I was at our county fair modified truck pulls last night. As I watched the pulls I saw nothing but Chevy's in the pull with two Dodges and one Ford : When it came time to leave I saw nothing but Dodges for the most part and Fords with two chevy's [undecided] I thought it was rather funny I even got a few guys to get out of there trucks to come and talk to me &quot;I think it was the stacks&quot; I took 30 min to get out of the fair grounds there was sooo many people there. <br>Would I buy a Dodge if it had a CAT yes but then I would buy a Dodge if it had a durajunk in it also I would just not have big durmax stickers on it like I do my Cummins <br>DM01

 

Interesting post. I would put a Cat in my truck in a heart beat. DC had their Power Wagon concept truck a few years ago. The engine in it was a 7.2L, dry sleeved, HEUI injected engine. A Cat 3126. As to the cost of Cat parts? Priced a VP44 or lift pump?

 

Here it is

 

Better one that spells out CAT

 

I'll stick to the Cummins. Dont get me wrong, CAT makes a good OTR engine. Talk to any driver and they will tell you just how well the 425 3406B performed, as well as its electronic brother, the 3406E. What makes CAT so popular is there ungodly amount of lugging power. These babies have the torque down at the bottom. <br><br>The 3126 is a good little engine. The biggest problem I see with these engines is the maintinence. Owners of these think they can go up to 15-20k on 15w40. When this happens, you start running in to HEUI high psi pump seals leaking, injectors failing, and not too mention your warranty being void. That engine will tattle tale on you if intervals arent like they are supposed to be. Had a guy bring one in last week with a HEUI pump leak, swore he had been changing his oil at 8k like he should. When the engine told the story through the computer, it was more like 20k.

 

You are correct about maintenence. Proper oil viscosity and cleanliness are essential. But the owner not following proper procedure is not a weakness of the engine. A Cummins is no more imune to poor maintenece than any other engine.

 

Hey Monty what would an oil change interval be on a Cummins about the same size and power as the Cats you described above. Just wondering. Thanks -Anthony

 

What is going to happen when Dodge no longer has the Cummins and ford takes it after Two years of it is being dead. I hear that it is coming the the next model year that it will the last year for the cummins in it. What will happen, Will CAT C-U-M to the picture? ???


CHris

 

[quote author=RDNeckChris link=board=8;threadid=17341;start=30#msg165644 date=1059535431]
What is going to happen when Dodge no longer has the Cummins and ford takes it after Two years of it is being dead. I hear that it is coming the the next model year that it will the last year for the cummins in it. What will happen, Will CAT C-U-M to the picture? ???


CHris
[/quote]
:

 

[quote author=RDNeckChris link=board=8;threadid=17341;start=30#msg165644 date=1059535431]
What is going to happen when Dodge no longer has the Cummins and ford takes it after Two years of it is being dead. I hear that it is coming the the next model year that it will the last year for the cummins in it. What will happen, Will CAT C-U-M to the picture? ???


CHris
[/quote]

You heard wrong. Daimler Chryslers contract with Cummins does not end until 2007. After that, who knows, but I say that you will see a MB engine in the Dodge truck, or a smaller Detroit.

I realize that the maintinance for the 3126 engine is not its downfall. But, almost 90% of the trucks with the HEUI CAT system that come in are commercial trucks driven by dozens of people. ( The bigger kitty cats are not HEUI driven) When you get quite a few people driving the same truck, maintenance falls off and problems start to come up. I for one do not like the HEUI system just due to its delecacy.

Chris, the rival engine in the Freightliner market against the 3126 is the ISB.(Up until this year when Freightliner dropped Cummins and now only has the option of CAT or MB) The only difference in this engine and ours as far as fluid goes, is the oil pan. The ISB for the FL holds 18qts. Intervals can vary between syn and dino oil. But, most of the owners change there oil every 10-12k with the ISB that run 15w40. In more extreme conditions it can be less.

 

I would, if they could find a way to shoehorn a 3406E 550 with a fuller 18 speed in the truck. ;D

Everyone has to dream about something

 

Yes Richard, we can All Dream, Can't we?

 

CAT motors are now cast in Red China, not a chance! I had a 68 Dodge 800 series with 1145 n/a CAT lots of torque was gonna put it in my 54 deuce and a 1/2 but now that I've Owned my CTD for a few years glad I got rid of both of them! If I were to do it again it would get a 6CTA

 

CAT is just a big commercial name...its like coca-cola vs brand x cola....still just cola....they're expensive to repair and maintenance on them is higher than desired....thye have stuck around really well cause they're big into selling entire lineups and provide incentives to sell in large amounts (machinery)...they seem to have higher resale value

its like ford trucks...ford is really big into the fleet business and sell trucks really made with dumps and boxes and whatever...and so most townships get locked into contracts for extended periods of time because ford sells them 100 f-550 dump trucks to do the towns maintenance...they all just happen to be diesel...and then people get the wrong idea that all work trucks are ford with ford diesels

anyways....NO on the CAT

 

After owning a Peterbilt with a CAT, and having driven others with Cummins, NO. If downsized engines are like thier big brothers, CATs are SUPER at pulling, no doubt about it. LOTS of torque on the bottom end. Used to be able to pull I-80 in Northern Cal and I-70 to Denver with no problems. Cummins weren't bad. But... the CATs were expensive to maintain versus a Cummins and didn't get near the fuel milage as a Cummins (5.6 versus 6.2 or so MPG- hey at over 12,000 miles per month, it matters!) So, with that said, my preferance would be to stay with a Cummins. They've been in the Dodges for a while and can still pull what the truck and chasis is rated to pull. Of course, I'm just speculating based on an assumption.