In my NOT so humble opinion You cannot run fast enough to give me another gasser. I do a lot of driving and lots of heavy towing and have not owned a gasser in quiet a few years. The last gasser I had was a great truck, But I wore out the 7.3 because I couldn't afford to pull with the gasser.
No other truck for me but a diesel. If I would drive a gasser like I drive my current trucks, they wouldn't last a year. These 2 ctd's are gonna be parking in my drive for a looooong time.
my .02
wayne

 

Don't let this forum scare you. The vast majority really like the Rams. I cannot speak for the 600 owners but I love my 555. My Ram gets better economy around town than my '98 Chevy C1500 (18mpg) could get on the highway. My highest mileage recorded so far with the 555 is little of 22 mpg running between 65-70mph. Last weekend I towed about 6k lbs for 600 miles and able to get 15mpg running 75mph most of the way. Try that with a gasser!

MikeyB

 

After I bought my first gas truck I could never go back to a car. Now that I bought my first diesel I can never go back to a gas truck. Nuff said!

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Pete

 

Todd Bailey,

I will chime in here only because most of the replies in this post are from 03 and 04 truck owners. My 98 has 98,000 miles, everything is original except for the track bar, ball joints, and lift pump. The above mentioned pieces have been replaced only once. I love this truck, I have no intentions of getting a new one anytime soon. Some people have mentioned the noise, gotta love it, I run around with my sliding rear window open just to hear that 4" exaust note when I lean on it. I have had many, many trucks, mostly Dodges, but a few BB Chebbies, and a PowerJoke Furd. Of all of them this Cummins is by far the BEST. She towes, runs very well, and gets some semblance of mileage. The big block Chevy got 4 MPG towing!!! My 440 Dodges got 8 MPG. Go buy the diesel you want, be it new or used you will love it!!!!

Just my .10 cents worth.

 

Here's My story, never thought I would by a Diesel anything always had the Chevy slammed dually(I lived in SoCal) with the big block, one day I pulled up to a Dodge with the guages on the column and puffin a little smoke, I said to myself, those guages are cool and sounded awesome, wonder if it runs, the next light I screamed at him whats the guages for, he said he needed them for all the power he was making, OK sure I thought, so I punched it at the light and seconds later got passed by a blur puffing out a black column of smoke, chased him down at the next light and asked him to pull over and educate me,,,,he did the rest is history.

Any Cummins you get you'll love...When I sold my 01 Diesel(2 wheel drive now living in Indy) to get a Hummer I was sick, to this day I miss my 01, after my first tow with the H2 I traded it in on my 04 Cummins 4x4, and I'm a extremely happy boy again.

 

After many years of driving gas powered trucks, I finally bought my CTD mainly for towing. With 20k on the clock of my 03 I can tell you there is not more Gas in my future. The CTD tows better, get better overall mileage, and just feels all around stronger.

 

I vote go for the diesel. I have a new 600 and I was getting 14.5 MPG before the reflash and now the trip computer is showing another couple of MPG gained. I'm at 3100 on the odometer. I'm very happy with my new truck, and you can only have it if you pry it from my cold dead hands. I traded in my 95 gasser and won't go back.

 

Since they reformulated gas all my vehicles started getting worse mileage. My '01GMC used to get 19mpg on road trips last September went to Oregon and back keeping speeds down 65-70 could only get about 15.5mpg. Iwould have bought a diesel when I bought that truck but the extra $7000 was out of my price range. When I saw the discount offered thru work $100 below invoice I was all over it . Love the truck get 17mpg mixed driving got 11-12 towing 8000# travel trailer.. Haven't taken any road trips yet but a Vegas trip should be in the future.

 

Todd,

Check out the gasser forums and you'll see a number of complaints and problems. The responses you have seen on this thread are right on. People are looking for solutions, so you are going to see a higher percentage of issues. You can't really compare gasoline trucks to diesel trucks. There is no comparison if you are going to tow anything substantial or plan to keep your truck for ten years. One thing you will notice with the Dodge 2500 or 3500 with the CTD is that the statement "You can't even tell the trailer is back there" is actually true.

