Diesel vs Gas HD

[Global Driver]

Okay ya'll, don't rake me over the coals.

I have spent weeks searching for the right truck. As soon as I find a diesel and make the call....poof, It Gone!! There are tons of GMC HD gas trucks available at a good price compared to their diesel counterparts.

Passport 28BH (5450 lbs + 1000lbs of stuff and add ons)
Dear Family - Me, DW and 5 kids (14, 13, 10, 8, 6) roughly 900 lbs
Gear - 1000 lbs

Thoughts on HD Gas? Thanks ya'll

[Javi]

Originally Posted by Global Driver

Okay ya'll, don't rake me over the coals.

I have spent weeks searching for the right truck. As soon as I find a diesel and make the call....poof, It Gone!! There are tons of GMC HD gas trucks available at a good price compared to their diesel counterparts.

Passport 28BH (5450 lbs + 1000lbs of stuff and add ons)
Dear Family - Me, DW and 5 kids (14, 13, 10, 8, 6) roughly 900 lbs
Gear - 1000 lbs

Thoughts on HD Gas? Thanks ya'll

Frankly with no more trailer than that a gas motor will be fine with the right gear ratio...

But........... what about the next trailer you'll buy next year.

[Global Driver]

Originally Posted by Javi

Frankly with no more trailer than that a gas motor will be fine with the right gear ratio...

But........... what about the next trailer you'll buy next year.

HA!! Thats why I've been on the hunt for the diesel.
But we may have to stick to the camper we have for an extra couple of years, or till the diesel bubble pops and I can find realistic purchase

[sourdough]

Ohhh boy. The gas vs diesel quandary.

As most know I'm a committed gas guy...to a point and try to make my situation workable with a gas powered truck. In your case, with a 7500lb. gvw trailer (1999 carrying capacity which I would think you would hit with 5 kids) and THEN trying to carry 7 people in a truck with associated gear (1000lbs) I think you are stretching a gas engine as you look to the future. Those kids are going to grow...maybe a LOT. Not being ugly but how do you plan on fitting 7 folks in the cab of a truck; even a mega cab?

So just thinking off the top of my head; approx. 975 tongue weight at gvw; 900 for folks per your estimate (that will grow); 1000 in truck = 2875. Looks plenty doable for a 1 ton SRW gas with a payload of 4k or so. But, as Javi asked, what about the NEXT trailer of which it sounds like there will be? That's something to consider with a large family at your stage in the growing process.

I don't know about GM HD trucks and not trying to start a truck brand conversation but was looking yesterday for a possible new truck for myself; Ram 3500 diesel (). Could not find anything configured like I wanted anywhere close BUT did find a load of Ram 3500 diesel duallys at my local dealership. I'm not in the market for a dually but it m ight fit your plans or not. I do know trying to find the "right" truck equipped like you want on a lot can take a year or more to find....even cross country - btdt. Good luck on the hunt.

[Global Driver]

In a typing fury I put the weights at which we have in the Suburban. The truck would carry myself and maybe my boys.
The DW and our girls would travel in the Suburban behind us.

This would only further decrease the weights as I can distribute gear. I would have to upgrade the truck if we upgrade the trailer.
The 28BH has the double over double bunk and the sleepable couch and dining table.
We sleep just fine as for now. But yes....they do grow fast!

[sourdough]

If removing several family members and the associated gear the Suburban will be carrying any of the big 3 gas 1 tons with the big gas engine should work just fine as long as you keep in mind that the future might hold a new truck if you go with a larger trailer; and that may never happen since one of the kids is 14 now and won't be long before he/she will be heading out somewhere - maybe college.

Find that 6.6 GM 1 ton truck with the options you need and pounce on it, the.....happy camping!

[Mayne_Doc]

Hi. I followed the advice of the kind people on this forum and ordered a duelly diesel Ford F350 when I originally was going to order a SRW gas Ford F350.

I will be towing a 38ft 5er so 17000 lbs. You aren't close to that BUT follow the sage advice of "it's better to have more than you need" than be at the top of the towing capacity range. You have a big family to keep safe! My guess is that you will want to upgrade to a bigger camper someday so why not bite the bullet now.

I will be forever grateful to the guys and gals on this forum for making me change my mind.

Order the truck you need if it is not on the lot.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Ohhh boy. The gas vs diesel quandary.

As most know I'm a committed gas guy...

I don't know why but the thought of the Danny and the gas comment kind tickled my funny bone!

