those duramax guys say gas mileage like they put gas in their trucks

i got a hell of a deal on my truck, the cummins engine is great, IFS doesnt belong on a 4x4 HD truck, and the dodge looks better than the new GM's

 

Never visited the Duramax site before, and I am impressed. Looks like a level headed group. Nowhere near the drama that you see on the Ford site.

 

When I bought mine, drove the chevy then the Dodge, Dodge 'felt' like a truck, chevy felt soft. Funny someone mentioned chevys constantly needing alingments (sp), cause the one I drove would make a sharp left if you let go of the wheel. Didn't buy that day, but never really ever found myself looking at Chevys again. Then found my 02 JUST THE WAY I WANTED... I have never looked back or wished otherwise. PS... once you go diesel you'll never go back.

DuaneW.

 

Did you guys read that last clowns post?? Banshee____, not to be confused with Banshee(Johner) from our site! Sounds mighty with it to me!!

 

Bought a Dodge due to:
1. Previously owned a 1996 Dodge 12 valve Cummins- awesome truck!
2. Cheaper price than Ford or Chevy- although I live in "Powerstroke" country.
3. Proven Cummins reliability- simple design- great fuel economy- excellent torque!
4. Easy to increase HP and Torque if wanted- the engine can take the power if your willing to spend the $$
5. Also proven record of the New Venture 6spd tranny
6. If like the past, should be easy to sell down the road. You can almost always find some that is wanting a Cummins 6spd dually... even if it has very high miles...

 

The Cummins is used up to class 8, while GM seems to switch to a larger inline 6 above class 5. Even before the recent torque wars the Cummins seems to have developed a reputation for mileage and durability compared to the other offerings. Although the Allison seems to perform well I didn't want an auto anyway. GM defuels Isuzu in 1st and 5th in order to protect the Allison, as it seemed to be designed for lower engine output. As a result Dodge seemed to do better than the other diesels in some surveys:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...nes.htm#diesel

 

I looked at the Chevy with an open mind before buying. They do drive nice with the Allison. But take a look under the hood. It's crammed with stuff and service looks hard. It has hoses too close to the fan and the turbo location sucks. Two heads, two exhaust manifolds, etc. The next thing is the aluminum heads. Hmmm. Maybe, but let's see what happens for a few years before gambling. And finally, their front suspension looks really whimpy and the frame hangs way down, limiting ground clearance. Sheesh, give me a real truck!
I also have a '93 CTD and I have always loved it, so I am biased. Yes it's crude, but it's a reliable and simple workhorse. When I looked at the 3rd gen Dodges I thought they were improved in almost every way. I know my '04 is the best truck I've ever had. It's powerful, reliable, strong, and fun. If I lost it I'd get another one without a second thought.
The Allison is a five speed, and it may be more sophisticated than the 48RE, but I wouldn't by a Chevy just to get it.

Wetspirit

 

I looked at the Chevy with an open mind before buying. They do drive nice with the Allison. But take a look under the hood. It's crammed with stuff and service looks hard. It has hoses too close to the fan and the turbo location sucks. Two heads, two exhaust manifolds, etc. The next thing is the aluminum heads. Hmmm. Maybe, but let's see what happens for a few years before gambling. And finally, their front suspension looks really whimpy and the frame hangs way down, limiting ground clearance. Sheesh, give me a real truck!
I also have a '93 CTD and I have always loved it, so I am biased. Yes it's crude, but it's a reliable and simple workhorse. When I looked at the 3rd gen Dodges I thought they were improved in almost every way. I know my '04 is the best truck I've ever had. It's powerful, reliable, strong, and fun. If I lost it I'd get another one without a second thought.
The Allison is a five speed, and it may be more sophisticated than the 48RE, but I wouldn't by a Chevy just to get it.

Wetspirit

 

Oops, double post. Sorry.

 

I bought my CDT so I wouldn't look stupid posting on this forum.

I am not brand loyal, but my dog is! (See pics) this is my 2nd Dodge Ram. I will not even ride in a Ford cause my neighbor has one. Chevy's dash looks like something out of the 50's.

Seriously, if they put a Cummins in a Honda I'd buy it. If you are going to put alot of miles on a truck get a Cummins. If you are not going to tow at all, or sell it in a year save your money and get something else. This is a serious truck, if you are serious about trucking.

 

Geico, Towing isn't the only use for this truck. I bought mine to get into the backcountry .. camp, hike, climb whatever. 66" wide bed is 6" bigger than queen size. Perfect for a family of 3 w/ a shell over our heads. Yeah, I like that live front axle too. I don't like the 7.5" ground clearance of the 11.5" AAM rear axle. I'm sure a rock will rip off that stupid front air dam this summer also.

 

The truck I had before my '02 was an '01 chevy 2500 4WD with 6.0 gas. I had it for 11 months. Here's why. IFS should not be allowed in a real truck. If you need that smooth a ride, you don't need 4WD. Even though the 4wd chevy probably sits a foot lower than a ford or dodge, they made the frame dip down even lower in the middle. I'm not a hardcore off roader, but i drug the frame several times on pasture roads. It came with tiny tires, can't remember the size now, but ford and dodge both come with taller and wider tires. I have no personal experience with the duramax. I have a couple friends with one, and I know a local chevy dealer mechanic pretty well. One friend had an 02 that went through 2 sets of injectors before he traded it and got a ford. The other friend has an 03, and has had no problems with the engine. Seems to be the luck of the draw as to which one is bad and which is good. Seems to me that chevy has taken the luxury comfort city path, and ford and dodge have taken the heavy duty working path. I just have no need for the first path.

 

My fourth Dodge Cummins had the dreaded drive line vibe. Other than that it was flawless like the first three. I had to fix the drive line vibration one way or another. Not the most popular here but it'll work until the Dodge Cummins combo isn't plagued with 50%~ of the third gens vibrating bad enough to blur vision in the rear views. And it's not motor. It does it with the motor off at 68mph. But after alot of thought and research, I decided I'd rather have a Dodge with a Hemi than a Ford with a Powerstroke. The GM Dmax/Allison would be a consideration but GM like$ them a lot more than I do. They have very few issues. The 6.0 PSD is plagued with issues. The Hemi powered Ram has no issues. It's just thirsty.
The Mega Cab is Cummins this year. I hope the Getrag is better than the first go around. I might have one if the driveline vibes are gone.

 

I looked at the Ford, Chevy and Dodge when I was buying, price was an issue,availability, ride and drive to a small degree and I was only considering manual trannys. The Chevy/GM has IFS(not very well suited for HD applications IMHO), terrible ground clearance, plus I couldn't find a dealer with a manual equipped Duramax in stock and price was a bit more than I wanted to spend. The Ford wasn't bad, the interrior was a bit dated IMHO, the 6-speed is NOT smooth at all, I driven tractors with smoother shifting; other than that I liked the Ford. As for the Dodge, I really like the design/styling, The Cummins is tried and true, the NV5600 6-speed shifts smoothly, solid front axle, the ride height (it looks like a truck not a low rider) and finally the price was far better than the other two.

 

My father has used them on the farm for years change the oil and filters and workem hard.... Only problem i remember to date was the ball joints in his 95 but DC replaced them.