Quote:
Originally Posted by fastrob
I deleted the meat of the origional post quote to reply to the point of the thread. Timemachine did the smart thing. He got rid of a lemon and bought something he hopes is better. I hope he gets many years of good service from the new rig.
From my point of view his logic sounds great!
Diesel has it's place in long distance, I heard over 25,000 miles per year, and heavy loads, you define a heavy load for yourself. USA Today had an article of a study that indicated that diesel was more efficient than hybrids or gas for energy efficiency. It would not matter what you had if it was a lemon.
A tank of stabilized diesel should last longer in storage than gas. When the poo hits the fan, like it is now, I want to be ready for a supply interruption.
We have both gas and diesel vehicles and a big tank of fuel oil in an energy emergency.
By all means get rid of lemons, make lemonade.
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fastrob, thanks for the vote of confidence. The original post really was all about the decisions many of us go through in regard to Tow Vehicles. Gas vs Diesel is just a part of that decision tree. As you pointed out, the Lemon part of my equation was a factor..why?...because for me, there was a significant doubt as to the reliabilty of the Ford diesel option as well as all of the "new" diesel variants due to the new emission standards and ultra low sulfer fuels. I think it is safe to say that most of the new diesels are not getting the same fuel economy of the earlier models..at least that is what I am reading and hearing from owners of 2007 1/2 and 2008 year model diesels.
As you mention, diesels are preferred for heavy loads and high mile usage, as it turns out, the later, high mileage usage, is not in the cards for many of us due to the massive increase in fuel costs. Many of us are taking shorter trips, or at least staying longer in one location once we get there to maximize the fuel spent. So for my situation, the change over to a gasser was good for this reason alone. I didn't use my diesel truck enough before the fuel costs went up, I certainly wouldn't use it enough now given the change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by azflycaster
I saw Time's truck at a rally in Quartzsite this past winter. It is one very good looking truck. The red that Dodge uses is very red.
How about an update now that you have been driving the Power Wagon for a while now?
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Richard,
Thanks for the qualitative support of our very Red truck...we like the color. Of course, most trucks look great pulling aluminum.
As I mentioned above, our travels are far less now with fuel costs taking such a large bite out of a long weekend budget for Airstreaming. It is sad when getting to the campground costs five times more than the camping fee, that is why our last mini-rally was in the alley next to our house. That example is extreme, but we are now pulling our AS no more than 200 miles (round trip) to rallys, where before 500 miles was not too far for a three or four day event. So this year so far, we have less than 2000 miles on the Power Wagon in six months, where last year we had 3000 miles in three months. The Power Wagon's use is about 90% towing.
Overall, we are very happy with the Power Wagon for towing and general around the house utility. The fuel economy is almost exactly what we had from our sick Power Stroke Diesel, 10 mpg towing and around town. The highway mileage is a little bit better at 14 mpg, where the PSD almost never passed 11 mpg. I must repeat for some readers, my PSD was not typical, I am not saying all PSD's get crappy mileage, but it is well know that on a average, PSD's are know to have higher failure/problems than other diesel engines.
The Hemi engine is a fine power-plant and has plenty of HP and torque to pull our Safari at around 7000 lbs, and there is still plenty of spare power, but I would not want to pull more than 8000 lbs in the mountains. The Hemi does have to run at higher RPMs to get to it's peak torque for climbing, but the darn thing kinda likes it, and most would agree that it is made to rev. When I am not towing, the Power wagon is the funnest truck I have ever driven, in fact, it is more fun than some "sports cars" that I have owned.
Dodge makes a fine truck, the looks are a matter of personal preference, the gadgets work great (navigation, bluetooth, remote start, sunroof, winch, locking differentials, disconnecting sway bar for off road crazy stuff) and believe it or not, the ride is firm but not bad for what it is capable of on and off road. As for reliability, oil changes and lube is all she has seen, no defects or problems. I stand by my decision and still happy to be riding in a big red truck.
John
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Hi, speaking for myself, only, I don't understand what you are trying to tell us or in which direction you are trying to lead us. If there was no interest, mostly trying to figuer out what message you are trying to convey, there would not be any responce to your posts. But it needs it's own thread.
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