To the OP, the economic bubble will burst with the current economic policies in place and you will find a LOT of diesel trucks for sale; probably through the repo lots as folks are unable to make the monthly payments. With fuel prices and everything headed expensive and more expensive and tax hikes hitting, the prosperity of the past few years is probably passed. Not wanting to get political by the way... just my view.

[sourdough]

[QUOTE=wiredgeorge;444111]I don't know why but the thought of the Danny and the gas comment kind tickled my funny bone!


Well, maybe it was that big pot of pinto beans with jalapenos I had just made and consumed that was "weighing" on my mind as I typed, errr......well

[jfk69]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I don't know why but the thought of the Danny and the gas comment kind tickled my funny bone!

To the OP, the economic bubble will burst with the current economic policies in place and you will find a LOT of diesel trucks for sale; probably through the repo lots as folks are unable to make the monthly payments. With fuel prices and everything headed expensive and more expensive and tax hikes hitting, the prosperity of the past few years is probably passed. Not wanting to get political by the way... just my view.

Disagree. Totally. In spite of all “policies” in place at the time, I personally don’t EVER remember seeing a “lot” of diesels for sale nor cheap when they were. I believe this will become even more pronounced as we head for the “electric revolution”.

[adeakins]

Look at Ford’s 7.3 gas. I’ve been dragging my 16,000lb Montana around the south and the southwest for the past few months with no power related issues. Climbe to 8,000 ft and higher several times. Before that, I had a 7.3 diesel. This gas engine gets about the same mileage towing but I’m running regular gas in it. (Watch out when you’re out west where they often try to pass 85 octane off as “regular”. ) with the new 10-speed transmission, it dies a good imitation of diesel braking (and just about as loud). My diesel was twin turbo and I don’t miss those at all.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by Global Driver

Okay ya'll, don't rake me over the coals.

I have spent weeks searching for the right truck. As soon as I find a diesel and make the call....poof, It Gone!! There are tons of GMC HD gas trucks available at a good price compared to their diesel counterparts.

Passport 28BH (5450 lbs + 1000lbs of stuff and add ons)
Dear Family - Me, DW and 5 kids (14, 13, 10, 8, 6) roughly 900 lbs
Gear - 1000 lbs

Thoughts on HD Gas? Thanks ya'll

Not trying to disparage gas trucks because I do have a Ram 1500 Hemi also but the diesel trucks hold their value much much more then gas trucks.. had a 2012 ram 2500 Laramie diesel with close to 100,000 miles an sold/traded it dec 2020 for $34000 I believe .. think I paid a
little over $55000 for it 8 years prior.. and I did my deal on my truck and then introduced the trade so they didn’t pad the price of new truck to offset trade . A diesel truck can have rust and still bring good money although mine was in great shape
Edit: trade received $30500

[gearhead]

Not sure about other brands but I think the new Ram has an option for a 55 gallon tank. Get it no matter which motor.

[notanlines]

Laredo, mine’s old and slow (and stock quiet I might add) but if I only had my old baseball cards back from the bicycle days of 1960!
And I have a personal hatred of those @&$6?’s inside eating!

[BigBobIa]

Had to fuel the generator/gas station on my toy hauler today. Finding a gas pump I could get into close enough and get out of was fun

[Gegrad]

One thing to consider.. there are seven in his family. There isn't a truck on the market that can haul more than 6. Which means they will always have a chaser vehicle, which means he can load stuff and people into that, so he is likely to never approach any kind of weight limits with a gasser HD and his current trailer. Now if he does want a bigger trailer that is a different discussion.

[Heavy_Chevy]

Originally Posted by Gegrad

One thing to consider.. there seven in his family. There isn't a truck on the market that can haul more than 6. Which means they will always have a chaser vehicle, which means he can load stuff and people into that, so he is likely to never approach any kind of weight limits with a gasser HD and his current trailer. Now if he does want a bigger trailer that is a different discussion.

Good point. And gets us back on topic. LOL.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Heavy_Chevy

Or you could get an Auxiliary gas tank and transfer pump like this one I just bought and have a combined 64 gallons of gas:

https://www.jmesales.com/dot-certifi...e-fr1210-pump/

Or you could roll around with a diesel transfer tank and a bed full of Blue DEF because heaven forbid your $75k environmentally friendly rig run out of it and go into “limp” mode somewhere near middle of nowhere Wyoming. Ya I gave Motor Trans an earful after that one.

