'13 Hemi to a '17 Eco thoughts?

[Podcast]

I recently, like two weeks ago, traded in an absolutely fantastic 2014 4 WD, hemi powered, Longhorn Ram, on a 2017 4 WD Ecodiesel Laramie. I loved my garage kept Longhorn and it only had 29 K miles. I have two friends who own similar Ecodiesel trucks and both pull enclosed car trailers around the country. I don't have an enclosed trailer, but do have an open 18 foot aluminum trailer I haul a Focus ST to SCCA autocross events with. The deals were so good during the end of year sales I was able to trade out for well under 10 K, but did not realize the difference in convience and features between the Laramie and the Longhorn in terms of useful items to me.

I could manage 17 mpg local driving, and as much as 22 highway on my Longhorn hemi, but I no longer see how quickly I can get from one point to another, rather how much fuel mileage can I glean by soft pedaling with my right foot, but still drive 5 mph over the limit on open highways, not towing. I left DFW a week ago, not towing, with 500 miles on the odo, and headed to Hopkinsville, KY, about 800 miles, to instruct a corporate driving school. My first tank of diesel netted just under 24 mpg, and for the entire leg of the trip, I averaged just over 24 at 24.2. This included local driving in KY. I headed back to Dallas area following the one day instruction and averaged 26.8 on the first tank. By the time I got home, I had averaged 27.1... I think as the engine broke it, the mileage got better, but some of it was wind and terrain related as well. I not have 2300 miles on the truck, and while I like it, I miss the overall power and sound of the Longhorn hemi vs the Laramie Echodiesel. I will be towing my car for the first time in a couple of weekends and see how much difference there is in towing power and fuel mileage. Still missing the features my Longhorn had...Edit...this is my second diesel. I purchased a Chevy with Duramax back in 2004. Good truck, but pretty rough around the edges compared to this one...BTW, I don't get a heavy diesel odor when starting or stopping this truck...not much difference than gas model to me...

I do not have any diesel smell at all either and the exhaust isn't black but normal "smoke" color. I start my truck up every morning in the garage and my wife would be the first one to tell me that my new truck stinks, she hasn't mentioned a thing.

I do miss my Hemi for the raw power and sports car like take offs but it is a truck to me after all so I really don't care about that. I likely put my Hemi to the boards less than 10 times in the 4 years I've owned it. I tend to be like you and drive normal or baby it for the mileage.

I would guess that the MPG's will increase over time. I pulled 3,000 lbs of wood on Sunday and it averaged 19.8mpg for a 60 mile trip. I'm good with that for sure since the ole Hemi wouldn't get that by itself. As for options, my new RAM has much more than the one I traded so I can't complain at all.

 

[Jimworld]

DEF is cheap. I mentioned previously that my oil changes are free for life. Not worried about that at all!

I also had an 06. Terrible mileage. 16 on the highway at best. Nice truck though and I miss how big the front seat and general area was.

Glad you are getting free oil changes for life. None of the Dodge dealerships around So Cal are giving away 10 qt. of synthetic oil and a $35.00 oil filter. Yeah, DEF is cheap, but it is another expense you don't have with a gas vehicle.

 

[Podcast]

Glad you are getting free oil changes for life. None of the Dodge dealerships around So Cal are giving away 10 qt. of synthetic oil and a $35.00 oil filter. Yeah, DEF is cheap, but it is another expense you don't have with a gas vehicle.

The increased fuel economy pays for DEF 20 times over. Not worried. Plus with a nice tune the DEF is not even utilized and another 2+ mpg's will be added.

 

[kukufixer]

Usually it is the stealership that does the stealing, but Podcast got a Steal of a Deal for that price plus freebie lifetime oil changes!
The GDE tune is great as it turns off the EGR thus eliminates the big ED issue of soot in the intake. Podcast is correct that in the 2017+, the GDE turns off the DEF, too. On the 2014-2016, you can use distilled water rather than DEF fluid. The dealer never knows the GDE tune is there so the warranty remains if needed.
I had a 2004 Ram and could never quite get over watching the gas gauge visibly drop while towing. And the V8s have maintenance costs too, such as changing plugs which the stealership doesn't give out for free. That said, the Hemi is darn near bulletproof.
There are some drawbacks that others have noted. For some reason, the diesel hose/handle is always dirtier than the gas one. There are fewer stations with diesel and if you break down on the road, there are fewer independent shops able to work on a diesel.
I've never noticed any diesel smell to the exhaust. Actually, my wife's Maxima smells worse than my ED. It heats up a bit slower from a cold start but puts out good heat...I have to turn it down some. With the GDE high idle option and remote start, it is usually warm when I get in.
I liked my 2004 Ram and no regrets owning it, but I'm happier with my 2016 ED. I get 25mpg to/from work which is 10 mile country, 10 mile interstate, and 6 mile city.
The ED doesn't sound grumpy like a big ole Cummins. The ED sounds more irritated. But I'm happy with that. I just wish it was abbreviated something different than ED. Went for my annual check-up and when doc asked if anything new, told him I got an ED. He wrote me out a ****** prescription.

 

[TruckNut]

Congrats......sounds like a perfect fit for you. Nice color too!

 

[slorammy]

.

