Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
 

After doing a lot of reading, this is the best combination out there it seems. It is not going to be fast at all, but this thing will tow better than almost all gasser engines and will return better mileage.

I love my Tundra, but 15 MPG daily driving it and 8-9 towing with it are killer. Many people are getting 23-25 daily driving the Ram with a crew cab model, with many getting over 27 on the highway and around the 15 mark towing. It's a new engine choice, but paired with that ZF 8 speed seem to be a great pair.

Thinking about trading in my truck now. Anyone here have any experience or know anybody with this option?

The new Eco will be out soon. Also the option for that motor is just insane price wise. You will never recoup the cost.

Tune that sucker and you'd be really well off. I'm pretty sure its the same diesel they put in a couple jeeps like 3 years ago.

What is the price difference for the Dodge Ram 1500 Diesel?
Stating you cannot recoup the cost and not sharing any data is inconclusive?

The option is around 3 grand. The diesal is where you never make up the cost. Diesal is considerably more then gasoline.

Diesal?

Buy an older cummins 6bt and just do a few of the standard mods to it. Will get you a little less mileage, but will tow much easier and probably better. Dodge's setup with the rear coil springs just doesn't seem tow happy to me.

Personally I wouldn't dump a Toyota, Ford or Chevy for a Mopar. I would wait and see what Ford brings to the table as far as gas mileage when they switch to the all aluminum body.

I'm really holding out for Ford to offer a small displacement diesel motor in the next generation superduty. It's known they have already dropped the 6.2, so I can easily see an adapted smaller diesel from their cab-over trucks probably make their way into the truck as an entry level motor under the 6.7

After towing a 5500 pound load 2500 miles last week, and getting a high of 16 MPG and a low of 13.6, I'm seriously liking the 4.6 in the '09 F-150. Fuel is cheaper, and none of the associated maintenance of having a diesel powered truck.

lol you got me:mf_pcwhack:
this.
NOt happening. There was a interview they did in motortrend not long back with Ford and they blatantly said they had no reason to offer a small diesel.

Market trend will change their mind. They already have a handful of small diesels to adapt for trucks, so only time will tell when they cave.

With the ecoboost truck outdoing all the competitors and ford v8 motors, and the price of gas vs diesel there would be know reason to consider a small diesel. They don't need to waste the money on R&D with the ecoboost hit on there hands.

3k is easily recouped when the truck is a DD. The difference between 15 mpg on DD duty and 25 MPG is fairly significant. Plus, diesel is the price of premium fuel down here so I don't see the big difference in price. A 3/4 ton is too large for my applications and finding a 5.9 that hasn't been chopped up by a redneck is impossible/expensive.

The next gen diesels in 1/2 tons are going to be the 5.0L Cummins. 300 HP and 500 TQ is not going to get above 25 MPG on the highway either. Too big of an engine to be a fuel efficient & if it isn't FE you wine as well get a 3/4 ton. The only thing that will force Chevy or Ford to get in the diesel game is if Dodge makes a killing on this EcoDiesel, which in the first month 8,000 orders flooded the market and they can't keep up with the demand (they being VM who builds the engine).

Plus, real world application of the 3.5L ecoboost hasn't proved IMO that it saves gas at all during towing (http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/f-150/gas%20v6/truck). I think Ram hit the balance well and is the reason why I'm considering. Plus the interiors on the trucks (all top line models in every brand except Nissan) are pretty top notch.

I bet people will see 30+MPG with the Ecodiesel Rams on the highway after there tuned. Ripout all the emissions crap and viola with the 8 speed auto that thing is going to turn like 1200 or less rpms at 65mph it will be like 400hp 850tq! With the diesels the higher you turn them up the better mpg you get.

To me, it really comes down to the following:

If you will never tow nor haul a heavy load. (i.e. typical truck use), then the nod goes to the Ecoboost F150.

But...

If you do tow or haul heavy loads (i.e. travel trailer, car hauler, etc..) the Ram Diesel should be strongly considered.

Considerably more?!?! Diesel cost 10% more than regular fuel in the current market.

And for that 10% fuel surcharge, the owner gets 30-50% better fuel economy.

Oil changes are more expensive but longevity is also generally better.

Bingo!

My 7000lb 3/4 ton gets 22 MPH on the highway. Thus 30 MPG from a 1/2 ton is not at all preposterous.

The EB has been amazing, but it still doesn't stand up to a diesel IMO. And the EB hasn't really been out doing a lot of the gas V8 competition. If we lived in a higher elevation and not so close to see level, it would be the EB over any V8 hands down. But here there isn't much of a gap. I still stand behind the thought that Ford could succeed quite well with a small diesel in a light duty or 3/4 ton truck.

However, it appears the 4.5L V6 Powerstroke they were using in the LCF trucks, which is the ones I was referring to, was discontinued in 2010. Oh well.

I think every automaker could benefit from a small diesel in a light duty truck. I think Ram got the size and power output right, vs. what Cummins is going to shove in the the Nissan/Toyota. Virtually, don't improve the towing capabilities or power of the current 1/2 tons, just make them more fuel efficient while keeping costs relatively down.

Inserting a 300HP+ diesel into a light duty truck is going to flirt real close to the prices of a similar trim leveled 3/4 ton which isn't the answer. At that point, just pony the extra couple grand and get the big boy truck. As far as the EB engines, I believe they are great performers, but being fuel efficient...no. Proof is in the numbers and most people are averaging 15-17 which is what V8's get.

