Diesel Fuel Ever Hard To Find? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Diesel Fuel Ever Hard To Find?

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

I don't know about your fuel question; but care and maintenance is much easier and not as often. Air; Fuel; oil filters; oil changes ( Holds more oil than a gasser.) no spark plugs; plug wires; computer to control the spark. I would suggest using Wilkepedia; going to the library and get a service manual. Diesel maintenance is similiar for all makes and models. Diesels usually outlast gas engines in mileage. Just be careful what engine/transmission is in that Class C. Search Consumer Reports for the year make and model; recalls and problems can be fouind there! Hope this helps some??

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Murphy 's Law Says......diesel fuel is only hard to find when your below a quarter tank and things are not looking good!!!!

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Great answer, Mike!!!! So true.

MarkS · RV-Dreams Family Member

Diesel fuel is like a pink Volkswagen. You never see one till you own one and then they are all over the place. There are a lot of places that have diesel, especially near hiways. You won't have any trouble finding some when you need it.

Tony and Eileen · RV-Dreams Family Member

we are traveling right now from So. Ca. to Mo. And no problem at all finding diesel. We generally stop at Flying J's or Pilots and with our credit card with them we get 0.08 cents off per gallon. We traded in our gas Chevy for this diesel truck and glad we did.

Selah · RV-Dreams Family Member

Even the smallest rural towns have diesel as they support the local farm community. You will not have a problem finding diesel. As far a maintenance, Diesel engines are less tolerant of poor maintenance, the other side of that is if you simply do the scheduled maintenance you can't drive it enough to wear it out. Diesel maintenance is more expensive but is done less often. I have not done a direct comparison so I don't know if they balance out money wise.
My personal opinion is that given the choice I'd go diesel. Their high torque low RPM is ideal for moving and pulling heavy loads.

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you and all responses are appreciated. And, PIEERE, definitely a good thought to check for recalls on specific engine. I'm "watching" an older Class C with a diesel and it isn't really moving as quickly as the gas. We had an old Class C, Minnie Winnie, and we took it through the mountains in TN years ago and we kept wondering would we make it or not. It was a smaller gas engine too. I am not a fan of mountain travel either so that did not help.

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

MarkS wrote:
Diesel fuel is like a pink Volkswagen. You never see one till you own one and then they are all over the place. There are a lot of places that have diesel, especially near hiways. You won't have any trouble finding some when you need it.

Of course, a concern is even if we find a station with diesel gas, will it be high enough to fit our RV and are the lanes positioned in a way to easily get in and out of with the trailer?

For now, our plan is not to travel such a large distance that we run out of gas (we have 3 tanks totaling 105 gallons) and then fuel up with we're unhitched. But you know how plans go!

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

cherylbrv wrote:
Of course, a concern is even if we find a station with diesel gas, will it be high enough to fit our RV and are the lanes positioned in a way to easily get in and out of with the trailer?
For now, our plan is not to travel such a large distance that we run out of gas (we have 3 tanks totaling 105 gallons) and then fuel up with we're unhitched. But you know how plans go!

Our New Horizons is 13'4" and we have never found an issue with getting under the canopy on a regular station. We normally stop at truck stops (or gas stations with a truck pump) but even when they haven't been available we've always found one we could get in and out of while towing. We had to try twice once before we found one we could get in…but after 2 years of doing it now I can pretty much tell if it will be an issue or not.

If you're on interstates, US highways, or major to medium sized state highways you won't have any trouble at all…and as others have noted anyplace where there's farming being done will have diesel available even in small towns.

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

When it comes to "size", isn't there a book for "Big Rigs"? Is anyone familiar with it as to whether it just has to do with campgrounds/RV parks or if it looks at things like gas stations and maybe more? If not, maybe someone should write one. I know that when we had our TT, height was not a problem but in small stations, it was not always easy to twist around the barriers. Since we have never had diesel, I just never noticed that often how many stations had it. Thanks everyone for your responses.

**I looked up "Big Rigs Best Bet" and it does include information on both RV parks and fuel stations. It sounds like it could be worth having but I have not checked for reviews yet.

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Monday 25th of August 2014 05:02:29 AM

soos · RV-Dreams Family Member

We've been towing our 5th wheel full time for 5 years, have only once had trouble finding diesel.
We also try pretty hard not to fuel up when towing unless we're really sure of what we are getting into. I am now in the habit of checking the satellite view on google maps to scout out the gas station set up before we get there.

Sue

Dog Folks · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lucky Mike wrote:
Murphy 's Law Says......diesel fuel is only hard to find when your below a quarter tank and things are not looking good!!!!

In eight year of full timing, and 32 states we have never had a trouble finding diesel fuel.

However, we never let the tank get below 1/4 so that Murphy 's Law cannot kick in as we know it will!

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cathy,

This might not be an issue with you, and for that matter, it might not be an issue even now, but back when they first started coming out with diesel pickups, I know of several that got them and in the winter they ran into problems when the fuel "gelled" on them, cutting off the flow of fuel. Back then, I used to deliver fuel and we always added #1 diesel (kerosene) to our #2 diesel to prevent gelling. Most truck stops will always "winterize" their diesel with #1 diesel, so I prefer to go there. The only drawback is in larger cities when lots of semi-trucks pull in for diesel and one has to wait in line for fuel.

But overall, you shouldn't have any trouble finding diesel fuel. If in doubt, you can always ask others in the campgrounds/rv parks as to where stations are located that are easy access.

Terry

Forry · RV-Dreams Community Member

We haven't started full timing yet but we would like to consider a diesel pusher. With that said, I would use the Gas Buddy app on my iPhone to know where to purchase fuel and also know the cost as well. Just a thought.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

My practice is to fuel just before we get to the campground. Sometimes we may have to drive a few miles from the station to the campground, but when we arrive we have a more-or-less full tank. So far we've always been able to find a station without any difficulty. One time we were at a truck stop with lots of trucks wanting diesel, and the computer didn't like my credit card. Rather than delay things we just went on and fueled the next day. That's the advantage of usually having a full tank - if something happens you still have a fair amount of fuel.

We've found that larger (physically) stations will have plenty of room for larger rigs and almost all of them will have diesel. For us, using the truck lanes are generally the best bet since we are nearly 60' long with the Jeep attached. Those with towables do have the option of going to the campground, drop the coach, and then go back to get fuel. That isn't an option for a motor home.