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Continuing my quest for a new (to me) P/U truck, I keep coming across the Dodge 6 cylinder model. Anyone had any experience with these? Are they powerful enough? I know they have 12 valves, but still.......
12-valve Cummins is a good engine. The 1990s Dodge truck around it, not so much. If you do decide on one of these, look for one with the NV4500 manual transmission. With a few exceptions, it's a pretty bulletproof powertrain combo.
12-valve Cummins is a good engine. The 1990s Dodge truck around it, not so much. If you do decide on one of these, look for one with the NV4500 manual transmission. With a few exceptions, it's a pretty bulletproof powertrain combo.
Cummins is horrible.....not what they used to be. The newer the truck the more likely you end up with issues. Every truck OEM keeps coming out with new engines of their own to replace Cummins and it’s because the quality of their motors is on the decline and they are terrible for supporting customers/dealers after the sale.
If you need a diesel pickup stick with Ford or GM.
My 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD (Cummins Turbo Diesel) 4X4 Quad Cab long box is coming up on 411,000 miles. It is a 24 valve engine, automatic transmission.
My previous truck was a 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD 4X4 Quad Cab short box with 5 speed manual tranny. Using the clutch was becoming painful, so I got rid of it with just under 300,000 miles
My old 1994 Dodge Ram 3500 12 valve CTD, 5 speed manual tranny, dually, 4X2, Jacobs Rambrake (I wish I had that on my present truck!), towed a 32 foot fifth wheel trailer around the West for about three years, at a little over 21,000 lbs GCW, no troubles at all. It was approaching 300,000 miles when I decided I didn't need a one ton truck anymore.
Two of my sons have newer Ram CTD 2500 4X4 trucks. One is a standard cab 8 foot box, the other is a 4 door cab, 6.5 foot box. Neither has had problems. Another son recently bought a travel trailer, then found that his Ford F150 is simply inadequate. He is thinking about a Dodge/Ram CTD.
My neighbor had a Ford F250 diesel. He finally became so disgusted with it that he bought a used High Output Cummins with 6 speed tranny and had it installed in his Ford! There seem to be quite a few Fords with Cummins engines transplanted into them.
the 12 valve cummins diesel is a solid reliable engine that has decent power. and there are a few tricks you can use to up the power of that engine, and there are swap kits to install the allison automatic transmission in those trucks as well.
personally i would build a ford truck with the cummins 12 valve, and the allison 6spd automatic if i were needing a medium duty pick up. the best of all worlds imo.
I might have missed an earlier thread, Woody01. What parameters do you need for your truck? (Tow rating, max load, mileage, etc.)
I have a 2500 6 cyl diesel, but it's the 2017 model. It has 24 valves, but I just learned that by looking it up on the web. I've never really worried about that sort of detail since I wasn't going to work on the engine anyway. Honestly, I never even looked under the hood before driving it home.
I needed mine to tow 2 trailers*, one 8000lb and the other 12,000lbs. It works great with both, but I don't have a lot of miles on it yet. I considered a similar Ford truck, but it was (IIRC) about $8000 more for the same capability. The main draw of the Ford was the larger fuel tank, but I was able to add a larger aftermarket tank for only $1200 to mine. Seemed like a better deal to me.
One thing that surprised me about the newer diesel is the fuel mileage. Empty, I'm routinely getting 24 mpg on the highway. Towing I get the same as my old Ford diesel got -- 12-14 mpg.
I might have missed an earlier thread, Woody01. What parameters do you need for your truck? (Tow rating, max load, mileage, etc.)
Yes, I've been researching this for a few months getting closer to when I'll be able to pull the trigger....:-)
I'll be towing a 2-horse trailer, and in a mountainous area at times...so I want a 3/4 ton, and after going back and forth I'm pretty sure I'll go with diesel.
I came across this and hence the current question.....
Yes, I've been researching this for a few months getting closer to when I'll be able to pull the trigger....:-)
I'll be towing a 2-horse trailer, and in a mountainous area at times...so I want a 3/4 ton, and after going back and forth I'm pretty sure I'll go with diesel.
I came across this and hence the current question.....
That was the tail end of the 5.9 24 valve diesel in Dodges. They are a good engine. You will have plenty of snort to pull a 2 horse horse-trailer.
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