What's the life expectancy of a big-block gas engine? What's the life expectancy of the Cummins diesel engine? If you kept both trucks going down the road for the same long-term mileage you would be replacing that gas engine right at 2.5-3 times as compared to the distance the diesel engine goes - pretty much a wash when comparing the more costly initial investment in the diesel and the lesser lifespan of the gas engine over a given time period and long term use/mileage. I know this because I have tried it both ways and the bottom line is that over time they equalize.

I have an old 1989 Ford F-350 dually, it is still on the road, working daily around my place. It is on it' 2nd engine, original tranny, original xfer case, 2nd rear end. Everything else has had normal replacement times, brakes, bearings, you name it. Buying parts for it are equally as expensive as buying parts for my 2006 Dodge, really NOT a whole lot of difference. It gets 2 oil changes to the Dodges 1, in actuality they also are a wash in costs, 12 quarts oil/2 filters for the Ford in 6K miles, 12 quarts of oil and 1 filter in the Dodge in 6K miles. Both see fuel filter changes, air filters, tires - the general wear stuff and maintenance stuff at about the same intervals, again a $$ wash. The Ford gets about 12mpg empty and 8-9 mpg towing, the Dodge gets 19-20 mpg empty and 13-14mpg towing the same loads as the Ford. So the fuel economy of the Dodge is TWICE that over the big-block Ford when running empty and still much better when towing. That's actually better mpg's in the overall that DO count to savings, and savings that still cover the current higher cost of diesel AND can buy a cup of coffee or two when all is said and done.

It won't be long before gas is the same price as diesel. Buying a small block truck to get better economy or economy comperable to the Dodge running empty is one thing, but the small block would not tow what the Dodge tows, not even close AND it's lifespan would be less than a big block.

Now for those who have the 2008's and are getting less fuel economy, I'd bet they are at the same numbers as the gas big block, so it would be a break even bottom line. I know that every time you rop a $100 bill into your fuel tank it seems to bite the posterior and gets everyone into this thinking stuff, but just today I dropped close to twice that into a pair of 20+ gal Ford fuel tanks that will not cover the same ground as my Dodge will on it's 32 gal tank. Repairs and maintenance are larger things that bite us every so often, but the pumps bite us a lot more frequently.

CD

 

I wonder if the resale value on the new 08 emissions trucks will suffer. The new trucks seem to get worse milage on average. The guy I talked to who has an LMM said he only averages about 14. This is consistent with the diesel power test of the a new 6.0 gasser vs. the LMM d-max. The trucks got about the same mpg. If this poorer mileage and complicated emissions becomes public knowledge, why would anyone want to spend extra money on buying one over it's gas counterpart? The price difference of gas vs. diesel only stands to compound this problem. I'm not expecting strong resale for the new gen trucks. Once urea injection comes in forget it.

 

I bought my truck to haul 15k. What gaser can do that? I get 11-12 hauling a big 5er. An 8L, if it could, would get 6-8 mpg?
If you just drive it for transportation, it is different than if you buy it to work/haul. In some cases there is really no option.
I paid 30k for my truck with extended warranty. You can pay that for a 1/3 ton Ford, decked out gaser that might pull 8 or 9k.
Even with rising costs, there is still a good case for torque and abilility to go 300-500k, easily.