[Rhodes22-list] Diesel Powered Trucks

Wed, 13 Nov 2002 17:08:48 -0500

Rik, 

   I'm certainly not going to disagree with you on anything diesel!
Clearly, my truck is more than overkill for the R22.  When I just had the
Rhodes, the motor in my Jeep Cherokee was just fine.  The vehicle was a
little light for my taste, but the motor was more than adequate.

I also heard about problems with the drive train not being up to the diesel.
Like, when Dodge first introduced the Cummins as an option, there was a
problem with farmers snapping the driveshaft because they were pulling a
fully loaded wagon out of a field.  The motor was up to it, but the rest
couldn't handle the additional torque.  I shouldn't have the transmission
problem (knock on wood), as ours has the 6 speed manual tranny built by ZF.

I haven't had the cold weather problems, at least not yet.  We start with a
much warmer winter than you do, though.  I think that the newer motors have
much better cold weather starting than the old ones.

Now, about what else I should know...
Fuel types... I can never keep track of all of this.  I usually just buy
whatever diesel is in the pump. Sometimes that is at the car pumps, but
sometimes it is at the pumps that the trucks use.  What are the differences,
if any? And cold weather? 
I normally use No.2 diesel, but think I'm supposed to use No.1 if the
weather turns really cold (for Ohio).  Am I correct?

Then there is the water separator... I've always wondered what I'm supposed
to do with the water I drain out of the separator.  Is there somewhere to
dispose of it at a gas station?  

-----Original Message-----
From: Rik Sandberg [mailto:racerrik@rea-alp.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 4:45 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Diesel Powered Trucks

Joe,

Seems like from what I am hearing, it isn't the engines in the diesel
pickups that are the problem. Looks to me like the manufacturers are having
trouble building automatic transmissions that will stand up to the diesel. I
know several guys that have had all three major brands of diesel pickups and
most have had no engine trouble to speak of, but have had lots of
transmission trouble. Then there's my brother's 7.3 ford that's had trouble
with both.

I'm with Brad a little on this. A diesel pickup is not necessarily a great
thing for the more casual driver. Fuel is sometimes harder to locate. It is
also helpful if one understands a little about diesel fuel types, water (in
the fuel), fuel filters, cold temperatures and glow plugs. One of my pet
peeves with my old diesel (older Chevy 6.2) was the way the glow plugs kept
cycling on after the engine was running. I finally took them off of their
sensors and hooked them up to only work manually. I had no more problems
after that. If you should ever happen to get into any cold weather with your
new diesel, I hope you have studied up on this subject, because you can get
in trouble real fast with a diesel if it turns cold on you.

A diesel pickup is really kinda overkill for pulling an R 22. If all you are
worried about is pulling the guts out of your gas pickup because you're
pulling your boat, this should not be a concern to you. Our boats are not a
big load to virtually any V-8 made today. Heck, my gas V-6 handles the R 22,
no sweat. Also, it seems the fuel mileage on these new diesels isn't
necessarily so good anymore, since they started turning up the pumps for
better horsepower numbers. Most of the new gas engines seem to pound out
150,000 miles or so pretty regularly these days.

Rik

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gardner, Douglas L. (LNG-DAY)" <douglas.gardner@lexisnexis.com>
To: "'The Rhodes 22 mail list'" <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 2:40 PM
Subject: RE: [Rhodes22-list] Diesel Powered Trucks

> Joe,
>
> I have a Dodge 3500 with the Cummins, and love it.
> Data says that the average miles between an engine rebuild for the Cummins
> is 300K.  My understanding is that the new GM diesel (Duramax) is
excellent
> as well. If I recall correctly, the Duramax is built by Isuzu (also known
> for their diesel engines).
>
> I've heard mixed reviews on the International engines in the Fords, but
have
> no data to back it up.  Like Brad, I have spoken to a lot of Ford diesel
> owners who swear by them. I'm sure that all 3 motors are far superior to
> their gasoline counterparts.  My guess is that opinions on them are
largely
> influenced by brand loyalty/hatred rather than true quality concerns.
Many
> truck owners have the "I wouldn't own a Chevy (or Ford or Dodge) if you
paid
> me" attitude. Today, my wife is anti-GM.  Who knows what next year will
> bring.
>
>   Worth the extra cost?  A friend of mine pointed out that you can buy a
LOT
> of gasoline for $4K. It really depends on how you use it. I like to drive
a
> vehicle until it dies, so the plan on the truck was to have it for many,
> many years.
>
> --Doug
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: brad haslett [mailto:flybrad@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 2:39 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Diesel Powered Trucks
>
>
> Joe, I know of at least 20 guys at work that have Ford
> F-250's with diesels and they swear by them. Dodge
> uses a Cummins diesel which is good too. I don't know
> much about GM's because I'm just not a GM kinda guy.
> Pretty good mileage for the size and the engine is
> good for 200K.  The downside is that they are
> expensive (about 4k more on the front end) and you now
> can't pull into any convenience store for fuel.  I
> drove a Mercedes diesel for 200K miles and my son
> drove it another 75K. The car was getting rather tired
> but the engine was still going strong, typical of good
> diesel engines.  Going down the interstate is no
> problem, just look for Ric, and follow him to fuel.
> Around town, especially in a strange city, it can
> become a major PITA to find fuel. For me personally,
> the extra front end expense and convenience has kept
> me out of returning to diesel but they do last a long,
> long time. If I did a lot of heavy towing (heavier
> than the R-22) the diesel would definately be the
> ticket.  If your current truck is in good shape other
> than the miles, you might consider running it until
> the engine dies and then repower with a rebuilt Jasper
> engine.  They are not cheap but Jasper's are probably
> the best rebuilt engines on the market.
>
> Brad Haslett
> "CoraShen"
> --- "Ware, Joseph W." <joseph_ware@merck.com> wrote:
> > Any one have good information on the longevity of a
> > diesel motor in a pickup
> > vs. a regular gas motor?  I'm in the market and will
> > be putting on about
> > 20,000 miles a year for the next 8 years.  Either I
> > run my current gas motor
> > to death, (it already has 120,000 miles on it), or I
> > pickup a new diesel
> > which I hear can handle the extra miles.
> >
> > Joe
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> --
> > Notice: This e-mail message, together with any
> > attachments, contains information of Merck & Co.,
> > Inc. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA) that may
> > be confidential, proprietary copyrighted and/or
> > legally privileged, and is intended solely for the
> > use of the individual or entity named on this
> > message. If you are not the intended recipient, and
> > have received this message in error, please
> > immediately return this by e-mail and then delete
> > it.
> >
> >
>
============================================================================
> ==
> >
> > _________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help?
> www.rhodes22.org/list
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos
> http://launch.yahoo.com/u2
> _________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> _________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>

_________________________________________________
Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list