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It is a no brainer for anyone that isn't a idiot and keeps track of expenses.
No I am not a hillbilly redneck. I deal with quite a few farmers and have yet to see a real country boy sporting stacks on a pickup. Most can't afford to lose the bedspace. Aside from maybe a tuner most trucks that really get used stay 110% stock. I saw stacks on poser trucks quite often when I lived in Omaha though, they were highly impressive in their efforts to make their trucks smoke doing nothing.
Our old diesel tractors have just a slight haze out the pipe when under a heavy load (like plowing) Guess who will run the most fuel thru their rig, run hotter and have more mechanical problems... the guy with a slight haze or the guy rolling coal?
I would take a Powerstroke (I would rather have the new 6.2 though) and put a nice sounding exhaust on it out the back like god intended it.
For offroading it is a different game, but mud in the pipe has never an issue for me. When my 2.8 was spry enough for such things the pipe ended right above the rear axle where it is pretty hard for anything to get at it. I do get tired of dealing with tree branches and door openings with my tractors though... not to mention putting a can on them and remembering to take it off before it is launched into a low orbit at startup in the interest of keeping rainwater out. The LR cab lends itself to stacks better for offroading than a Ranger, in the same place on a Ranger they would be tree branch bait.
An example of how I run a stack:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/85_Ranger/My Tractors/Picture135.jpg?t=1272994531
So, that tells me a 6BT gets better fuel economy than a Ford 6.0 Powerstroke. Doesn't surprise me.
I always thought stacks on an off road rig were there to allow for deep water crossings so your exhaust back pressure isn't effected and also so you don't fill up your exhaust with water if you stall the engine, which could in turn suck some water into the engine if you have a valve problem or something similar.
I have dual stacks out the bed of my 68 Land Rover with small block Chevy power sitting on 40's. They work great, the also get the exhaust gas up out of the trail, mine exit a foot over head and about a foot back from the back of the cab and I have yet to smell them at any speed going backwards or forwards.
When you get stuck in that mud hole and your exhaust gas are hanging around on the ground because your pipe tip is sitting in the mud you start to wonder if stacks are a good idea. Or how bout when you back up in the mud hole and fill your tail pipe full of mud and it stalls the engine, but that's cool right? Cause stacks look gay? Function over looks for me, and my stacks aren't for looks, I believe in function over form.
Let the flaming begin.
I used to go to horse shows with my friend Jill. There may be 200 trucks in the lot at some of the larger shows and I NEVER saw one with stacks. If these breeders and show horses are ok with a factory exhaust, anyone that thinks they need stacks is just fooling themselves.Yes, I am aware that a turned up or chipped diesel will smoke more than one running as the factory recommends. They all smoke, not just Cummins.
Just had a guys tractor in the shop with a first gen Cummins Dodge. He hauls livestock for hire, it is turned up a little, he hauls livestock all over gods green earth with the factory style exhaust and a fifth wheel trailer. With a openish modern trailer I think it would be better to have the fumes down low rather than up higher anyway. I have seen it in action on hills, the smoke goes quite aways away from the truck. Since it has close to 300k and he is having problem finding parts (something with the Speedo broke) he got a '06, he lost 5 mpg loaded... 15mpg to 10mpg needless to say he isn't an over happy camper and still drives ol' blue when he comes in. Heck of a guy, he is in his late 70's.
Nobody around here has stacks on their pickup, livestock hauler or not.
My Ranger smokes too, and I do feel sorry for those that follow which is why I don't drive it much anymore. But I would love to get infront of some of the punks I have seen with a diesel that think it is fun to throw smoke everywhere and make their eyes water.
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