2003 8.0L (488) Magnum V10 make 310 hp and 450 lb·ft
1994-2002 8.0L (488) V10 makes 300 hp and 450 lb·ft

1998-2002 5.9 L (360) Magnum V8 makes 245 hp and 335 lb·ft

2003-2008 5.9L (359) Cummins diesel I6 makes 325 hp and 610 lb·ft
1998-2000 5.9L (359) Cummins ISB 24-valve Diesel I6 makes 235 hp and 420 lb-ft
2001-2002 5.9L (359) Cummins ISB 24-valve Diesel I6 makes 235 hp and 460 lb-ft

 

damn....i just read this thread and there way to much arguing....the V10 and Cummins are great motors. bone stock like stated, there are about dead even in power, as for the amount of time they will last, the Cummins will outlast the V10. my buddies dad has a V10, it had 227K before it needed real engine work, (well maintained, no towing, no offroading, no driving in winter), then another guy i know who has the 12v cummins, is at 341K, original engine.....and he beats on it.....

 

i have a 1998 with a 318 and a 2008 with a hemi... and in a few weeks i will have a 2002 with a v10 and i used to work at a dealership so ive driven all of these vehicles including the new deisels... im a fan of gas engines and i love the hemi and the V10 but even i kno... you cant insult a cummins... and the new 6.7's are just reliable as the 5.9... the emission control stuff that they are having problems with are on all of the new deisel pickups... not to mention the new Asin 6-speed is better transmition...

 

I'm reviving this thread since I'm facing the same dilemma. I have not inclination of one over the other, just the best value for me. I think the best value is the V10 since they're so underappreciated, with the cummins the complete opposite. All things being equal, I'm finding about a $4000-5000 difference between the V10 and the Cummins. Some folks are even more proud of their diesels.

If I drive 500 miles a month average (not my primary vehicle), The V10 at 10MPG average with $3.09 fuel will cost me $154.00 a month to drive. A cummins at 20 MPG with fuel at $3.69 will run me $92.00 a month. $750 a year difference. It will take 5-6 years from initial purchase for me to make it back.

From a maintenance standpoint, I think its a tossup. While the cummins can obviously outlast the V10, the diesel has some pricey issues that people usually run into. I'm sure the poor average quality of diesel in the US doesn't help the injection pumps and lift pumps. 5 quarts less to change the oil on the V10 as well. If the motor were to wear out early on the V10 its only $1000 bucks for a lower mileage used one. For a cummins, $3000+.

I'm assuming in the next 5 years both trucks are going to be pretty much worthless as the newer generations of trucks continue to get more efficient and powerful.

For me, it seems the V10 is a better fit.

 

Not to mention the fact that all the rest of the truck, aside from the engine, is exactly the same...... Sure, the motor may last a half a million miles with just maintenance, but, the rest of the truck won't.....

 

I went through the same decision process before I bought mine last year. I looked at all kinds of 2nd gen trucks both gas and diesel powered. Finding one in decent shape was hard enough. For the $ the V10 won; that and I live in a condo so firing up the oil burner with a 4" exhaust at 2am when I go to work would've had the villagers coming after me with pitchforks and torches.

 

We bought our V10 solely because it was cheaper than the diesel... in the grand scheme of things, we could have ended up buying a badass diesel for what we ended up having into our V10.

But, it does exactly what I need it to do, and does it well... haul. We've put about 4000 heavy (11,000lbs+) long distance towing miles on it since we redid EVERYTHING on the truck, and I couldn't be happier with it.

I have never driven the diesel, so I honestly can't comment on it. If we had found one of those cheap to begin with, we probably would have bought that one. the V10 just happen to seem like a good deal at the time.... LOL

 

Pretty much from what I've seen stock verse stock the '90s v10s and Cummings engines, V10 was faster off the line the diesel was a little stronger in low end pulling power both at the time had quite a few power upgrades with quite a bit of potential pretty much both could easily see a thousand horsepower on the stock cranks with the right modifications with the right maintenance as well I've seen the v10s do just as well as the diesels plus a lot of the guys I know with performance upgrades on the Cummings end up having to rering them around 250 to 300,000 MI the block and the crank are good but when you push that much power through a diesel and make it spin that fast it wears the cylinder rings out really fast unless you upgrade them which at this point you're getting into so many modifications it's not the original motor or original versus anymore as soon as you bolt a new part onto a truck it's not considered the same so when looking at stock for stock trucks and depending on what you want is really the only question I'm building a mud truck and personally would never put that heavy slow diesel engine in I've seen turbo diesel struggle with mud pits whereas V10 and Gasser trucks walk right through them