I own and daily-drove a '95 Ford and LOVE the interior. Captains chairs are comfy, center console is huge and I love the dash.
Weird. 
Id call it better looking than a 95 chevy interior and more durable than a 95 dodge interior, but i have NEVER heard anyone profess love of a 95 ford truck interior. lol
SVreX wrote:CarKid1989 wrote: There are only full size trucks with diesels really so that does not give you much options.That's if you don't include Isuzu and VW. Oh, and a modern Chevy Colorado is the twin to the Isuzu D-Max, so that should mean the 3 turbo-diesel options available in the Isuzu would fit into the Colorado. Diesel conversions also exist for Toyotas and Jeeps.
none of those are epa certified for us in the US, and obtaining and swapping one reliably into the above vehicles, plus a vehicle in good shape to swap, ends up running the same as a nice fullsize diesel. you end up with the only reason being "just cuz it wuz diffrent."
Vigo wrote:Weird.Hmmmm, I've found the exact opposite. But then again I know many people with that generation Bronco and F series and I've owned a few myself. Maybe we're all just "wierd" although I'm not sure why that's wierd but who knows, maybe I should hang around with people of more discerning taste?
Well im sure people would think im weird. I think the best half-ton truck of the 90s is a 97-up 4.2L ford and it took me a long time of working on trucks and refining my priorities to come to that conclusion.. lol
andrave wrote:SVreX wrote:none of those are epa certified for us in the US, and obtaining and swapping one reliably into the above vehicles, plus a vehicle in good shape to swap, ends up running the same as a nice fullsize diesel. you end up with the only reason being "just cuz it wuz diffrent."CarKid1989 wrote: There are only full size trucks with diesels really so that does not give you much options.That's if you don't include Isuzu and VW. Oh, and a modern Chevy Colorado is the twin to the Isuzu D-Max, so that should mean the 3 turbo-diesel options available in the Isuzu would fit into the Colorado. Diesel conversions also exist for Toyotas and Jeeps.
You are correct about the swaps, but not about the Isuzu and VW caddy. They were both sold from the factory with diesels in the US.
Both get in the 50 mpg range.
Ive had all 3 brands in full size diesel flavor.
The Chevy was the most comfortable interior and best styling and ride. The IFS was not a huge problem, and it allowed for a low step-in height and turned great.
The Dodge had the best driveline. Tons of power for cheap, but its a rough truck to drive. It will beat you up. Huge step in height even before I lifted it, terrible ride, and the body is made from compressed rust. The interior is terribly cheap. The Dodge look is definitely an accustomed taste.
The Ford is the best all-around package. It doesnt have the super nice ride or tight turning the Chevy did, and it doesnt have the sweet diesel power the Cummins produces, but the interior is as good as any 90s luxury car on a Lariat package, the look is OK, and the ride, even with leaf springs on all 4 corners, is good on the highway. My 7.3 is just as reliable as my 12 valve Cummins, they are both fantasic engines. The 7.3 will fail in different ways and most people don't know how to diagnose them and service them economically.
The haters that say that a diesel costs a million dollars to maintain have bought a rig with deferred maintenance. Diesel and 3/4 ton truck maintenance does cost real money, but the parts last forever. I finally swapped balljoints on my F250 this summer. They were original at 250k miles and had just a bit of wear. Brakes will last forever unless you are towing all day, ever day. Sure it takes 4 gallons of oil and a big dollar filter, but you can go 10k plus on an oil change. If you buy a hoopty that needs 200k worth of service when you get into it, be prepared to drop some change. If you get a well maintained truck that the PO kept up on service, it will run forever.
FWIW, my 95 Ram 3500 gets 18mpg with just an exhaust. And it's for sale!
calteg wrote: FWIW, my 95 Ram 3500 gets 18mpg with just an exhaust. And it's for sale!
For the low-low price of?
93gsxturbo wrote: The haters that say that a diesel costs a million dollars to maintain have bought a rig with deferred maintenance. Diesel and 3/4 ton truck maintenance does cost real money, but the parts last forever. I finally swapped balljoints on my F250 this summer. They were original at 250k miles and had just a bit of wear. Brakes will last forever unless you are towing all day, ever day. Sure it takes 4 gallons of oil and a big dollar filter, but you can go 10k plus on an oil change. If you buy a hoopty that needs 200k worth of service when you get into it, be prepared to drop some change. If you get a well maintained truck that the PO kept up on service, it will run forever.
ha, and this is the exact guy that buys a 6.0 powerstroke and doesn't understand why its such a piece of E36 M3. You can't go 10k betwen oil changes on a powerstroke, and if you were paying for oil analysis, you would probably find that you shouldn't have done it on your 7.3, though they are more forgiving. The 6.0 uses a high pressure oil pump that fires the injectors and reaches pressure of 3600 psi. It DESTROYS oil. Thats what I've been trying to say, so thanks for just backing up what I've been saying. The days of 10k oil changes are gone. Modern diesels need maintenance intervals closer to gas engines, only with much more oil and more expensive parts. Brakes don't last forever on 99-04 superduties, they are NOTORIOUS for eating pads and rotors. Most owners change napa premium front rotors every 30-50k along with their pads. Use the cheap rotors and its more like every 10k.
I bought my truck with 50k on the clock. It came with service records and was well maintained. That doesn't change the fact that continuing maintenance is more expensive than a gas truck.
SVreX wrote: You are correct about the swaps, but not about the Isuzu and VW caddy. They were both sold from the factory with diesels in the US. Both get in the 50 mpg range.
I assumed you were talking about something sold in the last few decades that could do any of things the OP talked about like pull a trailer. the vw and isuzu were both old designs that didn't make enough power to do much of anything. The isuzus got mid 30's mpg which was good, but good luck finding one period, and when you do, if its driving, you'll probably pay about what you would for an early cummins, which is a better truck all around. Beyond that, if you need parts for em, youre pretty much sol.
I can't go more than 3000 miles with my Cummins. The oil looks bad about then. And it doesn't go instantly black like the oil in my TDi does (which can easily go 10K miles between changes), so when it is black, I know it's time. Fortunately, 3 gallons of cheap, dino 15w40 costs about the same as 5 qts of the 0w40 synthetic the VW needs. Plus, about 3 changes per year in the VW vs. about 1 every three years in the Cummins.
while the information in the thread has been quite extensive and most helpful i went from being totally sold rock solid on this idea to lukewarm.
Just seems like everything i had seen around me appears to be a bit shall we say extra optimistic haha
CarKid1989 wrote: while the information in the thread has been quite extensive and most helpful i went from being totally sold rock solid on this idea to lukewarm. Just seems like everything i had seen around me appears to be a bit shall we say extra optimistic haha
As the author of the "why do I want a Diesel so badly?" thread, I share your sentiments. Still warm on the Benz Diesel thing though!
It's like any vehicle, you can get good ones and bad ones and not always the right tool for one's needs.
I love my TDi to death and doubt I'll ever sell it until it physically can't go any more. But I rarely recommend one to others. They're simply too needy and don't take appliance treatment well and its very easy to spend a lot of money and still get a bad one, which is why I bought my car new. It was the right car at the right time for me and it still fits my needs better than anything else available, new or used.
My Cummins was simply the wrong truck for my needs then and now. Live and learn. It's only money...
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