rustyh
Registered User
My 91 Ford 250 4.9L EFI has given years of service but is now dying a fast death. Too many problems to list.
I work nights about 4 blocks distance from the house, 7 nights on 7 nights off, 12 hour shift on our local ferry. I gutted the camper that came with the truck and turned it into an office. The truck starts at 7 pm, runs down to the ferry, sits for 12 hours then starts up and runs me back up the hill. When my shift is done it sits for a week unless I offload the camper and use it for some chore. Occasionally it goes down to Victoria or Vancouver, and then there are the logging road trips to get slabs for wood turning or paragliding off local mountain tops. I'm lucky to put 5,000 miles on it.
It cost me $3,000 12 years ago, other than the obvious exhaust system replacements every 2 years, and new tires last fall 'cause I thought it might snow this winter (good guess, we got about 2' that lasted about a week and the truck and camper soldiered on).
So my question is, would a diesel truck fare any better considering the engine would barely get warm, and then mostly sit for a week? I have 2 trucks I'm looking at, one a 92 Ford 250 diesel Laramie, the other a 96 Dodge 2500 gas, both 4x4's.
I have been researching my eyes off for the last three weeks, so think I'm reasonably informed as to their issues, (both tranny related for the most part), but can't seem to get a grip on whether or not one would be better than the other in this situation. My inclination is towards the gas pot, but no real idea why. Hoping those in the know here can help me out.
I work nights about 4 blocks distance from the house, 7 nights on 7 nights off, 12 hour shift on our local ferry. I gutted the camper that came with the truck and turned it into an office. The truck starts at 7 pm, runs down to the ferry, sits for 12 hours then starts up and runs me back up the hill. When my shift is done it sits for a week unless I offload the camper and use it for some chore. Occasionally it goes down to Victoria or Vancouver, and then there are the logging road trips to get slabs for wood turning or paragliding off local mountain tops. I'm lucky to put 5,000 miles on it.
It cost me $3,000 12 years ago, other than the obvious exhaust system replacements every 2 years, and new tires last fall 'cause I thought it might snow this winter (good guess, we got about 2' that lasted about a week and the truck and camper soldiered on).
So my question is, would a diesel truck fare any better considering the engine would barely get warm, and then mostly sit for a week? I have 2 trucks I'm looking at, one a 92 Ford 250 diesel Laramie, the other a 96 Dodge 2500 gas, both 4x4's.
I have been researching my eyes off for the last three weeks, so think I'm reasonably informed as to their issues, (both tranny related for the most part), but can't seem to get a grip on whether or not one would be better than the other in this situation. My inclination is towards the gas pot, but no real idea why. Hoping those in the know here can help me out.
