6.7L Cummins Forum

Well folks it's not a pretty sight and for those of you that don't own a Diesel powered vehicle here's some food for thought before you run out and buy anything diesel powered.

I bought my Dodge Ram 3500 with the Cummins 6.7L back in September and at that time Diesel was actually cheaper than Regular here in the Midwest, add to that the $9000 I got off the sticker price and I was feeling pretty good about my purchase. Unfortunately, I was Diesel ignorant and according to the International Energy Agency, oil prices have jumped 45.3% since January. And U.S. diesel prices are up 18% just since September nearly double the 10% rise in gasoline prices, and the situation isn’t going to get better anytime soon folks, because it seems that a lot of new unexpected pressures are now adding to the already dismal diesel supplies.

Yesterday while sitting in my truck waiting for a slow moving train pass I read in the Wall Street journal that refinery outages in Europe has increased the demand for imported diesel in that part of the world. Half of the 15 million cars and light vehicles sold in Europe every year run on diesel, compared to just 50,000 diesel cars sold in the U.S. annually. Add to that the fact that both Diesel and Home Heating Oil are made from the same base petroleum distillate and when demand for heating oil goes up, it takes precedence over diesel fuel production which is what's happening now and not only is demand for home heating oil up, so are prices, jumping 10% in the last month. Ouch!

And if all that's not bad enough, there’s the problem manifesting itself by rising automotive sales in China and India. Annual car sales in China alone have doubled since 2004 and are estimated to hit 4.1 million units a year by 2008. By 2010, annual car sales may reach 10 million units per year in China, jumping to 20 million units by 2020 if trends continue which would make that country the single largest car market in the world.

Not a very pretty prognosis but I do also own a 40 MPG motorcycle so the truck stays.

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2007.5 Dodge Ram 3500 HD,QC, 6.7L Cummins, 6speed Auto, 4X4, Bighorn Edition.
Click for installs: Carr Steps PML Diff Cover Edge Juice with Attitude Volant Intake Hankook ATM RF10

That is sad news indeed. After all you have said, it can get even more expensive when you factor in the extra cost for oil changes, and the extra filters diesels take. Not to mention the cost of emissions testing that we have here!

No doubt about it. Right now the only place I've found the oil filter locally is at the Dodge dealership $11 and then factor in the 12 Quarts of oil every 7000 miles along the fuel filter that a Diesel Mechanic friend of mine says should be replaced every 10,000 miles and there is no doubt that it sure does add up. I just don't see how people are going to be buying Diesel cars with the way things stand right now?

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2007.5 Dodge Ram 3500 HD,QC, 6.7L Cummins, 6speed Auto, 4X4, Bighorn Edition.
Click for installs: Carr Steps PML Diff Cover Edge Juice with Attitude Volant Intake Hankook ATM RF10

If you use your truck commercially, like you do, you can recover the cost in increased payload, towing, price increases, etc. In other words, work the heck out of it. As much as I would like to have a Cummins, I can't justify the extra cost. (I'm a tight a$$)

The momentum in the US diesel market is only going to increase the popularity of the diesel. Dodge, Ford, GM and just about everyone else are rolling out "light duty" diesel trucks next year. The Ram 1500 gets one, even. I saw a new Grand Cherokee at the dealership and just about fell over when I noticed the 3.0L Diesel badge on the back. It's the new BlueTec (Mercedes) power plant and is getting GREAT reviews.

Mercedes will make diesel even more popular when they start dropping them into their cars. They will have great mileage, great emissions and great performance. All the things that US consumers want. When the demand grows on those kinds of vehicles, fuels will become more available.

I think there will be a renewed desire to own diesels in this country, simply due to the longevity of these engines. You talk about maintenance costs... If you simply add a double filter system you can DOUBLE the minimum oil change requirement. Over a 350K mile lifetime, the cost of the filter system is negligible.

The extra cost of the Cummins is negated when you take into account the longevity. Hemis will have to be rebuilt at least 2x over the life of the Cummins. Plus, I'll spend the extra cash NOW for the Cummins that will last forever and get 22mpg on the highway over my old Hemi that could only ever get 15mpg and only haul half the load and last one third as long. Any mathemeticians here that can figure all that out?

Bottom line... everyone needs to learn how to make bio-diesel (costs about $1 per gallon if you can get the good oil... asian restaurants have the best... fast food the worst). We also need to put pressure on our local and federal government to get them to subsidize soybeans (for bioD) instead of the current gimmick of subsidizing corn (for ethanol... which in the end gets worse mileage AND costs the same as petroD). We can grow LOTS of soybeans, we CAN'T grow more coal and oil.

Total sidenote here... did you know that Earth will never produce more oil or coal? The reason is that when the ancient forests fell and began their journeys toward coal and oil, there were no organisms that could break down the tree and plant scraps, thus they were able to stay under ground and turn into coal and oil. Trees and plants that die and fall today are completely consumed by organisms. So... buy stock in soybeans and start writing letters. Diesel is the future.

There's only one problem that I can see and that's the fact that with the newer Diesels like our 6.7L Cummins we're kind of screwed when it comes to using Biodiesel, at least right now.

Quote:

This vehicle is fully compatible with biodiesel blends up to 5% biodiesel meeting ASTM specification D-6751.

Sadly, 5% isn't much.

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2007.5 Dodge Ram 3500 HD,QC, 6.7L Cummins, 6speed Auto, 4X4, Bighorn Edition.
Click for installs: Carr Steps PML Diff Cover Edge Juice with Attitude Volant Intake Hankook ATM RF10

Yes, 5% is hardly worth the effort. I understand that Cummins is working to get our 6.7's to take 20%...Can you say homebrew??

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7.5 3500QC 6.7CTD 68RFE Build date June 2007
Superchips tuner 3808, Boost/EGT Laser Gauge, Airaid cold intake

I have heard that all chrysler/dodge diesel vehicles have been approved to you B-20. I,m not using it yet but have plans to some time soon.

According to this information from Chrysler you need a special water seperator to run 20% Bio. http://cumminsownerz.com/f10/cummins...iesel-use-112/

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2007.5 Dodge Ram 3500 HD,QC, 6.7L Cummins, 6speed Auto, 4X4, Bighorn Edition.
Click for installs: Carr Steps PML Diff Cover Edge Juice with Attitude Volant Intake Hankook ATM RF10

Have not been driving my new 08 3500 dinasaur very much. Can't believe I bought this in February and now fuel is $4.75/gal. What a ripping I took. I thought $9000 off sticker price was fair. Now they can't give these things away. Anyway does anyone know what the deal is on the preheat (prestart) procedure? What an interminable wait. Even when the engine is fresh hot. Pain in the butt.