 

[Typetwelve]

The missing variable is the difference in cost between gas and diesel. In the Midwest where I live it is running about .40-.50 cents higher for diesel. At 15k per year that adds up to a savings of about $300 per year for the eco. The upgrade cost to get the Eco is between 3-4K depending on the deal you get. That looks like a 10 year break even without any additional maintenance factored in. I also think diesel fuel cost has potential to get even higher where I am at- which made me choose the Hemi. I love the diesel and would have chosen it if there wasn’t that difference at the pump around here.

There's a counter to that though...

I ran mid grade in my '14 5.7L...I went back and forth between the two (std grade, mid grade) and my truck ran better on the mid...so mid it was. Typically, if Diesel is sitting at $2.75 (like it is today), mid is at $2.59 (like it is today). That's not even +$.20/gal.

Something else I noted...I was getting the advertised mpg out of my '14 (again, 2014 5.7L 3.55 rear, 6spd trans) right up until I popped on my Toyo Open Country ATII's in LT275/65/R20 back in Sept of 2014. After that, I immediately lost 2-3mpg and consistently saw that for nearly 3 years. I will say that I could hit 20mpg highway...but as well all know there's plenty of factors that can change that.

Typically, I was getting 12mpg winter, 15mpg summer. I do not have a led foot, I consider myself to be an everyman driver. Again, I got this for nearly 3 years...so I'll say my numbers are pretty solid.

Save the cold weather BS, my '17 ED is getting a rather steady 19mpg on my daily drive. We just took it to Kentucky on the Bourbon Trail and in 1300 miles of riving (highway, back roads with plenty of hills, etc), I got 21.8mpg average. That's a considerable difference in fuel consumption. Doing that final math for the entire trip, compared to trips I took in my '14, I saved just over $100 on fuel with what my 5.7L would have done.


But this is all trivial given the price of the ED package...unless of course you're like me and got a MASSIVE miscount on the truck. I got my new '17 ED Big Horn for nearly $1000 less than they had marked down the '18 5.7 Big Horn trucks with the exact same features.

 

[Podcast]

This is all relevant in my experience. I'm getting 22mpg daily and 27-28 mpg on winter fuel with winter weather in Wisconsin on the highway. Can't wait til summer.

Also with my truck being cheaper than the same year Hemi offerings plus getting free lifetime LOFs how could I go wrong?

 

[zogg]

I had only one diesel in my life (2500 cummins) and would never have another. I know folks love them, but my experience was awful for me. Never got warm in the winter...had to plug it in. The extension cord went behind my tool box and I forgot to unplug it twice. Both times my tool box fell forward and self-destructed. My fault?? Sure, but the diesel was the cause.

I changed the oil with a 10 quart pan and the dam thing held 12 quarts....big mess. Changing the fuel filter often was a PITA. My wife complained all the time about diesel fumes in the house from the garage. Almost ran out of fuel twice in the country where no gas stations had diesel!! In addition, diesel is $.20 to $.40 cents a gallon higher than gasoline around here...so there goes the fuel savings.

I kept it a 14 months and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Bought a 2500 hemi and all was good...finally!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Podcast]

I had only one diesel in my life (2500 cummins) and would never have another. I know folks love them, but my experience was awful for me. Never got warm in the winter...had to plug it in. The extension cord went behind my tool box and I forgot to unplug it twice. Both times my tool box fell forward and self-destructed. My fault?? Sure, but the diesel was the cause.

I changed the oil with a 10 quart pan and the dam thing held 12 quarts....big mess. Changing the fuel filter often was a PITA. My wife complained all the time about diesel fumes in the house from the garage. Almost ran out of fuel twice in the country where no gas stations had diesel!! In addition, diesel is $.20 to $.40 cents a gallon higher than gasoline around here...so there goes the fuel savings.

I kept it a 14 months and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Bought a 2500 hemi and all was good...finally!!!!!!!!!!

To each their own. So far I'm lovin mine. Absolutely no diesel smell even if you stick your nose in the tail pipe. My wife is like yours and smells/complains about any little thing.

I do plug mine in but haven't had an issue with pulling anything out the door with me. I have the grill cover and it certainly helps. I'm at full heating capacity within 10 minutes of operation and I have a half hour drive one way to/from work so it's more than enough.

I had a Hemi loaner for a door/weather stripping issue the dealership just fixed and it cost me $10 for one day of fuel operation since I had to fill up the loaner before I returned it. That's a ridiculous amount of money on gas. My diesel is 35% less fuel consumption so diesel could be $1.20 more and only then would it break even. Here in WI it's $.50 more and that's the 87 crap fuel. I was putting 89 or 91 ethanol free into my previous Hemi just to get decent mileage out of it so the cost difference nothing or $.10 at the worst.

Fuel filters are easy to change and doing it once a year isn't an issue. Did it to my gassers that way too, bad fuel can ruin them just as quickly. Not a station around my area that doesn't well diesel. I suppose if you're not on any main stream highways that could be a problem Although on the highway I can go nearly twice as far without a stop as a Hemi so I'm bound to easily find a filling station within 700 miles.

 

[Urkoski20]

Good choice!

 

[FXCLM5]

i traded my 14 qc bh 4x4 for a 17 cc ed 4x4 sunday

i put 300 miles on the truck so far climbing some steep hills where the hemi woulda got me 12-15 if i was lucky

damn ed gave me a heartattack 23 lololol