Ok I want a diesl sometime in the future the 5.9 but I do no heavy hauling of any kind if I do its enough for the hemi to pull no problem. My question is if I was to just drive the diesel truck like I do the hemi witch is not often 20 min 3 times a week sometimes more. would the diesl not be worth buying my gfs dad is a truck driver and he said that the diesel engine wouldnt have time to warm up and I would just burn oil. Is this true I know they make cars with diesel engines and i know there diff from a truck but how diff are they. I would like to have the diesel for the price of diesel and its better on diesel then my hemi on gas. who here just drives there truck as a daily driver and dosnt haul anything how is your truck. Any and all input would be great thanks

 

most people daily drive with the cummins, however its not a bad idea to hook something to it once in a while and give it a good load, but a 5.9 will definatly to better in the mpg section, even more with the correct mods...

 

diesels are meant to be driven HARD. I have one because i tow alot of concrete and wood for construction but use it as a daily driver as well.
you should have no problem using it as a daily driver, but I do recommend beating on it once in a while. They are meant to be put to work

 

ok but whats the difference between the truck siesel and the car diesel you can pull heavy loads with the car. And the 5.9 being driven hard dose that mean pulling heavy loads or can plowing be considerd driving it hard?

 

What you're going to find is that if you just daily drive it and don't load it down once in a while that the mileage and performance starts to fall off.

The carbon builds up on the injector nozzles, exhaust valves and turbine vanes and performance and mileage go down.

The reason it happens is that you're not getting the exhaust temps and boost pressure up high enough and long enough to burn the crud off.

If this happens, it's an easy fix. Get the truck down to about 1/4 tank of fuel and add about 16 oz of PowerService or Stanadyne. Go to Home Depot and rent the trailer with the back hoe on it and drive it like ya stole it (the more hills, the better) until the fuel light comes on. It'll be all better.

If mine starts to seem sluggish, I just take it to the track and run the dog snot out of it. As soon as I get done playing, it idles better, mileage comes back up, throttle response is quick again.

These engines were meant to be worked, HARD. If you just lug them around town, you're not operating them like they were intended to be run.....higher in the RPM range, at highway speeds, with a heavy load behind them.

 

The cost "benefit" from a diesel getting better fuel mileage than your hemi is going to take a long time to be realized with that limited of use. If you figure diesel cost $.30 a gallon more than gasoline, like it does around here, and that at best a diesel truck will get only a few mpg better fuel economy than a gas truck, it will take you about 100000 miles to just break even. The diesel truck will cost an average of $7000 more than a gas engine truck, so to make up the difference in cost by driving your truck for 20 minutes three times a week, the cost "benefit" of a diesel starts to be seen sometime after the first 23 years of use, ... or something like that. Owning a diesel if you don't need a truck for the extra towing capacity is pretty expensive, although lots of people do it.

 

wow thanks for the info. but can any one tell me the diff between a diesel car to a diesel truck?

 

It depends on the car. Back in the late 70's early 80s GM was selling diesels that were converted gas engines and they had a lot of problems. There are other cars like Mercedes that are true diesels and should hold up for 100s of thousands of miles. I am really not sure exactly what you want to know. I have been driving diesels since my first Peugeot diesel on the early 70s and My last diesel was a 1980 international Scout. and they new Dodge is a lot different than the old ones. The Scout didn't turn off with the key, you had to pull out a **** attached to a cable to shut off the fuel to stop it. And back then there was no instant start you had to hold your finger on a glow plug button 30 to 60 seconds to start the engine.

If you plan on keeping a vehicle for a long time the diesel engine will outlast 2 or maybe 3 gas engines but as others have already said truck diesels need to work hard to run properly. I got mine 3 weeks ago and have less than 250 miles most trips were between 6 to 14 miles round trip and one about 40 to 60 miles round trip and it sits in the drive way 4 out of 7 days. But in a few more days I will be driving over 600 miles up to New Paris IN and pick up a truck slide in camper weighing about 4,000 pounds and driving back. Then the truck will sit in the drive way 6 out of 7 days till I drive the truck loaded with the camper 900 miles to NY and 900 miles back. If I wasn't gong to haul stuff I would not have gotten a truck diesel. My truck will get a good work out at least every 4 to 6 weeks. Up coming trips to Tucson AZ, Grand Canyon, Chief Crazy Horse monument, Yellow stone, Travel the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, FL keys and maybe AK hauling the camper