6.0 vs 7.3 vs cummins

There IS a benefit to a cummins for me.

My best friend is one of the lead mechanics at Cummins Atlantic in GSO :huggy:
 
I work for Cummins Atlantic here in Charlotte, I've been out of the truck side for a while, but I can offer a mechanics point of view on the matter. Cummins' are simple engines, there isn't a whole lot to them, and you can get to pretty much everything without having to kill yourself. Unfortunately everything around the engine, lacks anything to be desired. If you can find a more universal engine, I'll buy you a steak dinner. Dodge did it right with the cummins the went and put an industrial engine in an automotive application, everyone else has built their engines to suit the auto market, which has made them come up short on many occasions. Personally I'm a fan of any 5.9's prior to 07' when they got into all this emissions b.s. If I could afford to build a custom truck is would be a Cummins/Allison drivetrain with a Ford body/suspension setup, and GM's suspension ride. Have you looked into any of the Ford/cummins conversions?
 
Ford or chevys with a cummins swapped in them is the way to go. I've said it before and ill say it again......
I lovw my cummins but I hate my dodge!
 
So, where have we all gotten after 28 posts?

Don't buy a 6.0 because a friend's father has a brother that has a crappy one...
7.3 is good and strong but hard to find with low miles and cheap
cummins is loud and dodge sucks

pretty much wrap it up?

So, what ya gonna buy?
 
rockcity said:
So, where have we all gotten after 28 posts?
Don't buy a 6.0 because a friend's father has a brother that has a crappy one...
7.3 is good and strong but hard to find with low miles and cheap
cummins is loud and dodge sucks
pretty much wrap it up?
So, what ya gonna buy?
Click to expand...


Don't really have a choice DO I

Toyota Tundra :lol:

I have a few cummins, 7.3's and duramax's I have to look at this weekend. But definatly NOT the 6.0 dually I nearly pulled the trigger on tuesday!
 
I have a 6.0 diesel and had one in the past and have a friend that is on his second one. Both of us have had wonderful experiences with ours. I don't know of anyone first hand that has had the nightmarish issues everyone talks about...
 
Yeah that's what I'm seeing. LOVE to hear some first hand horror stories, but the second hand ones are enough to make me leary.
 
rockcity said:
I have a 6.0 diesel and had one in the past and have a friend that is on his second one. Both of us have had wonderful experiences with ours. I don't know of anyone first hand that has had the nightmarish issues everyone talks about...
Click to expand...

You know me!

Let me name a few problems...

-turbo
-3 head gaskets
-warped heads
-2 rear ring and pinions
-egr cooler
-some bullshit sensor that left me stranded at harlan


Truck will move though. And my brother has only had head gasket issue with his once. All of these issues have now been fixed with upgraded parts but I would not purchase a STOCK 6.0 without upgrades.
 
I'm a Dodge diesel and transmission tech. That being said, I vote 5.9 Cummins with either tranny choice. If it is an auto, plan on or either go ahead and address torque converter issues. Go ahead and install a better converter and a better valve body. We're not talking a lot of money here and most of us on the board can turn a wrench ourselves fairly well in order to save some coin.
5.9's are trouble free mechanically if left stock. I rarely do any major repairs as long as they have not been modded. At worst an injector (which is an easy at home fix on a Cummins).
You can't find low mileage 7.3's, ya can't trust a 6.0 and generally Duramaxes have issues at higher miles (in your price range).
My 2 cents.
 
i have had them all and i have got to say I LOVE my OBS Fords with the 7.3's, the best overall. Ilike the cummins but as previously mentioned Dodge builds a truck around the engine and i think it does ride better than the fords and definitely get better fuel mileage. i got around 28 on the road not towing and 20 towing at the speed limit.the 01 duramax i bought was the worst mistake i ever made. i have a 03 6.0 that is my DD and i have had headstuds and gaskets, egr delete, 8 new injectors, hpop, icp, oil cooler and few other odds and ends replaced and upgraded.but i knew what to be expecting when i bought it and what to do to correct the problems and did just that when they arrose. my wife caused the tranny to go out towing our 38' horse trailer through the mountians of Col. in overdrive and burnt it up but now has a built tranny from BTS. i would take that into consideration when nego a deal with somebody on a 6.0 that it might need a few thousand $'s of work down the road unless u find 1 still under warranty and then i would buy the ford extended warranty to 200k. if you are looking a 7.3 with less than 100k miles on it then i would sell my 97 cc srw 4x4 with 62k on it for 25k and NOT A DIME LESS my 96 has 130k on the clock now and i just sold a 96 with 328k on the clock and ran great and only burned about 3qts. between services.
 
So do we need to add a sticky about the different manufacturers, the years, and their pros/cons???

seems like threads like this come once every few weeks
 
farmboy said:
You know me!
-some bullshit sensor that left me stranded at harlan
QUOTE]


Yea.....but it would still run off brake cleaner:flipoff2:
Click to expand...
 
rockcity said:
So, where have we all gotten after 28 posts?
Don't buy a 6.0 because a friend's father has a brother that has a crappy one...
7.3 is good and strong but hard to find with low miles and cheap
cummins is loud and dodge sucks
pretty much wrap it up?
So, what ya gonna buy?
Click to expand...
Well said.
You left out the best one though......
 
Well I have to say one thing I have learned in a short time with a diesel,if you dont NEED a diesel I wouldnt buy one!They cost alot of money to keep up and by far the most expensive parts compared to hot rodding,rock crawling different automotive hobbies.

