Ram 1500 diesel

[Killer223]

I think he was referring to it being a diesel. heck look how a 5.9 ina 3/4 ton works.

 

anyhow, my wife an i are in the market for a new car. the 2012 civic is a GREAT car. it gets about 33 MPG every tank, we change the oil when the computer tells us to. depending on the brand is how long it goes for. usually in the 8-10 K range.

we are looking at the Passat for the diesel option, Mazda has yet to come to market with theirs. the Chevy cruze isn't big enough for what we are after. i've been to the dodge dealership several times and they don't have any of these 1500 diesels on the lot and cant tell me when they can get one. the 4 door options is what i'm after.

 

i would rather keep my money as much as i can in the US. however i know most of the truck is from Mexico Italy and Germany.

we would have a Chevy cruze today if the eco model had rear seat cup holders, having kids this isn't an option. it's a must have.

[LiveOak]

Why can't anyone make a 4 cylinder diesel small truck? Go for exonomy and reasonable power.

 

I agree.  I think the 3.3 liter Cummins 4 cylinder or a lightened version would be a perfect engine for a small pickup. 

[AH64ID]

You mean the millions of GM 5.7 / 6.2 and 6.5 diesels in half tons were too much...............

Yep.. Look at all the damage they did to 1/2 ton running gear, and that was back in the days of low hp.

[diesel4life]

I think he was referring to it being a diesel. heck look how a 5.9 ina 3/4 ton works.

 

anyhow, my wife an i are in the market for a new car. the 2012 civic is a GREAT car. it gets about 33 MPG every tank, we change the oil when the computer tells us to. depending on the brand is how long it goes for. usually in the 8-10 K range.

we are looking at the Passat for the diesel option, Mazda has yet to come to market with theirs. the Chevy cruze isn't big enough for what we are after. i've been to the dodge dealership several times and they don't have any of these 1500 diesels on the lot and cant tell me when they can get one. the 4 door options is what i'm after.

 

i would rather keep my money as much as i can in the US. however i know most of the truck is from Mexico Italy and Germany.

we would have a Chevy cruze today if the eco model had rear seat cup holders, having kids this isn't an option. it's a must have.

The half ton Ram is assembled in Warren Michigan. The Cruz is assembled in Lordstown Ohio, but being it is a global platform parts are shipped in from all over the world. In the world of global manufacturing, there are very few parts actually made in the US anymore.

[Wild and Free]

Yep.. Look at all the damage they did to 1/2 ton running gear, and that was back in the days of low hp.

I need clarification on this one having been an owner of many of them and no issues.  

I am confused because I owned two half tons 82 GMC Jimmy 85 GMC 1500 both 4X4 autos and both swapped to th400 trannies with lockup converters and an 83 2500 GMC 4x4 4spd all with 6.2 diesels and my parents owned 3 others with 6.2 diesels my dad actually put 600K on an 85 GMC suburban all on the same engine just pump work a couple times and several trannies and t-cases is all, also several friends and relatives had 6.5s in half tons and they did absolutely nothing to the chassis or drivetrains and we used them hard on the farm and ranch. They did great fuel mileage compared to the gassers of that generation, I always saw 18-20 consistently with all of them.

We added one helper leaf to the front leaf spring packs on all of the half tons and that was the only chassis issue we dealt with was sagging front leafs after about 80-100K miles nothing that any other manufacturer had to deal with even in 2500 and 3500 chassis, Ford was horrible for sagging fronts when they had the IFS axle. My dads 89 3500 cummins had to be worked over with heavier front springs as well.

[MnTom]

I don't know if you guys realize it, but the 1/2 ton with the VM engine is putting out just about the same HP and TQ that my 1996 Cummins did when it was brand new? Mine was 180HP and 420 LBFT torque. It should pull and get decent fuel mileage.

[rancherman]

Why can't anyone make a 4 cylinder diesel small truck? Go for exonomy and reasonable power.

 

666

I agree too.    Cummins already has  a   great platform  with their  4 cylinder,   which I think has  been  punched out to  4.5  liters? Same  upgrade as the  5.9 did  going to the 6.7    Just  2 holes  shorter.     The  bugs  have been long gone  worked out of that design...  I believe they also  have  a smaller platform too..  Low  3 liters?   It's  more of an European thing..  but it's 'out there'.   Probably not intended for  road use,  more  stationary power.. generators, pumps, etc.

 

But,    OFFER  if to the public,  and    you know  what would happen???     Noses  point to the  sky.    4 cylinder  is  a  TOY  in  most circles,  a  joke.    The  4 cylinders  would be in competition with the  small 6's  right off the bat!  

    We  KNOW better... But,  too many  would  shun them.