When you go to North Dakota, Don’t forget your grille blanket and fuel tank blanket and hot shot fuel stabilizer and best to just set your high idle and let it run constantly overnight when temps drop below -20. Oh and a cold weather bypass for your oil and trans cooler. And also make sure if it’s late fall after first freeze, ask the pump attendant if they’ve switched from Diesel #2 to Diesel #1.

Diesels. High performance, high maintenance. I’ll stick with my big block that fires over when I’m ready to turn the key no matter what the temp is, on 87 octane which is everywhere.

Fire on the wires and pistons the size of paint cans! America!!

I hate to bust your bubble, but nearly everything you "allude to cold weather diesel operation" is not only melodramatic, and most is not only inaccurate, it's flat out wrong.....

I live in northern Michigan (not in San Antonio) and the temperature here routinely falls to 0F and often stays well below 0F for weeks on end (EVERY winter)... NONE of the "diesel drama" you allude to is common, in fact, around here, people who take care of their diesel engines have NONE of the issues you allege. I've got a diesel tractor that I use to move snow and it sits in an unheated pole barn (so I don't have to dig it out of snowbanks) and it's started every time I needed it for the past 10 winters. No special "forumlas" for the fuel, no special "heaters" for the engine, no special "facial expressions" hoping it'll start.... It's far more reliable than the gas engine "Craftsman garden tractor" that sits beside it in the pole barn....

It's the same with my diesel SuperDuty (and the one before that)... Never have any of my diesel trucks failed to start and NEVER have I had "fuel problems" in the 20+ years I've driven diesel trucks. So, I'd have to "completely disagree with your allegations that diesels are a problem in cold weather.

I don't know where you got your information about cold weather diesel operation, but you might want to check for updates to the software in your data bank.....

ADDED: And as for "reliability and operational readiness" having spent a career spanning 3 decades in the Air Force, I can assure you that the majority of "novice diesel truck owners" in the "civilian counter society" are intimately more familiar with and take better care of their diesel trucks than most of the "USAF operators" who have the mototpool to call when something happens. Having planned a number of 'winter operations" to move a squadron of fighter airplanes and all their support equipment from places like Tyndall AFB, FL to Duluth IAP, MN for a month long "Operation Brrrr" nearly all of the diesel equipment, if the fuel was changed out (per TO instructions) had no fuel issues. It's the "supervisor that's not familiar with cold weather ops" that makes the decision to "ignore the TO cause I know better" that creates most of the issues for military equipment. As for not having "space for the DEF" on the convoy, well, PPP comes to mind on the part of the exercise managers..... Anybody who's had a diesel knows that it won't run without DEF, so to get into that situation without having planned for a "DEF truck" as part of the convoy... Blame that on not knowing what's required to move a convoy of diesel powered equipment... I'd bet whoever made that "bonehead decision" won't ever forget to add space for DEF on all the convoys they put together in the future LOL

[Heavy_Chevy]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I hate to bust your bubble, but nearly everything you "allude to cold weather diesel operation" is not only melodramatic, and most is not only inaccurate, it's flat out wrong.....

I live in northern Michigan (not in San Antonio) and the temperature here routinely falls to 0F and often stays well below 0F for weeks on end (EVERY winter)... NONE of the "diesel drama" you allude to is common, in fact, around here, people who take care of their diesel engines have NONE of the issues you allege. I've got a diesel tractor that I use to move snow and it sits in an unheated pole barn (so I don't have to dig it out of snowbanks) and it's started every time I needed it for the past 10 winters. No special "forumlas" for the fuel, no special "heaters" for the engine, no special "facial expressions" hoping it'll start.... It's far more reliable than the gas engine "Craftsman garden tractor" that sits beside it in the pole barn....

It's the same with my diesel SuperDuty (and the one before that)... Never have any of my diesel trucks failed to start and NEVER have I had "fuel problems" in the 20+ years I've driven diesel trucks. So, I'd have to "completely disagree with your allegations that diesels are a problem in cold weather.

I don't know where you got your information about cold weather diesel operation, but you might want to check for updates to the software in your data bank.....

Minot AFB, ND. Stationed there for 3 years in the 4th worst winter on state record. Now I’m stationed in San Antonio. Hate to burst your bubble. And it’s not wrong, it’s history now because it happened hahaha! Obviously I hit a nerve! Sorry! ��

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Heavy_Chevy

Good point. And gets us back on topic. LOL.

I believe it is fully legal in Texas to put all your passengers in the bed of your truck when driving if you keep the speed under 100 mph. See it all the time out here in Medina County. Of course, for safety, they should all wear long sleeve work shirts and ball caps.