Nuttz, Bagu, the rest of y'all gearheads... (gasket, best, seats)
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Well boys the time has come. I have worked my fingers to the bone and saved and waited patiently for far too many years. Without going through the whole damn painful story, I'm about to buy me another truck. Cummins or Duramax? I want y'all's input. I am looking specifically at 2006 or 2007, as I don't want the newer emissions stuff. I have little experience hands on on either, and enough on the 6.0 and 6.4 to convince me to steer clear of the blue oval. For now it will drag a 29 ft tagalong travel trailer, but there may be a fifth wheel in the future. Right now I am leaning toward the Mopar, because I found one that I really like, but I have been a GM man since the demise of AMC. SO what have you driven, worked on, heard or seen?
Thanks in advance.
I'd actually go back a couple years (to about '99-2001) and get the 7.3 Super Duty. Much better choice than the later Fords, and stronger than the choices you are looking at (including the bits that aren't the engine/tansmission). I personally bought a mid '90s Chevy 6.4 turbodiesel, but that was because it was in my price range (under $5k). I'd have preferred the Ford 7.3, but they are in high demand for a reason, and they hold their value to well to have been able to get one.
I'd have to go with Merc. Dial back to one of the older 7.3's, they are probably one of the best diesel engines ever put into a retail truck. Outside of that I would go with the Dodge Cummins setup. The GM stuff is better than the 6.0 and 6.4 (who knows with the new 6.7), but it isn't nearly as good as the older 7.3 and the Cummins in the Dodge.
Well boys the time has come. I have worked my fingers to the bone and saved and waited patiently for far too many years. Without going through the whole damn painful story, I'm about to buy me another truck. Cummins or Duramax? I want y'all's input. I am looking specifically at 2006 or 2007, as I don't want the newer emissions stuff. I have little experience hands on on either, and enough on the 6.0 and 6.4 to convince me to steer clear of the blue oval. For now it will drag a 29 ft tagalong travel trailer, but there may be a fifth wheel in the future. Right now I am leaning toward the Mopar, because I found one that I really like, but I have been a GM man since the demise of AMC. SO what have you driven, worked on, heard or seen?
Thanks in advance.
I worked for two years at a GMC dealer as a parts driver and I am not a diesel mechanic.
What I can tell you is that all the mechanics in our shop hated the Duramax diesel.
I delivered to shops that repaired all types of diesels and by far the personal choice of the mechanics was the Ford diesels.
The mechanics at Caterpillar all drove Ford diesels
The only people buying GMC diesels were die hard GM guys and you know they never buy anything but GM
My brother is a die hard Ford guy but he wanted a Cummins diesel so he bought a Dodge. The second day he owned it he wanted to return it to the dealer but they turned him down. He loves the Cummins engine but he hates the Dodge.
I have no preference but just reporting on what I have witnessed in the past two years.
1998 Dodge Cummins has been trouble free engine wise. The ft end linkage is a tad weak for plowing in a 1 ton dump 4x4 configuration and I hear the tranny is a little light, but it hasn't caused any problems yet. I sure don't cowboy around plowing though.
Wish it had more power going up hills (don't we all?)
Seats are all day long which is nice.
I am/was a GM guy mostly and think Dodge is strange, mostly in wiring.
GM since 2000 is just screwed up no matter what they make IMO.
Well boys the time has come. I have worked my fingers to the bone and saved and waited patiently for far too many years. Without going through the whole damn painful story, I'm about to buy me another truck. Cummins or Duramax? I want y'all's input. I am looking specifically at 2006 or 2007, as I don't want the newer emissions stuff. I have little experience hands on on either, and enough on the 6.0 and 6.4 to convince me to steer clear of the blue oval. For now it will drag a 29 ft tagalong travel trailer, but there may be a fifth wheel in the future. Right now I am leaning toward the Mopar, because I found one that I really like, but I have been a GM man since the demise of AMC. SO what have you driven, worked on, heard or seen?
Thanks in advance.
