Diesel truck: PNW winter DD?

[42000]

Does anybody have experience with 1980s diesels. I am considering spending money on something to dd for the winter and trips to the mountains (snowboarding, biking, kayaking ) and hauling shit around. I would rather have a diesel than a gasoline truck. And if its going to be a huge investment, i might not go through with it...

Diesel maintenance... How much stuff is there to do and how difficult is it? compared to e30s? How much money? Average cost to maintain per year?

down the road I would probably go waste veggie oil

Brand:
Ford? I found a really cheap f250 that just needs rotors.
Cummins 12v? def a sweet truck but seem to go for more $$
Chevy?

Anybody dd one of these kind of trucks? Thoughts?

My other thought is to buy a cheap bike to rip around on for a dd. (small, cheap gas) but obviously that won't work for the winter or snowboarding or anything -_-

[e30e]

Avoid 80's and early 90's GM diesels......The cummins 12v is where its at in terms of power, too bad dodges tend to rust.

[mrsleeve]

stay away from 80's diesels

Those old fords are MONEY when something in the fuel system goes and, with the shitty Diesel fuel we have now its only a matter of time before you lost a Injection pump or a few injectors.

You want a older 12v Cummins or 7.3 Powerchoke preferably something newer than 96 as thats when the they finally strapped a turbo to the 7.3. That thing you are looking at has a pos 6.9 that you WILL HATE and it will FUCK your life. The 6.5TD from GM was ok, not great in the least just ok, and you dont want a 6.2 even if you found one, most of those went back to the factory in oil soaked cardboard boxes.


My personal truck is a Pre Emissions Duramax, I love diesel, but then again my/little womans hobbies require pulling a large heavy wagon around with critters in it. Routine Maintenance and fuel costs are going the be way more than your used to on a diesel truck of any age compared to your e30

[hfabricius]

I have a first gen Dodge and my dad does as well. They are excellent trucks if you find one with no rust. Maintenance is pretty cheap, only thing I have had to replace was the fuel filter and obviously oil changes as well. Very easily modified, couple screw turns on the injection pump and you can put down some good power. Cummins are known for cracked exhaust manifolds (stock cast steel), the head bolts stretch or something and cause a head gasket failure around 180000 miles but ARP studs are supposed to be a permanent fix with a new hg. The biggest thing is the killer dowel pin behind the timing case, google it and you will find plenty of info.

I drove a 6.9 IDI Ford from Canada to home in Georgia then to Alabama about a month later, worst experience with a diesel ever.

[randomsv650]

my pops had a '79 Chevy 3/4 Diesel. That thing was a beast. Towed many of my friends (and myself) out of ditches, ruts, muddy corn fields, etc . Only downside for a diesel in the winter is needing to keep it plugged it when its gets really cold (most of them need to be plugged though a lot of modern ones dont)

80's era got worse for big trucks, if you're going newer dont buy chevy unless it's Duramax after '04. Anything Ford in the late 90's - early 2000's was also trouble in my experience (worked on a farm, also an auto parts store).

My suggestion? Find an old 80's S10 with the Isuzu Diesel. Obviously depends how uch you want to "haul." But, worth checking out if you can track one down thats not rotted to hell. Dead reliable, pretty awesome fuel mileage (friend of mine has 2 of them, consistently gets high 30mpg's)

No idea whos truck this is, but its a nice sleeper :nice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tytvqrU_plI

[42000]

stay away from 80's diesels

Those old fords are MONEY when something in the fuel system goes and, with the shitty Diesel fuel we have now its only a matter of time before you lost a Injection pump or a few injectors.

You want a older 12v Cummins or 7.3 Powerchoke preferably something newer than 96 as thats when the they finally strapped a turbo to the 7.3. That thing you are looking at has a pos 6.9 that you WILL HATE and it will FUCK your life. The 6.5TD from GM was ok, not great in the least just ok, and you dont want a 6.2 even if you found one, most of those went back to the factory in oil soaked cardboard boxes.


My personal truck is a Pre Emissions Duramax, I love diesel, but then again my/little womans hobbies require pulling a large heavy wagon around with critters in it. Routine Maintenance and fuel costs are going the be way more than your used to on a diesel truck of any age compared to your e30

Thanks man! Exactly the type of info I was looking for!

My suggestion? Find an old 80's S10 with the Isuzu Diesel. Obviously depends how uch you want to "haul." But, worth checking out if you can track one down thats not rotted to hell. Dead reliable, pretty awesome fuel mileage (friend of mine has 2 of them, consistently gets high 30mpg's)

No idea whos truck this is, but its a nice sleeper :nice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tytvqrU_plI

Never knew they made diesel s10's !! They look sweet and would be fine for what I want to do. All I want to do is haul parts and dirtbikes, quads, etc. Maybe my e30...

[James]

I wouldn't even bother with a diesel for doing what you described, if you are the wanting a diesel because you reckon its the cheap option its just going to end in tears. Your money will go heaps further on a gas truck and assuming you aren't loading up 10k+ daily, a gas truck will suit your needs.

Like sleeve said you're going to be into money for anything fuel system related on anything and I presume your budget is in line where most trucks will need work sooner or later.

If you still want a diesel because you like diesels I'd look for a 12 valve dodge but be ready to pay the Cummins tax and the rest of the truck is a bit of a liability IMO. A 94.5+ Ford will be a power stroke and are a good thing if the fuel system holds out. Prior to that they are IDI's (later 93? early 94 trucks will be factory turbo) Banks or hypermax aftermarket turbos on IDI trucks are pretty common and I think they are pretty good reliability wise given they rather modest on the power front.

