Gas or Diesel.

[agallant80]

Looking at buying a late 90s early 2000s tow rig. I have been going back and forth on a big displacment V8 (chevy 7.4 8.1) or an Excursion with a V10. I have also seen a few Diesels of that error in my price range. My only issue with Diesel is cost to repair. Gas seams so simple to me where as Diesel you have high pressure injectors, pumps, turbo etc. What are the thoughts on this?

 

[agallant80]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

Example

This
1999 Suburban Diesel 4x4

or this
►◄2001 Ford Excursion Red ►◄

 

[SilverSS07]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

Personally I'd stick with a gas engine for the reasons you already stated.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

Looking at buying a late 90s early 2000s tow rig. I have been going back and forth on a big displacment V8 (chevy 7.4 8.1) or an Excursion with a V10. I have also seen a few Diesels of that error in my price range. My only issue with Diesel is cost to repair. Gas seams so simple to me where as Diesel you have high pressure injectors, pumps, turbo etc. What are the thoughts on this?

Ayuh,.... I'm a Diesel kinda guy, an ex-independent Trucker, been drivin' Ford diesel pickups nearly 20 years now,...
Not that I'm a Ford guy, but I like the IH V8 diesel,...

Either diesel or gas is Expensive to work on,...
Diesels ya don't have to work on so Often,...
Tune up, Never,... Change the filters, 'n just keep it fed with clean oils, 'n fuel,...

 

[matt167]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

IMO, stay away from the 6.2L/6.5L GM Detroit Diesels. The old Mech 6.2's and Mech 6.5's ( all made before 1994 ) were ok but very anemic engines for what they were designed to do. The 1995+ 6.5L had PMD issues which would lead to burnt up pumps, PMD's and stranded trucks. and in later years they added oil cooling to the pistons which caused more issues in the internals..
It would be hard to beat a 7.3L IH Powerstroke or a Cummins 6BT ( 12 or 24v ) if you were looking into a Diesel.

If you were looking into a gas truck. I'd avoid '96-'98 GM trucks as the spider injector system is fairly problematic. The '99+ 4.8, 5.3 and 6.0L are pretty bullet proof tho.

 

[KD4UPL]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

In that year range I would avoid Chevy diesels and I'm a Chevy guy. The Duramax didn't get it's injector problems sorted out until the LLY in MY 2004.5. The earlier diesels just weren't worth owning.
A Cummins from those years would be a great engine. I would NOT get the Dodge automatic in those years, stay with the manual or budget to replace the automatic with a built aftermarket unit.
I just plain out wouldn't buy a Ford period. I've had nothing but terrible experiences with their products. However, I must say the 7.3 diesel does seem to be a very good engine.
Having said all that, unless you're towing very heavy and/or a lot I would go with a Chevy 8.1 L big block. I owned one in an '01 dually with the Allison automatic. That was one smooth, quiet, powerful, reliable drive train. No complaints. I hated to sell it but I didn't need it anymore.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

Here's the short answer... get a diesel if you NEED A DIESEL...

I am not a fan at all of the ford v-10 but the 8.1 chevy will do most of what a diesel will do and for less money

Me personally I NEED a diesel as I often gross right at 30,000 lbs and set the cruise on 78 mph

if the biggest thing you tow is in your sig you don't really even need a big block gasser though I'd avoid the smaller gassers IE 5.3

My dad had a 2002 ford with the v-10 and mom had a 1998 chevy with the vortech 5.7 The chevy got better mileage towing and empty and would out pull the ford any day plus it had far less problems.... Dad bought mom a suburban, sold his truck, and took hers.

Now my 99 powerstroke (not stock) is a whole different animal but it ain't cheap... 15 quarts of oil per change hurts and yeah it gets a little better mpg but diesel costs more than gas so no fuel savings.

 

[Silly Seville]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

You didn't mention whether fuel economy was a deciding factor for you. The diesels in virtually every configuration are going to get 18-20 mpg when used as a grocery getter and 14-16 pulling serious weight. The gassers will get half the mileage (or worse).

Case in point: My '93 F250 with a 351W and C6 got 12 mpg empty highway and 8 mpg pulling a 5k load.
Contrast that to my '92 F350 with a non turbo 7.3 IH diesel and ZF 5 speed. That truck routinely got 19 mpg highway empty and 14 mpg pulling a 7k load. Both trucks had nearly identical miles and were driven/maintained the same. To be fair to the F250, it had the notoriously power hungry tranny which really hurts fuel economy. That's why I specifically chose the ZF manual gear getter when I bought the F350.

