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RE: Dodge Ram 2500
The Cummins is the only one of the three that is a true medium-duty truck engine. The same engine that's in the Dodge 2500/3500 is found in much larger commercial trucks such as Ford's own 650/750 series! Also found in motor homes, school buses, delivery trucks, etc.
This is true, the B series Cummins is used in medium duty applications. It's also true that this engine is an "entry-level" medium duty engine. The little B series works pretty hard under the hood of a real truck or bus. I used to drive B series powered school buses and while performance was decent, your foot was always to the floor and the motors were getting smoky and hard to start cold by the time they had around 100K on them.
It is also true that International's version of the Powerstroke, the older T444E and the newer VT365, are used in similar applications to the Cummins B-series. I have no experience with these engines in these applications, so I can't comment on their performance or durability.
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rjstractor
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10/11/08 10:58pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: What portal are you using?
I used rv.net for a long time, and then got frustrated with the problems and have switched to Motorhome Magazine. Recently I've had problems with that too. I really don't understand the problems with this site. I'm not much of a computer geek and really don't care about the technical aspects. I also belong to a couple of other forums for different topics that have close to the traffic that the Open Roads Forum has, and they almost never have problems.
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rjstractor
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10/11/08 10:39pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: "Pool Boys" , gentleman farmers and Gardeners rejoyce!
Neat looking toy, but I'm ever the practical person when it comes to trucks. I always thought the El Caminos and Rancheros were worthless vehicles. Back in the 70s and 80s they had less bed space and payload capacity than the compact imports, and used almost as much gas as the full size "real" pickups.
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rjstractor
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09/30/08 08:07pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500, Rear Axle Ratio and Mileage?
4000 miles a year? Pretty unbelievable. Does he have maintenance invoices showing mileage? You Sure it's not 124,000 miles?
My 2005 has only 17,000 miles, and my 1998 motorhome only 27,000 miles. Newer trucks have six-place digital odometers that are virtually impossible to tamper with.
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rjstractor
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09/30/08 08:00pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: G Load Rating tires for Silverado 2500HD?
Planning on swapping in a Dana 80 with disc brakes from a Dodge dually and a Hydroboost and master cyl from an F450. Then the weak link in the chain will be the truck frame...
I don't know if this info is helpful (you probably already know this), but the '98-up Ford E450 also uses a Dana 80 rated at 9450 lbs. with disc brakes, and a 4.56 or 4.63 ratio (gas models), depending on year.
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rjstractor
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09/30/08 07:56pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Largest Chevy Dealership Fails-Repair Vehicles Locked Inside
You stay in it, in the shop or in their yard. I've had Dobermans running around it at night when it was in the yard, and been in bays that had work going on right next door all night.
I've heard of people doing weirder things than this, but not much weirder. You actually SLEEP in the car???
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rjstractor
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09/30/08 09:45am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Adding performance to the VT365 or Supernova
There is a reason you will find the same 6-liter turbodiesel rated at more than 300 HP for a 8000 pound pickup, 270 HP in a class 4, 250 HP in a class 5, and 150-180 HP for a gas compressor that runs at full rated power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 300+ days a year. It is the relationship of durability, and customer expectations of reliability, to duty cycle.
This is one of the better explanations I've seen for why the larger trucks have their engines rated for less power than lighter ones.
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rjstractor
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09/29/08 10:34pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Which Chevy chassis do I have?
You are the first I've seen to complain about the Chevy chassis handling. How does it compare to other motorhomes or high profile vehicles you have driven? My motorhome is affected by passing semis as well, but I've never been blown into the other lane. To a certain degree, any high-profile but relatively light vehicle like a motorhome will be affected by crosswinds.
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rjstractor
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09/28/08 09:36am |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Tight Bridge
I think Roadblock is on to something there. Maybe the bridge could be modified with timbers. You would probably have to regrade the approach and departure to make up for the extra height. Having an engineer look at the bridge to make sure it can handle the extra static load wouldn't be a bad idea. Interesting topic, please keep us posted.
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rjstractor
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09/27/08 08:49am |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Acronyms
GMC= Garage Mechanic's Companion
KME (fire apparatus manufacturer)= Keeping Mechanics Employed
BMW= Break My Wallet
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rjstractor
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09/26/08 10:39pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: When will small diesel pickups show up?
