Why Buy a Diesel Truck?

Pickup trucks come in all different sizes, with different cab styles and payload beds. Some of the top automakers even offer different engine choices on their trucks, giving drivers the option to choose a powertrain that will best serve their purposes. One engine type that you tend to see are diesels, although these are usually costlier than trucks with conventional engines. You will find many of the top models for sale at Orange Coast Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, your Southern California diesel truck dealer. We carry the full lineup of these four great automakers, including diesel trucks made by Ram and Jeep.

Despite having to pay a premium when you buy a diesel truck, you will find many advantages that you don’t find in a conventional gas engine. For one thing, diesel trucks tend to provide better fuel economy. Also, diesels tend to generate greater amounts of torque. This can come in handy when you are looking to tow large trailers full of cargo. Torque can also help you when you go off-roading, helping you get out of whatever jam you find yourself in out on the trail. Finally, diesel engines tend to be more durable than conventional gas ones. Regardless of which of these reasons compels you, the fact is that there is nothing quite like driving a diesel truck.

A Man Named Diesel

Back in 1885, a man named Rudolf Diesel invented a type of engine that worked off of compressed ignition of fuel oil. Deciding to be created, Rudolf named the engine after himself. Fortunately for all of us, he chose his last name and not his first, or you might be buying an engine that gets confused with a sled-pulling reindeer. There are two major differences between diesel engines and conventional gas engines. First a diesel engine runs on oil instead of gasoline or, as some folks call it, petrol. Gasoline represents a further refining of crude oil than diesel oil. It is lighter and more combustible than diesel oil. This is why there is a chance of flammability or explosion with gasoline that you don’t find with diesel.

The second difference involves the process of how it operates an engine. In both types of engines, a mixture of fuel and air is injected into a chamber where it is compressed by the motion of a piston. While this is happening, the fuel and air mixture is ignited, giving off a small, controlled explosion that moves the piston back up, releasing the exhaust and moving the truck forward. This cycle constantly repeats, which propels your truck, with your foot on the accelerator controlling the rate of fuel injection into the engine. The only difference here is that conventional gas engines have a spark plug to ignite the fuel and air mixture, while the diesel engine does not. Instead, the piston compresses the diesel mixture further than in the gas engine, generating heat to cause the reaction. This lack of spark plugs and internal combustion allows diesel engines to last longer than gasoline engines, making them ideal for people who want to get a longer life out of their truck’s engine.

Pay Now and Save Later!

Trucks with diesel engines tend to get better fuel economy than ones with conventional gas engines. This is because diesel engines can give you top performance at lower RPMs, thus using less fuel in the long run than conventional gas engines.

The 2022 Ram 1500 is offered with a number of different engine options, including a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6. This engine can produce up to 260 horsepower at 3600 rpm and 480 lb-ft of torque at 1600 rpm. This is more torque than the 271 lb-ft of torque on the standard 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 gas engine and the 410 lb-ft of torque on the available 5.7-liter Hemi V8 offered on this truck. As a result, if you choose the 2022 Ram 1500 with the available EcoDiesel, you will get better fuel economy with a combined (both city and highway driving) average of 26 miles per gallon with rear-wheel drive. The Pentastar V6 will give you a combined average of 23 miles per gallon, while the Hemi V8 delivers 17 miles per gallon of a combined average unless you opt for the available eTorque system, which boosts combined fuel economy to 20 miles per gallon. With fuel prices spiking all over the Golden State, every mile you save on fuel is money in your pocket.

The Really Big Tow

One of the biggest reasons to buy a pickup truck is the ability to tow trailers. The trailer hook at the back of your truck’s tailgate may look nice, but the engineers at Ram put it there for a reason. If you look at the lineup of heavy-duty trucks, you can see the difference choosing a diesel engine on your pickup can make for your capability. The 2022 Ram 2500 comes with two different engines. The standard powertrain is a 6.4-liter HEMI V8 paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission capable of providing 410 horsepower at 5600 rpm and 429 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm.

The optional engine is a 6.7-liter Cummins Turbo Diesel I-6, which comes equipped with a 6-speed automatic transmission. Despite having two fewer cylinders, the Cummins Turbo Diesel can produce up to 370 horsepower at 2800 rpm and 850 lb-ft of torque at 1700 rpm. As you can see, you are getting maximum performance on the Cummins Turbo Diesel at a lower RPM than the HEMI V8.

The 2022 Ram 3500 also comes with these two engines but also adds a third option: a 6.7-liter High Output Cummins Turbo Diesel I-6 paired with an Aisin 6-speed automatic transmission. This engine can deliver 420 horsepower at 2800 rpm and a class-leading 1,075 lb-ft of torque at 1800 rpm.

When you look at trailering, the two diesels easily outperform the gas engine option. The Ram 2500 with the Cummins Turbo Diesel can tow 20,000 pounds, more than the 17,540 maximum trailering capacity on the same truck with the HEMI V8. The same holds for the Ram 3500. The trucks with the HEMI V8 can tow a respectable 18,210 pounds. Choosing the available Cummins Turbo Diesel easily boosts this maximum trailering capability to an impressive 22,670 pounds. If you opt for the High-Output Cummins Turbo Diesel, this jumps to an insane 37,090 pounds, over twice as much as the same truck with the conventional gas engine. Clearly, if you need to get a large, heavy trailer from Santa Cruz to San Pedro, then you are best served by choosing a diesel truck.

On the Off-Road Again

We’ve found that many folks who buy our trucks love to use them to explore the great trails all over our home state. California is home to some of the most amazing scenery in the continental United States, and there is no better way to explore it than to go off-roading in a truck. One of the best off-road models is the Jeep Gladiator, which comes with a standard trail-rated 4X4 drivetrain and heavy-duty Dana axles.

What’s more, Jeep offers the Gladiator with two different engines, a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 gas engine, and a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6. While the gas engine will give you solid performance with 285 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, it can’t match the EcoDiesel for trail running purposes. This is because the EcoDiesel will deliver 260 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque, which will come in handy when you have to do things like rock climbing and handling dunes. Meanwhile, its Variable Geometry Turbocharger and 8-speed automatic transmission will give this Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel surprisingly good acceleration. It’s interesting that many people were surprised that Jeep offered the Gladiator with the available EcoDiesel engine, but it makes perfect sense if you want to go off-roading.

Make Your Next Truck a Diesel!

Diesel engines are the perfect match for a pickup truck. They are more durable and long-lasting; they reduce your fuel consumption while improving off-road performance. Most of all, they can help you tow the heaviest trailers. Maybe you could even help tow a sled with a certain guy in a red suit next December? After all, the guy who invented the diesel was named Rudolf, right?