Eyetattoo

I'm looking to buy a new truck in the next 6-12 months and am wondering if I should purchase a Diesel and spend the extra $8-9k or go with the 6.0 V8 and throw a turbo on it. The reason I am considering the turbo is the additional cost of the diesel and the extra cost of fuel over the long run. Any thoughts?

Mille Racer 69

I say get a truck, then throw an LS2 engine in there and turbocharge it.

Eyetattoo

I would rather buy new.

Mille Racer 69

Turbo v8
Of coarse you could still buy an. Engine for it.
Then you can sell. You stock engine new

basilkies

Do the the math the turbo won't be cost effective and don't forget to add the extra maintenance. Also a Diesel will not be cost effective because it will take a long time to recoup the extra cost in fuel savings.
Get diesel if you tow heavey things a lot or keep your truck for over 200,000 miles, but remember diesel fuel is not as wide spread as gas.

Eyetattoo

I do tow quite often and that is why I am looking at the power of the diesel or turbo.

zm1040

I would check out STSTurbo.com. They have a remote-mount turbo system that gives pretty significant gains in power and would be cheaper over time I think than the diesel...?

deezee

Get a diesel if you're looking to tow heavy equipment. You'll have far less problems down the road too.

makaveliks

Id say get a diesel no matter what... I have a 2009 2500 crew cab long bed with the 6.0 gas 3.73 rear and it is great... but gas is around 12 mpg whether empty, loaded, pulling a 10000lb trailer or not. I put 33's on the truck and it actually helped mph with a 1 mpg bump to 13. The motor has the torque to pull just fine and bigger tires keep the rpms lower at the same speed. Ive herd of diesel guys getting 18mpg towing and 20+ unloaded highway driving. Thats nearly double the fuel for the gas motor so unless diesel doubles gas prices I'd go that way. You figure that'll be another 100$ or so on your mothly payment, but if your driving a decent amount you will save that in fuel for the diesel. And if you plan on owning the truck for the life of the truck, get the diesel. It'll pay for itself and some over its life, plus if your tow/hauling needs outgrow the diesel, your next step is a big rig! lol

My daily drive is 20 miles each way to work so 40 miles a day plus go to the store for smokes or whatever Plus any extra I do on the weekends. Usually works out to 1 tank of gas for the weekend and monday, and 1 tank of gas for monday through friday. 2 tanks a week at nearly 100$ a tank. That's almost 800$ a month for me. If i went diesel you could almost cut that in half... Ill be at around 250 miles before my 35 gallon tank is nearing 1/4 tank. Also with the 6.0 your towing capacity is damn near the same as a 1500. For my truck manual says right around 11000lbs. Obviously the frame, suspension and axles can handle more but the gas motors tranny is the weak point. Towing a 10000lb trailer into a 20mph headwind on flat ground across north dakota at 70 mph I had to slow down to 55 every 20 minutes to let my tranny cool down. Diesels again almost double that for the properly equiped 3500. The motor tranny combo is alot more capable.

You can put a charger on a gasser and it'll make it faster, but it wont increase any capabilities unless you can figure out how to get your tranny stronger. Even at that if your driving it faster with any kinda load, you will probly just be heating your tranny up more. If i could go back and di it again, I'd pay the extra 8000$ for the diesel.

ericnottelin

Ok, so I have this thought. What if you are towing within the factory limits of your truck and when you drive without a trailer, you drive like a normal human being. But you are towing/driving in a mountainous area and you want your truck to tow/drive a little easier. I am never an advocate of racing a truck. Personally, A truck is used as a truck and tow your race car to the track. With that said, I think a turbo would be nice way to accomplish this without spending 8k on a diesel. Yes diesel is more expensive. But have you ever noticed how much the maintenance on a diesel motor is. Between the double digit quarts of oil to change the oil, the fuel maintenance involved, etc. I think diesels can cost a lot more unless you are towing a lot.

I would love to get that turbo kit on my truck even if it will allow my truck to tow the trailer easier.

Again, just thought I would throw a little monkey in the mix.

PS, in reference to fuel mileage, My 4.8l (3.73 gears) gets 14-15 mph in the city and 17-18 on the highway at 70 mph. If I travel slower, I get much better mileage (say almost 20 mpg at 55-60mph). When I was researching the diesels, Several of the guys that were getting almost 20mpg were not traveling more than 65 mpg. So, if you are traveling faster than that, your fuel mileage will diminish proportionally to the speed you are traveling at. The faster you go, the more go-go juice you need. Thus the phrase go-go juice. :-)