The Ford 7.3L is one of the best, if not the best but the Cummins rates right up there. The Duramax is a working diesel for the diehard GM guys and will still out pull anything the competition is putting out. If you know what I mean? Runs on rice and attitude! lol Once you go diesel it is hard to go back for a "real" pickem-up truck!
Well here's my deal. I'm a fleet mechanic, and have worked on everything bigger than a one ton truck in a utility fleet. Now I'm on the generation side of the house and working primarily on cranes and other construction equipment. I'll give y'all my take on the big three, and let me know if your experience is simmilar or 180 off.
Ford, the ONLY one I would have would be a 7.3 But that goes back to 2003 and most available have 200K miles on them. Ford has the best ride quality and most room in the cab, but they never found a tranny that could hold up to the Navistar. I found the factory suspensions to be less than GMs, but I have never liked IFS on a four wheel drive.
GM, the best fleet service pickup out there. Reliability, plenty of power, but not as comfortable as I would like. Momma drives a 2007 Suburban and loves it, I'm just glad to get where we are going so I can get out of the damn thing. Other than that, no complaints. A GM truck with the Isuzu and Allison combo seems like a dream, I just need to find the right seat.
Dodge, they were my least favorite in the beginning, as they seemed to need more attention, and often that attention came in dealer only form. There's no doubting the Cummins, and from everyone else I have talked to, by 2005 they had transmission issues squared away. Other than that, my partner at work has one, and he dragged the afore mentioned trailer for me once, getting 21 mpg.
Ideally, Someone find me a crew cab, long bed, F350 SRW with a Cummins hooked to an Allison, and I'll buy it
Thanks guys, I'm liking all of this input without it being a pissing contest.
Well here's my deal. I'm a fleet mechanic, and have worked on everything bigger than a one ton truck in a utility fleet. Now I'm on the generation side of the house and working primarily on cranes and other construction equipment. I'll give y'all my take on the big three, and let me know if your experience is simmilar or 180 off.
Ford, the ONLY one I would have would be a 7.3 But that goes back to 2003 and most available have 200K miles on them. Ford has the best ride quality and most room in the cab, but they never found a tranny that could hold up to the Navistar. I found the factory suspensions to be less than GMs, but I have never liked IFS on a four wheel drive.
GM, the best fleet service pickup out there. Reliability, plenty of power, but not as comfortable as I would like. Momma drives a 2007 Suburban and loves it, I'm just glad to get where we are going so I can get out of the damn thing. Other than that, no complaints. A GM truck with the Isuzu and Allison combo seems like a dream, I just need to find the right seat.
Dodge, they were my least favorite in the beginning, as they seemed to need more attention, and often that attention came in dealer only form. There's no doubting the Cummins, and from everyone else I have talked to, by 2005 they had transmission issues squared away. Other than that, my partner at work has one, and he dragged the afore mentioned trailer for me once, getting 21 mpg.
Ideally, Someone find me a crew cab, long bed, F350 SRW with a Cummins hooked to an Allison, and I'll buy it
Thanks guys, I'm liking all of this input without it being a pissing contest.
The F-250 and F-350 in automatic platform backed with the 7.3L has something else you may not know. The tranny is smack dab right out in the middle of everything underneath. The pan also has a drain plug. What does this mean? Easy as it gets tranny fluid and filter changes without taking a shower in the fluid thanks to the drain plug. You even have plenty of room on the pan bolts to chuck up a 3/8"X 1/4" adapter for a 3/8" drive 10mm in your cordless drill to really cut the time down. Just don't use it to reinstall them, but you already knew that! That pan is in the wide open and anyone who doesn't service it every 15-20K is just flat out lazy. No mess, no fuss and even the gasket is reusable so don't throw the OEM one away. Some are on there 20th or so service and still like new. Always use a torque wrench to tighten them in a criss-cross fashion. You already knew that though too!
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Once you go diesel it is hard to go back for a "real" pickem-up truck!
That pan is in the wide open and anyone who doesn't service it every 15-20K is just flat out lazy. No mess, no fuss and even the gasket is reusable so don't throw the OEM one away. Some are on there 20th or so service and still like new. Always use a torque wrench to tighten them in a criss-cross fashion. You already knew that though too!
