good luck with that. The newest truckin magazine had The battle of the diesel haulers. All 2004 2500 Crew Cab short bed 4x4s against each other. all had the auto trannies.

The Cummins smoked them in 0-60, 1/4 mile, and braking. The Powerstroke 6.0 got second, and the duramax came in third. Loaded up with a 5,000lbs trailer, the Powerstroke beat the Cummins and Duramax in 0-60 and 1/4 mile times, but the CTD spanked it in Braking. The Cummins got 2nd in the trailer pulling competition, and the Duramax yet again got last.

They said the turning radius of the GMC was a whole city block, and the tire and wheel package on it is WAY too small. They were impressed with the interior of the Ram, and said it felt like a real truck when you step up into it. They also said "what other 6 cylinder sounds so tough"

 

Truck Trend Tested a New Dodge 3500 and a New Ford 3500 6.0.The Dodge was 6 speed and the 6.0 was an auto and it beat it in everything.

Really when you get down to it all diesels have come a long way in the last few years.There right at 300HP and 600 LBS of torque factory which is very impressive.

My Ford place still says you can EGT and Boost gauages on the new 05s.My uncles 04 came with a trans temp gauage stock.

 

of course an auto is going to beat a 6 speed at a race. thats just a dumb race

 

Yeah I know just sayin that I believe the new 6.0s are faster.

 

Well I now have 46,000 on my 04 Chevy, and it is still trouble free. I haul all the time, and I am always happy with it. I am a Cummins convert, because the wrapper just was not what I needed this time around. I have not looked back, and thats cool. I wont get on here and quote test articles, because they are all biased. Yes they are. Depends on which company spends the money to promote the article.

I had a great 99 Cummins powered Dodge. Ask some of the guys on here like John P, Scotty, dieseldude4x4, and Davidtd. It was a cool ride, but unfortunatly it did not last. 373hp

Now the 04 Chevy is new to me and I am learning about the Duramax. Davidtd put it on his dyno at our awesome event, and I went 440hp. So this was done through computer upgrades, and programming. Not one hard engine part.

I love all diesel engines, because if you look at all the designs, it all come back to the same thing. What makes diesel burn!!!!! Happy hunting in the future. Injector problems are present in the early Duramax engine, and some later models, but its not all as it sounds. Go to a ford board and their truck is awesome, go to a dodge board and their truck is awesome, and then go to a chevy board and you get their truck is awesome. But just remember all have a problem when it comes to new engine designs, and other new implemintations.

 

The 6.0's are not faster than the 555's. I raced one 3 times with a edge juice 100hp and he is fast but my tst on 4/4 at 95hp pulled him until 80 and he was gaining hard until he shut down at 90+. I would call them even the cummins better on the low end and powerstroke makes the loss back up on the top end.

 

I looked at the 05 FROD on the lot and it does have a boost gauge just under the Tach, no pyro.. I think the Pyro is a dream.

I know alot of mechanic outfits around that have been ford for a long time, starting to look at other options now after the unending warrenty work. The cost of the repairs aren't huring them, its just that you can't rent a service body F450 when you break down.

The main complaint about the 6.0 I have heard is that its a Gasser V8 on Diesel. Keep it above 2000 RPM and you can have your torque/power. Great if you have an auto, sux with the 6 spd.

Dmax, well you get 200,000 mile warrenty on the LB7 injectors. Allison is good, the possible 4800 RPM downshift scares me in T/H mode. Again, keep it over 2000 Rpm and you have pretty decent power.

You get nice power "Peaks" with the V-8 engines. Good for the dyno is about all it amounts to. The throttle may as well be a toggle switch IMHO...