GM's aren't really in the same league as the mid 90's ford or dodges and did suffer a pretty bad rep on the reliability side, mainly due to people thinking they were a genuine ford/dodge competitor, which they aren't. 6.5td's are noisy and slow but do return reasonable mileage not to mention you'll turn one up much cheaper that the other two.

[Stanley Rockafella]

with the shitty Diesel fuel we have now its only a matter of time before you lost a Injection pump or a few injectors.

I honestly thougth the Diesel of today is leaps and bounds better than the old Diesel fuel. IIRC, the Smart car when launched in Canada in the early 2000's it was a 3 cyl. diesel and there were issues with it not being able to run properly on N. American diesel fuel (too much crap in it). but in Europe there as no issues with it.

I issumed that the diesel fuel had since improved...

[randomsv650]

I honestly thougth the Diesel of today is leaps and bounds better than the old Diesel fuel. IIRC, the Smart car when launched in Canada in the early 2000's it was a 3 cyl. diesel and there were issues with it not being able to run properly on N. American diesel fuel (too much crap in it). but in Europe there as no issues with it.

I issumed that the diesel fuel had since improved...

Nope, the quality of all fuel is getting worse. A lot of modern diesel vehicles run best on the forbidden farm-only pump diesel fuel, because it's the most pure form of diesel fuel.

OP said he eventually waned to do a veg oil conversion to the diesel truck, I've seen a few of them dne and it's a pretty sweet set up!

[mrsleeve]

^
NO NO NO red fuel is still ULSD not LSD 99% of the time, as it dose not take much LSD in a shipment (via truck or pipeline) of ULSD to make it illegal to put in Diesels newer than 07. I have asked many a fuel man in many states about it and they all say the same thing, for the most part, that even their red fuel meets the ULSD regs, since the only difference is the dye, and refiners just make it to the ULSD specs.

If you want to do that on old truck you need run #1 fuel AKA kerosene, or home heating oil, but even that has been coming out with less and less sulfur in it. In the winter time I have been know to run 50/50 tanks of #1 and #2 fuel to keep the gelling to a minimum in the winter.


If you can find someone that still has LSD available buy it, but its geting very very rare to find it anywhere anymore

I honestly thougth the Diesel of today is leaps and bounds better than the old Diesel fuel. IIRC, the Smart car when launched in Canada in the early 2000's it was a 3 cyl. diesel and there were issues with it not being able to run properly on N. American diesel fuel (too much crap in it). but in Europe there as no issues with it.

I issumed that the diesel fuel had since improved...

NO today's diesel has no sulfur, in it less than 15ppm since about 2009 even thought the laws in the US said it had to be 2007. Sulfur is a excellent lubricant in the fuel system, for the injectors and injection pump. Todays fuel is very very dry by comparison to the old days, and very hard on all the fuel system components even in the NEW stuff. I Know where I can get fuel with sulfur at 500ppm LSD, and I do every time I get close, and I have 04 Duramax and even though its quiet, the injectors go near silent when it has that 500ppm fuel. There is still a little being refined in a few places it seems, No its not off road fuel either.


IIRC what you are referring to in the euro diesels in N/A in the early part of the 2000's was not enough shit in the fuel, and no one running any additives. Since the euro's have been behind the USA with adopting fuel and emissions regs on diesels



Oh an I missed the Veg/Bio conversion in the OPs post. Ummmmmm Just a FYI in many a cash strapped states, they are sending the DOT after diesels that smell like fries. As the same rules apply, they will dip your tank and not find the correct yellow/green dye in there. You will be fined just like if you had Off Road (red dye ) in there, and its a very very HEFTY FINE. Unless you have IN THE TRUCK a log of gallons used and proof that you have been paying the road use taxes at both the federal rate of 24.9 cents a gallon and your state rate, quarterly, its going to cost somewhere over a grand.

[devon.818]

rather be cummin than strokin. lol

[mrsleeve]

rather be cummin than strokin. lol

rather be stroked than Ramed ;)

[Wschnitz]

Ix? If you just need to get to the mountains anything FWD or AWD will do. Usually the roads to Stevens are plowed but I've seen civics brave the snow up there. other then the one week at most in winter you won't need a winter DD in Seattle. Everyone just takes off work that week anyway...

But on another note. TD trucks are kinda sweet.

[42000]

Oh an I missed the Veg/Bio conversion in the OPs post. Ummmmmm Just a FYI in many a cash strapped states, they are sending the DOT after diesels that smell like fries. As the same rules apply, they will dip your tank and not find the correct yellow/green dye in there. You will be fined just like if you had Off Road (red dye ) in there, and its a very very HEFTY FINE. Unless you have IN THE TRUCK a log of gallons used and proof that you have been paying the road use taxes at both the federal rate of 24.9 cents a gallon and your state rate, quarterly, its going to cost somewhere over a grand.

Well that really would suck. i had never heard of something like that happening before.

And an IX would be awesome but thats $$. at that point id rather just put it into my zinno.

[mrsleeve]

^

Yeah its illegal to drive on the public roads with out paying the use taxes tied to your fuel, red fuel, is the same a road fuel other than the dye, and since its for OFF ROAD USE ONLY, you dont pay any road use taxes when you buy it. This is why when the DOT or cops dip your tank and get red or something other than yellow your ass is grass and the fines are so high, to deter you from using something other than correct dyed and taxed fuel. As the fines would be much higher than the savings when caught.

I have seen DOT pull into farm auctions, Fairs, Rodeos, construction yards and sites, and wait for the owners to walk up and dip tanks. Had mine dipped on a job and at the county fair the same year when I lived in MI. They will also check for additional plumbing from your drag up tank (if you have one in your truck) to your fuel lines, filter housings, or main tank as well.