Question For Diesel Truck Owners

[Curly]

I found a fuel economy test for 2010HD 3/4 T trucks: Test

All brands were fairly close for all practical purposes.  Taking the Silverado results gives:

6.0L V-8 gas ---- 14 mpg empty; 10 mpg towing
6.6L Diesel ------ 19.7 mpg empty; 13 mpg towing

With current fuel prices around here at $3.89 for gas and $4.39 for diesel and assuming 20,000 mi/yr, I get the following numbers when comparing the cost of fuel for a diesel pickup vs. gas:

If you drove the entire year without towing it would cost $4,457 for diesel; $5,557 for gas. (+$1,100 gas)
If you drove the entire year with 100% towing it would cost $6,754 for diesel; $7,780 for gas. (+$1,026 gas)

If you did 80% not towing and 20% while towing it would cost $4,090 for diesel; $6,002 for gas. (+1,912 gas)

The diesel option is what $8,000 more?  If you do 20% of your mileage towing, you'd make up the difference in getting the diesel truck in just over 4 years; plus you'd have the advantage of the diesel power when you're towing. 

Maybe someone can check my math?  And maybe the 2012 models have different mpg figures? 

[JackOfAllTrades]

Similar comparisons have been made Curly.  The math is tough to quantify for 'pulling power'. I put a pretty high price on being able to pull what ever bloody speed I want to (within reason)..  The diesels usually come with better braking power and towing packages. There are other math factors that drive diesel ownership up a tad higher than a gas engine'd truck. Most people run a standard dino oil in the gas rig, (but many do like synthetics), but a gas engine only takes a full 5-6 quarts and a $9.00 filter. Diesels take 16quarts and a $22-28 oil filter. With a turbo, a diesel owner is well advised to change oil regularly. Fuel filter change on the diesel is also more often in many cases and costs more. My fuel filter is $35.  If you break something.. Most parts on a diesel cost more.

That said... I will probably never go back to a gas engine truck. My diesel truck is my daily driver.

-Steve

[Dhoey07]

Similar comparisons have been made Curly.  The math is tough to quantify for 'pulling power'. I put a pretty high price on being able to pull what ever bloody speed I want to (within reason)..  The diesels usually come with better braking power and towing packages. There are other math factors that drive diesel ownership up a tad higher than a gas engine'd truck. Most people run a standard dino oil in the gas rig, (but many do like synthetics), but a gas engine only takes a full 5-6 quarts and a $9.00 filter. Diesels take 16quarts and a $22-28 oil filter. With a turbo, a diesel owner is well advised to change oil regularly. Fuel filter change on the diesel is also more often in many cases and costs more. My fuel filter is $35.  If you break something.. Most parts on a diesel cost more.

That said... I will probably never go back to a gas engine truck. My diesel truck is my daily driver.

-Steve

16QT's of oil?! My duramax only takes 10. 

[C-Money]

I bought my 1986 F250 with the 6.9 diesel in the early 90's. It had right at 100,000 miles on it and it was in mint shape. I drove it for 12 years and Finlay traded it at 198,000. Great truck, had a ton of fun in it! I would not be afraid to buy one with 100,000 if it looks taken care of.

[JohnVH]

Similar comparisons have been made Curly.  The math is tough to quantify for 'pulling power'. I put a pretty high price on being able to pull what ever bloody speed I want to (within reason)..  The diesels usually come with better braking power and towing packages. There are other math factors that drive diesel ownership up a tad higher than a gas engine'd truck. Most people run a standard dino oil in the gas rig, (but many do like synthetics), but a gas engine only takes a full 5-6 quarts and a $9.00 filter. Diesels take 16quarts and a $22-28 oil filter. With a turbo, a diesel owner is well advised to change oil regularly. Fuel filter change on the diesel is also more often in many cases and costs more. My fuel filter is $35.  If you break something.. Most parts on a diesel cost more.

That said... I will probably never go back to a gas engine truck. My diesel truck is my daily driver.

-Steve

16QT's of oil?! My duramax only takes 10.

My cummins holds way more oil than my duralemon did, suprised me! I think it holds 3 gallons if I remember right.

[whacker1]

Similar comparisons have been made Curly.  The math is tough to quantify for 'pulling power'. I put a pretty high price on being able to pull what ever bloody speed I want to (within reason)..  The diesels usually come with better braking power and towing packages. There are other math factors that drive diesel ownership up a tad higher than a gas engine'd truck. Most people run a standard dino oil in the gas rig, (but many do like synthetics), but a gas engine only takes a full 5-6 quarts and a $9.00 filter. Diesels take 16quarts and a $22-28 oil filter. With a turbo, a diesel owner is well advised to change oil regularly. Fuel filter change on the diesel is also more often in many cases and costs more. My fuel filter is $35.  If you break something.. Most parts on a diesel cost more.

