Don't want to start a diesel truck battle, but....

Dodge will pull a load easier and hold it's speed and RPM better than either of the other. Usual loads are around 15k-20k on gooseneck trailers. Ford one ton would average about 13 mpg empty and about 9 loaded. Dodge one ton will get about 15-16 empty and 11-13 loaded. Running empty most of the time at about 65-70, loaded around 55-60. The Ford 3/4 ton will get about 17-19 empty and around 11-12 loaded. Fords ride and drive better but that might be because the Dodge has the solid front axle and sits up like a 4wd.

All of these are 1996 trucks so their wasn't am major change in them for comparison. WE had more trouble from the Ford one ton than we have had so far on the others. Ford 1 ton had 90K on it when we sold it, Dodge has about 90k on it now and the Ford 1 ton has 179k on it.

Bottom line is the fuel economy is about the same as in the Dakota I had and it is a lot more comfortable to drive.

Here is reprint of some of my diesel thoughts that I've used on the RV forums with my 2k2 F350, DRW, CC, 6x6, lwb, PSD, 6spd, 3:73 :

****************************************

What you need to do is set-up a test road for base mileage check. Mine is 125miles RT on a Interstate. About 60%flat and 40% rolling hills from 1400ft to 2200ft and is a typical Interstate for my area. I only use Flying J fuel (Conoco) using the same pump to fill up each time. I'm 10 miles RT from the Interstate and Flying J is off the exit ramp.

Driving like I have a egg under my foot, I can squeak out 20.75mpg@55mph on my test road and 19.2@61mph, 18mpg@65, 17.1mpg@70mph. Thats is good as it's going to get for "me" and my base mileage.

I decided on the 19.2mpg@61 was a good average for me to live with. I then tried shifting at different rpm's. If I stepped on the pedal just a tad too hard while swaping gears that can drop me down too 17mpg, depending on how hard I push the shifts and take offs. 18mpg is easy to come by but I have to work to get that 19.2mpg. My engine is very picky on how it's driven for mileage.

After about 10 trips on my test road retraining my thinking on how to drive the PSD, I now get 19.2mpg@60mph with towing 20kGCW for 60 miles@25mph, 80% hi-way, on each tank and every tank. I shift at 1300rpm.

No it's not a fluke as I now have about 15000miles on and every tank full is the same, 19.2mpg. The only time my mileage does change is when I forget to use my "new" driving style or towing a load.

On two recent Az to Co trips, 1900 miles each, towing 16k GCW I got 14.1mpg average!

You might also reset the PCM. Disconect the battery's over night. Thats helped when my mileage has been off the normal.

You might want to set-up your own test road just to see what your X can do at ,55, 60,65 and 70mph as a base test. If your mileage improves then it's your driving style that needs adjustment, if not then you need to look at why the low mileage and the first thing I would look for is air in the fuel, thats providing your all stock, tires, no chip, no lift, air pressure correct, etc..

Engine lugging is adding fuel without gaining RPM at WOT and can occur at any RPM.

Below is what Ford says about lugging in the F650/750 owners manual:

"Excessive full throttle operation below peak torque RPM will shorten engine life to overhaul and can cause serious engine damage. Operation of the engine below peak torque RPM can occur during gear shifting due to difference of gear ratios."

T_Bone

***********************************************

Seams like a good time to once again get all the "myths" back to reality with some math!

If we look at actual prices and get some "good" numbers too work with then we could come up with the following list:

V10 towing 20,000lbs GCW @ 8mpg average using 5k oil changes for 10,000 total miles
Oil and filter= $16eh= $32net
Fuel $1.50gal average= $1875

PSD towing 20,000lbs GCW @ 12mpg average using 5k oil changes for 10,000 total miles
Oil and filter= $32eh= $64net
Fuel $1.50gal average= $1250

100k= PSD total fuel and oil change cost $13,140
100k= V10 total fuel and oil change cost $19,070

Diesel wins by $5930 per 100k miles
My 2K2 diesel cost $3,450 vs V10 $500= $2950 diff

$5930-$2950= $2,980 diesel savings the first 100k miles.

Assuming fuel prices will stay the same (ya right) $1.50gal for 300k miles a PSD saves $14,840 in fuel.

A V-10 cost for the same truck as spec'd below $30,900 or $.103/mile for 300k miles, I already dicounted the up-front cost of the diesel engine.

I paid $30,900 for my PSD truck so my net cost per mile is $30,900-$14,840= $16,060 or $.0535/mile for 300k miles or 1/2 the V10 cost.

Lets take it one step more. Lets say the average price of fuel, gas and diesel, in the next 5yrs averages $2.10/gal, from 5yrs to 10yrs averages $3.10/gal, using 30k total miles/yr at 70% empty and 30% towing 20,000lbs GCW, V10 8mpg towing 14mpg empty, PSD 12mpg towing 20mpg empty, then we get:

V10= empty fuel cost= $39,000 Towing fuel cost= $29,251 or $68,252 gross fuel cost for 10yrs

PSD= empty fuel cost= $27,300 Towing fuel cost= $19,500 or $46,800 gross fuel cost for 10yrs

PSD saves $21,415 in fuel cost over a V10

I have not even considered how a PSD will out pull a V10 towing 20,000lbs as to make a V10 last 300k miles one would have to tow at 60% of rated torque RPM.

The diesel wins hands down in cost and towing power no matter how you run the numbers.

T_Bone

By far the best designed diesel out there is the Cummins!!! It has NO glow plugs, and always starts easily even when it's cold out. Mine uses less fuel that the PS's did too.

My Chevys have been my best trucks and i've talked to "at least" 20 Duramax owners, all love there Durmax diesel/Allison combo. There was some puter glitch in the early allisons, but that was quickly corrected. No i don't have one, but i wouldn't be afraid to buy one either.

I've had 5 6.2's, and all were good. The origional one i bought is still running fine with 197,000 miles on it. I still have another with 100,000 on it too, and neither one has had any internal motor trouble.

For me milage has been best with the Chev, with 20 to 21 "best" empty, Cummins is second at about "best" 20 empty, our PS's got about 18 at "best".

In my area, diesel is cheaper than gas, and all my diesels use a heck of a lot less fuel when pulling than any gas engine we've used. (my brother has also had a V10 Ford, and a V10 Dodge)

As for the 4K extra for the diesel, that's true, but the diesel comes with some things i'd order anyway if i was getting a gas engine. Like a cold climate package, HP springs, and dual batts. ect.. That makes up for some of the extra cost.

The Cummins it the best pulling truck we've had, and easily beats them all for reliability.

Robert

Just curious.

And, as was already said, the Cummins has two heater grids in the air intake. They pre heat the incomeing air when cold starting the engine. I've started mine in below zero temps. more than once with out plugging in the 110v block heater.

Robert

Cars..... These are made for city driving. While the big V8 could burn the tires off it is wasted energy. A 4 cylinder will always get better mileage but you have to reduce the size of the car and give up horsepower for it to work. So we make the car as small as we can then put a smaller motor in it to up MPG.

Trucks.... They do not have that option in fact trucks are bigger than in past years. So what do you do? Well they added flaring for air flow. But the biggest thing they did was change gear ratio. To do this they had to up the horsepower. And it worked; trucks have bigger motors now yet get better mileage but only on the highway.

Pickups that tow..... Now we are trying to have the best of both worlds. We want it to be a car one day yet tow a tractor at 70 mph the next day. Sorry but it just does not work that way so they pay for it in MPG