 

Toyota  sold  millions  (ok,  a lot of em)      of  their  4 cylinder diesels  in Europe and  Australia.    I'd  guess it  was  the  epa  that  halted  their   advance here in the States.  (light duty  emissions) 

 

I'm tickled to death  with my  VM 2.8  diesel in the Jeep.     It's  a  4500 lb  suv,  that  actually  can pass  with ease...  and  knock out    a consistent    28-30  mpg.       I've  done the  ecm reflash,  deleted the egr,  If  I can  knock out  another 100-150k  miles...   I be  really happy.

Edited November 29, 2014 by rancherman

[rancherman]

I need clarification on this one having been an owner of many of them and no issues.  

I am confused because I owned two half tons 82 GMC Jimmy 85 GMC 1500 both 4X4 autos and both swapped to th400 trannies with lockup converters and an 83 2500 GMC 4x4 4spd all with 6.2 diesels and my parents owned 3 others with 6.2 diesels my dad actually put 600K on an 85 GMC suburban all on the same engine just pump work a couple times and several trannies and t-cases is all, also several friends and relatives had 6.5s in half tons and they did absolutely nothing to the chassis or drivetrains and we used them hard on the farm and ranch. They did great fuel mileage compared to the gassers of that generation, I always saw 18-20 consistently with all of them.

We added one helper leaf to the front leaf spring packs on all of the half tons and that was the only chassis issue we dealt with was sagging front leafs after about 80-100K miles nothing that any other manufacturer had to deal with even in 2500 and 3500 chassis, Ford was horrible for sagging fronts when they had the IFS axle. My dads 89 3500 cummins had to be worked over with heavier front springs as well.

You were/are  weaned on diesel engines.   Being a farm kid,  you KNEW  what can and  can't be done with them.  Make that   'how to  drive them'.

Look at the multitudes  that   bought these  as their first  dip  into the world of  oil burners....    and  the mayhem  that  followed.

[War Eagle]

One of my flying buddies ordered a new 2015 1/2 ton Dodge diesel.  He got it for his daily driver to replace a GMC Denali with the big engine.  He's hoping to go from about 14-16mpgs on the road to 28+.

 

He ordered it the first of November and just got notified that he can pick it up at the local dealer this Friday.

 

He ordered it with every interior option he had available (wanted to deck it out like the Denali and make it plush).

 

I am pretty sure it will look nice but I am more interested to see how it performs: ride softness, steering control, passing power, mpg performance, road noise etc. 

[diesel4life]

In case you haven't seen it yet, a fairly unbiased opinion of the new Ram EcoDiesel

http://m.motortrend.com/roadtests/trucks/1501_comparison_2015_ford_f_150_vs_ram_1500_chevrolet_silverado/

[LiveOak]

There is a BIG poison pill in all of this.  Did anyone notice in the comparison that the price as tested for all 3 trucks was OVER $46,000!!!!!     If I were Warren Buffet, I would NEVER pay that much for a truck.  This is one reason I am still driving my 2002 2500 Ram.  I will have to say that Dodge has done a LOT to improve and refine the latest Ram 1500 but is it REALLY worth $53,690???   It seems like a real nice truck.  I paid about $28,000 for my truck back in 2002.  I understand how inflation and the rise in the cost of living works but over 100% price inflation in 12 years.  Even if you could get a "dream price" of say......$40,000 for this truck as equipped in the test.......NO WAY I would pay that much for it.  It is a super nice truck........just NOT worth that price.   Guess I'll have to be the tight wade/stick in the mud. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Good reason why I'm still hanging on to both of my truck now because the new trucks are like a house payment now.

[Wild and Free]

Our dollar isn't worth the paper its printed on which leads to the high prices of everything.  I talked with 2 people who have bought new ram ecodiesels fairly loaded earlier this year for under 40K.

 

On a side note do these rigs require DEF or not?

 

I am looking to invest in some realestate in the future and if Mike can set me up with real estate I can buy for the price of a pickup I am game....................................Here in ND 50-60K gets you a 25 year old run down double wide trailer house then double that price for a small lot to park it on.

[ISX]

It uses DEF.  Theres a lot of articles on one guys progress here http://www.edmunds.com/ram/1500/2014/long-term-road-test/

 

That guy records some pretty amazing MPGs.  I mean 20mpg pulling a damn car through the mountains...  And a high of 27.9mpg unloaded.  If it really does get that kind of mileage then it would be a worthy purchase.  MPG Costs are exponential.  Meaning as you get up in the MPGs, they start to not matter as much.  As you see below, once you are in the 2X mpg range, you are doing pretty good.  Below that and things start to really go through the roof.  I'm sure everyone knows of some guy with an old 454 gasser getting 8mpg pulling his 40ft TT...now you see how it exponentially costs him a fortune.  So if this dodge diesel gets that kind mileage, then I'd say its worth the money.  