The main reason I see someone buying a EB over a normal V8 is for towing because the TQ curve on those motors is insane, and comes in so low in the RPM. Plus if you lived at higher elevation, where the turbos make up for the air density loss.

Well I dont see Ford being to worried about it. Dodge never gets within sniffing distance of their sales anyway. You guys are talking Diesal prices now not in the future. The past has shown us that they do go up considerably. The Eb is an easier alternative to diesal and makes alot of Tq down low as well. Most people dont pull enough with a 1/2 ton to warrant a diesal. Most will upgrade to a 3/4 ton and call it a day. ITs a marketing gimmick.

It may be getting close to that MPG but the real adavantage is the Tq delivery when a load is being pulled. Look at the TQ peak of the EB vs the V8 comp. Hell look at where most of it is avail.

Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
 

I'm sorry but this is dead wrong. My dad's fx2 gets ~19 plus or minus .5 mpg avg with heavy city driving and 22 or more on the hwy. The all aluminum f150 should yield higher with the 3.5 and even higher with the 2.7. Plus the damn thing tows an almost 22 foot bass boat with a helmet head 225 evinrude like there's nothing there. Even then it's yielding 16-17 mpg when my 2008 5.3/4l60e ecsb silverado was yielding between high single digits and 11 mpg.

Not all EBs are getting those results though. That is why people are still hardpressed to believe the hype. Some are having amazing luck, others aren't.

I understand a couple people are getting decent mileage with their EB. But being a statistics guy, I look at averages with a decent pool to pull data from. Based on the information at fuelly (which everyday people update their fuel consumption via text), the EB trucks average in the 15's.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/f-150/gas%20v6/truck

That is proof, no heresay or "that one time I got XX MPG and that is what I will tell everyone because I don't want to be wrong about the vehicle I bought."

Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
 

There are so many hidden variables with fuelly from what I can see. For starters, there is no distinguishment between the EB and the 3.7L N/A v6 on the filters. Next, there is no distinguishment between 4wd, 2wd, what kind of work the truck is being used for, driving style, or if the truck is lifted on 37's. Unless the user happens to have a crappy pic of their truck. All I can tell you is that I can hop in my dad's truck, get on the interstate and have absolutely no problem getting 20+ mpg all day long.

The F150 boards are a good source for what real EB owners are seeing. I know awhile back there was a big stink rising about people not getting the mileage Ford was claiming.

It's not just F150s though, because there have been a number of people with EB explorers and escapes that have the same complaint.

Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
 

My dad is a REAL EB owner. We've been pleased with what kind of mpg it yields coming from four different 5.3/4l60e GM vehicles.

No other truck can match that truck lb for lb. All that tq down low. LS motor forgetta bout it. This new truck from Ford is a game changer. Why do you think Chevy is doin the samething in 2018? I see the edit police are out.

Have no idea who edited it. I noticed my response is gone too. lol

Somebody called the troll patrol.

Yep. I dont do anything about it unless someone complains. Rx7 has been on a tear again the last couple of days. Needs to chill or its break time again. Haha.

I just told him to go troll Steve. Lol

Big fucking babies. I swear you would think everyone on here is a badass but they get butthurt by any little thing. I also dont see how anything I typed was trollish in nature.

I didn't do anything about it. I was just going to say you spelled "you" wrong. Ha

He has this fettish with me or sumthin. :party36:

The pool of data doesn't distinguish all that true. But it is safe to say that ford didn't sell too many 3.7l v6 F150s in 2013, an overwhelming majority will be the EB judging on the profile photos. To have a loaded test where only 2wd or 4wd is what I don't want. I want to see the average from all over America because that is how getting averages work. Don't want data from trucks in a vacuum.

I think forums are the worst place to get the truth, particularly with domestic brand forums. Most people are brand loyal (which I am not) & won't admit when they have a vehicle that gets beat by someone else. All I know is I won't buy an EB based on what I believe are poor results in terms of fuel economy. Towing performance, yes I think it produces the best numbers. However, I still have my doubts on longevity of those engines vs a tradition NA V8.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/dodge/ram%...14/diesel%20v6

This truck has only been out since February. But it has some fuel logs in fuelly. Across the board, numbers are in the 20s. Just an unbiased reporting website.

Why do you question longevity?

Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
 

I am not brand loyal as I have owned several GM trucks. If the truck got horrible mileage I would be the first one to tell you it wasn't worth it. I understand the data analysis part. However, I think fuelly hides some variables worth knowing. I do agree on longevity. My dad has a friend with an 11' EB with ~50k on the clock and it idles like shit and occasionally loses power. I witnessed the rough idle on a cold start and once it was warm, it continued. He's taken it in to the dealer and to no surprise they didn't find anything wrong. What's funny is the problem worsened when he had a ranch hand so he took it off. Almost makes me think the problem is with the intercooler. So there are some bugs that still need to be worked out for sure. Then again, I would question the longevity on anything Dodge. My dad's EB runs great though.

Consumers just haven't had the trucks long enough to say they are reliable in higher mileage applications. Same with the 6.7 PSD, 5.0, etc. All of these motors are still new by todays standards, so only time will tell how they live up to high mileage.

Yeah, Ford did a torture test themselves, but nobody else has done so, so 1 data point can't be taken as the truth.