asking tow vehicle advice

[RustyLugNut]

Originally Posted by larrybuck

Thanks guys for the responses! The Cummings swap would be neat, but so much money out. This is just a work vehicle, not a DREAM vehicle. I'm INTO cars!
I'll stay with what I have for now, keeping it simple (KISS), and will probably refresh the radiator, get a better trans cooler, give it a pleasant paint job ( in my whole life, I've not ever had a vehicle completely repainted) Travel expenses to be covered by customers.

. . . mechanical 12v Cummins swaps are not overly hard or expensive especially since you can find numerous Dodge Cummins pickups with bodies beyond repair for a few thousand. I picked one up a while back to strip all the engine/trans/running gear to put under an old Dodge B350 van behind the shop. The pickup was a junker but ran perfectly fine. I paid just under 4000 dollars, sold what I didn't use and ended up with a 1200 dollar conversion. Of course I have considerable resources in metal design and fabrication but there is a whole community of Cummins users out there to help you out.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by RustyLugNut

Yes, they can and do run into coking problems from poor set ups that run Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO), but that is the result of the poor conversion design and operation. The 94-98 12 valve Cummins are especially capable of running these free fuels with good reliability if the fuel system is designed well.

Sure a well-designed conversion setup won't be so troublesome as many backyard-engineered ones, but anyway, surprisingly enought an IDI is actually more efficient while using veg oils while the direct injection goes better on biodiesel and regular Diesel fuel.

[MobilOne]

The rule is: gas to tote; diesel to tow!

Keep the burb diesel that you have. Forget the 350 gasser. Or waste your money. Why do you need two burbs? Gas is cheap now. It probably won't be forever. My Silverado 3500 is a gasser; but that is because I TOTE a 5300# truck camper. If I were towing a trailer, I would be driving a Chevy diesel or a Dodge diesel.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I'd still rather get a Diesel rig instead of a gasser anytime. On a sidenote regarding fuel prices volatility, the ability of an old-school Diesel to run on veg oils has to be taken in consideration too.