That said... I will probably never go back to a gas engine truck. My diesel truck is my daily driver.

-Steve

16QT's of oil?! My duramax only takes 10.

My cummins holds way more oil than my duralemon did, suprised me! I think it holds 3 gallons if I remember right.

4 quarts to a gallon would equal 12 quarts.

[JohnVH]

yes it sure would. So whatever is holding 16 qts is a monster.

[JackOfAllTrades]

16QT's of oil?! My duramax only takes 10.

I actually run 15qts in mine.. There was a service change in 06' I think. Something about a little too much splashing and leaving deposits on the bottom of the intake manifold.  But yes, the Ford 6.0 has a pretty big oil pan. Even at 10qts for the DuraIzuzu, that is twice as much as most put in their gas engines =Oil changes cost more.  How much is a GM oil filter? A little more than for the gas engine. I just looked up the price of a Ford gas engine air filter. It costs less than half as much as the filter for the Diesel.

-Steve

[Dhoey07]

16QT's of oil?! My duramax only takes 10.

I actually run 15qts in mine.. There was a service change in 06' I think. Something about a little too much splashing and leaving deposits on the bottom of the intake manifold.  But yes, the Ford 6.0 has a pretty big oil pan. Even at 10qts for the DuraIzuzu, that is twice as much as most put in their gas engines =Oil changes cost more.  How much is a GM oil filter? A little more than for the gas engine. I just looked up the price of a Ford gas engine air filter. It costs less than half as much as the filter for the Diesel.

-Steve

I run reusable air filters in all my vehichles so no difference there.  Oil filters are a bit more, and fuel filter are changed more often in diesels.  But no spark plugs to change in diesels 

[bobcat]

I found a fuel economy test for 2010HD 3/4 T trucks: Test

All brands were fairly close for all practical purposes.  Taking the Silverado results gives:

6.0L V-8 gas ---- 14 mpg empty; 10 mpg towing
6.6L Diesel ------ 19.7 mpg empty; 13 mpg towing

With current fuel prices around here at $3.89 for gas and $4.39 for diesel and assuming 20,000 mi/yr, I get the following numbers when comparing the cost of fuel for a diesel pickup vs. gas:

If you drove the entire year without towing it would cost $4,457 for diesel; $5,557 for gas. (+$1,100 gas)
If you drove the entire year with 100% towing it would cost $6,754 for diesel; $7,780 for gas. (+$1,026 gas)

If you did 80% not towing and 20% while towing it would cost $4,090 $4,916 for diesel; $6,002 for gas.  (+1,912 gas)    $1,086
The diesel option is what $8,000 more?  If you do 20% of your mileage towing, you'd make up the difference in getting the diesel truck in just over 4 years; plus you'd have the advantage of the diesel power when you're towing. 

Maybe someone can check my math?  And maybe the 2012 models have different mpg figures? 

I checked your math. Made a couple of changes (in red).

[Curly]

I checked your math. Made a couple of changes (in red).

Thanks.  I thought it may have been off.  My regular calculator was a work.

[6x6in6]

12 quarts in a '05 Dodge.
About $10-11 for a Fleetguard Oil Filter.
No synthetic, just good old fashioned dinosaurs in a Delo bottle.
I change mine every 3500 miles.  When I had around 20k on it, I sent oil samples off to Blackstone. At 3k the test was good with an anticipated oil life of 16k.  I sent another test off at 5k and those results came back good with an oil life of 15k.  I changed it shortly thereafter.  I did the same tests at around 75k with very similar results.  I did this more for the purpose of wear metals in the oil to see who things were internally.
$15-16 for a fuel filter.  I change this every other oil change.

Oils cheap, fuel and oil filters are cheap too.  Neglecting these is not cheap.

Free test kit with a $25 cost for analysis for those who may be interested.   http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php

[whacker1]

For those in Spokane there is a local lab as well

http://www.oillab.com/

Some clients have used them on high performance boat engines. 

[JackOfAllTrades]

Oils cheap, fuel and oil filters are cheap too.  Neglecting these is not cheap.

Well said!  If you don't take care of a diesel, it will take you only one place.   The bank!  Just like a boat. If you don't take care of it, it's becomes a hole in the water and will swallow your wallet.

Delo400 for me every 5,000 miles since the truck was new. I don't use renewable/cleanable/re-usable air filter on the truck. The Donaldson design flows as well as the kits but traps more contaminates.  (Several tests have been done over the years) Sure, it's a $50 filter, but can you go wrong with better filtering for a forced induction?

Cold starts. Dual batteries. Fuel additive to avoid jelling. ...  I may be posting a few negatives for owning a diesel, but the power factor outweighs them all for me.

-Steve

[high country]

If you see a lot of oil sample results, you see that air filter service plays a big role on oil life.....the donaldson is the best filtering filter for most applications.