Which Overland Vehicle and Why?

[deserteagle56]

Yep....a shovel, Mattocks/Pulaski tool and a strong back and your on your way.

Carry those in all my rigs - and get to use them often. There's times I even have to strap a set onto my Yamaha Kodiak as seen in this photo. Used both tools for about 3 hours that day to fix the road up well enough to get the Kodiak up to the cabin.

 

[BritKLR]

Carry those in all my rigs - and get to use them often. There's times I even have to strap a set onto my Yamaha Kodiak as seen in this photo. Used both tools for about 3 hours that day to fix the road up well enough to get the Kodiak up to the cabin.

View attachment 562200

Life looks good!

 

[Nathansharkey80]

Whatever problem a diesel engine is supposed to address in the context of personal wilderness travel, is not a problem I have encountered.

Yeah some people don’t mind carrying 6 jerry cans around with them and the issues that come up with dealing with all of the extra weight carried around in gasoline with them and the joy of transferring gasoline by jerry can is quite thrilling for some. But for me, I prefer diesel in overland use. That being said, if I am planning on a lot of highway travel, I don’t mind gasoline rigs. I just fill up at gas stations along the way as required.


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[DaveInDenver]

Yeah some people don’t mind carrying 6 jerry cans around with them and the issues that come up with dealing with all of the extra weight carried around in gasoline with them and the joy of transferring gasoline by jerry can is quite thrilling for some. But for me, I prefer diesel in overland use. That being said, if I am planning on a lot of highway travel, I don’t mind gasoline rigs. I just fill up at gas stations along the way as required.


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Not going to single digit MPG in low range is why I would prefer the option for a diesel. For the Dollhouse in the Maze even being conservative and doing no side trails was 206 miles of 4WD and required 31 gallons of fuel at 8.8 MPG in my Tacoma and two 20L spare cans is a minimum.

 

[Buliwyf]

My diesel gets no more than 15mpg. So good luck with that.

 

[Nathansharkey80]

My diesel gets no more than 15mpg. So good luck with that.

Not sure what rig you are talking about and what sized engine and how the gearing is and what emissions controls are and how heavy your rig is loaded up but I know one thing is for sure. A Diesel engines is much more fuel efficient than a gasoline engine and the efficiency only gets better as you load them up with weight in comparison to a gas burner.

There are other reasons aside from just the obvious fuel economy reasons for diesel over gasoline. There is also mileage between oil changes, life expectancy of the engine, torque, throttle control, downhill and uphill control (compared with carburetor) obviously fuel injection is going to be even in most cases, there is also the matter of reliability and water crossings, then we can talk about safety of handling and transportation of extra fuel, the ability to find diesel is a lot easier in remote areas in most places due to it being used for farming, heavy equipment and the life span of the fuel itself. It doesn’t go bad like gasoline does. In cold weather, a diesel can idle for hours keeping the rig warm ect... there are many many upsides to a diesel.


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[jonathon]

I went full circle from a 2nd gen Tacoma double cab to a 5th gen 4Runner and now finally a 2019 Ram 2500 with the 6.4l gas V8. Loved the Toyota’s but they were more suited to primitive camping. We tent camp, but also like to be well equipped. The Ram offers a comfortable cabin, 8 foot bed, 3190lb payload rating and 16720lb tow rating. Way more than I need but not in a bad way.

Gas vs diesel is a huge debate and that dead horse has been beat. I evaluated my decision for over a year. For me as much as I wanted the diesel taking in the big picture it wasn’t worth the overall expense. The initial buy in is not the only factor to be considered.

 

[billiebob]

You obviously don't live where it gets cold. A diesel only produces heat when it is working Park, idling for an hour when it is 40below and your cab will be 30below. Ask any truck driver where it gets cold. In Canada the RCMP drive gas SUVs for that very reason.

