Ford and Dodge truck tech's - question

[Kegracing]

I have a post in the "support tech" section, but do not seem to be getting much traffic to that forum to see it.

Looking for used 2005-2010 range dually. Have GM now and prefer, but budget wise need to be more open.

Looking for what years to look for and more importantly not to look for... Please see longer post in the other forum section.

thanks,
Ken

stock 412

[Joe Martens]

Whatever you do, stay away from a Ford 6.0 Diesel!

[Kegracing]

Thanks Joe, and I agree. Have couple of friends that had them and the troubles... not sure about the 6.4 either. Ford's May be out of the running.

I prefer GM but budget may get in the way.

Know most love the 5.9 Cummins. What about the 6.7 Cummings?

Thanks

Ken

Stock 412

[Alan Roehrich]

I'll stick to my 2003 8.1L gasoline powered 3500. I saved well over $5K by going gasoline, I have plenty of power, get decent fuel mileage, and should anything go wrong, my 8.1L costs about 20% as much to repair as any "new" diesel. And it is far easier to work on as well.

[Dean Feiock]

Ken,
I have been a Dodge tech since 1988 so my opinion is going to be biased. But here goes.

You simply cannot go wrong with the Cummins. It's design has been around a very long time. As for the 5.9, 2006 - 2007.5 are the best years. They have the most power and they rarely have issues. With good maintenance, they will easily go 300,000 miles. The number one killer is dust out from poor filters. It's easy to spot. Just look for sandblasting of the rubber tube on the outlet of the turbo. I cannot stress the importance of using Fleetguard, Cummins, or Mopar filters. Yes, they will loose an injector now and then. But again, a good fuel filter has allot to do with injector life.

The 6.7 is the same basic engine with emissions equipment. Yes, they had issues with the exhaust and egr systems, but all the bugs have been worked out of those. The egr system requires maintenance every 67,500 miles. Again, use good filters and they will serve you well.

My personnel truck is a 2007 Mega Cab with 5.9 engine. It will pull anything and gets 19.5 driving empty.

[Dean Feiock]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

I'll stick to my 2003 8.1L gasoline powered 3500. I saved well over $5K by going gasoline, I have plenty of power, get decent fuel mileage, and should anything go wrong, my 8.1L costs about 20% as much to repair as any "new" diesel. And it is far easier to work on as well.

Alan,
I used to think that way also when I towed with my 2003 Ram with an 8.0 liter V10. But when you go from the 6-7 MPG it got to the 13-14 the 5.9 gets towing 20,000 lbs, it will change your opinion fast. Not to mention the real towing power that a diesel with a turbo will give you.

Not sure how you can fix any gas engine for 1/5th of the cost of fixing a diesel engine.

And yes, you may have saved $5 buying your truck, but it will show in the resale. Diesel's hold their value far better than a gas powered truck.

[Philip Saran]

As a former owner of a Ford 6.0 diesel in a 2004 F350 I will also concur, stay away.
before I sold it off my service mgr. at the dealer said if I wanted to upgrade only buy
a 2011 or newer Ford 6.7.

I ended up with a class A motorhome with a V10.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Dean Feiock

Alan,
I used to think that way also when I towed with my 2003 Ram with an 8.0 liter V10. But when you go from the 6-7 MPG it got to the 13-14 the 5.9 gets towing 20,000 lbs, it will change your opinion fast. Not to mention the real towing power that a diesel with a turbo will give you.

Not sure how you can fix any gas engine for 1/5th of the cost of fixing a diesel engine.

And yes, you may have saved $5 buying your truck, but it will show in the resale. Diesel's hold their value far better than a gas powered truck.

My truck gets a lot more than 6MPG towing. Around 10, actually. It has enough power to tow at 70MPH plus. I haven't even started tweaking it. An Ed Wright tune will help that. As will some other work.

Priced a set of injectors for a diesel vs a set for a gasoline V8 lately? Or an injector pump?

I'm not interested in selling it. You can't buy a new one like it.

To each his own. I'll keep my gasoline big block V8.

[jmcarter]

Dean is right on, my 2007 5.9 was the best truck I've ever owned, fortunately I can still use my son's 2006 5.9 which is just as rock solid as my truck. We're currently pulling our RV around out west with the wife's Mercedes diesel and it does equally well with a huge plus that most places out here diesel is less than regular gas, sometimes by as much as 20 cents cheaper.