 

One trailer added to truck, gross weight 18-25000 lbs+ one hill 5-8 degrees climb over 2-6 miles= number of Powerstrokes and Duramaxxes ahead of Cummins pulling this load at 1650-2100 RPM in overdrive/direct gear manual trans = 0. Any questions, challenges- really guys if you buy a "TRUCK" to race empty based on hype your not there yet- LIFE. Bought my truck to haul loads with a power plant designed to pull (lug) OH-OH now I have said the "L" word- incoming barrage of speculation and ridicule- any Fords or Chevy's want to LUG along with me. Seen any high revving V8's in tractor trailers lately- maybe I'll race over and test drive one today. PK

 

I have a few friends with newer Chevy's with the Duramax and they all seem pretty happy with them..... until they hop in my rig and go for a spin. I have a lift with 35" BFG's and 3:55 gears and a bone stock motor and I still seem to have more grunt. They are nice trucks but I think those motors belong back where they came from... Mothers Cookies delivery trucks. Why fued over a Cummins that has been tried and tested for many years?

 

I drive concrete trucks and we USED to have several Detroit Diesel v-8 's . Those things ran like a raped ape once they started making boost , but low end they were an absolute dog . Fuel economy would beat our Cummins trucks IF the driver wound it up all day long but they had to be rebuilt every 100 ,000 miles or so . Had a Detroit leave me on the side of the road with 11 yds of concrete on board the head cracked and filled cylinders full of antifreeze . Want a hot rod ........ buy a Ferd or Chev ....want durability and a far superior engine ...... Cummins . I live in the show me state and out of 75 mixers in our fleet all but one old beater have Cummins L10 , M11 ,N14 , ISM . Babies are bulletproof with no probs except injectors after 200,000 very hard miles . International is our new supplier now without their p.o.s diesel under the hood and we USED to buy Ford with Cummins but their Sterling trucks are absolute garbage now . Those v-8's have no low end and use boost as a crutch to make power ,just look at the specs on the other engines. 4000 RPM redlines and 2 extra cylinders to TRY and match Cummins power levels and these engines are used in RV's with alot higher tq's with no prob . Our engine isn't even struggling to make 600 tq , the other guys are maxing their junk engines to come close .

 

I fall under the same who gives a hoot group. I mean i talk mine all up. But for the most part i compare to other dodge trucks. When i was going to school i prolly spent more money on my 99 to have the fight with a class mate that had a 98 12v with a 5spd. Good truck, it was a long box,, But he took his to a diesel power place and they turned up the pump but he ran with 12-13 mpg and was happy. started at 19+ I had a box on at the time when it all started and he didnt like that ( we were both in a diesel tech class, , school had a dyno so we ran all the time)

OVer some time he decided he couldnt afford the truckk anymore let his dad kkeep it and he bought a 97 powerstroke. GOt her purty cheep i guess. But Started the race again and cought back up but cost so much more. Got even worse mileage. and when we cut the exaust off it sounded like my 5.9 gasser haha. But it kept up. Now I believe if you knowwhat your doing he could keep his mileage up with it. But non the less i still had a truck that was streetable, made great power. and got 17-20 mpg.


The only thing that kept me ahead then when he got the PSD was my auto was built. Both had autos and i belive i could just get more to the ground that he could. But he had no problem keeping up with me :P

 

Yeah a cummins has more down low cause of the inline 6 design, but a stroke or duramax has more up top because there V8s.The 8s just rev higher.

Dang the 350 gasser in my truck has a rev limter at 5,000 and the new strokes don't have one till 6,000 so does the duramax.

More revs usally more top end.

Me I like em all but I'm goin with the cummins.They last longer,pull harder, and I like the body style alot too.

 

Lots of talk about drag racing. The real test is a loaded truck pulling up an incline, and I'll take a Cummins any time over a PSD or Duramax.

 

Newer Durasucks or Powerchokes can not run with the 600 CTD's loaded or unloaded - stock. I have a buddy that had is 2003 D-max LEMON LAWED after injector and tranny problems. He "upgraded" it in for the 2004 6.0 P-stroke and is having valve problems already. Both of those trucks ran againt my 600 and from a stop or on the highway pulling our boats the 600 spanks eaither one every time.

Now wishes he would have waited for the 600.

 

And whats up with all that frame showing on those things?.....almost as ugly as the front end. The only thing I remotly like about the Duramax and the Strokes is that they are quieter than my Cummins. And thats all.........