Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Any 2500HD Duramax/Allison owners out there?

I agree the price of fuel is important, I think Diesel normally runs about 30cents higher than 10% ethanol blend around here. I think if more people purchased diesels the price would fall.

The diesel folks have been telling me that since the engines are manufactured a lot better/heavier than gassers and designed to outlive a gas engine 2-3+ times, that maintenance cost is not really any different. They even said that oil changes aren't really that much higher and don't have to be done every 3,000 miles like gassers, so that balances out?

Resale value I've heard is way better on a diesel, which helps justify the extra cost.

I don't think the DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) costs that much, you can get it a NAPA and other places, as long as it is the correct ISO version. You can also add a gallon here and then if wanted. I think emmisions are improved by 60+ %.

Here is some info from the Florida Environmental Protection on the 70%water/urea DEF product.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/air/emission/msc/vehicles/def_factsheet_07-16-09.pdf

Oil change for my truck at Ontario GM dealers runs at about $59 vs around $35 for gas powered. The reason, or the main reason for diesel engines being built more heavily is that diesel's have higher cylinder pressures, combined with the fact they are usually used for work. In reg's to fuel economy, the biggest difference is when you are working the vehicle. Towing a heavy trailer with a gasser will probably reduce your economy by 40% vs 15-20% with the desel(those are just my own personal guestimations). If you'r working the truck a fair bit, I'd consider the diesel. Diesel was cheaper than gas around here for years but it's jumped ahead of gas right now due to high demand for diesel fuel....at least thats what the guy at DOST Petroleum told me.

I beleive they all have issues at some point so pick the one that appears to heve the least number of complaints so far and cross your fingers, knock on wood etc. Rumors are that in the very near future urea won't be required so maybe wait a year or 2 and see what comes up.

The high cost of diesel fuel is due to it being refined more (ULSD) than it was prior to '07 and not because there's not enough people driving them.

The diesel folks on forums are just that, diesel folks on forums talking about how good their trucks are. The engine *may* outlive a gasser by 2-3+ times but the rest of the truck will be ready for the junk yard by the time the typical gas engine expires and I'll never believe that the maintenance cost is equal or cheaper than a gas engine ... not in my experience anyway.

Resale value? Wait to see what the resale values are on these trucks if the fuel prices get near the $5 a gallon mark and I personally believe it's headed there.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from buying a diesel Randy, I've really enjoyed all of mine over the years but the dang things aren't cheap to buy or operate and I'm just trying to give you an opinion based on somebody who has put over 600k miles on them in the past 15 years.

I'm sure we'll see some smaller diesels of about 4.5L in pickup trucks a couple of years down the road. I understood GM had a small Duramax motor in the works before the economy tanked. Hopefully they'll continue working on it, a small diesel in a pickup truck makes a lot of sense.

That's unbelievably cheap Adrian, it cost me about $73 for four gallons of Rotella and an oil filter if I wanted to do the oil change myself. Last time I had somebody else change my oil it was $92 ... three years ago whenever the fuel prices were outrageous I paid almost $150 for an oil change.

I just received a service reminder for my truck from the dealer I purchased the truck from, $259 for an oil change, tire rotation, grease and inspection.

Those prices are crazy!

The prices are about normal for the past couple of years Adrian, Wal Mart sells Rotella for $14 per gallon. The following price for the Rotella is for a 5 gallon container so it's only $13 a gallon, my truck takes 15 quarts.

Rotella 15-40 5 gal ... $64.99

Fram Oil Filter CH9549 ... $19.09

I'll be due for an oil change in another few weeks, I'll let you know what the prices are here.

I appreciate it Rick, and I value all opinions. Most of the people I have been talking to on the Diesel forums, also have a long history with gassers prior. There are also people trying to detour me from getting a diesel for the same reasons you say.

A lot depends on how much we plan to tow down the road. I just know how my 5.3 handles our current 5,600lb trailer, and expect the 6.0 will be the same with a 8-9000lb 5th wheel, suck city up hills and gass suckage.