I was just wondering what everyones opinion is so far as comparing our motors to chevy and ford. When I truly think about it and compare to the design of these motors and the way they are put together; I dont really see how ford and chevy can compare motors to the cummins other than they are in a 3/4 or 1 ton pickup. To me I think they are all decent motors, but the cummins in my opinion is in a class above the light duty ford and chevy diesels. I just dont see very many powerstroke or duramax big rigs running down the interstate I would say as longevity goes, the cummins will be running and pulling long after the powerstrokes and dmaxs have been worn out. Also in the pulling circuit, dodge absolutely dominates it, I have seen other brand trucks on the circuit that have pulled PS or Dmax and put in a 12 valve cummins. I have had a lot of people tell me that ford and chevy are just v-8 motors converted to diesel, is this true ??? All big diesel motors I have seen are mainly inline 6's

 

Chevy originally converted a gasoline into a diesel engine and had big problems. The new duramax is a true diesel from the ground up. Its reliability is definately not that of the cummins. My mom has had both a 7.3l and currently the new 6.0 powerstroke. Both have been wonderful vehichles, but they didn't put 200,000 miles on them either. Personally I like my DODGE CUMMINS TURBO DIESEL. P.S. The 6.0 is way to Quiet and smooth to be a diesel.

 

You really want some poop, A diesel NEEDS a tall piston to keep piston in better alignment with the bore. A diesel needs a long rod to keep the rod angle more strieght with the piston and bore at 90 degrees before and after top dead center. A diesel needs a long stroke to generate lugging power. To accomadate these long parts and the long stroke you need a long cylinder bore. A inline engine lends itself much better to these characteristics then a V8. The V8 becomes too big and heavy for a light truck application. So our friends use little bitty short pistons, that wiggle in the bores, shorter ,lighter rods, with the excuse that they have 8 instead of 6 so they can be smaller -lighter. Shorter strokes,shorter rod which increase the rod angle and result in more side thrust on short skirted piston on every stroke. Its just a matter of physics.

 

Well put, couldnt have said it better myself

 

At the farm show this year dodge had the actual rods from cummins, chevy, and ford sitting there at there booth. I have seen a picture before, but when you actually see the difference in person, it is amazing how much larger and more mass the cummins rod has compared to the other two.

 

Just my 2 cents- I had a 2001 F250 with a chip and exhaust, propane and all the goodies, I tow a 40' Weekend warrior toy hauler and my friend has a 38' toy hauler, He bought a new 3500 Duramax and when we were towing he could leave me in the dust ( his is bone stock ) I just traded in the ford for my new 3500 CTD and now I leave him in the dust, Ill pull over now and again to wait and I always ask him if everything is ok -did you brake down or something, He just snickers at my smile and we start rolling again.
What a great truck.

 

now first off i dont know Edit about diesels, other than what I have read here and elsewhere, I dont own one. I WANT to buy one but just dont have the cash yet. I have driven the follwoing

05' Dodge
06' Dodge
02', 03, 06' Chevy
05' Powerstroke.

I have to say, the Duramaxes that I drove were more responsive and had more get up and go than all the rest. The Ford was nice, but way too much turbo lag.

SO that being said, were the duramaxes faster due to all of them being unloaded? If I had a 10K pound trailer hooked up to all of them would the Cummins have puller harder and faster than the other two?

Just curious, cause the 06' Duramax just totally kicked Edit, compared to the others, i jsut cant afford Chevy;s though, i put an offer on one this weekend and they told me to take a hike. The Dodge is way more affordable, less bells and whistles, but I have resigned myself to thinking I jsut dont need all the electronics of the chevy, thought I wish we had more gears in the auto Tranny.


thanks
trout

 

My son was just talking to a hugh dealer in Amarillo Tx. They sell both Fords and Dodges. The service manager said that 39% of the Powerstrokes come in with major problems and hardly any with the CTDs.

Personally, I can't afFORD to own a FORD.

Pete

 

Was the 06 DMax the new 360hp 6 speed auto? If so, that's why it pulled so hard. also if you tested the CTD with the 48RE auto against the 5spd Allison, that's also why it pulled harder. More ratio allows for greater acceleration and lower cruising rpm.

 

the 06' LLY was the old LLY with the new tranny, t he LBZ wont be out for about 8 weeks. Im not complaining, the cummins was plenty powerful, I jsut noticed the Duramax pulled harder, im sure its a tranny thing, just wish the Dodge had a better tranny option. The only thing that is keeping me from runing out and buying a dodge tomorrow is the tranny option. And of course that I dont quite have 30K dollars in my hands.

trout

 

Well for starters that allison does work well. And V8s wind quiker. The 2005 Dodge has NO overdrive lockout,just tow haul,which raises the shift points under load. Vary poor setup for towing. However the 2006 Dodge has tow haul AND overdrive lockout. Should work well. The cummins really doesnt need a 5 or 6 speed auto , Some would prefer more gears but the better lugging cummins can handle the 4 speed much better then a V8. As far as durability the 48re in the cummins is just as tough as the allison.

 

What suprised me was this weekend I talked to a guy that has a new 6.0 powerstroke and he said the thing doesn't start redlining until 4200 rpm. He said basically that is how ford increased the power was to raise the rpm and that is why they are so fast on top end. Personally I can't see a motor like that having much longevity to it with the thin-walled cylinder bores and high rpm's. Most people have told me that the cummins will start blowing parts above 4 grand without modifications.

 

it comes down to this...

do you want to buy one truck and keep it for 20 years?

If so buy the dodge/cummins

if you buy trucks often and you can get rid of them after a couple of years, why not experiment and try 'em all over three years. personnally I don't have that kind of cash.

OR

if you just consider the motor

The Cummins is superior to the Powerstroke and Dmax for many reasons, many of which were stated above.

Good luck

 

Simply stated!

 

Well you'll never need to wind the cummins anywhere near 4200. With the 48re auto locked in 3rd gear with stock gear ratio of 3.73 the cummins will run 85 mph at 3300 rpm redline. and bring a 15000 lb trailer right along with it. And when you hit the grade you cant pull in third you hit 2nd at 60 mph and never get above 3300 rpm.
But mostly you will cruse at 60-65 with that 15000 lb trailer in overdrive at a nice pocky 18-1900 rpm. Tool over all freeway viodocks and up most grades and never come out of 4th lockup. And you will never need to BOMB up the power. Keep her stock. You'll never need more then 325 hp and 610 torque.