Hey fellers.......

I have a question for ya's pertaining to the Cummins. I presently own a 2005 1500 SB 4x4 with the little 4.7L and seasonaly tow about 4000lbs of boat/trailor around. I know my current truck can handle this just fine and that the 2500 can kick some serious bootay, and I'm a little partial to the Dodge line here but........


Why are people calling the chevy a DuraCrap engine and whatabout the Powerstroke one? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to stir up any s*&t here, I'm just soooooooo new to the diesel thing that I wanna make a good decision between the three. Again, I'm extremely heavily leaning in the cummins direction but wanna make sure I at least have a basic understanding of what I'm buying into with the cummins.

I'm looking at a new 2006 Ram 2500 CC SWB 4x4 SLT. I know I should stay away from the 4.10 ratio thing...........anything else?

I was also thinking............why does the powerstroke and the duramax engines have a V8 when the cummins has an I6.....and more power. Is just pure evidence that the cummins is the real deal whereas the others are wannabe's?

Thanks for your collective insight !!!

 

They are all good motors. But when you come to real torque and power, i think you answered your own question. Take a look at the trucks on the highways, do they run v-8's. LMAO. Hell no they dont. Now why is that? Go with the Dodge with the Cummins. My first is a 1997 Dodge Ext. Cab Long Box 4x4 with CTD. And i still have it till this day. It has 134,000 mi on it and still going stronger than it did when i bought it. I will never go back to a gasser pickup. So anyway take it for what its worth. Also i used to be diehard Chevy. Thats not the case anymore. Dodges and Honda's. lol

Axe_1

 

I've been hearing the Powerstrokes are have alot of problems and the Chevy tranny is also having major issues. I'm going Dodge, I beat the living hell out of my Dakota and it keeps on ticking...

 

I recently bought my first dodge was a ford guy all the way. We bought a larger travel trailer this summer about 8500 or so loaded, and my 95 F150 with the 351 would not pull it. Well to be fair it did pull it about half a dozen times and never left us stranded or broke down. I did though kill my wallet at 5 mpg (the truth) at best, and unless it was a perfect day, no wind and no hills at all (not even an inlcine) we could muster 60 mph with it floored and I am talking floored. So any wind or inlcine and we were pissing people off at 40 mph.

I went looking for a used diesel to replace it. I have dreamed of a powerstroke for years and never cold justify the 3/4 ton and diesel till now. I drove all of them looking for the best deal. I did not notice a seat of the pants power or torque difference in any of the three. The Chevys I drove were the most comfortable to me as far as creature comfort and they were the smoothest, not alot of truck type ride and shifted real smooth. The Ford was the biggest all around it seemed, interior, tall, long, and wide. The dodge was nice it definetley felt more like a truck in ride, interior was great not real fancy, and the big one price. I eventually bought new and even the new ones I drove seemed to mimick the above stuff. I drove all three and bought the Dodge, there was just not that much of a difference to me. Maybe it comes down to what matters to you because there is differences. The big one for me was price, used or new my dream ford was about 5000 more. It did not matter used compareable trucks the ford was about 5000 more, and the same new. The chevy was a little more than dodge 2-3000. I am so glad that I opened my view and looked at all three I think that I got the best truck for me and could not be happier.

 

Ummm, lots of road trucks run CAT V-8's. Anyway, for pickups there just isn't any beating the Cummins, the engine was designed for 25,000 lb industrial applications. I've actually seen a farm tractor that had the exact same ISB engine sitting in it. Out of the big three the Dodge is the only one that has a real truck diesel sitting in it.

 

I bought a 2005 Dodge 2500 Diesel. First ever diesel and first ever Dodge. Ran Silverados for years but they really struggled when towing a load. Now I pull twice as much - sometimes 12,000 lbs. plus - and that truck rarely notices a hill. Trans. is auto with OD. Gears are 373. In over 55 years of driving, I've never been so impressed with a vehicle like I have with this truck. I think you will like your choice of the Cummings diesel.

