Cummings or DuraMax

[XtremeOverKill]

I feel pretty comfortable with a gas engine, AMC's of course, but when it comes to diesels I really don't have much of a clue.

I'm down to 2 trucks:

Dodge Power Wagon with the Cummings and 5 spd Automatic

or

Silverado 2500 HD with the Duramax / Allison 5 spd Auto


I've heard great things about the Cummings,
and I REALLY love the interrior of the Chevy. But I dont know about the Duramax.

Any suggestions?
The truck will be a daily driver, towing will be maybe once a month with pulling a GW made rock crawler, and anything else I want to tow.

Humble thanks,
Mike

[pyagid]

I have towed with a duramax, and pulling a YJ on a full trailer you could barely tell it was there. It pulled great, and was very comfortable. I am pretty sure te CHevy is available with teh allison automatic, I am not sure about the dodge tranny

-Paul

[thejeepingoat]

The Cummins is a great diesel motor, and they are beasts on the bottom end, the reliability is great. I work parts and hear all sorts of horror stories, this one guyput a chip and some other goodies on his and blew the tank off his intercooler on an 05 Cummins. He did did this running a 1/4 mile.

Ive also heard good things about the duramax, made by Isuzu and very quiet. Not too many complaints on them, except ive had quite a few people need alternators and other charging components. The water pump up until recently was extremely hard to come by. Ive had a couple of those come in bad.

Every truck is gonna have problems, especially if you use it as it was made. Personally, id go Cummins. The aftermarket is very strong for them. Banks and Edge have about the best stuff out for the Cummins.

check out edge's website, they have akiller truck there.

[cheapjeep]

Power Stroke . Ford should have the Allison by the end of the year.

[thejeepingoat]

ive heard nothing but bad bout the new 6.0.........Plus the filters for that beast are really expensive, bout 70 for air and 70 for the fuel.

Maintnence shouldnt hurt. If i was getting a ford it would be a 7.3. The allison will be a nice addition tho.

[thejeepingoat]

www.thedieselstop.com

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/index.php

some good reading.

[Mudrat]

Dodge Power Wagon with the Cummings and 5 spd Automatic

or

Silverado 2500 HD with the Duramax / Allison 5 spd Auto

I should have gotten the diesel, but I went Hemi ... But what I traded off was a Chevy 2500 HD that started to have problems with the front end (4WD) at about 90K miles. So there is more to consider than the motor - but I'd vote Cummins. See if you can talk the dealer into some Cummins beer mugs ... they're etched and say "Hummin Cummins"

Mudrat

[rollen dean montoya]

go with the cummins. you can get it worked on anywhere that freightliners,
peterbuilt, mack,kenworth and internationals are sold. that a large service
network. cummins warranties the engine not dodge.my uncle bought a
2004 3500 quad cab 5speed auto with the cummins. loves it.

[mikew]

Powerstroke all the way!!!
I'd wait until the Allison is availiable

[tufcj]

I have a 2003 Duramax. I LOVE it. Drove it from Denver to Chicago and back over the last week (empty). I averaged 18.4 MPG over the entire trip, running the vast majority of the time over 75 MPH. Pulls my Jeep and trailer up the mountains like it isn't there. I still get 13-14 MPG with the 5600 # trailer.

The first year Duramax had some problems with the head gaskets (steel block, aluminum heads), but I heard that's fixed. The only problem I've heard of with the Allison is of clutch failures on rigs that spend their whole lives pulling at or above the rated max. They install the 2000 series clutches in the 1000 series trans, and I've heard of no repeat failures.

I read last week about a guy with a Duramax, no engine mods, factory turbo, bigger intake, bigger intercooler, bigger exhaust, and an Edge products chip. He pulled 572 HP and 1012 ft/lbs on a dyno, and can still get 18 MPG.

Bob
tufcj