Should I get a diesel if I don't drive it much?

[dpinvidic]

I have a 2014 RAM 1500 with the active air suspension. 42K miles on it. Getting concerned with its age and don't want to spend $$ on the new shocks when needed.
Thinking about trading up to a 2500 for more towing capacity.
I only drive it a couple of times a month for short trips.
My question: Does sitting in the garage (Arizona) for 3-4 weeks at a time create any problems with a diesel? Any DEF problems with low use like this?
Would the folks on this forum recommend staying with gas or going to diesel.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Dennis Shellito]

IMO, the only reason to own a diesel pickup these days is for towing heavier. If I didn't need mine to tow my camper I would have a gasser. Don't get me wrong, I like diesels very much but the upkeep is more expensive. In the dry climate of Arizona you shouldn't have algae contamination in the diesel fuel, but I am not that knowledgeable about the DEF as my truck doesn't use it. My son, who is a tech at a CDJR dealer in Washington state pulls his travel trailer with a 2016 SRW3500 4x4 Ram with the 6.4L hemi with 4.10 axles. He gets by with it. Does it pull as well as my Cummins, no, but like I said it gets by.

 

[Rlaf75]

My opinion on diesels are if you aren't towing or hauling heavy payloads all the time then they aren't needed. You need to take into consideration the cost of maintenance along with fuel costs for a diesel engine compared to a gas engine. Most of the heavy duty trucks with gas engines are still very capable trucks. You also need to take into account the initial cost of the diesel option if purchasing new. Everytime I looked at them they are close to and extra $10k option. If you're comfortable with the extra costs than go for it but I think you'll be fine with a gas engine

 

[Docwagon1776]

I have a 2014 RAM 1500 with the active air suspension. 42K miles on it. Getting concerned with its age and don't want to spend $$ on the new shocks when needed.
Thinking about trading up to a 2500 for more towing capacity.
I only drive it a couple of times a month for short trips.
My question: Does sitting in the garage (Arizona) for 3-4 weeks at a time create any problems with a diesel? Any DEF problems with low use like this?
Would the folks on this forum recommend staying with gas or going to diesel.

Thanks,

Dan

If you don't want to spend money on shocks, you probably won't like what a diesel will want you to spend. Unless you're just looking for justification for something new, in which case knock yourself out. How short are short trips? Given the number of miles on your current truck I'd figure really short, and that's not really diesel's niche.

 

[dpinvidic]

Thanks guys...that certainly makes sense. I did not realize the cost difference. Another 5.7 will do the job...I am sure

 

[Doug Ram]

I don't think that sitting for a couple of weeks will be a problem if you are only using it to tow and driving longer distances. Diesels do best when they are driven hard. Long trips and towing is what a diesel is for. While they can sit in the driveway for week or two at a time, they don't really like lots of short trips where they don't get a chance to fully warm up.

I bought mine with that in mind... and I've put 17,500 miles on it since February. Much of this mileage was a trip south and west between February 1 and May 10. From NY south and west thru PA, MD, WV, VA, TN, KY, AR, TX, NM, AZ, Colorado and back thru Kansas, Illinois, Indiana... etc.. And since then its been back and forth between NY, CT, PA, Virginia... mostly towing a travel or cargo trailer. In a couple of weeks I'm towing our travel trailer to Cape Cod to go sit on the beach.

As for every day use... I live 15 miles from the nearest town...going grocery shopping means a 30 mile round trip but burning only a bit more than a gallon of #2. Once winter comes I will be driving 30 miles each way to the ski resort where I teach.... and the miles will continue to rack up.

That's why I got an Ram Eco-Diesel... its comfy, it hauls, it likes lots of miles, and added bonus gets decent fuel economy.

 

[dhay13]

My son bought his 2021 Cummins about 2 months ago. He had a 2018 2500 6.4 but put 90,000 miles on it in 2 years due to his job and 8500 of it was towing his 8000lb TT. Now he is working near home so only drives about 30 miles a day but he is still in the same line of work so may have to go back to driving all over. I think he has about 1000 miles on it now and said he has only went through about 1/2 tank of DEF but he loves it. He hasn't towed his TT or anything else with it and actually put the TT up for sale now. But his reasoning for buying it was the depreciation on the gasser with 95,000 miles on a 2 year old truck was killing him. He was about $3000 underwater when he traded it in. Shouldn't have that issue with the Cummins but he still put $10,000 down and traded his struck

 

[Moose2]

Buy whatever tickles you, it’s your money. That said, my daily is a puddle jumper Ford ranger but sometimes I just want to drive the dually. Makes me happy, even more so when I need to tug the trailers around. I have owned many diesels dating back to the 6.9 fords, a vw rabbit, 2- 2nd gen Cummins, 1 4th gen Cummins, and now the 4.5 gen Cummins 3500.

 

[Dean2]

I like diesels, have owned a few, but I no longer tow much of anything. I went gas even in the 2500 longbox. For your use scenario I would pony up for new Bilstein shocks on such a low mileage truck. $600 bucks seems like a whole bunch better idea than $60,000 unless you have money to burn.