etc...

 

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I've always had Chevrolet gas burners but now have my first diesel. It really doesn't cost any more for maintenance. Not much anyway and now I hate hooking anything to my Tahoe after pulling with the diesel. For what it's worth, I don't necessarily need a diesel. I only put 100 or so miles a month on it.

 

 

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How do you figure gas and diesel are similar in price? If that was true we would all have diesels.

 

If I were in your shoes I would buy a gas HD truck.

 

I do believe the LP5 Duramax is the best one ever built having said that I am not willing to take the risk.

 

Your load is light, gas, oil, and go.

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No way I would buy a "modern" diesel with the DEF and DPF...they are almost back to a point of being only practical for commercial life, not for the average guy like those diesels of the 90s and early 2000s.

 

A 6.0l will tow better than your average 1500 because of the rear gearing of 4.10, even with less HP. Plus the added payload, better brakes, better tires, etc...

 

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Diesel isn't even practical for commercial use anymore, look at UPS and other fleets, all switched back to gas engines, tells me everything I need to know.

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OP is talking some fairly high miles driven each month. Even if you are not towing heavy, diesel might make sense just for fuel economy reasons. Pencil it out and see what you come up with. I am a gasser guy personally, and I think the new diesels are often far more trouble than they are worth, but there is a point where you are simply driving so many miles, loaded or unloaded, that the diesel makes financial sense.

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Ya the only real bad thing about the new diesels is the added crap like DEF. I know I've had people say that if the truck runs out of DEF it just literally shuts down. So if I for some reason ever needed a diesel, I would see about deleting as much of that crap as I could, but I don't know if it would even be legal or not and don't really want to have something on the road that's not even legal. I don't even like to run tint that's darker than legal.And again, the maintenance on a diesel is usually more. It might not be at first, but I would say wait about 50-100K miles and see what people say about the routine maintenance, not the stuff that just breaks, but the routine stuff and diesels seem to need new injectors on an almost exact mileage basis where you know you'll need new ones every 30K or so miles as an example. Again the new diesels may not need injectors like previous gens, but I still hear the maintenance is more for diesels. So that's the main reason I would only get a diesel if a gasser HD wouldn't be enough or would just barely be enough. The other reason is that I'm not the type to follow fads just so I can gloat about what I have. I don't understand when someone buys a 60K HD truck to never have the thought of towing and if so it's actually light enough that a 1500 would have no problem with it. Some just worry about having a status symbol. But, it's only my opinion so people can do whatever they want with their money. It's just a waste of an HD if you literally only intend on using it to haul people around and groceries. I guess these days it's cool to have a big truck with lifts and then they complain about how much that stuff cost and don't even want to go on a dirt road and wouldn't know how to hook up a trailer.

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Ya the only real bad thing about the new diesels is the added crap like DEF. I know I've had people say that if the truck runs out of DEF it just literally shuts down. So if I for some reason ever needed a diesel, I would see about deleting as much of that crap as I could, but I don't know if it would even be legal or not and don't really want to have something on the road that's not even legal. I don't even like to run tint that's darker than legal.And again, the maintenance on a diesel is usually more. It might not be at first, but I would say wait about 50-100K miles and see what people say about the routine maintenance, not the stuff that just breaks, but the routine stuff and diesels seem to need new injectors on an almost exact mileage basis where you know you'll need new ones every 30K or so miles as an example. Again the new diesels may not need injectors like previous gens, but I still hear the maintenance is more for diesels. So that's the main reason I would only get a diesel if a gasser HD wouldn't be enough or would just barely be enough. The other reason is that I'm not the type to follow fads just so I can gloat about what I have. I don't understand when someone buys a 60K HD truck to never have the thought of towing and if so it's actually light enough that a 1500 would have no problem with it. Some just worry about having a status symbol. But, it's only my opinion so people can do whatever they want with their money. It's just a waste of an HD if you literally only intend on using it to haul people around and groceries. I guess these days it's cool to have a big truck with lifts and then they complain about how much that stuff cost and don't even want to go on a dirt road and wouldn't know how to hook up a trailer.

There are plenty of reasons to own an HD even if you do not tow heavy. First, did you know the msrp on a crew 6.5 bed wt trim 2500hd is actually LESS than the msrp on the equivalent 1500? And with the 1500, you get significantly less durable/reliable hardware, e.g., no afm, full floating rear, 9.25 ifs, etc. So why pay roughly the same money for so much less truck when you could get an HD instead?

 

Second, even with a moderate trailer weight, say, 7k travel trailer, you are well within the towing limits of most 1500s. But take a crew 1500, look at your payload number, slap a couple of kids, some dogs, and some stuff in that truck with 1k or so tongue weight and that payload disappears real quick.

 

Third, you know what is even more expensive than putting gas in a 6.0 HD truck? The depreciation you eat trading in a half ton for an HD when you buy a bigger trailer. We all change our preferences sometimes, and having some room to grow by buying the HD in the first place can save you money when you keep it because it can do anything you ask of it.

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