cummins vs PSD

sharksanddanger

sharksanddanger

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Location
Reidsville
I am looking into getting a tow rig but was curious as to what yalls thoughts were. Its between the 2003-05 6.0 liter V8 Ford F250-350 or the 2003-05 Dodge Cummins diesel. Which would you choose and why? Which transmissions are worse? I'd prefer a manual but they are very hard to come by. Thanks!
 
Check out how many lawsuits ford has against then for the pos 6.0L powersroke. They have had a lot of problems out of the motor (cutting off without warning and other problems). The guy on the farm near my house has a 2005 cummins automatic dually and he loves it. No problems and it has pulled a 40' goosneck many times with around 30,000 pounds loaded on the trailer. He says it just doesnt have enough takeoff power to pull 3 5420 John Deere tractors on the trailer :shaking: . He had a '04 powerstroke that kept cutting off for no reason and it got traded on the dodge. I know your looking for a newer model but if you get a ford i would go for the 7.3L, but thats just my opinjion. Maybe some folks with the 6.0 will post up.
 
From everything I have read and learned and heard firsthand, when I buy a truck it will be a 2006 or newer Duramax with the Allison auto (and Im a manual trans guy).

You get the reliability/power/mileage of a Dodge, without it actually being a Dodge.
 
I think you already know that the cummins is the clear winner. *Especially* when you're talking manual trans. I own quite a few fords, but would never buy a psd.
 
I got the 7.3 in my '01 Excursion and love the power. I had the hypertech chip in it and it had so much power I could get it to slide side ways going around the corners. My wife actually got mad when I took the chip out. I use it to pull my cherokee on a trailer. The other good thing about my Excursion is that I can pull out the 3rd row seat and a full size air matress fits in the back perfectly. So when I camp on cold nights I let the truck idle and keep nice and warm. I don't have to mess with setting up the tent. The wife thought it was stupid until we froze and then we did that and she loved it. Plus my tent leaked. We laughed at those that got wet and cold that night that laughed at my idea. My daughter can sleep across the back seat too. I am going to make something that lays across the front seats for my son. Sorry I got off track. Love my 7.3.
 
I work for a power utility company and we have over a bunch of 7.3 psd and they are great, they are reliable but without a 4.56 gear like the 450 550 units have they are dogs. The 6.0 units in the 03 and newer psd we have all have been to the dealer mulitply times for major engine work and never get more than 5000 miles between head cracks or turbo failure, or the most common injectors failing. But that is why ford is being sued to death over these crappy 6.0, the auto units feel like race cars but the engine in either manual or auto won't hold together.
I own a 02 cummins auto for a tow rig and can say it has had no problems and it will hang and pass the 6.0, stock for stock.
No matter what, you can not beat a CUMMINS for price and reliablity, and we all know if you want to juice them up the cummins is the winner hands down, but get the 01-newer auto if your going to get the big tow numbers and lay the juice boxes to it.
 
braxton357 said:
I think you already know that the cummins is the clear winner. *Especially* when you're talking manual trans. I own quite a few fords, but would never buy a psd.
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Yeah, thats what I figured but it is so hard to find a manual. I didn't know ford had the 7.3 and 6.0 in 03.. I guess I have yet to find a 2003 with the 7.3. Thanks for the opinions and Im going to check out towrig.com. If I end up having to get an auto, which would be better, the dodge or the ford?
 
I like my Ford. Why do you have to get an 03? I am assuming that is the last year your bank will loan you the full amount? Go to a credit union if that is the case, their rates are normally lower anyways.

Mine is a 99', with 67K when I got it in August, 71,500 now. Definetly get a 6 speed, they will last longer than the auto's so I hear. Probably the only diesel auto I would get would be with the Allison, too bad I wouldn't own a Chevrolet (Duramax/allison is good, rest of the truck is junk IMO).

Mine is a F-250, geared 3.73. Pulls my truck just fine, I can tell it is back there yes, but it takes a fairly large hill for me to have to gear down (if I am running 65-70). I would not want any lower gearing (4.10 or 4.56), they are great for takeoff, but highway gearing SUCKS. Mine runs about 2200 RPM at 70 MPH I think.

Ford or Dodge, whatever you get, get a manual, it is more work to drive, but you will thank yourself every time you see someone getting their auto rebuilt. $$$$$
 
MW87toy said:
buy a ford put a 12 valve cummings in it
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x2 Got a buddy that did just that, Put the exhaust out the pass side so he could burn all the hair off the spocket jockeys when pulling his boat. He did have to move the firewall a bit though...
 
I am a ford guy and my dad has a 2000 PSD. Other than a sensor or two and pre heater we haven't had any problems with it. On the other hand, if I were going to buy a new one, I would go with the cummins. In an oldertruck, the PSD have a little more power but a cummins with 3.73 will get aobut 22-24 mpg on the highway the PSD about 18.
 
I like the Ford, but dislike the 6.0...

every 7.3 I've been around has been great. Even with the auto trans. I got my work truck, 7.3/auto F-350 dually work truck (weighing in at over 15K pounds) to last over 185K miles before any trans work was needed. I even pulled 16K # trailers every week as well... That 1997 Ford auto did extremely well...

Now, as for the new 6.0 setups, I don't know. I've heard a lot of complaints abou the engine prblems on the 6.0. If I were to buy a Ford diesel, it would be the 7.3.