I have had Two GMCs and One Dodge gasoline trucks. I think this truck is the best I've owned. I have over 25K miles and have had zero problems.

You have obviously touched a nerve with your original post, but this webite is the best source of honest information and help you will find.

Good luck with your decision.

Gordonville

 

Todd,

If 2 cents from a Ford owner is worth anything. If you are talking diesel, I too have looked at the forums to determine if it is right to jump. As you can see I drive a moderately dated PowerStroke 7.3. I would no longer consider the new PowerStroke 6.0 as an option. It probably cannot be fixed with any amount of recall work.

The Cummins is not a "new" engine but an existing engine, but one that they improved for a number of years. Cummins has probably the most extensive computational fluid dynamics design of the injection and piston stroke cycle. The 600 is the latest improvement of the series. I am convincedof of the reliability and design quality of Cummins. The inital model introduction is always a little rough from what you have read but the truck is solid.

Why have I sat on the fence? I need a little more inside room than the quad can give. I will probably have to wait until my needs go down (in a few years) or wait until I cannot go any longer without the capacity of the truck.

 

The 600 has been a very positive experience for me…..and it’s a Cummins = best diesel. 3,700 to date, unloaded w/ 60% hilly hi-way driving I’m getting 16-18 MPG.

 

Todd, I just bought a new 2003 3500 Quad Cab dually 4x4 diesel to replace my 98.5 3500 quad cab dually. Did I really need it? No. Why did I get another dually diesel? Because that's as many wheels and the most power and best fuel economy in the biggest truck I could get! If I can't do something with this truck,it's too big of a job. The same can't be said of a gasser. And one more thing,I have a family of 5 (3 teenaged boys, my wife and me). We went on a short trip of just over 100 miles,my oldest son who is over 6' tall sat in front passenger seat with 2-3" of room to spare,while his buddie who is over 6'-4" sat behind him in the back seat,and he had room to spare ,too.Total of 5 large adults,and one teenager. So don't neccessarily take for gospel what the Crewcab (chev,ford dudes) say about these new Quad cabs not having enough room. I think they are very comfortable,and so do all that have rode in the back seat.
I hope you enjoy your new diesel truck...you'll fit right in after you jump off the right side of the fence!! Mark.

 

I agree with Moopa. When I bought my 98 dually and also with this truck, I said to my wife and myself " I want a truck that will never not be able to anything that a pickup should be able to do" In other words, If it can be done, I will be able to do it! The only thing I didn't get was the dually again because I didn't really need it.

I bought my first CTD in 92 with a D250 4x4 club cab, 5 speed and 3:54 gears. She was kind of slow but she didn't get any slower no matter what I hauled or towed. Well, one day one of our truck drivers was backing a 53' moving trailer through a large puddle. The trailer made it through the puddle alright because the tractor was on the pavement. Well the single axle tractor got into the puddle and of course got hung up real bad. I was watching this out of the office window as the warehouse guys hooked up a forklift, then a forklift and an F150 together but the tractor didn't budge. Well I walked outside and told everyone to get their crap out of the way so I could take care of the problem. I hooked up with a chain, put the transfer case in 4 low, put her in first, and to quote one of the older guys there 'Man that thing pulled the chain tight and spun about a half a turn and and pulled that tractor out of there like it didn't weigh nothing! I've never seen anything like that before!" I was the hero and all the chicks wanted me after that and........ Wait! That last part may have been a dream...
Unfortunately that truck gave me too many little problems and I traded it in on the first of a long line of gasser trucks which lasted until a couple of years ago when I finally regained my mental status.........I'll never own a gas truck again.......


Hey Todd! Are you out there?

 

If you are going to base your buying decision on a handfull of mileage complaints you had better look out because the sky is falling.{ somebody will second that}
It looks like you are a gas job man from a way back because you would never go back to a gas job if you ever owned a real diesel.

 

Check out my signature. If I sell my small slide-in camper, I won't need a 3/4 ton truck. But that's what I'm buying and it has to be a diesel. Anything less is just a "wanna be" truck.