After saying that though I LOVE my ol cummins(2003 5.9 6 spd quad cab short bed) its the best of both worlds but man has it been a pain "learning the world of diesel".Lets just say that after 3 different shops (last being farmboys diesel) and 6 months later hen i get home from this deployment I will FINALLY have my truck back!Its started with a slight starting problem and after many long days and hours of reading cummins forum and talking to diesel meachanics I had found out the 03-04 injector problem.Anyways long story short I tried to go the cheap way buying a used set of "rebuilt" injectors come to find out they were bad but not knowing that for 5 months and going to other components as the injection pump,TONS of sensors,fuel tubes,ECM,other odd parts etc. I learned the HARD way to say the least but have learned A TON about these old trucks.

These trucks can pull a house down and do it with ease but if you run into problems it can be costly.......

Oh and I LOVE my 6spd,if you have ever been into other hobbies such as rock crawling or hot rodding catching the diesel itch can be easy!
 
rockcity said:
The 7.3 is slower and uses more fuel but seems to be much more reliable. Most older ones for sale are either worn out or something is wrong. Anyone that likes the Ford diesel and has a late 7.3 is keeping it in lieu of the 6.0 or the newer ones.
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I disagree on the mileage. I have a friend that gets about 10-12 towing with his 6.0 (albeit a bigger/heavier trailer than I tow), but he gets 15 empty. I get 15 towing with my 6 spd 7.3, and ~19 empty.

Also, you CAN find low mileage 7.3's, they are VERY hard to find though. Mine is an early 99' and has around 95K miles on it. Another guy on here (brandon, ol'jeeps maybe?) just bought a 2000 F-250, 7.3, 6spd for ~15-16K with about 75K miles on it.

I am sure you will want an automatic, which are easier to find. Low mileage 7.3's are hard to find and will be pushing the $15K+ range, but I wouldn't hesitate buying one with 150-200K miles if it was well cared for. Our shop truck has 305K on it, it DEFINETLY shows, it probably really has 600K on it with all the idling it used to do (was a tire truck), smokes and doesn't have much power (450's/550's were detuned from factory)
 
Ok I guess I'll chime in on this one. Here's what I see from a standpoint of doing diesel performance work on any and all of the above. I've owned nothing but Dodges and wouldn't have it any other way but I will give you unbiased information on each truck.

Dodge

94-98 12 valve-the most reliable diesel engine in a pickup, auto trans are very weak, not room for 6 people unless you buy Tim's crew cab, killer dowel pin is the only thing to watch out for, body is very prone to rust, 5 spd manual has 5th gear nut issues

98.5-02 24 valve-injection pumps are prone to failure-a good high volume lift pump will fix this, auto trans is still weak, same 5th gear but issue with 5 speed, 6 speed available in HO truck in 01 and 02

03-07 5.9 Common Rail-injection pump is no longer an issue, auto trans is a little stronger, 03 trucks were available with a 5 speed with an SO engine, 6 speed in 03 HO and everything 04 and newer, iron NV5600 6 spd from 03-05, G56 aluminum 6 spd from 05-07, quad cab has a small rear seat, mega cab availble in 06 and 07

Ford

94-97 7.3 powerstroke-very reliable engine, has some issues with electronics, auto trans is weak, 5 speed trans is good, some had low first gear, crew cabs are hard to find but are simple and reliable, entended cabs don't offer much room, no intercooler

99-03 7.3 powerstroke-same engine with the addition of intercooler, same auto trans, 5 spd still available in 99, 6 spd available every year, probably the most comforable crew cab and your best option for what you want to do.

03-07 6.0 powerstroke-auto trans is improved, common problems are egr, head gasket, turbo, hpop, injectors. With the right mods you can eliminate most of these problems. Need to delete the egr and stud the heads asap if you buy one. This would be my last choice on the list.

Chevrolet

01-04 LB7 Duramax-Allison trans is better than the rest but not by as much as people say. Common problems with injectors. Very nice ride. Independent front end. Has weak tie rods. Crew cabs are very comfortable. Common problem with hole worn in top of transfer case. Be sure to look for this on any year Duramax. Manual trans is known to give problems.

04.5-06 LLY Duramax-same as above but is very prone to overheating 04.5-05. EGR and VGT turbo was introduced on the LLY

06-07 LBZ Duramax-increase in horsepower, Allison went from 5 spd to 6 spd
 
rockcity said:
cummins is loud and dodge sucks
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about it some more... and decided I should probably qualify what I said earlier.

There are lots of 'issues' with the Dodges that can ultimately be traced back to bad VE revisions, trying to pinch a penny here and there, etc.

But in terms of build quality, Dodge is just a couple of years behind Ford or Chevy. The 03 Dodge is hands-down nicer and better built than the OBS Fords, and probably even better than the 99-01 Super Duties.

I mean... my truck is 8 years old now, and the AC still mostly works. That's better than any Ford I've ever owned. :lol:

And I dunno what you mean about Cummins being loud. The common-rail motors sound like they're gas-powered so long as you keep a muffler on them.
 
I've owned 4 PSD's , I'd rather drive my loudass dodge forever, then roll the dice on a POS 6.0, no matter what year or how many miles. A 7.3 is ok if you can find a decent one that isn't an auto (I had to buy 3 trannys for my auto PSD's).
 
OK So I drove a 06 3500 dodge cummins dually home from the dealership while they looked at my exploder.

On the way home it drove fine, but on slight inclines giving it little throttle in the 45 mph range, it seemed to hunt for the right gear. A LOT?!?!?!

Is this common?


136k miles

Don't think I want an auto

Looking at a straight drive soon
 
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