Hey guys, I thought I had my mind made up on a Dodge but after doing alot of reading on here the vibe I get about the 04.5 to 06 Cummings 5.9 is not getting very good reveiws on here. I've read that the fuel economy is not as good as the 03's. That the 325/610 doesn't have the trottle response that the 305/555 has. The only real good thing I've heard is that the 325 is quieter.

The Duramax 360/650 is impressive to me as a stock motor and the Allison trans. has a good reputation on the newer models. So I don't know what I want.

Whatever I end up with I will be adding a 4" or 6" lift and 35's or 37's.

Some thoughts and opinions are welcome here.

Thanks

 

I went through the same thing, comming from an 05 2500 Chevy gasser, I chose the cummins, mostly because Dodge has ran it for well over a decade, and thats saying somthing right there, how many motor's has chevy and ford run in the past few years? Another is Dodges have solid front axles, much easier to lift, stronger, and better off road. Finally, because I could get the dodge with a manual tranny. Ive had mine for almost 3mo. and I love it, I have had 1 kink, but it just needed a reflash of the comp. If I could go back and get the Chevy I wouldnt.

--Sean

 

I've had 2 04.5's. The first one was stolen with 10,000 miles on it. The other now has over 50,000. The only issue I've had is ujoints. My last tank of got me 23 mpg's even. That's hand calculated. I wouldn't trade mine for anything, even an 05 or 06. This truck runs great and doesn't give me any problems at all.
Just make sure the one you buy is the one YOU want not what everyone else wants you to buy. I love the low end torque of the cummins.

 

I have absolutely ZERO problems with my 06. Ive got almost 20k on it right now. Its had 35's and a power adder for 10k of that. Even with the 35's i average 525-550 miles on 29-30 gallons which comes out to 17-18 mpg. If your planning on lifting it 4-6" than stay the heck away from GM. IFS sucks when lifted. Ive had several friends with lift chevy's and everyone of them had issues with bent or broken tie rods and serious alignment issues which in turn prematurely wears out tires. JMHO.

 

Im biased, b/c I did my homework and have a head on my shoulders. Of course I'd promote my truck over that IFS-POS. So what 360 hp stock - who cares anymore? Mod it and you will well above that anyway! - look, if your gonna lift it, you dont want IFS. and if you are gonna have 360 hp and 650 ft/lbs, you wont be able to hold it with IFS. PERIOD. Go ahead and get the Chevy - I'll gladly try you in a tug-o-war

 

I've read other postings that on the dyno the Chevy falls down. Maybe the Allison is eating the power.

Pete

 

Well the chevy has got some nice seats, after that the Allison sucks! and I hate IFS! Also I heard that Smarty is coming out with a chip or to eliminate the third injection shot per stroke that = lower egt and better millage sweeeet!

 

If all you want to do is race a stock truck then the Duramax may be a good bet. If you want low end power and extreme durability the Dodge is a no brainer. If you ever expect to work on it take a look under the hood. Again the Dodge is the one that makes sense. The Chevy is crammed with stuff and the turbo is mounted where it must be but should never be.

I wanted the Cummins but the straight axle was the icing on the cake. I don't like IFS.

Next look under them. At a glance they look about the same, but the frame is hanging way down on the Chevy. It's an optical illusion. You think you have ground clearance but you don't. The Dodge was designed to house the Cummins and the Duramax/Allison was shoehorned into an existing design.

I'm sure the Chevy drives nice and the Allison has a nice low first gear. The 48RE is very durable but it is definately on it's last incarnation. And for good reason. If you will be waiting till '07 maybe you will be able to get an Aisin tranny. Probably a very nice upgrade.

Wetspirit

 

And unless your looking at a mega cab, you should be able to get a Dodge $3k-$4k cheaper than the Chebby.

(You can put that back into the truck in mods )

 

I drove both before buying my dodge, the dodge handles way better in the corners and then of course the Cummins just flat out beats the duramax in every way.

