I am trying to decide which truck to go with and was hoping I could get some advice from the group. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to any of the diesel engines offered by the different mnufacturers?
I have a '99 F350 Dually with the 7.3 Powerstroke.
100,000 miles on it now.It makes me a living pulling grading equipment around.
Transmission overdrive went out around 84,000 miles, so I replaced the transmission, and installed a better torque converter at the same time.
No other problems. I'd buy another one just like it.
14mpg around town unloaded, 18-20mpg on the highway unloaded, depending on my right foot.Spdloader
I have an 05 F350 Lariat 4x2 Dualie with tow command and all the options. I happy with it with minor exceptions. It pulls my 12,500 lb fifth wheel with ease. The tow/haul feature is great, just don't use it descending on steep wet roads with no load. The tow command or built in brake control works much better than the 01 Dualie with a Prodigy controoler, I had. The rig averaged 10.4 mpg on a recent 1200 mile round trip, mostly Interstate with two mountain pulls. I don't care for the initial dead pedal from takeoff that is mapped into the drive by wire throttle. I don't like the flat seated, hard as rock, Captains chairs or the split bench that was in my 02 either. On a long trip my rear hurts. We had an 01 Dodge Cummins that had great seating for a long trip. My seat never got sore. In the best of worlds I would like to have the Ford Superduty Truck with the Dodge Cummins engine and the Chevy Allison transmission. I like the Dodge Cummins engine but the truck it is wrapped in is junk and the transmission is not up to the task of the diesel for the long haul. The Cummins in the Dodge doesn't have a Cat or EGR and Cooler and two less cylinders to be concerned about. All the ratings of the Big Three are rigged. The Dodge Cummins rating of
600 lb ft of torque is with the air conditioner on and the engine fan operating. The computer cuts back the output without these operating. I have driven all three empty of course. The Duramax is perhaps a tad stronger, especially off line but in all the towing test by the magazines the Ford outdistanced the other two by big margins. The Dodge is the cheapest to purchase, the Duramax the highest that was before all the hyped so called employee pricing. The Ford has the best quality and features of the three except I would like to see the reccomended oil change interval based on engine use of the Chevy computer display in the Ford. This is just my .02 and I certainly don't have the corner on the subject.
THis is a easy one, between the two the Dmax is more refined and a LOT quieter than the Ford. A freind of mine just bought a Dmax and together we drove many trucks for a few weeks while he was deciding. And it came down to GM vs Dodge as ford was eliminated early on because engine was by far the noisiest one. The Cummins was nice too but Chevy had a the nicest crew cab of them all and won the day (BTW my friend is a Ford lover too) Based I what I learned driving them all, the Ford would be my last choice too.
Not to be argumentative, but are you saying that your friend's #1 criteria was which one had the quietest diesel engine?
CJB
Sounds like it.
I can see where if you eliminate the Ford, the other two have a big difference in cabs. It might be hard to pick the Dodge cab over the Chevy, even if it costs a lot less. The Dodge has the smallest cab by far. They are changing that next year, according to their advertisements. They're enlarging their crew cab on the 2006 models. The Chevy cab doesn't look as big as the Ford to me. But I haven't been in the Chevy. The Ford is really, really comfortable. The back seat is so big you kind of have to reach over to find the door.
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