I have a friend that sold his 6.0 truck and went back to the 7.3 just because of the problems of the 6.0...

I've heard great things about the Cummins and would own one myself if I found one for the right price. Only problem, the engine and trans will, by far, outlast the body on a Dodge...
 
I would definatly agree if you want a ford get a 7.3. They have little to no problems. But i would say go with the Dodge. I have had a lot of good experiances with dodges new and old.
 
My vote goes for ........ CUMMINS.
 

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I heard them Cummins trucks didn't have any traction, but I didn't know it was that bad...
 
my brother has pulled his goose neck trailer working construction for 5 years with his stock 02' cummins... tipping on up close to 270,000 and he's had the rear built once, and the tranny replaced once, its an auto.. but it has 4.10's... stock for stock, just liked said above you can't beat it... you can hardly get her to kick out of OD with 3 bobcats, i kno i kno 4.10's but still... its just a testament to the cummins. I like the 7.3 also, but i guess my brothers dodge sold me
 
The early 6.0s are junk...

Ask me howI know :shaking:
Had an 04 PSD that in the 6months I owned it spent 112 days in a repair bay, finally they gave me full purchase price credit towards another vehicle.

Supposedly the 04.5 and up 6.0s are problem free...but I'm not a good guienea pig.

The cummins is a great motor. Contrary to a previous post I have repeatedly heard to stick with the 12v... either way, I wish you could get a different cummins toter, as DoDge has never impressed me.
 
ShyHiK5 said:
The early 6.0s are junk...

Supposedly the 04.5 and up 6.0s are problem free...but I'm not a good guienea pig.
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I had heard they are better, and I always used Rob Sitze as an examle in his 05. But I just talked to him yesterday, and his turbo went out, and then a few days after he got it fixed the high pressure oil pump whatever for the injectors went out. It's at the shop again now.
 
Sounds like it will be a Dodge then. Yeah, bank wont let me get anything with more than 50k miles and it is impossible to find an older 7.3 with that mileage. I'd love to have a manual but there is only one within 300 miles of here right now and that sucks...
 
hey man i got a 2001 7.3 psd that i just love, and the resale on the fords are higher...i will say that stock a cummings will outpull the powerstroke but with just a few minor upgrades that dodge doesnt stand a chance...i will say that the auto on the Fords are the weak link so if you get one just add an auxiliary trans cooler and temp gauge and you can probibly get about another 50K out of them

BUT...


if you could use the Ford body, axles, brakes and that allison automatic from the chevy you would have one heck of a rig...maybe even use the mudflaps off the dodge or something:Rockon:
 
ncpatroler said:
hey man i got a 2001 7.3 psd that i just love, and the resale on the fords are higher...i will say that stock a cummings will outpull the powerstroke but with just a few minor upgrades that dodge doesnt stand a chance...i will say that the auto on the Fords are the weak link so if you get one just add an auxiliary trans cooler and temp gauge and you can probibly get about another 50K out of them
BUT...
if you could use the Ford body, axles, brakes and that allison automatic from the chevy you would have one heck of a rig...maybe even use the mudflaps off the dodge or something:Rockon:
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Yeah, Wish I had the cash to buy a new truck and swap motors and trannys.. That would definately make for a sweet tow rig..
 
Let me start off by saying I am a dodge owner but I own a diesel performance business and I will give you the most unbiased answer I can.

If you buy a ford, buy a 7.3. I just saw a 06 6.0 with 300 miles lose a turbo. The 7.3 PS is a tried and true international motor, the same block as the DT-444 motor used in the international trucks for decades. I own an 05 cummins and you could not give me a ford but I will tell you the 7.3 is a good motor. If you want a ford with a cummins, go to fordcummins.com. Cummins is a basically a small road tractor engine that will run forever. As far as a duramax goes, I would not own a truck with a diesel engine that doesn't have a solid front axle.

There are a few problem areas with the dodges you need to watch out for. If you buy a 24 valve truck from 98-02, watch out for the injection pump goin out. If it has over 100k miles, make sure it's been replaced. The dodges are also notorious for having a "death wobble" in the front end. They are bad to wear ball joints. So take your pick, either worry about simple things like the injection pump and ball joints, which in 3rd gen trucks (03-06), are much more reliable (The pump was changed from a vp44 to a cp3) or you can worry about things like injector failure due to a new design that works off of high oil pressure, turbo failure, head gaskets, heads cracking, computer failure, etc. The 6.0 has almost put ford under. The newer ones have improved, but they're still not reliable at all.

As far as auto or manual. Buy a manual if you plan on towing heavy. Being able to control what gear you're in helps a lot. You can also use an exhaust brake much more efficiently, and yes they are worth every penny. On the other hand if you buy an auto truck, you can buy transmissions that are built to handle it. I am a dealer and I sell suncoast autos that have an unlimited mileage and horsepower warranty. If you are like all the rest of us, you will catch the horsepower bug and want to see some black smoke rolling, so you will either run into clutch slippage or tranny slippage if you start going over 100 hp over stock. If your clutch starts to go, you're lookin at $1000 for a good clutch, but if your auto tranny starts to go, you're lookin at over $4000.

If you want to know anything else feel free to send me a message. I will answer any question you have, and if I can't answer it, I will get an answer for you.
 
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