In the mountains while pulling a very light load that V8 two-stroke oil burner got tired by just looking at the modest inclines. If I did not keep the engine turning at least at 2700 rpm it was hopless on the slightest short incline and I had to downshift two gears at a time continually until the truck was just crawling over the crest of a short incline with the engine screaming. On a longer modest incline if I did not come into the steady climb at over 3400 rpm the engine just quickly lost power even though I was continually downshifting.

With a heavy loaded Mack inline six diesel I could climb over a crest of a steep incline at 900 rpm after downshifting a couple of times. The inline has bottom end torque that the 8V92 did not have with its short V8 stroke.

A wash machine engine would be acceptable if it does not need to do hard work. A V8 diesel does not have a long enough stroke to be a serious working diesel engine. Powerstroke and Duramax are the wrong configuration to be the best heavy load puller.

Slick, I do not care if you are a Ford man and kid yourself about the greatness of V8 diesel engines. When a kid, I worked on a 1932 Ford Deuce Coup and I was a confirmed Ford enthusiast. My first two work trucks were Fords. I took me a bit of pounding my head on a brick wall before I realized that Dodge trucks have the best diesel engines. You see, I am just not foolish enough to get marrried to a vehicle manufacturer. Just because a person desires to have it a certain way to prove he is right does not make it fact. If the Powerstroke or Duramax do whatever job needed for you, that is great, but for us who want a serious hard working engine with lots of torque then the Dodge Turbo Diesel Cummins inline six engine is what we need. It is as simple as that and when I want a people mover a gasoline engine is good enough.

Hans….

Ford could have used an International inline six diesel engine from the beginning. GM started out with converted gasoline engine blocks for diesel applications in pickup trucks. I think the V-8 fad that the motoring public was brainwashed into believing is what prompted Ford and GM to go with V-8 diesel engines. GM could have used an Isusi(sp?) inline six diesel engine instead of the Duramax.

Inline diesel engines make the best work engines. Chrysler put a light duty V configured diesel engine in their mid sized pickup to satisfy that segment of the motoring public brain washed to favor V configuration.

We have a 1980 GMC 250 four speed manual with a 292 CID inline six gasoline engine and a GMC 250 with a four manual tranny and 350 CID gas engine. With a full bulk fuel slip tank the 292 can back into the shop over a two inch high ridge without stalling the engine if the clutch is engaged fully and the fuel feed is not pressed. The 350 backing into the same shop will stall the engine if the fuel feed is not feathered and the clutch slipped.

Inline engines have a larger stroke than V engines and engineers are not so low in intelligence that they can not figure that out. Unfortunately, for the same displacement an inline engine must have larger bores than V engines and with a larger stroke it limits the rpm that can be safely run at. V engines with smaller bores and smaller strokes rev higher making good racing engines. Inline engines are better low speed pulling engines. Trucks are trucks and automobiles are automobiles. Whatever the manufacturers can feed the public at the lowest cost for the largest income will be the bottom line. Dodge going with Cummins inline was the smartest move ever in the diesel pickup industry and it paid off big time.