If you do decide on a diesel, get one with a manual transmission. It's my understanding from reading a forum dedicated to diesel pickup trucks; that old school "car" style automatic tranny's don't live long behind modern turbo charged diesels. To much torque available and people have not learned to be gentle with their right foot. Even after all these years of ridiculous fuel prices.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

my 99 4x4 crew dually gets 15 empty and 8 grossing 30 k lbs

 

[Silly Seville]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

my 99 4x4 crew dually gets 15 empty and 8 grossing 30 k lbs

Damn, you must have some really low rear end gearing! 4.56's?

Edit: Ah, never mind...a 4x4. Makes sense now.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

4.10's I've considered swappin to 3.55's but gonna try goin to 255/85 16's next time I need rubber

 

[agallant80]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

I don't really care about MPG as this will be a Home Depot and towing truck not a commuter. Anyone out there have an excursion v10?

 

[The Rooster]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

I don't really care about MPG as this will be a Home Depot and towing truck not a commuter. Anyone out there have an excursion v10?

I had a 2000 F-250 w/ V-10 & never had any issues w/ it. If I remember it had a 3.91 gear, not the 3.73 or 4.10. Handled our 27' Proline walkaround just fine, although I don't think I ever saw 15 mpg empty !!! The V-10 has been very reliable in the RV industry for nearly 15 yrs. I would agree w/ Kevin though, get a Diesel if you need a diesel, but for the boat in your sig., the V-10 should do nicely. Good luck !!!

 

[gtochris]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

I don't really care about MPG as this will be a Home Depot and towing truck not a commuter. Anyone out there have an excursion v10?

I would get the gas in that case. How about a Ram 2500 with the Hemi? Or want an SUV only?

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

I had a Dodge 2500 V-10, '99 I believe. That thing was a stump puller. A buddy of mine has a Ford Diesel, don't know the year(I think early/mid 2000's), that needs to go in the shop. Not sure if it's a turbo issue or what, but it's going to cost him $6k to fix....

The 5.7 Hemi came out in 2003......

 

[agallant80]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

I would get the gas in that case. How about a Ram 2500 with the Hemi? Or want an SUV only?

In NC SUV is considered a station wagon and does not need weighted tags. I kinda like the SUV thing better but I will jump on a good deal weather it is a truck or SUV. I have my cash and am just waiting for the right thing to come along. I can't belieave the amount of people selling these things on craigslist and don't answer emails or return phone calls.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

I've got 50,000 miles on my 06 Chevy. It's got an 8.1 with Allison trans and 4.10 gears (I ordered it that way).

Best truck I've ever owned. Gets 11 mpg empty or towing a 3,000 lb boat and more like 6-8 mpg towing big trailers.

 

[Silly Seville]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

I can't believe the amount of people selling these things on craigslist and don't answer emails or return phone calls.

I just finished a lengthy post about this very subject. The one thing that I can offer you regarding people not responding to your emails via the C-list server is this. Most email accounts use aggressive spam filtering protocols. Since folks are paranoid about internet viruses, they just ignore/delete the contents of their spam folder. I would venture that as many as 50% of potential legitimate email communications are lost to the "spam" folder. I always read my spam folder emails, because I have sold a lot of items that were wanted by folks that got labeled "junk" by my email provider, when in fact, they were not junk. They turned out to be completed sales.

The other issue with regard to sellers not returning a phone call is; as a lackluster business man/woman, they do not bother to delete their ad after the item is sold. Then in continuing idiot fashion, do not call back interested buyers to state the item is sold.

Just more of the same lack of courtesy and business acumen that pervades most of our nations uneducated masses.

Hang in there...you will find the right seller of a vehicle that is perfect for you. Patience is still a virtue.

 

[britisher]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

Just my 5 cents for what it's worth.
I picked up my 2003 Suburban 1500 on Cars.com. Most are dealers, but I think the quality is better than on Crooks List. My Sub was being sold by the Chevy main dealer. It was as 1 owner vehicle (female, who was the County Attorney and I knew her). They had supplied it new and pretty much had all service history on it. Normally for that age (2003) they would have sent it to auction, but because of it's history and condition, they decided to sell it on the forecourt. They'd originally advertised it for c$12K, I got it for a little over $8K with taxes and fees. When I went round the vehicle I found several items (mainly trim) that was damaged). I went round to their parts dept and got them to print me off a parts list for the items with their prices. I then used that $600.00 list as a bargaining chip and lo and behold they agreed to take that total off the selling price. The sales guy said he'd never seen that been done before and gave me props for doing it. Gave me a FULL tank of gas too (32 gallons in the Sub!).

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Gas or Diesel.

IMO, stay away from the 6.2L/6.5L GM Detroit Diesels.

I would stay away from that diesel as well.