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Diesel gas prices? *EDIT* help me decide what to do!

muddybuddy

muddybuddy

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hey guys, i noticed yesterday while fillin up that diesel around me has hit $3! gas is currently $2.70 as well.

i want to eventually do the diesel swap, but those numbers for diesel kinda scare me, but i guess gas will be there soon too.

i know there are a trillion posts bout diesel swaps, am i lookin through them right this minute. haha

what kind of milage are you diesel guys getting? is it going to be worth the swap or should i sell my k5 and buy a souped up bicycle to avoid the gas prices all together?

im getting about 9-10mpg with 35s and 3.73 in the city. im swappin to 5.13s in about a month or so. i dont really do any highway driving so i dont really care how that is, just want decent city.

thanks
 
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fuel prices suck..

I see diesel fuel is going for close to 3 bucks a gallon here too--gas as of yesterday was 2.55 a gallon at the lowest priced station I saw..

My 82 k20 gets about 15-22 mpg with its 6.2 diesel.(all stock,no lift kit,etc)..its a toss up whether its actually cheaper to drive than my 79 C10 with a 305--it gets about 12-15 mpg,but the gas IS a bit less money!...I wish the C10 had a 6.2,it would probably get 25mpg,because its much lighter being a 2wd 1/2 ton...and has higher gears..

It used to be a no brainer--a diesel ALWAYS gets better fuel mileage than a comparable sized gas engine and was more economical to run--but fuel prices are now so high,its not really much of a gain..only thing going for a diesel now is its lack of stuff like spark plugs,wires,carb,distributor,etc...no "tune ups" needed...unless you run waste fryolator oil,I think a diesel might end up costing MORE to run than a gas engine,unless the price of diesel fuel drops drastically--not likely in my opinion.. :mad: :( :crazy:
 
The biggest benefit would be if you have the space to make home brew biodiesel from WVO. The intial set-up cost for the "still"may be high depending on if you make it yourself or buy a kit as featured on TRUCKS! a while back, but the benefit is fuel for about .75-$1 per gallon plus the ability to sell excess to friends and family. Don't forget to charge for your labor though. Even selling at $2 per gallon you make money and they get cheaper fuel.
 
Gas and diesel fuel were the same this am. $2.39 per gallon. Who know what they'll be this afternoon. The prices did get up to $2.45, but now they're all back to $2.39 :o
 
wow $2.39 sounds like heaven! well i think ive decided i'm going to sell my k5 and look for a diesel k5 or pickup (chevy obviously, i need that sfa). :D and build the diesel up better than this one.

anybody know anyone who is selling one in the mid atlantic region? i know my location isnt that close to anyone else really on this site, but i thought id try. i dont mind driving a lil ways.

i posted a thread in the wanted section, but it hasnt gotten many looks :(

thanks guys
 
I get 15 mpg in town and 16.5 on the freeway. That's on 39.5's and no overdrive.

With an overdrive and some smaller radials 21-23 mpg on the freeway won't be a problem.

Rene
 
muddybuddy said:
hey guys, i noticed yesterday while fillin up that diesel around me has hit $3! gas is currently $2.70 as well.

i want to eventually do the diesel swap, but those numbers for diesel kinda scare me, but i guess gas will be there soon too.

i know there are a trillion posts bout diesel swaps, am i lookin through them right this minute. haha

what kind of milage are you diesel guys getting? is it going to be worth the swap or should i sell my k5 and buy a souped up bicycle to avoid the gas prices all together?
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For some reason the last year diesel has been more expensive than premium gas. It ticks me off because diesel is a by product of gas anyway and isn't as expensive to refine as gas in the first place.

I'm in the trucking industry and it's really got us bothered. These prices have been knocking one trucking company off the road at a time. This is going to have a drastic effect on our economy. It is a chain effect. Trucks move almost everything in this country, we have to add at LEAST %20 of our regular rate of transporting a load from point A to B on top as a fuel sir charge. That is a rippling effect down the line as the manufacturer of said goods has to charge more for his product, etc, etc. When groceries start getting more expensive, plus the added cost of going to get those groceries....it is going to really hit a lot of families hard.

Anyway, I believe at this point and time that it does not pay to drive a diesel powered LD vehicle. I don't know about older 80's 6.2's vs. 350's or what not because I haven't been much interested in older diesels but with the newer trucks the added $4-7K of the cost of the diesel engine regardless if it's new or a few years old being resold, the extra mileage does not outweigh the additional cost of fuel to out "economize" a base model gas small block.

At this point, I don't think turning to diesel is the alternative to saving money.
 
taxes taxes and taxes :mad: lets tax truckers to death so our country shuts down, GREAT IDEA
 
Anyway, I believe at this point and time that it does not pay to drive a diesel powered LD vehicle. I don't know about older 80's 6.2's vs. 350's or what not because I haven't been much interested in older diesels but with the newer trucks the added $4-7K of the cost of the diesel engine regardless if it's new or a few years old being resold, the extra mileage does not outweigh the additional cost of fuel to out "economize" a base model gas small block.
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Even a 6.2 swap means having to wait to see the return on investmant. It took almost two years to pay for itself in fuel savings. It would have done so faster, but I also began driving it less (work closer to home now)

Diesel is still a little cheaper than gas here, although not much. Even so I can run my truck on a little over half the money it used to cost me. It's a difference you notice right away, and one you appreciate more and more as time goes on. If the swap would have been in the $5K-$7K range I don't think i would have done it though...

