surfram

I think the money lost in the trade would far out weigh any possible benefits. Airing-down your 315s does not cost a penny. Some of the pictures in my gallery are over 14 miles of beach sand from the nearest paved road.

YFZPILOT

As far as going in the sand with the hemi goes, your going to get stuck almost as fast with it as with the ctd without airing down. You really need to air down some, it makes a huge diff. We pull our 30ft toyhauler about 1 mile out in very soft sand here in OR. I wouldn't get anywhere if I didn't air down, be it with a Cummins or a Hemi. Air down to about 20psi to start with and you will be amazed how well she does. We air down to about 15psi, but were pulling a 13,000 pound toyhauler.

Buffalo

There are a bunch of guys over on the TDR that play in the dunes on a regular basis. BOB4X4 is one of them. You may want to go over there & find out what they do to allow their trucks to "play" in the sand. They are also hauling toyboxes.

Do you go up to the Cinders (Flagstaff) in the summer, with your ATV's? If so, remember that you will be "climbing" from 1500' to well over 7000' in elevation. If you've never done that, there are some substantial climbs on that trip. I'd much rather do that trip with a Cummins.

I don't know where you live in the Phoenix area but, you can cut your fuel costs a bit by shopping at Truck Stops (Flying-J, Loves, etc.). Get on FlyingJ.com & click on their "gasoline pricing" site. It will give you the discounted (.08 cent/gal.) "auto-diesel" pricing. Otherwise, you will get the 18 wheeler pricing. The "J" is at 67AV. & I-10. The pricing is often "well worth" the trip.

The other is Loves.com. Click on the diesel pricing & Arizona & it will give you the "un-discounted" Big Truck pricing at all the states Truck Stops. They have one in Chandler off I-10.

Another thing you can do is apply for a Discover Card "Gas Card". It will give you 5% off your fuel costs & there is no charge for the card. I've already saved about $75.00 on my fuel costs.

There are a number of reasons diesel is expensive. After Katrina hit, the oil companies turned a number of the fuel hauling, ocean-going tankers around & headed them to the U.S. to help ease the gasoline manufacturing capabilities that were lost. None of that fuel was diesel. We still had to rely on our already damaged refineries for 100% of our diesel.

In the winter, diesel is used or converted to home heating oil. Puts extra stress on the diesel fuel market.

I've, also, noticed that the prices go up quickly but, take forever to come back down, again.

During times of fuel shortages (hurricanes, pipeline breaks between Phoenix & Tucson) I've never had trouble getting diesel but, gasoline was pretty hard to get, sometimes. At a Chevron station, in my neighborhood, all they had was diesel.

Good Luck with your decision.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

PS: There will be a DTR--TDR Meet & Greet on Saturday, Mar. 11, '06 at 10:00AM at the Pilot Travel Center in Eloy, AZ. Exit 208 off I-10. There may be some folks there that are in a similar situation, as you, with some good info. you can use. Hope to see you there.

SOhappy

Just seconding the previous post. Awhile back there were some awe-inspiring movies posted on the on the TDR site of guys in CTD climbing (that's right, CLIMBING) some serious dunes at Glamis (?). I was very impressed. Maybe you ought to hook up with them and find out what their secret is.

BTW guys, will the '07 PW come with the bigger Hemi?

TAS05CTD610

Was that you I was behind going down that hill?? I didn't realize the air horn was that anoying. I was a long way back behind you, had it blocked a good mile or two.

RamWheelsBy4

Could have been , there was a pretty long line back there. On that trip I had my mom and dad, both over 80. My mother was in the back seat, but she drives no matter where she is sittin, so 45mph was fine with her. But about every 30 minutes or so she would almost let out a screem, when she glanced behind and saw the station wagon on the car hauler that looked like it was about to hit our rearend.

emoryemt-i

Dont know if this helps or not but i was in the jacksonville NC dodge dealership 3 weeks ago thinkin about tradin my 00 2500 CTD and they found a Powerwagon with a CTD. I dont know if this is correct or not but it was sure on the invoice. and the price was around 39K. Also my 00 sits on BFG A/t 305/70R16 and i have not trouble at all in the sand. hope this helps

abc4yew

Guys, Where ever you are try gasbuddy.com for the best fuel prices. I use it alot and you can save big time. Its free and done by users. ks

rockittboy

as far as i know the powerwagon does NOT come with a CTD...the winch bumper makes it impossible for them to put an intercooler in...which is weak...they would be the biggest selling truck on the road if they came with a CTD. you could swap one in tho . and i think the lockers they come with only come in the smaller rear axle that will not support the CTD

Squidward

Took a test drive in a Power Wagon this morning..........no deal. The new interior is nice, the truck looks great, the Hemi had a nice rumble at idle, but there's no way I'd be happy with it pulling my trailer. Passing power on the freeway (unloaded) was um....less than spectacular, in fact, in a top gear roll on vs the CTD at any speed above about 50, it'd be no contest. The diesel would just pull away, the Hemi drops out of OD, and sometimes down a gear or two, at the drop of a hat. The Power Wagon is reasonably quick off the line, and probably would give the diesel a run for it's money up to about 40-50 mph, but after that, it'd be all over. MPG during the test ride was 12.3 according to the overhead.

The dealership didn't help any, the salesman knew next to nothing about the truck, MSRP was just over $43k (yikes), and with all the stupid dealer add-ons it was over $46k! $1700 of that was for a little nylon bag with the winch controller, a tow strap, and a pair of gloves. When they showed me that, it was definitely time to leave. They chased me into the parking lot offering to "let it go" for $41k, I declined their generosity.

I occssionally hear rumors of the 6.1 liter Hemi going in the PW, maybe I'll take another look at one if that happens (but not at that dealership), meanwhile, I'm going to take the advice I've gotten from several of you here, I'll air down as needed and continue to laugh at all those gassers struggling to keep up while pulling trailers to the Dunes.

FMB

Well, you had an idea, crunched the figures, even took a test drive. Looks like you made a good run of it and came up with the best decision.

runamuk

Now you know the truth!

You will never be satisfied with a gasoline motor in your truck again! EVER!!



Rick

Patrick Campbell

Keep in mind you will take a bath turning in a brand new vehicle. Also the immediate costs (fuel) are not the only difference in ownership between the 2 trucks. The diesel in the long run will be much less to own/operate/maintain and will have higher resale.

In terms of MSRP - why look at MSRP. Look at invoice and go DOWN from there.

I would think a HEMI would beat a Cummins on the highway and from a stop.

PapaPerk

You make some good points. However most will agree Towing = Diesel! Dude for the money you are going to loose you can hop up the Diesel like a Powerwagon! Put big tires on it....new diffs....etc. I pull 8,000 to 9,000 lbs about every 4 weeks or so. I am always amazed how the Cummins performs...by the way....Towing = Manual Trans! At least in a Dodge!

If you really wanna gasser....get a GM. I'm not a fan of Dodge's gas engines. GM is still king with the pushrods. At least in my opinion....or get a Toyota....new Tundra is coming out soon and is going to be nice nice nice!

Good luck!

Hounddog

Tundra YUK! Unless its MUCH improved.I'd rather have a Dodge 1500 gas then a Tundra anyday of the week.G.m just plain butt ugly.Did they ever get rid of the piston slap in them?