im ready to buy my next truck i already am set on getting a mega cab 4x4 but im stuck on spending the extra money for a diesel or getting a hemi its almost a 10 grand diffence between the two

i know the hemi isnt as strong for the weight of a mega cab but the diesel are just so much

my main concern is that this would be my first diesel and i dont want to spend alot and be stuck with maintence i cant handle and from what i hear most dealers cant handle diesel as well.

the hemi is used in so many vehicles i figured itd be a safer buy but i want the diesel lol

the truck is just going to be a big bad daily driver no towing barely any work lifted and probably no bigger than 37s

im a truck guy and i cant just get a car so im trying to get the best truck i can get please post any opinoins

 

well all the glory is in the diesels, and I would love to have one...but like you said, they are so much more...You get better hp/torque, mileage, and longevity

But if you do not need the diesel, as you said you will not be towing, and wont be going to the strip, then the Hemi is fine. RH has the MC with a Hemi with 37s and doesnt have any problems, with *******ly no engine mods. You will be fine with the gasser, the diesel would just be a luxury for you at this point

 

I've owned both a diesel and about seven gasser 4x4 full size trucks. It's a tough call. I really wanted another diesel when I bought new in '04, but the $10k you are looking at was $17k for me at the time.
NO dealer was giving ANYTHING OFF sticker on diesels at the time, so between the $9k difference in price, $4500 in rebates on a 1500 that the 2500s did not have and the $3500 additional the dealer knocked off sticker price it equated to $17,000 difference!!!
Since I stopped tourney bass fishing, I went from putting about 18k a year on my truck to about 8k, so I just couldn't justify the extra expense. Hell I ended up buying a killer Grand Cherokee for a daily driver and still spent less total for my truck new and a 4 year old cherry GC than the diesel was!

On the Diesel side is longevity (a diesel should last about 3x the life of a gasser), torque (not even close), depreciation (a diesel losses it's value at about half the rate of a gasser) and intervals between maintenance.

On the Gasser side is initial cost, cost of maintenance (figure at least 4x the cost of EVERYTHING with a diesel) & ease of repairs.

I'm gonna call fuel economy a wash. The diesel will get better mpgs, but the cost of diesel is higher.

ONLY YOU know if you need a diesel or not! If you NEED one, then a gasser just ain't gonna do. If you rack up high miles, you need a diesel. If you are going to tow regularly (especially with a heavy a$$ Mega), you need a diesel.

 

i love my diesel.
i was stuck between a 2500 hemi and 2500 diesel.
i chose the diesel and glad i did.

my buddies hemi gets 13 - 16 on the highway.
my diesel gets 17 - 21 on the highway with a lot more power.

 

The only con of a CTD is the amount it cost for mods. Other than that everything else is beneficial and pure power

 

my main concern was owning a diesel i know most of the pros like durability, power, mpgs, and awesomeness

but ive heard many horror stories of something going wrong or what have you


its gonna be a pavement queen so im not gonna abuse it with offroading or mudding. just a little piping down around town or on the highway and looking amazing parked. its the complete opposite reason to get a diesel but i just want one so bad

im just tryinjg to be smart and not buy a 30 or 40 thousand dollar truck and not take care of it and maintain it correctly

 

Its not hard to maintain or fix as long as you understand diesels. If not then there is a learning curve but nothing that cannot be taught or learned.

 

Unless you do alot of heavy towing, I would skip the diesel engine. The diesel costs more to purchase and the maintenance costs are higher (filters, oil, etc).

 

There isn't any shop around here(^NY) that wants to work on a diesel. It will sit on their lot until they have nothing better to do so downtime will be apparent if your area is the same??. Dealers are the only one's who really work on them in a normal timely fashion, but $$$$$$. The expense of diesels is astranomical compared to a gasser.
If you plan to mod the engine to make lots of power, then diesel is the way to go, but the Hemi is still a powerful engine.
Your best bet is to get a newer lightly used diesel with under 50kmi. That will put you in the same range as a new Hemi.
It's all personal preference. My buddy has a 2500 Diesel and while it's quick as hell(13.29 in the 1/4mi) it's loud and obnoxious IMO and on average, only 1 out of every 3 gas stations carry diesel around me.

 

Even with 37s the hemi will get the job done. it may require some mods to bring it back up the snuf. but you could easily get that done with a grand. the only reason to buy the cummins is if youre doing a lot of heavy towing (especially on long hauls) or if you go to the track. sure youll get better mpg with the cummins but from an overall cost perspective the hemi will be the cheaper.