I was just reading in MotorTrend about the new 6.7 Cummins in the '98 Dodges and it mentioned that it's "predicted engine-rebuild life cycle" of 350,000 miles was longer than Ford or Chevy.

That got me to thinking, I have a '97 3500 (5.9 12V, 5 speed manual) with 225,000 miles and my wife has a '00 3500 (5.9 24V, 5 speed manual) with right at 200,000 miles on it. We were thinking of trading up on one of the two since the mileage is getting up there, but why go drop $40-50k for a new one if I can expect to get another 125,000 miles out of the trucks I have?

Both trucks are maintained regularly, the '97 is used mostly for the 90 mile highway round trip to\from work and a couple of round bales every other week. The '00 does most of the heavy pulling, i.e. 6 horse trailer once or twice a week.

Does anybody know what kind of mileage to expect to get out of both the 12v and 24v 5.9s before looking to either overhaul the existing engines or bite the bullet and start looking for a new truck?

 

Actually, that should have been the 6.7l in the new '08s.

 

You have absolutely nothing to worry about. The manufacturer's estimates are EXTREMELY conservative. With good maintainence I would say that most would have no problems getting 800,000+ miles out of their original engines. That is not a type-O... your trucks are barely getting started. I don't even consider these engines to be high mileage until they hit around 600K. The Cummins simply will not die.

 

Whoa, that is a Major difference from what was passed onto me when I was in last February getting the fuel shut-off solenoid replaced on the '97. The (supposedly) trustworthy mechanic in town who has been performing all the ball-joint, wheel bearing, tie rod end changeouts over the years had made the comment that all the Cummins he has dealt with over the years seemed to "wear out" at around 250,000.
May be he was getting a kick back from the Dodge dealer down the road.

 

I have many cust with 500,000 miles and still going strong it depends how you take care of it.

 

This website alone should answer any and all your questions!!

http://www.horizontransport.com/Pick...asp?Make=Dodge

 

Sounds like BS or improper maintainence to me....

 

Hmm, why does in not suprise me that the Ford doesn't have half of the mileage in the longevity reports that the Cummins does?

 

For the life of me I can't see what others see in the Fords. I recently had to use an '05 Powerstroke to haul a load of horses from Estes Park, CO to Kansas City, MO and I hadn't made it a out of Colorado before I was missing my truck. It never seemed to pull right, there was no power to speak of and the fuel mileage was atrocious.

The only nice thing was all the room in the interior. If there is one complaint I have about Dodge, it's that the interiors are not made for somebody of more than average size.

 

Meh, I'm 6'3" and 220lbs and I don't find my interior too small. Either it's a personal preference, or you are considerably bigger than I am.