This is actually a topic worth discussing. It would be nice for someone to offer a small pickup with true utility and good fuel economy, something that virtually no small truck has today. In fact, there really are no small trucks anymore. All the midsize trucks have much bigger, more powerful engines and larger, more comfortable cabs than compact trucks of yesterday, but as far as utility goes, they are not any more useful than the 100 hp four cylinder trucks of 20 years ago, and they don't get as good of gas mileage.
I keep hearing that Mahindra is going to import a compact diesel pickup. If they can meet the US emission standards and keep the price reasonable, I'd strongly consider one for a daily driver.
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rjstractor
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09/26/08 10:06pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Drilling the frame... and a new TV
Jeeze, did Murphy show up to bother me while I was installing my hitch today.
Glad you got it done. Your story reminds me of why the last time I had a used hitch to install I brought it to Tork-Lift (Northwest RVers know who this is) and they installed it for $50, including fabbing up two new brackets and using new bolts. They had it done in the time it took me to eat breakfast across the street. I don't touch hitch work anymore.
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rjstractor
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09/26/08 09:54pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Big pickups with smaller diesel engines
Just had a fridge service guy out this afternoon driving a new Chev 1500 long bed extended cab with the 5.3 and a service style bed that is eating him up on fuel costs at 9-11 mpg.
Wow, that's really poor mileage. Maybe he just has a heavy foot. My 2500HD with a 1,000 lb. dump insert towing a 6x12' enclosed trailer gets that mileage or better in city traffic. The only time I get under 10 mpg is when my GCW is over 14,000 lbs.
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rjstractor
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09/22/08 08:38pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Big pickups with smaller diesel engines
I agree with what others have said, I think it's a great idea to have an "entry-level" diesel in the 225 hp/500 torque range for every day driving, fleet use, and occasional towing up to 10K. Those who either regularly tow over 10K, are in the throes of a midlife crisis, or are just trying to compensate for perceived "shortcomings" (you know who you are) then they can order the diesel guzzling 350 hp/700 torque beasts. The ongoing horsepower race is just plain stupid for most truck users.
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rjstractor
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09/22/08 08:34pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Custom conversion-Really cool ex-Ambulance adventure rig
the firemen are constantly driving off with the power cord still connected!
Not all firemen, just the new and/or dumb ones... :)
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rjstractor
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09/22/08 08:26pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Dodge 4500
Another reason I've read for the "derating" of the engines hp/tq is because they are in a commercial application where they are expectedx to run at a higher duty cycle (loaded heavier more of their life) than a standard pickup. It makes them use less fuel and last longer while working hard.
Bingo! Pickups almost never use their full engine power. Since most pickup owners rarely tow or haul anything (RVers excluded), using full engine power results in tire smoke and 80+ mph in no time at all. Commercial truck users are loaded much heavier, of course, so they use full engine power routinely just to keep up with traffic. This seems like an odd paradox, but the engineers feel that the little diesels used in pickups and medium duty trucks last longer when derated in a medium duty usage.
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rjstractor
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09/21/08 09:43am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tow dolly/PT Cruiser
I have never seen any newer vehicle that does not lock the steering wheel when you remove the ignition key.
Many new vehicles do not lock the steering with the key removed. My 2005 Silverado is like this.
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rjstractor
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09/18/08 08:47pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Long Term Gas Engine Idle
I'm willing to bet a car idling and being dragged at 65mph will not have a cherry red cat converter.
I'm with Pirate. It is not idling that heats up a car's catalytic converter, it's sitting still. The converter does a lot more "converting" with the engine under load than idling, and if the car is moving the air flow will keep the converter from overheating.
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rjstractor
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09/18/08 08:43pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Buy a NEWER RV with MORE miles vs OLDER RV with FEWER miles?
And 2000 got the E-450 with disc brakes on all 4 corners, more money.
Actually all E450s have them. Mine's an 1998 E-Superduty and it has 4 wheel discs.
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rjstractor
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09/18/08 08:26pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Determining grade
I know the sensation you are talking about. Sometimes your eyes (and possibly your inner ear) play tricks on you. I have a GPS, and when I set it in the mode that shows elevation, there are times when it seems like I'm level or going downhill, when the GPS shows that I am climbing slightly.
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rjstractor
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09/15/08 08:28pm |
Towing
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