duellys and diesels
I'd stay away from a duely for plowing snow or for off road traction. Great for hauling heavy loads like stock trailers and travel trailers, but your down force gets cut in half, so the tires have a lot harder time biting in.
For a plow truck, I would look at something older and cheaper. You're going to be out in the nastiest, most dangerous road conditions. It's your money though.
If you're going to get a diesel, the only one that I'd trust after 94 is Cummins. They build a great diesel. Prior to that, the Ford IDI engines were just plain hard to kill so long as you put the correct coolant additives in. Maintenace on a diesel isn't too bad, but you do use a lot more oil when it's time to change it. A diesel truck always come standard with ALL of the heavy duty componets (water pumps, starters, suspension, transmissions, axles, and two very heavy duty batteries). That's why they get a bad wrap for the repair costs. The componets are top end, so when they do finally wear out, they are more expensive to replace. The only other maintenace issue on a diesel is the fuel injection system. They are good for 100K to 150K, and then they need rebuilt or replaced. The older mechanical systems like the IDI and the pre 98 Cummins, the parts cost about $500 ish. Anything new than that is computer controlled and one individual injector can cost over $500. Thankfully those injectors can be rebuilt if they are not too far gone, but it still does get expensive.
Folks give diesels a bad wrap for starting in the winter, but that's hog wash. With fully functioning glow plugs, and good fuel, my truck can sit all night in the cold and start just fine when it's in the single digets even when I don't plug it in. I wired up a $20 industrial timer in my garage and control power to an outside outlet that I plug my block heater (standard on a diesel) in during the winter. When it's that cold, it's a good idea to plug in a gas engine too. The timer turns the outlet on about 3 hours before I leave in the morning, and it's always fine. They get a bad wrap for smell and smoke too, but that is heavily influenced by the engine timing and how heavy your foot is. The black smoke is unburnt fuel exhaust which is a complete waste, but some guys think it looks cool.
Truely, I can only think of two downsides to having a diesel engine in a truck. First is that it needs to be driven for some distance regularly. If you only drive 5 or 10 miles to work every day, then this probably won't make a good daily driver for you. If you drive 20 miles or more, then it will do fine. Some people think that you have to drive for a living in order to go with a diesel, but that's not the case. The engine just needs to run for a while on a regular basis. Just like any engine, a diesel will run better and last longer if it warms all the way up before you shut it down. The block is big and heavy and takes a while to get warmed up and dried out, so short trips are ligitimately harder on a diesel than on a gasser. It's also not good for a diesel engine to sit and not run for extended periods of time. The fuel is suseptable to various forms of bacteria growth, and if you get too much it will clog your fuel filter. Just like gas engines, if a diesel sits for extended periods various seals will start to dry out and leak. It has nothing to do with it being a diesel though.
The second draw back is a mixed blessing. The great thing about a diesel is it's torque curve. They peak out early and at a high value, and flatten out for a long time. My IDI peaks out at 1700rpm, and stays flat for a long, long time (don't remember the point where it starts to drop, but I think it's up around 2500 rpm). Diesels have such a long life span because over a given amount of time, they turn a lot fewer revolutions than a comperable gas engine. When I hit 3 grand on my IDI in 4th gear, I'm running close to 70, the engine is screaming (redline is 3800rpm), and I still have another gear to go. I generally shift between 2200 and 2500 depending on driving conditions. On a gas V8, 3 grand is about middle of the road, and 2000 rpm you're starting to lug a little bit. I don't start to lug until about 1200 rpm, but I'll idle through a small town in 5th gear at 1000 rpm and not down shift until I go to excel on my way out of town. Now the draw back to all of this is that when you're plowing, you really want to get your engine up over 1500 rpm to really get into the torque curve. Depending on your trany, your gear ratios, and your ground speed when you plow, you may have a hard time keeping well into the torque curve at low speeds. Most 6 speed tranys have a granny gear which would be helpfull. If not, you can find an old gear vendors under drive that can be added for about $1000 and that will give you all the flexability you need. Just sucks haveing to find, pay for, and install the darn thing to get the truck to do what you want. Another option there is to drop into 4 low wich will eliminate this issue completely.
The only other issue I can think of with a diesel is the initial investment in a new truck. THEY ARE EXPENSIVE!!! But, they already have all the HD upgrades, and they will litterally work hard day in and day out for hundreds of thousands of miles. It will do anything a 460 or 464 will do for twice as long on about 2/3 the fuel. So if you're going to make a living with a vehicle, whether its hauling, or just traveling a lot on service/sales calls, whether it's a car or a truck, a diesel engine is always worth the investment. For a home owner or farmer, you just have to evaluate your situation to determine if a used diesel will work well for your circumstances.
With the exeptions that I've mentioned, all trucks should be required to have a diesel engine. Gas engines are for pretty boy sissies
Sorry, couldn't help myself.....
After moving to where I now drive 25 miles to work (instead of 4 at my last job - complete relocation), when my old truck was dieing I started doing a lot of research to decide what would replace it. I needed to drive it to work every day, take it hunting, and haul firewood with it, and have it last me another 10 years minimum. I would have like too have been able to afford a 97 or 98 Dodge ext cab with a 5spd and a cummins, but I didn't have $10K~$12K. So, my second choise was a 93 or 94 F250. I found a 93 F250 4x4 ext cab w/ 5spd in Florida with clean sheet metal and 160k miles for $4K. Only problems have been A) Bench seat makes it hard for my 2 1/2 yo daugher to fit into her child seat in the rear, and B) The PO lived at the end of a dirt road (sand) which flooded a lot, and they used the truck to get in and out whenever there was standing water. This ate out about everything in the front end (wheel bearings, ball joints, D50 front differential seals and then bearings, all the front U-Joints). Had I known this up front, I would have found a D60 front axle to put in it for $1K, but since I didn't I replaced a few things at a time as they failed, and I've got a little more than $1K into the repairs (they are complete now and that includes changing the rear ring and pinion out from a 4.10 to a 3.55). The truck also had 16.5 rims on it and those wide tires SUCK for traction (aka my displeasure for duel rear tires). Now that I'm back to stock size tires and rims, I'm very happy with it.
Well, that's my 2 bits and then some.
Mark