Rene
 
I havent heard of anyone in the Nation (lower 48) having it worse than where I live.
$2.95 reguler
$3.05 midgrade
$3.15 super
$3.25 diesel

It is just killing us at work with our diesels. Like rjfguitar said it does not pay to get a diesel around here for economy. One of My Buddys has an F-350 6.0 thats only two months old that He parked and now drives His Wifes Honda. Over the hill where He lives diesel is $3.60 a gallon :crazy:
 
tRustyK5 said:
Even a 6.2 swap means having to wait to see the return on investmant. It took almost two years to pay for itself in fuel savings. It would have done so faster, but I also began driving it less (work closer to home now)

Diesel is still a little cheaper than gas here, although not much. Even so I can run my truck on a little over half the money it used to cost me. It's a difference you notice right away, and one you appreciate more and more as time goes on. If the swap would have been in the $5K-$7K range I don't think i would have done it though...

Rene
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You are fortunate with your diesel vs. gas price. Imagine what it would be like if diesel was $.30 more than regular, like it is here. With that in mind...the savings are cut DRASTICALLY beause now the extra cost of the fuel is cutting hard into the extra mileage gained over a gas engine.

IIRC, you have around $1,500 or so in your 6.2 swap.?. Now that isn't bad at all, and is a wise move when diesel and regular are the same price, mileage is improved by 6-8mpg, and it only took $1,500 to do it.

Like I said, I am not real keen on older diesels because I have never been really interested but for newer rigs that have big buck turbo diesels with their competition being much more efficient sequential injected V8's....the gains are not that great anymore.

Like you mentioned, if the swap was $5-7K range you wouldn't do it. Thats about what it costs extra to buy a diesel powered newish rig over a base model small block that no longer gets 7-10mph like an old carbed 454 but 11-14mph with modern tech.

I bet it just doesn't pencil out. I get about 15mpg in town and about 20mpg on the highway with my Cummins, diesel was $2.99 last time I filled up. I could have saved $7K when I bought my 2001 Ram 3/4T 4x4 if I had found the same truck with a 360V8. If that 360 could manage 9/13mpg (Dodge gassers don't seem to get the mileage as the GM vortecs) with gas at $2.65 and I drove both trucks 300 miles with a mix of driving. For simplicity I'll say 17mpg for the Cummins and 11 for the 360.

If I did my long hand correctly..... about $72 for the 360 truck and about $52 for the Cummins ( and thats at max with the numbers, most gas trucks should get 11 average no problem and 17 is good for a diesel, I get about that but my dad only gets 15 average with his Cummins Dodge). Factor in the $7K for the motor and it's pretty hard to justify going to diesel. The only place I can think of that would really make it worth it is obviously towing a lot.
 
Diesels last twice as long as gassers. Don't they?? that would help justify it for me.
 
3 years ago I bought my 82 6.2 with 289,000 miles on it and shes still kickin!! I get like 18 mpg all the time....it rocks. I will not buy another gasser, unless its a motorcycle :D :D :deal: :saweet:
 
You pretty much summed it up, as it becomes a cost/benefit analysis.

However, the more expensive fuel gets the larger my savings are. As an example of 10,000 miles per year would show...

When I first finished the swap diesel was about $1.30/gallon and gas was about $1.45/gallon. Average economy with the 350 was 10 mpg (I'm being generous). Average economy with the 6.2 is about 15.8 mpg.

Initially I was saving about $625 per year and that was helped by the cheaper price of diesel at the time.

Now, even with prices a lot closer (and nearly double what they were) my yearly savings are $1150. Nothing has changed but the price. I spend more, but also save a ton more than if I still had the 350. So really, the diesel made a lot less sense when I did it then it does now.

Rene
 
74757685k5 said:
Diesels last twice as long as gassers. Don't they?? that would help justify it for me.
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Yeah but today's pickips see 200K out of a gas V8 easily. My field man (I'm a farmer) has 210K or something on his 1/2T '99 Chevy with the 5.3 and he says it still says it runs good. Most people don't keep a vehicle long enough to wear out an engine anyway, heck, I bet a decent amount of pickups don't even make it to 200K because of miss use.
 
so what should i do?

my k5 gets about 10mpg with 373s and 35s, and ive got 5.13s coming soon. (no highway driving)

im thinking about selling the gasser and finding a diesel, and then building it up again. OR should i jus keep the gasser?

reguardless, ill put the 5.13s into whatever truck i keep/get. what would u do in my situation.

im attatched to my current k5 as it is my first vehicle, but i want the mpgs.

diesel $3
regular $2.75
prices show no sign of stopping!

thanks guys.
 
In the near term gas and diesel may cost more, but the higher prices have allowed the oil companies to invest in exploration and to set up more rigs. Once the added supply kicks in (who knows how long) prices will stabilize and hopefully come down a little.

Personally, I don't understand why diesel costs more than gas. It must have to do with the greediness of the industry...
 
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