Best Truck, Cummins vs. P Stroke vs. Duramax

As for comfort in the cab. It's all been redone. New upholstered seat with added foam, $145. New carpet and padding $120. New door panels, $100. CD player with 4-speaker system. Painted the inside and outside. Only thing I wish I had was an air conditioner. Those can be had after-market for a price however.

I like my old towing rig. It is a work horse.

Branden

george

Is it power??? put a turbo an other after market add ons on!

is it ride, comfort for the inside?? again lok into aftermarket up grades

Do you own any money on it??? if not why go back in the hole for an other truck to replace one that already does the job????? ?
a little money money spent upgrading your truck might be money well spent compared to buying new

just wonderin!

Another good fact: How many tractors are around with a 5.9 Cummins?? Can you even count that high? Is there a reason why people are putting the 5.9 in old Olivers and other makes? Heck yes! It is a great engine, that's why. Have you ever heard of someone putting a 7.3 Navistar in their tractor because they are efficient and powerful?? NO!

More facts: Cummins engine has all gear driven components, Navistar has chain drives. Cummins rods and pistons are twice has heavy as the Navistar. The straight six diesel engine has proven itself for many many years, the V8 diesel was something that looked cool in a tractor in the 70's, but was a very expensive engine to maintain.

My brother has a 98 Ram 2500 w/Cummins. He makes 24 mpg empty and around 17mpg pulling a 25ft flat bed hauling around 18,000 lbs. He has around 100,000 miles on the rig now and has not had any problems with engine or transmission.

And now for some humor: the Ford boys will be strokin' all day, but I'm a cummin!

Steven

I like the Cummins so much that I put one in a Ford Ranger and another in a Ford Explorer Sport. I used the 4BT 3.9L rather than Dodge's 6BT 5.9L and am getting satisfactory service from them. Average fuel mileage on the Ranger is in the low to mid 30's with the best being 39.9 mpg when driving really easy. The Explorer averages about 30 mpg.

My 18-year-old daughter loves them both and will hardly drive anything else.

Jim

I found your post on a google search for a cummins 4bt ford explorer conversion. Did you do the conversion yourself? What transmission did you use?
How high was the P.I.T.A. factor?

Any info would be appreciated.

Best Regards,
Michael

It comes down to the same thing as tractors, we have IH because the JD dealer told my Dad to take his 806 that he wanted to trade for a 4430 and shove it up his ***! Now you think a JD dealer would be happy to trade in an IH so he would have a new convert, but guess not. Same with vehicles, the Ford dealer has given us good service in the past but the last couple of years have gone down hill so it is time to go somewhere else.

We use our Titan tandem axle gooseneck with 7000# axles to haul bales. It is 25 ft long and will haul 14 bales easily. Our bales weigh in around 1200 to 1300 pounds. This comes out to around 17,000# - the weight rating stamped on the tag of our trailer. I also pull this trailer with a 72 Ford F250 Camper Special with a 360 and a 4 speed (105k miles), and an 82 Dodge 250 with a 318 4-speed (125k miles) and they handle it ok. The 98 Cummins in comparison acts like there is nothing behind it. I will agree it is a load, but not beyond the capabilities of the truck. Making short trips of about 2 miles one way from the hay field to the farm, and leaving the truck idling while loading and unloading bales, I made 14 mpg average in 3 days of continuous hauling.

My vote stands with Dodge, we have used our Dodge vehicles for many years with very very little in maintenance costs. The Fords on the other hand cost more to keep on the road.

Steven

PS - no need to have a war, just stating my experiences - just as you have stated yours.

I won't argue that the Ford has more power, but Ford products in general have left a sour taste in my mouth the last few years. Ma just bought a 2000 Taurus last January with 20k miles on it. So far it has had 2 new radios, new ball joints, all new brakes, new struts, and now the sway bar links are shot. (she has driven it 10k miles since she bought it). Dad has had the same kind of problems with Ford pickups - put a Ford factory reman 302 in his pickup last January and it blew up before he even got home! And my Thunderbird has been a real lemon also.

All vehicles have their problems, and as you said, it all depends on whose pockets you want to line with your hard earned money.

Steven

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Some comments while trying to be as objective as possible.. (I have a PowerStroke)

The Cummins and the Powerstroke are both good engines with a proven track record.

In general, the Powerstroke is smoother, has a much wider powerband and drives the most like a gas engine.

Cummins is more the traditional 'gnarly diesel'. It has a shorter powerband, but more low rpm torque. Word has it that it is going to be replaced next year with a diesel from the Mercedes-Benz lineup. (Benz owns Dodge/Chrysler)

The GM Isuzu diesel (aka Duramax) is pretty new. (at least to the USA)

I haven't driven one, haven't even see one..(that I've noticed) so I can't comment much on it.

All of them are heavily computerized powerplants and you aren't going to be able to work on them much without the custom electronic tools.

The rest of it is based on how well you like the rest of the truck.. fit & finish, human engineering and durability of all the other parts.

In one sense it's almost like deciding what color tractor to buy.. the most important consideration may be how good the dealerships are in your area.

Wes

P.S. My dream truck is a cummins engine in a ford body with the ride of the new chevy.

For engines I still like the Cummins but I bought a PSD not because of the engine but for the drive train.

Dodge's front axle mounting on there 4wd sucked. The mounting looks like it could be torn out within a short time. The second drawback was the fake axle disconect as it's known not to engauge without turning the wheels side to side or spinning the tires if stuck. There was a interent news article about the Maryland? returning 25 4wd Dodge trucks because the front end shook so much. The link is no longer valid for viewing.

Keep in mind that I just retired my 25yr old Dodge Power Wagon with 225k miles so I'am a big Dodge fan.

Chevy... No aluminum head diesel for me!

So that left Ford. I bought a F350, crew cab, lwb, 4wd, DRW, PSD, 3:73, 6spd, manual hubs for $30977. All I can say is WOW what a truck. The difference in cost was about $2900 for the PSD to the V10. I'm getting 17mpg to 20mpg empty in the first 1200 miles. The ride is unbelieveable for a 1-Ton. I've only hauled 2 short loads of 28,000 GCW each and it handled that real well. The only really cheap thing so far I've found is the plastic hubs Ford uses. One of the guy's I've talked with changed his to all metal Warn Premium hubs for $200. So far I'm very happy with the Ford.

T_Bone