I am shoping for a replacement for my '03 quad cab with the hemi. I have over 220k and have never been let down. I am thinking of a '10-'11 mega cab but I am toying with the idea of going diesel. I drive about 100 miles a day commuting to work and in the winter I haul a 30' enclosed snowmobile trailer. The hemi has done everything I wanted to but @ a cost of about 7mpg towing and 13ish empty. What do you think are realistice expectations form the 6.7 in a mega cab?

 

Im a hemi owner, 2006 ram 2500 reg cab with a 6sp man.

Several issues I have experianced with my trucks front suspension, drive line compoanants and stearing question if I want to get into a new CTD 2500 truck, but my heart tugs deep for a CTD.

From what little I know, the 5.9 ctd seems to be the engine of choice as its not loaded with all the clean burning emmisons crap on it, the 6.7 at times will go into a burn out mode were it burns out the trapped particulets, I know a 2009 CTD owner who has the 6.7 and curses him slef daily for trading in his 5.9.

Dodge 2500 trucks have lousy front suspensions and drive line componants, mostly due to the non servicable componants on ball joints, front u joints, and yup, some one will say thier 2500 truck has mega miles on the stock suspension and never had a issue.

Its not so much a question of hemi vers CTD, as booth do the job, hemi costs more to do the job, CTD costs more to start the job, if your running empty, thiers no mileage gain with the 6.7 over the hemi.

You all ready own a used truck thats doing the job, to get a used truck that has more cool facter towing abillity may not be worth it when the CTD trucks starts to rip its self apart.

I would go brand spanking new only becaus e you get to dictate how you operate your truck, you have warenty from day one vers some one bailing out on a one to two year old truck thats the dealer is up selling and not insuring you that all mainatnce is up to date.

 

Ok, take it from a cummins owner. Hemi has NOTHING on the cummins. I've driven the hemi, and let me tell you it doesn't hold a candle to the raw power of the cummins. The hemi is built to perform at stock performance and get the job done, the Cummins is built to operate in the most extreme conditions and work its *** off for heavy commercial use. So the cummins can take a LOT of abuse, and it can withstand having its hp and torque doubled and not have to worry about the internals coming apart. lets see a hemi double its power and hold up with STOCK internals. hell even stock internals with 200k miles on it...wont happen.


now for 5.9 vs 6.7...the 6.7L is a beast, but it has a major flaw that can be fixed but at a high cost...

the 6.7L has a DPF in the exhaust, and an EGR in the intake... these two things are murder on fuel economy, and harmful to the intake and the turbo. you can delete both, but at the cost of your warranty. once eliminated, you can drive the truck however you want, gain 5+ mpg by deleting them, and you can run programmers or EFILive tuning to dramatically increase the trucks power.



now you say you get 13mpg empty?! ouch.... and you put up with that?!

my truck has 225k miles on it, has over DOUBLE the factory hp and tq @ the rear wheels, purrs like a kitten, and with me hot rodding it around got at worst 12mpg (in the winter)... average 14-17mpg depending on how I drive. and I have oversized tires and towing gears...those with highway gears and more of a mild injector are getting 20-24mpg...

As for maintenance and repairs...I've never had to replace anything on my engine..not 1 part. I did go through a couple turbo's but that was because I increased the power a lot without doing supporting mods and caused a head gasket and turbo to go. once supporting mods got on there, I increased power again drastically and no problems. do it right the motor can take it no sweat. I have had to spend a small fortune replacing other things like engine accessories (alternator, power steering pump, AC compressor) and other dodge parts ( u-joints, entire steering assembly, track bar, hub assemblies, transmission) engine itself...air filter, fuel filter, oil, coolant...that's about it... lol 5.9L cummins engines are damn near bulletproof. 6.7's can be if deletes are done.

even after the 17grand I poured into my truck between repairs, and performance upgrades, you couldn't pay me to sell my truck. I'll keep it till one of us dies. and for it, that would have to be an accident she cant be rebuild from...otherwise I'll fix whatever breaks or wears out and keep on enjoying her.

 

Let put it this way always been a HEMI fan, bought a CUMMINS, will NEVER go back.

 

Well those are some impressive numbers. I am thinking the Cummins will be the way to go. Are the DPF and EGR delete kits an easy swap before a trip to the dealer prior to warranty work or do they leave a hard code? Do you have to do them in conjunction or is one more beneficial than the other?

 

Ditto.... Have always owned a Hemi since they came out in 03. Awesome engines, never a problem. Pulled my 9k trailer pretty good, but definately know it was back there. Bought a Megacab Cummins this year and have never looked back. If i didnt have mirrors on the truck, you would never know a trailer was back there.

 

Hillbilli,
I own a 07 megacab hemi 4x and also pull a 9k toyhauler and get about 8 mpg towing and 12-13 around town empty mostly highway. We are thinking about dumping it and going to a 6.7 megacab. What is your mileage like towing and empty with your diesel? Stock or deleted?
Thanks

 

My 6.7 cummins got an average of 12 mpg over a 4800 mile cross country trek with a ~14k pound trailer hooked up to it, with the deletes and a black maxx programmer. It ran the 1/4 in 13.8 my first night at the track, and empty on the highway I could average 20-ish.

 

Im really not impressed with the hemis. We have a 07 and I feel for the "power" its supposed to have I sure dont feel it. Im pretty sure my 318 in my dakota was faster with my slipping tranny. Anyway Ill never go back to gas. I love my 5.9 has tons of power,ability to haul tons of crap and get good mpg. I have 4.10's so my mileage could be better(2k at 60) I average 18mpg If im hard on it about 15mpg. I love being able to go from stock on my programmer to level 5 and gain 120 hp and 350lb tq. My buddy has the same truck as me(02 4x4 6 speed but with 3.55's) He did 70mph from pa to nc and got 22mpg the whole way. Our hemi cant even do that with the mds. We are lucky to break 18mpg in it.

 

i'm impressed with the hemis but it is in my wife's 300C---i don't think it could do what my 06 CTD w/junkyard flatbed can do---hell her hemi doesn't even have a trailer hitch--nuff said