Engine swap: gas vs diesel

I see a lot of engine swap threads on here. Almost all of the diesel ones are "too much money and time" but the gas ones are a dime a dozen (eg LS swap, ok maybe not THAT prevalent, but still more common). Why is there such a disparity? What contributes to the extra effort/time/money/etc for a diesel?

Or am I misreading?

Also, why are VW or Cummins more favorable than a Hilux swap, even tho Hilux is a Toyota?

Note:I am not in the market for either, just curious where the conversation goes.

 

I helped do a Mercedes om617 5 cylinder turbo diesel into a 91 pickup. They made adapters everything was bolt on easy. But it's not cheap everything about fixing maintaining and operating diesels are expensive in the United States. Literally a rebuilt injection pump, using mostly used parts, for this engine from 1981 still costs $2,700. The VW swaps are a little cheaper. The Toyota engines don't have any support in the United States for parts so that's a big turn off for me. Literally anything you need for them you have to wait for it to come out of country. But they swap in pretty easily too.

 

The biggest factor simply is talent and experience of the owner. They might be chosing based off whats available to them and what they are familiar with.

The hilux diesel doesnt bolt in, and shipping diesels is incredibly expensive due to weight and lack of availability.

Fab work like bell housing plates, fuel lines, motor mounts are all well out of my scope and I have 20 years experience with Toyota.

 

Everyone wants a diesel until they actually own a diesel.

 

The last offroading trip I was on, we ran into a face lifted 5 cylinder g wagon and inside the camp zone was Canadian g wagon training trucks. 5 cylinder Mercedes diesels everywhere!

They are so simple of an engine, I love it.

 

That's the truth. I don't really get the appeal of small diesels at all.

 

188 HP and 310 Ft/LB isn't all that impressive for the price.

A $6,000 SuperCharger is cheaper.

 

Good point about the US availability.

 

Especially the common rail diesels, right? The allure of a diesel is simplicity, longevity, and reliability, but if an injector repair/upgrade is several thousand, kind of defeats the purpose?

 

We had a sierra 1500 diesel come to our shop, it seemed impressive, but the cost of diesel at the time was nearly 50% more than gasoline, further defeating the point of diesels.

I think if you need a work horse, diesel for sure. All day.

Fuel economy? Small displacement and hybrid.

Hopefully they figure out a proper hybrid system during 4th gen tacoma. The trucks are hybrids, but not to the full extent of the systems capabilities.

 

They smell like ass, they are frustratingly slow, parts are expensive, cost of operation is even more expensive, and gas engines are becoming every bit as long lived as a small diesel.

And don't get me started on DEF.

 

Please, get started.... ( And what is a DEF?)

 

Exhaust fluid. The emissions control systems on modern diesels are overly complicated and very much prone to failure. And when they break, it's eye wateringly expensive.

 

Seems to me the "big" gas engine is a cheaper option in a truck compared to the "smaller" diesel.
Small diesels are ok (sometimes great. Like the VW) in cars.

But with trucks, Go big or go home.
Or go small be happy with what you got.
I've not been to impressed with the small diesels in the trucks.
At least not yet. To many problems and much more expensive.

I'm not against a hybrid. I'd own one.
I'm starting to get used to the idea of a turbo engine.
The neighbors son has a F150 with the 2.7. Been good for him the last few years.

 

Go on. Don't stop. It's the weekend.
We got all kinds of time to hear your complaints.

I must say, just bringing up DEF is a great start to derailing this thread.
Nice job.

 

It's all case to case I suppose.

I think the biggest issue is people buying heavy trucks to tow campers 0.05% of the time, then commuting with it the rest of the time.

V8 gassers are the best for durability and cost of ownership though I'll agree. I hate working on the 5.7 but in the end its been amazing to the owners of 2nd gen tundras.

Diesels stink, I worked at a performance shop way back in 2005. Ya it can run 11's. I dont care. It stinks.

 

Ever bring a small diesel on date night? People forget that it's an oil and it doesn't evaporate quite like gas does. Get that shit on your hands (which is inevitable no matter how clean you are... It's smeared all over the pumps) and you're going to smell like burnt kerosene for the rest of the day.

 

I can agree with all of that.

I "need" a bigger truck about 5% of the time I tow.
I am lucky that I have the ability to "borrow" a bigger truck.

But I don't like borrowing other people stuff.
So my next truck will likely be a full-size.

 

No. But gasoline isn't much better.
Me and a buddy got "released" from school early for smelling like gas.
It was bad....we were kids. We were stupid.

Lets just say there were "flaming tennis shoes' involved.

I still don't know how we made it through school without one of use seriously injured or dead.

 

I'm personally in a weird spot. The midsize Tacoma fits my 95% use case. On the occasional instance I need bigger, I need a heavy - 250 or 350 class. I almost never need a 150 class. On the heavy duties, yes, diesel all the way. I'll either borrow one from the office fleet or I'll rent.

On the full size and below... gassers, no question. And I haven't met a situation where the Tacoma with a utility trailer falls short when I'm moving less than 10k pounds. (ok, 6000 pounds, but oddly, it always seems to be under 6k or over 10k.)