 

30mpg---1000mi = 33.3gallons = $100 ($3/Gal)

 

25mpg---1000mi = 40gallons = $120 ($3/Gal)

 

20mpg---1000mi = 50gallons = $150 ($3/Gal)

 

15mpg---1000mi = 66.6gallons = $200 ($3/Gal)

 

10mpg---1000mi = 100gallons = $300 ($3/Gal)

 

5mpg---1000mi = 200 gallons = $600 ($3/Gal)

[FlatTwin]

Have been looking at the 1500 with this engine and my heartburn is as noted above the cost. Am limping along trying to keep my 3rd frigging VP44 alive and simply tired of replacing injection pumps, so trading it in might be my best option... 

Edited December 9, 2014 by FlatTwin

[Wild and Free]

If my math is correct, as of todays prices for what I saw at the pump to replace my 1500 Hemi which pretty much averages 15+- mpg overall with a Ram eco diesel it would actually pay off especially since I am figuring diesel mileage on the low side at 20 mpg as a DDer in my conditions at current winter fuel prices of 4.29 / gal and 3.29 / gal for 91 octane ethanol free premium which is all I run in all my gas powered stuff period.

 

Comes out to about a wash within a few cents using your mileage and formula but if one figures 40 cents cheaper for straight #2 then it pays off quick with the diesel and especially if it runs well over 20 mpg then it pays off even faster.

Figure 15 bucks for a 2.5 gallon container of DEF and I have no idea how much they use of it either but I think it would be a minor cost in comparison so the RAM eco diesel would still be a winner by far overall.

 

I would definitely miss the get up and go of the Hemi as the eco is right at 1/2 the hp but about equal tq as my hemi so towing would be a bit slower getting up to pace but hold maybe a bit better once there.

[rancherman]

I wondered right after I bought  my jeep,  if  it  was really worth it.   Then the spread got even  wider on the  fuel prices!

The other engine the Liberty came with  is  the 3.7,  or  the   very rare  4 cylinder gas.

 

3.7  gas powered  Liberty   typically runs  18mpg,  and   with  2.75 dollar gas  (today)   that is    15.27.  cents  per mile.

last 2 tanks  of  blended  diesel  been  26  and  27  mpg.     That fuel   was/is  $ 3.85  gallon    or   14.52 cents per mile.    Makes it  pretty hard to justify the  $ 4500  premium  for  the  diesel  over the  gas  counterpart.. (when new)  but  as  a  used   jeep,   it works. 

[Wild and Free]

I wondered right after I bought  my jeep,  if  it  was really worth it.   Then the spread got even  wider on the  fuel prices!

The other engine the Liberty came with  is  the 3.7,  or  the   very rare  4 cylinder gas.

 

3.7  gas powered  Liberty   typically runs  18mpg,  and   with  2.75 dollar gas  (today)   that is    15.27.  cents  per mile.

last 2 tanks  of  blended  diesel  been  26  and  27  mpg.     That fuel   was/is  $ 3.85  gallon    or   14.52 cents per mile.    Makes it  pretty hard to justify the  $ 4500  premium  for  the  diesel  over the  gas  counterpart.. (when new)  but  as  a  used   jeep,   it works. 

 I never buy new anyhow, I try to only buy used rigs with at least a years worth of factory B2B warranty left and usually try to find them with under 25K miles, it would be another year or two before trading in the hemi and by that time there should be a better selection of used ones out there to choose from.

 

I had a 2003 Liberty Renegade edition with the 3.7 V6 and 16 was about the overall average with it, 17.5 was best I ever saw, usually hung in the 14-15 range which is why I only owned it for about 6 months "Shortest I have ever owned a vehicle next to the 99 2500 V10 Dodge only owned that for abut a year and ditched it for my 02 cummins, just couldn't justify a small rig getting equal or worse mpg than my full sized pickup" before trading it on my wifes 03 VW jetta TDI.

[rancherman]

good to hear  the lousy  economy on the  3.7!   I may have actually did something right

 

I too am  the same on the  new/used scenario..      I  really  think if  someone can afford  a  50-60k  vehicle,   chances are,  they don't really care  what it gets for  economy,  or the price of fuel!

 

Dads  first  NEW pickup....  1973  GMC   1500.    Cost,   $2850.00...   price of fuel then?    (pre  gas shortage;  50  cents)  it got  11 mpg.. no matter what you did.  4.5 cents per mile.

Today...     new half ton,        eco diesel is  going to push  50k??   fuel is   3.85.        and  lets  give it  27 mpg.    14.25 cents per mile.. (not figuring  def either)

 

price of the investment has  almost gone up  18x,  but fuel  costs per mile   'only'      3x higher..    LOL... 

How's THAT for polishing a turd?      

[ISX]

My 4.0 jeep gets about 19 most times I fill up.  I think the 3000lb weight is what does it, everything new is so much heavier.  

 

I almost have doubts with that 1500 diesel having MPG that high, I mean its possible but its a little questionable.  Being some article, they coulda been using the overhead.  Whether or not that mileage is legit really does make or break the entire validity of owning it.  Pulling a car around at 20mpg is just hard to believe.  Was it downhill at 40mph?  They didn't disclose any of this crap.  Hard to take a 40k gamble.