Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
Sounds like a great project. I think you will find there will never be a true monetary payoff of doing such a swap with respect to mileage $avings vs. sticking with the 6.0L gas but more in the pride department and that is all that really matters. The largest fleet in the US (UPS) is converting their fleet from diesel to gas due to cost of admission of a diesel, cost of maintenance and overall durability. You can get an easy 300,000 out of a Vortec gas these days where as a Navistar (6.0/6.4L Powerjoke) diesel or Duramax have a habit of self destructing well before 300,000 miles. A replacement gas engine is about $5000. A replacement Powerjoke or Dirtymax is $15,000 plus you get to look forward to dropping $2500 to $3000 on injectors every 80 to 100K miles. You can buy a lot of gas for the price of owning a diesel. I work for a diesel engine manufacturer and would not even consider owning a diesel outside of an old Cummins or 6.5L.
One thing you might consider doing while the Sub is going under the knife would be to ditch the electric shift transfercase and find a manual shift. That is a major upgrade in the durability department on any late model GM.
One thing you might consider doing while the Sub is going under the knife would be to ditch the electric shift transfercase and find a manual shift. That is a major upgrade in the durability department on any late model GM.