Heavy Duty Truck Purchase

1400 watt block heater!!?? You sure? I remember when we had the old 6.2 diesels for some reason our pickup didn't need to be plugged in as much as the dump truck did. The Dmax rarely gets plugged in and when my dad does plug it in it's mainly just to take some stress off the cold engine.

Just looked its 1000w on the 7.3, maybe I'm getting confused between that and the Dodge.

Wanna Bee wrote:Just looked its 1000w on the 7.3, maybe I'm getting confused between that and the Dodge.

Plugged mine in the last 3 nights..... That bitch will moan for 10 minutes before it starts if I don't. And no my glow plugs are not perfect I'm sure.

Wanna Bee wrote: 7.3 is a HUEI engine. They don't play nice with low viscosity oils. Not recommended to tow with anything other than 15-40 in the crank case. Truck only ever see's big boy towing jobs. 8,000lbs plus when its running its towing.
5-40 isn't in the cards for my truck.

7.3 plays better with 5w40, esp. in cold weather, better fuel economy and better starts. Yes, you can tow w/ 5w40, many long-haul and medium duty trucks running it now. I have one truck w/ over 300,000 and another w/ 500,000 miles both running 5w40 and they're over 22,000lbs somewhat regularly, 10,000 mile changes and oil analysis show they're running great.

Nothing wrong w/ 15w40, but there's nothing inferior in any way about a 5w40 HDEO.

Wow that's a beefy block heater. I put one in the Blazer 4.3 when I was doing the swap from the '00 Jimmy to the '89 - it's 600w .. and my electric bill was through the ROOF last month - $150!! Highest ever ...

Anyway, I run the block heater because I'm running Amsoil Z-Rod10w-30 in there - a little too thick for winter use, and I'm running a carb with manual choke - old school and RELIABLE. Still get 17 mpg too. Warms up real fast for the wife in the morning - heats that little 6 up to about 130° .

WOW never realized all the body work issues with aluminum. This has got bad news written all over it. Seems like yet another change to make it impossible for DIY'ers to do any work at all to their vehicles .... and drive up the costs to boot. Bad enough it cost $700 in materials just to paint a stupid fender these days ...

Rob R. wrote:

Hambden Bob wrote:The EPA has the pathetic habit of creating a Black Market every time they destroy something.

They have sure made glider kits popular. The milk and grain hauling companies near me order gliders (brand new truck minus engine and transmission) and install pre-2007 diesels in them. They get a new truck with a rebuild/used engine that gets better mileage, is more reliable, and can handle longer oil changes than the current models.

Hell yeah! I'd order one up and stuff in a nice 8V71T Detroit and a 13 spd. Road Ranger. Funny thing is a properly tuned "old school" Detroit is actually a rather clean running engine. Since they don't scavenge 100% of the exhaust, they have automatic "EGR" built in! I wonder if you could take a Detroit to current "state of the art" manufacturing levels (materials, tolerances and combustion chamber design....oh yeah, and gaskets! ) and add common-rail injection to get emissions levels down to where you wouldn't need all the DPF and urea after-treatment that 4 stroke engines need today?

Regardless, there has never been a better engine for turning diesel fuel into noise!

SMITTY wrote:Wow that's a beefy block heater. I put one in the Blazer 4.3 when I was doing the swap from the '00 Jimmy to the '89 - it's 600w .. and my electric bill was through the ROOF last month - $150!! Highest ever ...

Anyway, I run the block heater because I'm running Amsoil Z-Rod10w-30 in there - a little too thick for winter use, and I'm running a carb with manual choke - old school and RELIABLE. Still get 17 mpg too. Warms up real fast for the wife in the morning - heats that little 6 up to about 130° .

If you think 10w-30 is too thick why not use an oil pan heater? that AMSOIL product shouldn't need any help until it gets well below zero.

By the way, us crazy guys in the North put our block heaters on time clocks so they turn on at 4 am, or whatever you need. Some of the big diesels have 1500watt or even 2500watt tank heaters...you don't run them 24/7 if you can help it.

Rob R. wrote:
By the way, us crazy guys in the North put our block heaters on time clocks so they turn on at 4 am, or whatever you need. Some of the big diesels have 1500watt or even 2500watt tank heaters...you don't run them 24/7 if you can help it.

Old thread I know, But I just put a street light up at the end of my driveway. I put in an outlet just for my timer!

Back in 04 I decided to get a 3/4 ton truck . I had had Ford F150's forever before that but the last one had the v6 and that cured me.
I drove everything available at the time. I ended up trying all the diesels. Word was out that Pollution controls were coming soon so I bought the truck I had always wanted. It is a crew cab Ram 2500 with 6 speed manual, 4 wheel drive, 8 foot bed, and a lift gate. I still drive it and have had next to no trouble. It gets in the low twenties and considering my usual cruise is 75 I can't complain. I have had up to 11 antique stoves in it on a trip. I can't find any reason to replace it for anything newer. Besides the dog owns the back seat and would not be happy.
I don't know about the new diesels but everyone says the mileage has been trashed.

I finally found one. Got it in Atlanta. Its in great shape for a 8 year old truck. No Rust
It does have the 6.0 but I saved enough to fix it if I need to. Only has 80K on it and I put about 10K a year on my cars. So hopefully it last about 10 more years....

Spray the underside with Fluid Film annually and that beast might last as you have planned.

europachris wrote:
Hell yeah! I'd order one up and stuff in a nice 8V71T Detroit and a 13 spd. Road Ranger. Funny thing is a properly tuned "old school" Detroit is actually a rather clean running engine.

Regardless, there has never been a better engine for turning diesel fuel into noise!

I also have a few hundred thousand miles with the double breasted Yamaha's. Some with 4x4 Spicer, some with 13 sp RR. Totally agree on the very effective noise maker.

I had a friend that took delivery of a brand new needle nosed Pete with a turbocharged 12v71 under the hood. He hired a professional photographer to make a beautiful pic for the wall behind his desk. It was hung on the wall, along with a little celebration and champagne. The next morning he had to buy all new carpeting because of the oil leaks.

For those not familiar with the old two stroke DD, they were notorious for oil leaks. It was so bad, even the photograph leaked oil. When you were looking to buy a truck with a Detroit engine you just walked the dealer lot looking for the ones with biggest puddle of oil underneath. Fill 'er up with oil and check the fuel.