Since the early 1980s, those who needed to tow heavy loads with a pickup truck typically sprung for a diesel engine. The first light-duty truck to use a diesel engine on a mass-market scale was the 1978 Chevrolet/GMC C/K pickup, using the infamous Oldsmobile diesel V8. Then, in 1982, GM introduced the Detroit Diesel engine for the C/K line. Ford followed in 1984, and Dodge joined the fold with its Cummins inline-six diesel engine in 1989.
Â