Gas motors:

The benifits of a one ton diesel will only be realized in the very long term of use.Consider the extra thousands for the diesel engine option for starters,the the 16% extra cost per gallon of fuel,ect,ect. There has been a huge increase of diesel vs. gas one ton p/u trucks in the last 10 years that I will never understand.

And if diesel is so great how come I NEVER heard of a diesel airplane?( Ok, I just googled-it and there is such a thing. But I Never ? )

Locomotives utilize diesel engines/electric traction motors.This type of hybird technology could be used to power a class 8 rig. Maybe even throw in a cheap gas job or even propane,ect..Why Not?. There is supposed to be all this advancement in electronics! You could even subsitute hydraulics for the electric traction motors.

Most of what happens in the future, as in the past will be decided by government agencies such as EPA. The manufactures will react accordingly.

 

The Diesel electric truck would be much more weight than a diesel with a transmission.
The diesel airplane works well burning jetA.

 

There's a lot of reasons 1 ton and under trucks have turned to diesel as opposed to gas.

My first one was a 1995 F250 7.3 PS. I replaced an F150 300 6 cylinder with it because I needed a more powerful truck for towing capacity not to mention needed 4wd.

In the F150 with the 6 cylinder gas truck I got around 14 mpg on average empty (not much highway driving). What part I was on the highway I was towing with it, and the little 300 really bogged in the mountains down to about 35 mph at times.

I switched to the F250 and benefitted by the extra power immensely. I also gained by getting 4 wd that I didn't have previously. I used to carry a long tow chain in the 150 and used it a lot on job sites. I broke 2 sets of motor mounts in the 150 getting stuck in the mud but don't have that problem now, just flip the switch and turn on another set of diggers.

The other benefit was the F250 with 4 wd and more power got 18 mpg on average. With the old 6 cylinder gasser, it used a lot of fuel idling, so when I pulled into jobs for an inspection and would have really liked to have left it running to keep the heat/ac/power going in my office I'd always think twice about it knowing that in 20 or 30 minutes it would use 3 or 4 gallons of fuel. The diesel doesn't use near that much and it doesn't affect my mileage very much at all to leave it idling while I'm running numbers on a computer or filling out forms or going over something with a client in the passenger seat. That's a big plus when it's 20 degrees or 90 degrees outside.

So I get better mileage, have the power to pull my boat or farm tractor or flatbed or whatever on the highway at highway speeds without slowing to a crawl on every hill. The other advantage was cheaper fuel. Back then diesel was between 5 and 20 cents below gasoline depending on the season, so suddenly that 18 mpg looks more like 20 or 21 mpg.

Now the option of going to an F250 with a 351 at the time would have given me the power I needed, but figuring that a 2wd 6 cylinder averaged 14 mpg, I don't believe one could expect much more than 11 or 12 out of the 351. (I know they'll do better on the highway than that, but I'm talking about where I use mine and how)

Fast forward to today's gas options:

The 350 Chevy and 351 Fords are gone. Chevy has the 5. whatever it is and says it has the power and torque of a 350. I've driven a Suburban with one it it, and can truthfully say, NO WAY it has the same guts as a 350. The 5.4 Ford has been a somewhat unreliable experiment and unlike it's 351 predecessor, reapairs on those are high. Changing plugs on one can be a $500 deal. The truth is, the gasoline options in these trucks unless you are talking about empty highway commuting mileage is significantly less than diesel, and there is no power comparison between a good diesel like Dodge's Cummins and the gas offerings. I do feel like Ford has permanently screwed the pooch when it did away with the 7.3 in favor of the 6 liter and now 6.4 liter engines. I had one of those pos 6 liters and honestly, my 300 6 cylinder had more low end power than the 6 liter did although above 65 mph, the 6 liter would win hands down.

I do think the more they keep changing things around on these engines, the more people are going to have to study on what works best for their needs v's cost. Dodge's 5.9 Cummins replacement has an additional $5000 worth of emissions BS on it and on the sticker it lists that cost added to the $5000 engine option, so instead of what was once a $3000 option is now a $10,000 option things may be swinging back the other way.

I know that around here, it is pretty difficult to purchase a used F250 with the 7.3 powerstroke in it. Particularly one that's not completely worn out. People have heard about the new one, and don't want any part of it yet going to one of the gas offerings isn't appealing either.

I suspect the same will be said in a few years for the 5.9 Dodge Cummins trucks. The problem the Dodge will likely have is the motor will outlast the truck though.

Jet fuel is a close 1st cousin to diesel. It's more like Kerosene. Yes, a jet could run off diesel.

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A more likely option I suspect would be to just convert the existing diesel engines we use now over to gas or more likely natural gas. I've used propane for years and it's a good clean fuel that loves higher compression engines. I've reworked Cummins heads that are used in the pipeline industry and the only difference between them and their diesel counterparts are an added sparkplug where the injector was. The mechanic told me they run the same only a lot cleaner.

 

GM had a 427 tall deck that was built for a semi truck. Mater of fact I have 2 of them motors and also i have a 546 in a tatem axle dump truck with a 4x4.