Cummins vs Powerstroke vs Duramax

In reply to Opti:

Up here, you only need to look at what people use for truck pulls. The Cummins is basically the go to option, due to money, but they all get spanked badly if a fully prepped 6.4 or 6.7L powerstroke shows up. The Cummins pullers even readily admit that.

gearheadmb wrote: Plus you want an auto so allison ftw.

+1 on the Allison, easily the best part of my '02 Silverado. It's just magic, when it's in tow/haul mode it's reading your mind about what gear to be in.

My vote is dodge. All have weaknesses but from my experience the dodge has been tough as hell. I have an 06 with 183000 most were put on in the first 4 years. I also have a 2011 with 193000 and never seen a dealership. They both towed heavy and often.

If you buy the Dodge, you'll need the matching trucknutz and sideways hat.

The wife unit has a 2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke to haul the horse trailer, haybales, etc.

It's got 275,000 miles on it and no real problems other than a glow plug relay or two and some o-rings in the high pressure oil pump falling apart.

I've had a few International trucks over the years and they've been fantastic. The PSD Ford is the closest thing I can get to a cornbinder now.

2000 was the best year for the 7.3. First year for intercooling and last year for forged connecting rods.

Trans_Maro wrote: 2000 was the best year for the 7.3. First year for intercooling and last year for forged connecting rods.

I thought they started doing I/C in 1999, and kept the forged rods until 2002?

Trans_Maro wrote: If you buy the Dodge, you'll need the matching trucknutz and sideways hat.

dont try to act like brodozers dont come in every flavor

Opti wrote: Leaving both stock and just working out of them. Auto: 6.6 with Allison, Manual: cummins.

^this. And if i were to go with a ford it would be a 7.3 with a manual

I've had all three. 95 12v cummins/auto, 99 7.3 powerstroke/auto, and now an 02 k3500 with the duramax allison. So far the Silverado is the best towing truck I've ever owned....love the engine and the transmission. Everyone who says the allison is awesome and just knows what gear to be in when is right on the money.

volvoclearinghouse wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: 2000 was the best year for the 7.3. First year for intercooling and last year for forged connecting rods.

I thought they started doing I/C in 1999, and kept the forged rods until 2002?

My 1999 is intercooled.

Trans_Maro wrote: If you buy the Dodge, you'll need the matching trucknutz and sideways hat. The wife unit has a 2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke to haul the horse trailer, haybales, etc. It's got 275,000 miles on it and no real problems other than a glow plug relay or two and some o-rings in the high pressure oil pump falling apart. I've had a few International trucks over the years and they've been fantastic. The PSD Ford is the closest thing I can get to a cornbinder now. 2000 was the best year for the 7.3. First year for intercooling and last year for forged connecting rods.

?

Our '99 came with an intercooler.

edizzle89 wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: If you buy the Dodge, you'll need the matching trucknutz and sideways hat.

dont try to act like brodozers dont come in every flavor

Fact: there is a group in Alberta called "berta rams" or some crap. Ram owners deserve all the E36 M3 they get thrown at them. Its the equivalent of being in the Honda ricer scene in the early millenium, except everybody is 6' tall, 4' wide, and "can lift, bro".

There's group of goofs out here calling themselves the "BC Coal Rollers"

I make a point of beating them out of the intersection in my 460EFI F-250.

Trans_Maro wrote: There's group of goofs out here calling themselves the "BC Coal Rollers"

Yet another group of knuckleheads who will ruin car modifying for the rest of us.

gearheadmb wrote: I feel gm makes the best trucks of the big 3. Cummins makes the best engine, but duramax is 95% as good with 200% better truck.

This. A 1000x this.

Dodge has the best motors.

Ford has the best interiors.

Chevy is the best overall blend. With the date range the OP specified, Cummins used to have a press release stating that the "bosch fuel pump equipped Cummins did not live up to our reliability standards." Still vastly more reliable than the Ford 6.0 or 6.4 though.

yamaha wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: I had an 05 6.0 F250 for 4 years. It was a great truck and I had zero issues with it. Traded it in for a 2015 F350 diesel and got $6,500 for it with 115k miles. They are basically worthless.