 

[billiebob]

In cold weather, a diesel can idle for hours keeping the rig warm

You obviously don't live where it gets cold. A diesel only produces heat when it is working Park, idling for an hour when it is 40below and your cab will be 30below. Ask any truck driver where it gets cold. In Canada the RCMP drive gas SUVs for that very reason.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Not sure what rig you are talking about and what sized engine and how the gearing is and what emissions controls are and how heavy your rig is loaded up but I know one thing is for sure. A Diesel engines is much more fuel efficient than a gasoline engine and the efficiency only gets better as you load them up with weight in comparison to a gas burner.

There are other reasons aside from just the obvious fuel economy reasons for diesel over gasoline. There is also mileage between oil changes, life expectancy of the engine, torque, throttle control, downhill and uphill control (compared with carburetor) obviously fuel injection is going to be even in most cases, there is also the matter of reliability and water crossings, then we can talk about safety of handling and transportation of extra fuel, the ability to find diesel is a lot easier in remote areas in most places due to it being used for farming, heavy equipment and the life span of the fuel itself. It doesn’t go bad like gasoline does. In cold weather, a diesel can idle for hours keeping the rig warm ect... there are many many upsides to a diesel.


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Rube Goldberg emissions in the NA is what kills the diesel. In NA you have a better chance of finding gas than diesel as well. Running dyed ag diesel in a road vehicle is no bueno if anyone decides to dip your tank.

Cold weather performance is not a perk for a diesel. I just went out and started my old gas tractor to push snow off my driveway. 15*, no engine heater, no glow plugs, no ether, no chicken sacrifices... and it didn't even gel up on me either.

If we are talking about an old 7.3, 5.9 or even a "bulletproofed" 6.0... basically something stupid like what they have overseas then yeah they start making sense for reliability. Going into limp mode because there is a problem with the regen or DEF system is not a good thing in the boonies by your lonesome.

Any EFI gas engine is capable of outliving the carcass it ships in and at the end of the day you can't ask for better than that.

 

[Nathansharkey80]

That is why you put winter fronts on the radiator. You can also idle a diesel at a higher RPM. What do you think that all of the rigs hauling loads down the highway do? I am from Canada and spent a lot of time in the North working. They run diesels. They don’t shut them off. You can even run Espar or Webasto heaters in them for long periods of idling.


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[Nathansharkey80]

The modern diesels need to have the emissions crap taken off and chipped. The DEF is a joke. Delete those systems. I don’t know of any tractors or other industrial or commercial equipment over 50 HP that is not running diesel. So like I said. In the middle of nowhere, diesel is much easier to find than Gas.


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[85_Ranger4x4]

The modern diesels need to have the emissions crap taken off and chipped. The DEF is a joke. Delete those systems. I don’t know of any tractors or other industrial or commercial equipment over 50 HP that is not running diesel. So like I said. In the middle of nowhere, diesel is much easier to find than Gas.


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Some locales care about emissions stuff though, feds are cracking on deleting (people that make the parts/programming) and it does add significant cost to the initial buy in.

Offroad diesel fuel (farm/industrial) is not taxed and is dyed red. Once in a system it will show up on a DOT test for a long time afterwards.

What is the Fine for Running Off Road Diesel

Whether it is Washington, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Alabama, or other states, the fine for illegal use of dyed diesel is $10/gallon or $1,000 per violation (a tank with red diesel), whichever is greater. For instance, if 20 gallons of such fuel are revealed in your tank, the fine will be $1,000.

offroadguides.com

Most every farm has a farmers wife with a gas car and gas lawn equipment. Many still have older gas equipment on the front lines too. Here in the cornbelt every station sells gas, maybe 1/3 sell diesel. Farmers get their fuel delivered by truck, they don’t waddle the combine town every time it gets thirsty.

And my tractor is 45hp, they went up to about 100hp +/- (JD 4020 and IH 806 come to mind) on gas in the 60's/70's before diesel took over.

Pretty much every bulk tank on a farm is going to have dyed fuel in it.

 

[Nathansharkey80]

Who has ever had their tank dipped? I mean them personally. Not someone who knows a guy who lived next door to someone who’s brother had his tank dipped.


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[DaveInDenver]

My diesel gets no more than 15mpg. So good luck with that.

So that's 2x the MPG and 2x the GVWR, nice sales pitch for diesel.