ExidorGangleri

I've always had a Dodge for my truck. We use it for pulling a horse trailer to shows about sixteen times a year from anywhere to one to six hours away. It is also our secondary vehicle that I drive to work, and my wife drives to the horse barn. Right now we have a two horse bumper pull trailer with a max weight being towed of about 8000 lbs.

My current 1500 with the 5.9L engine pulls it just fine, but it has 99k miles on it now and probably should be replaced. Obviously, a 1500 with the Hemi is sufficient to pull still, but I'm considering moving to a 2500 to plan for the future of a larger gooseneck trailer, and going with a diesel for the longevity.

I'm completely new to diesels and wonder if there are any issues with short commutes and effects on the engine. My commute to my office is four miles one way, so it would get used in that way a lot more than for pulling a trailer. I live in Dallas, Texas area, so cold weather is rarely an issue, though I've pulled to shows on below freezing days, and we still get snow and ice storms occasionally.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

majora

Don't think that you should have any problems with the diesel even with the short hauls to work. As long as the temperature gets up to normal each time it should be OK. The best part is the times that you use it to tow. It will put the 1500 in the shade.

Good luck with your decision what ever it may be.

MikeyB

I also have a 4 mile commute to work. Just plan to change the oil more often.

MikeyB

doug

oh, definately get the diesel and just take care to treat it well.

you know, the enemy of the 24v cummins diesels is that the valve train runs so cool that varnish builds up. So thats what you need to correct. Continued and regular short commutes will result in varnish build up, if the coolant temp does not go above 140 (doubt this would happen in Dallas...) . more frequent oil changes are necessary to be sure, but the real enemy you want to shoot at is the amount of time your truck spends at below 140 degrees coolant temp, versus the the time it spends above that.

but not to worry. 30 minutes at over 140 degrees engine coolant will burn off the varnish. So take 'er out once in a while and you're good. In general , you should plan not to put the diesel into a 4 mile easy commute without giving it some real work to do once in a while.

clearly, the best solution and best of all worlds is to decrease your warmup time with an engine heater and an exhaust brake. then you have zero risk for varnish build up. the pac brake, for example, closes the exhaust pipe automatically during warmup idle and dramatically shortens the warm up time (I've heard numbers like 1-2 minutes at idle instead of 5-10 driving). In addition, if you pre-heat your engine with an external heater you will be warm before you can start whistling dixie.

mymaur

Opinions on this entire subject are like noses, everyone has one. So here is mine, minus all the cosmic dust that seems to travel with the diesel. Some people will tell you to let them warm up before driving, or let the turbo cool after pulling or let the temperature get to normal before shutting down. There are raging debates on types of oil to use, how often to change it, having the oil tested etc. Very few people drive a vehicle more than 100,00 miles. And even though the cummins motor can easily go 500,000 miles before an overhaul, the rest of the truck is just a pickup.

I have been driving diesel rams for around ten years and probably have put close to a million miles on them. Short trips, long trips and everything in between. I just drive them like any other truck or car. The only difference is keeping a good clean fuel filter in it. I change the oil when the book says to and just drive it. No fancy oil, just Rotella, no gee whiz air filter, no super tuning, no changes to the exhaust. Nothing, just drive it. If you couldn't drive it like a gasser dodge wouldn't be able to sell em. They get great mileage and provide superior towing ability.

I'd suggest you get the 3.73 rear gear, the 4.10 really can bring your mileage down.

2 cents

SuperGewl

My .01 worth.
Get the BIG D. You will love it and won't go back to gasser. Just as everyone has said, just perform the maintenance as prescibed in the manual but make sure you run the son of a %$tch hard when you can because the CTD just loves it, actually it's kind of hard to put a hurting on it. The more you load her down the more she likes it, so go ahead and pull that extra big horse trailer, she won't mind a bit. The CTD will actually thank you later by improving in mpg. ;D ;D SWEET.
Just my .01 worth :P

Hoss

[quote author=ExidorGangleri link=board=20;threadid=18268;start=0#msg171160 date=1060626108]
I've always had a Dodge for my truck. We use it for pulling a horse trailer to shows about sixteen times a year from anywhere to one to six hours away. It is also our secondary vehicle that I drive to work, and my wife drives to the horse barn. Right now we have a two horse bumper pull trailer with a max weight being towed of about 8000 lbs.

My current 1500 with the 5.9L engine pulls it just fine, but it has 99k miles on it now and probably should be replaced. Obviously, a 1500 with the Hemi is sufficient to pull still, but I'm considering moving to a 2500 to plan for the future of a larger gooseneck trailer, and going with a diesel for the longevity.

I'm completely new to diesels and wonder if there are any issues with short commutes and effects on the engine. My commute to my office is four miles one way, so it would get used in that way a lot more than for pulling a trailer. I live in Dallas, Texas area, so cold weather is rarely an issue, though I've pulled to shows on below freezing days, and we still get snow and ice storms occasionally.

Thank you in advance for any advice.
[/quote]

First of all....welcome aboard neighbor!!! Where do you live?? I'm to your north in Lewisville.

Short trips aren't the best thing around for diesels, but if you've got time to get it up to normal operating temps before shutting down then it shouldn't hurt it any. For pulling that trailer though....you'll be wishing you'd have bought one a LONG time ago. ;D

cp

Four miles one way to work as a primary use is really not the way diesels are intended to be used. I love diesels, but I think you'd probably be happier with a Hemi in the long run, especially since you'd be new to diesels and putting one into use for which it really isn't intended. Nothing is cheap on these things, from purchase cost to oil changes and repairs. It would end up costing you a lot more per mile than a Hemi.