When we bought our '13 f-350 for the farm, they only offered us $9k for our 80k mile '99 f-250 7.3.... Basically, the 7.3L and any fixed 6.0L will be on par with the other offerings. I personally dislike Cummins engines mainly due to the way Cummins as a business treated us, but they're still found in E36 M3 wrappers that will rust away if you don't live in the arid southwest. The 5.9's heater block instead of glow plugs is certainly not a plus either. Isuzu engines aren't bad at all, aside from wanting injectors at 150k miles or so. 7.3L PSD's usually need only a glow plug module every few years. Our '99 has required 2 over the last 15 years, and that is it.

The glow plug thing is surprising to hear. I never had an issue with the grid heater in my Cummins, but have replaced glow plugs and/or controllers in every other diesel I've ever owned including GM 6.2, Duramax, 95 PSD, and 99 PSD. The grid heater was a plus in the Cummins imo.

In reply to Cotton:

When the grid heater fails, they're next to impossible to start in the cold.

And how many miles were on your '99 psd.....chances are you got fleeced on that one and it was just the controller module.

yamaha wrote: In reply to Cotton: When the grid heater fails, they're next to impossible to start in the cold. And how many miles were on your '99 psd.....chances are you got fleeced on that one and it was just the controller module.

I do all my own work, so didn't fleece myself, but most recently this was on my 95 f450 wrecker with 220k miles. The controllers on that era truck run the glow plugs longer than necessary and are pretty well known for a shorter gp life. The gpr was bad and I also found two bad plugs so replaced them all since it's such a filthy pia job with them being under the valve covers. I also did performance injectors, a chip, and 6 position switch while I was at it but that was just plain ol scope creep.

The 99 had 150k miles when I sold it and I had to do a gpr on it but not plugs.

So bringing this back up... anyone have any opinions on ZF 6 speed duramaxes?

I came (THIS) close to buying a 2011 GMC 2500HD but only a 6.0L. Its at the top end of my budget but the newer trucks are just so much better in every way.

And just to finish this thread off, this is what I went with for $4500cdn:

2001 dmax, farmer owned, dealer maintained its whole life. Has 400,000kms (250k miles) on it and not a single rattle! Needs a bit of non-urgent front end work and it smokes a bit at idle... even though I have $7k worth of receipts for work done 80k miles ago for complete injector replacements and CP3 pump. I'll run it until it won't cold start and then swap in the cheapest remans I can find.

Nice find. Just add a booster pump between the tank and the lift pump and you are good to go

I think Cummins good for canoe.

Duramax/Allison is the way to go.

Loved mine, (06 3500 Dually). Was reliable, powerful, and comfortable. Had 455k miles on it when I sold it a couple weeks ago (bought with 435k ish), and if we weren't having twins I would have kept it a lot longer. Once the kids are all out of daycare there will be a Duramax and Allison going into our Suburban.

Congrats on the purchase, and a good deal to boot. Sierras seem cheaper than Silverados for some reason. My '05 Sierra 2500HD still looks good inside and out with 200k miles. Unless there is an issue with the injectors (less common on LLY and LBZ trucks,) the engine is very easy to access for service by pulling the fender liners. I did 8 glow plugs in and 4 shocks in 1hr 30min last weekend.

If you care at all about refinement, the Chevy is the way to go. The 7.3 and Cummins sound and ride like tanks by comparison. I drive a BMW, so the weaker suspension components on the Chevy aren't all that bad by comparison.

I've put 15,000kms on the truck in under 4 months, most of it towing. Gets the same or better mpg unloaded then the gas 1/2 ton and gets way better mpg towing heavier and faster than the 1/2 ton.

I'm happy with the purchase now, we'll see how happy I am in -30*C weather

Is there any reason you haven't considered a true MDT? Generally much more reliable/stronger overall, near no chance of someone before you running a tuner, etc.

Obviously it would be strictly for hauling but if that is what you need, may be the most reliable bang for the buck?

Picked up a 97 F350 with quad cab, long bed, 7.3 and auto with 312K on it. It has a lot of deferred maintenance on it but we did a 1000 mile round trip last week and it never missed a beat and got 23 mpg.

I am going to add some tweaks including exhaust, intake and Bully Dog ECU chip.

So far it has needed a couple of repairs but these were all due to neglect by the PO.