hello i just wanted to get some opinions if anybody has either of these two trucks. i am looking at buying a 05 2500 4wd ram and am not sure if i want the hemi or the cummins. i have previously had a 2500 with a gas and one with a cummins, i liked both. if anybody has either 05 truck what kind of mileage are you getting and if you have a hemi do you like it or wish you had the cummins? thanks

 

The best answer I can give is questions...

What body style, box length, what are you going to use your truck for,ect ect .

I own 06 2500 hemi reg cab 4x4 with a 6sp, my truck is awsome, tows great, mileage on the higway is 20 mpg at 60 mph.

My truck is a work truck with SLT perks and for what I need in a truck the hemi is the only way to go.

Once you start towing over 10,000 lbs with a quad cab 4x4 long box or mega cab, the hemi is not to practical, mpg sucks, it still will tow, but why would you.

CTD and the hemi are pretty close in mileage, empty, once you start working a CTD MPG stays consistant, not with the hemi.

The bigest negative of the ctd is the price, and diesel flue is way more expensive than gas right now.

I don't know alot abought the new CTD, because it's new, I would prefer the 5.9 CTD.

It's not a question of what is better, but what fits your needs.

 

i say it comes down to do you relly need the cummins?.....for most the hemi should be plentiful....

 

Most people with the 3rd gen 5.9's are getting 15-17 city. The hemi is only going to get 11-14 if you are lucky.

 

I do pull 20 mpg highway, I have dual ex and a topper, I don't go over 1800 Rpm in 6th gear 373 lt slip and My truck is a reg cab going 60 mph ...

City mileage is not good, and if I'm towing, milage is so/so not better than a CTD.

Autonatics suck up a lot H/P ( don't know abought mds ) and with a stick your better able to adjust to raod conditions, hills, ect,

 

The cummins can take a beating and keep on ticking. . .granted the hemi is a good motor. .. the torque curve is in the upper RPM's. so to get good pulling power out of it you have to winde the engine out. I'm still doing testing and tuneing on my cummins, but she's pulling very hard right off idle all the way to redline. . .my clutch is hating life, but I'm enjoying it

if you plan on towing alot the cummins will be your ticket. anything under about 8K and the hemi will do good, 8-10 it would be your call, it just depends on how often you tow. over 10K and dont even bother with the hemi. .. the tranny will live in 2nd to 3rd gear and pulling up a hill will realy heat things up.

 

alpine... its all about what you need the truck for and what your wallet looks like... i do ocasional towing and i go off roading.. im on a smaller budget than i would like to be so i went hemi... i love it...

 

Another thing you have to consider is how long you keep the truck. It will be a little different since you are buying used but on a new one, it takes a minimum of 100,000+ miles to pay for the Diesel.

In my case, I would like to have a Cummins but I tow 10K once/twice a month and 14K once a year so it was hard for me to justify the Diesel. I bought a 2500 Hemi with 50K miles on it for roughly the same price as a Cummins truck with 100K+. And, it handles my loads just fine. I had big block Ford before and the Hemi is better towing than what it ever was.


Cyclone – I am jealous of the manual trans. Wish I could have found one of those when I bought my truck!

 

I am sitting on 35's and get a avereage of 15.5 mpg's with the Cummins. 4x4 qcsb laramine.

 

I am sitting on 35's and with all my crap (winch, brush guards, suspension lift kit, etc.) prolly weigh close to what you weigh with that Cummins& solid front axleand I average about 13.5 in all around driving. I fugured the Cummins would be good for about a 2 mpg advantage.
Now where you'll REALLY clean my clock is towing some good heavy weight, like 4-5k lbs. and up...

IMO if you don't tow often or don't tow heavy weightanddrive less than 15k miles a year it's not cost effective to get the CTD. Unless you just want one and can pay the higher sticker and operational costs. The only possible exception being if you plan on keeping it a very long time, as with average driving a diesel should get minimum twice the engine life as a gasser.
If you tow often or heavy loads, drive 20k miles or more a year then in the long run, the CTD would be a much wiser choice.
Now, personal preference would trump any of the above. I sold my bassboat, so I don't tow. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland for my daily driver, so I now average about 8k miles a year on my truck. BUT MY NEXT TRUCK WILL BE A CTD!!!