 

I drove the Dodge, Chevy, and Ford all on the same day. I took along the boss (Wife) and the princess (Daughter) with her car seat. I also had an extra baby car seat for the boys (Two that we will call Smoke and Butch) that are currently being incubated by the boss. My driving is a solid 50% city, but we do take enough family trips with the two dogs (both size large) so my truck needs to not only handle me and my needs, but the family's as well.

The Dodge's MEGA cab won hands down. The interior room in both the front and rear is unbeatable by Chevy and Ford.

The CTD impressed my wife by being "the quietest" and "most peppy" in her words. The Ford was just too loud and the Chevy at idle sounded like it was coming apart.

I should qualify that I went into the whole process thinking I would buy the Chevy. A partner of mine had one and he loved it. Heck, I loved driving his truck. But, after driving the CTD I was sold. It is truely an engine that can work harder than the Dodge frame it is in.

Now that we have had the truck for a while my wife complains that the truck is no fun to drive. The engine does not have to work to do anything.

 

First off, as a whole, the other makes don't get any better gas mileage than the Dodge/Cummins, no matter what others tell you. The way you drive makes a bigger difference than the badge on the side of the truck. My brothers Ford F-350 4x4 gets about 14 around town, I get the same in my MegaCab. We both have about 6,000 miles on the odometer. And if you lift it 4"-6", that won't matter anyway. Don't expect to get 20 mpg on a lifted truck with 37's, it just isn't going to happen.

Talking about lifts, the solid front axle of the Dodge makes it a whole lot easier to do. Like others have already stated, it will also be a bit stronger than GM's IFS.

I also completely agree with Donut Gestapo. His use/needs sounds like a carbon copy of mine. And the MegaCab was better than any others at meeting those needs. I love my truck and wouldn't trade it for anything else (well, maybe a Ferrari ).

 

If you have an email address I will send you a photo I have of the pistons & rods out of Cummins, Ford and Chevy so you can see the difference your self. I was surprised how big the cummins was over the other two.

 

Get under the chevy, and look at the frame. You will see it's a C channel in the middle section of the truck. Now, get under a dodge. Hell, even a 1/2 ton dodge-it doesn't matter. It's boxed the whole way. The inferiority of the IFS is obvious-no need to go there.

 

You are going find these kinds of comments about fuel economy and throttle response on every diesel truck forum, as the emission standards are tightened. The other thing is peak horsepower and peak torque are peak. It doesn't tell you anything about the overall performance, so it is easy to be seduced by these numbers.

It sounds like you are going to be doing some off-roading, which usually involves rock crawling. In that case, forget the Allison slush box, unless you like to test your braking reflexes while the wound up torque converter tries to launch you off every rock. You need a manual for that kind of work, and GM ain't got one for '07. They're not interested in off-road. Dodge is, as further evidenced by the Power Wagon.

Another thing to consider, did you know that Chevy doesn't offer a one-ton crew cab with a short bed? You're not taking a long bed off-road, right?

Also GM trucks have poor departure angles for off-road work, with more rear overhang, 52.2 inches vs. 47.9 for the Dodge. Add the hitch, and now you've made the problem worse.

Turning diameter is worse for the Chevy Crew-cab short bed at 49.6 feet, versus 47.5 for the Dodge.

Towing capacity isn't as good with the Chevy either at 12,000 pounds vs. 13,850 for the Dodge.

Have you looked under the hood of the Chevy and Dodge trucks. Looking at the Dodge is like looking at an engine made in the '60s. That thing is a joy for accessibility. It's not lacking in power either. Punch it on the freeway, and it surges ahead.

Here are some other things you can't get in the Chevy (which surprised me):

Navigation system
Bluetooth Telephone interface
MP3 player
Side-curtain airbags

They seem a bit behind the times.

This will give you a few more things to think about.

Michael