hello , i am a newbie to this forum and would like to say that i have read just about every thread on this site. Tons of useful info about the dodge cummins truck, thanks.
I would like someone to share their opinion on this:
I operate a landscape curbing business and use a flatbed truck. currently i am using a 84 gmc regular cab w/ 454 and turbo 400 trans auto. 19.5 tires in back. frame extended w/ a 10 ft. flatbed. typical day would be to load a 3500# pallet of cement on flatbed and hitch up a trailer that when loaded is about 12-16 k pounds. the current truck is getting me to the job sites but very slow. lots of middle fingers by those i am in front of. I am looking at a 93 cummins dually 160000 miles auto w/ 3.54 gears. pretty much stock i think. just had front brakes, master cyliner and brake booster put on. new injector pump. my question is : a trailer that heavy and that much weight on the bed, is it too much. i am interested in a diesel and think the cummins is a good choice but the auto tranny worries me and i want to get something that is really going to last. I'm no speed demon and most driving will be from job site to job site around town. any opinions would be much appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

The cummins and 518 auto is as stout and better than the 454/400 combo. The 518 is a 727 with a OD on the tail shaft. 727s were in all the big chysler stuff for years. I put a 1800 lb camper in the 93, 350 4x4 I had and you couldent even tell it was there. It would just get the overloads to touch the pads on the frame. Youll get a whole lot better mileage aslo. should see 14mpg+ easy hauling your weight.

 

The Dodge should handle the job easier than the Chev BB and give better fuel economy. The load you are hauling is fairly large and will take some power to get it moving, but remember, you have to stop it too. I'm sure you will like the Dodge.

 

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the vote of confidence in the dodge. hemi cat when you say it will take some power to get it moving do you think that the 1 ton as described will do better than the gm truck, which does not do very well, or would you expect me to have to do some of the performance mods like i have read about here in the forum to achieve satisfactory pulling power to get the trailer moving. And once again concerened about the tranny. it does have an aux cooler and fan under flat bed. have read though that once you start pumping up the cummins , many have had tranny issues. thanks for your insight

 

You should be able to use the existing adjustments to wake up the old girl quite nicely for your purpose...
The trans, if well maintained, should also be quite durable handling up to 60'ish RWHP increase...that rear wheel HP, not flywheel.
You'll probably want to change one hard part though...find yourself a 16cm turbo exhaust housing to put on that truck...if you can't find one of those then look for a non-gated 14cm housing. This will give you much better spoolup rate to get you rolling and, help in burning the extra fueling after you make your adjustments.
Please get gauges too...especially a pyrometer to measure exhaust temperatures..a boost gauge and a tach....if you've got the spare $$ add a trans temp for your auto trans....

From there, you're good to go.

pb...

 

Like others have said the 518 is a pretty stout unit, just don`t haul all that weight in overdrive and it`ll be fine. Might want to get the biggest trans cooler you can fit on there and definitely a trans temp gauge. As far as power there is no way to compare a 454 gasser to a Cummins, apples and oranges...it`s a WHOLE nother world !

 

Ill toss in another vote for the cummins. around town you will love it hauling that weight. sounds like you drive like me and dont hot rod from light to light which in he long run will help your trany too. def get the biggest cooler and a gauge as these autos heat up quick in stop and go and around town.

jiMMy

 

I agree with Bushy and everyone. Go with the Dodge. Only other upgrade would be some type of Air bag system possibly for the rear springs or something. I think it would handle that weight without a problem but why not throw some mod onto it to help it and your handling of driving it that much better.

I think for a couple of cheap mods (turn the pump up a little, maybe rear spring helpers), you would have a truck to handle those loads and get better mileage then the chevy. Now, crank the pump up and you would probably still have the people behind you giving you the friendly finger but for different reasons..... SMOKE

 

I have a 93 dually , got all the gauges now and need to turn up the pump??? How do you do this???

 

This should help you get started. This is located in the Tech Articles at the top.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...n&onlynewfaq=1

Enjoy

 

I have a 90 with out the mods the truck pulled anything i put in back and after the mods it was a gas(fun ) to drive the 727 has been no problem ever and this motor puts out the ponies i have run amsoil atf ever since 25K and change it every 2 years and i pull trailers all the time from 1800lbs to 10 k 250000 miles now and still going . but... if you plan to do the mod and easy they are to do and cheep$ invest in the gauges and it will pay off in the long haul.
good luck.

Ps I own a chevy 3500 crew cab vortec 454 the cummins out pulls it and gets 2x the mpg pulling my big trailer 11mpg verses 4.5 with the chevy

 

.......and there you have it....

pb...

 

CC, I was a chevy guy myself.... GET THE CTD!! My beater was owned by a concrete contractor that owned a cattle farm and saw abuse. I burned up a tranny plowing (Jasper, but my fault), the rear was a combination of mileage and the same plowing incident (engine wasn't even bothered). I've hauled loads of rocks, road gravel, bags of concrete, and some logs (green). I've also hauled up to six round bales, squares barely make it squat. I've seen 1st AND 2nd gens pulling goosenecks on the freeway with 14 round bales and keeping up with traffic. Unfortunately Dodge got their hands into a couple things that you'll have to take care of, but the engine will keep you smiling.

 

whats a gasser? hehe! no comparison from a chevy big block to a cummins turbo diesel. i, too am a contractor, and i haul that i not more daily on my D250 AT. i have an aftermarket tranny cooler and it can pull my trailer with more than 16k pounds combined weight and she'll do it and won't even complain!
i love it so much, that i just might have to go buy a new 3500 dually 4x4 next!

 

I've been thinking about that too, and not getting rid of this one. Can you say obsessive/compulsive? Only problem is, I miss nsowmobiling too, and I was thinking about getting one this year. It might be worth it to wait and see if DC ever decides to release some of the stuff they supposedly have in the works. My biggest hang up though is parting with all those insurance payments. I'll stop now that I got my blood boiling thinking about insurance companies.