 

I HAVE HAD MANY DIESEL AND GAS PICK UPS --AND ITS A TOUGH ONE TO GIVE A VAGUE REPLY AS EACH ONE I OWNED WAS DIFFERENT IN MANY WAYS-I AM NO KID-53 AND WAS IN THE MECHANICAL FIELD ALL MY LIFE---SO THE ONE THING I WILL SAY IS CHECK OUT ALL DATA FOR RECALL ISSUES ON THEM ALL--AND I THINK A CONCLUSION I CAME TO WITH ALL THE INFO OUT THERE IS THIS--NO MECHANIC IS GOING TO REPORT ANY TERRIBLE GENERALITIES ABOUT THE FORD 7.3 OR THE CUMMINGS 5.9.IF TAKEN CARE OF YOU WILL EASILLY GET 250K+ EASILY ON EACH.THE PROBLEM I FELL IS UNIVERSAL TO ALL IS AUTOMATIC TRANNY PROBLEMS--AND THERE IS ALOT OF OTHER TRUCK AROUND THE ENGINE TO CONSIDER TOO.SO CONSIDER ALOT OF INVESTIGATION FIRST-NOT SALES PROPAGANDA.I HAD A TERRIBLE TIME WITH DEALER INCOMPETANCE WITH MY 04 SLT 2500 DIESEL BACK 3 TIMES FOR THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM AND ALL THEY DID WAS LIE TO ME AND CHRYSLER TECH--BUT THAT IS NOT THE TRUCK ITS THE DEALER--SO MAKE IT A CONSIDERATION ALSO---GOOD HUNTING

 

Well back in the late 60s and early 70s,, Cummins jumped on the V8 band wagon, and it almost broke them.. V265 V555 V904,, A fellow who worked there at that time said it was the high pitch vibes of a diesel, and a v8 that made it not work. Look at power stroke,, there anti vibe flywheel is a nightmare. Detroit's Silver V92 was not so bad for holding up in semis, but it still ate the company up also. And for Cats 3208,, well it sucked.. I called them the slobber engine. I feel all of us here will see big semis go back to huge 4 cyl before its all over. Detroit 50s are one nice running and pulling engine.

Daniel

 

i dont understand whats posted above about the cummins being the only real diesel in a pick up. actually the powerstroke is made by international. i believe that international is a real engine.
get what truck you like the most. if you buy used and decide do not buy the 03-04 6.0 powerstroke, they had tons of problems with them. the best motor in the ford was the 2003 7.3 powerstroke diesel.

my 00 f-550 has the 7.3 in it and has 180k on it with no major problems yet. good luck with your choice...

 

I'll agree with the 7.3 power stroke, that engine will last a LONG time if taken care of. the main issue the 6.oh-no's had was with the way the injectors fired. instead of being the normal "jerk" style, or electricaly fired, the 6.0's were fired by a high pressure engine oil feed through a high pressure oil pump. if the oil had any air or 'froth' in the line the injector stoped fireing completely. plus the fuel pump was lubricated by this same oil, when the air and froth hit the fuel pump it died as well. it was a VERY dissapointing engine that is still costing Ford.

the chevy is just like the cummins when it comes to fuel delivery, it uses the same HPCR design, however it has the v style setup. the engine is high windeing, and makes alot of power. but put too much power to the block and it WILL break. the only thing about the v type engine is the side-wall loading. this will cause premature piston wear as well as cylinder wall erosion. something the Cummins doesnt have since it is an inline engine.

all the other points I would have been made have been addressed, except that 99% of all OTR trucks run an inline 6 design, throughout my short stent with being a grease monkey and a stick jockey I only saw 1 V8 (a CAT) and 1 V16 (A DD 92V16) everything else was either a Cummins N14 M11, Cat C14 C15 C17 or a DD 60 series are the most popular.