turbob

What are &quot;YOUR&quot; reasons for owning a Dodge/Cummins?<br><br>Heavy Equipment has been my Life for the last 25 years. Currently operating a 2001 D9R Cat. Dozer and a<br>2002 972 Cat. Loader.<br>The Dodge/Cummins feels like home to this soon to retire<br>Equipment operator. We looked at a Freightliner FL50 with Cat.<br>power as a Tow Vehicle but we must have 4x4 here in snow country and a truck that does'nt take up 1 1/2 parking places in a Mall. The Dodge/Cummins &quot;Works&quot; for me and just feels and sounds right.I guess we bought an engine and the truck came with it. &lt;grin&gt; &quot;How About You&quot;<br>

pappyman

I agree with you its about the engine and not the attaching parts (Dodge Truck) :-X<br><br>If Furd had the Cummins engine Iam sure I would now be a proud Furd owner ???<br><br>The agreeable part is Dodge has enhanced the truck to an enjoyable truck to drive since 1994 to the current 2003 model ;D

Shovelhead

Been driving Dodge/Plymouth products since I learned to drive.(1972)<br>Always wanted a Cummins Diesel in a 3500 Dually. <br>Found a great deal. 8)

Dieseldude4x4

Wanted a diesel truck since I was a kid. Bought the first one the first year the Cummins came out and have had three to this date. Had a 89 and a 95 at the same time. Wanted a dually is the only reason I got rid of the other two. Love every minute of it. My 99 truck is four years old this month and is coming up on 117000 miles.

Hired Gun

I bought mine because I wanted a dependable engine. Had a 94 chevy with the 6.5. What a hunk of junk. Truck was beautiful.<br>My dad told me to buy a dodge because of the CUMMINS. Man was he right. I use it for town, pulling my 25 ft corn pro.<br>I usually haul my 2394 Case IH or water. 2000 gallons. I haul fertilizer and bagged lime. This truck has plenty of power and handles great.<br>I have owned many automobiles, but this 99 4x4 3500 is AWESOME

Smokin J

Had a 1500 gasser, was on a fishing trip with a buddy who had a CTD, I had to stop twice for gas, he never had to stop for fuel. After that I was sold. After buying the CTD I made the same trip with my boat and I did NOT have to stop for fuel!!! Wife and I like the Quad Cab, long box, and the ride.<br>Smokin J

DPG

I wanted the Best diesel pickup for towing available. I had a Ford TD, and GMC TD, and I finally got it right. I probably would have a Medium Duty Hauler, but I can't afford one. My 3500 is the next best thing. When I get a little more &quot;bombed&quot; it will probably will be as good as one. ;D ;D<br><br>DeWain

CoastalDav

Well, was in the Coast Guard from 1965 to 1994. During that time I always had my had on a trottle that was connected to a single or pair of diesels. Hp ranged from 400 to 2600. Anyway they put me on the beach in 1985 and made me a Marine Inspector. Worked on Rigs, Supply Boats, in the shipyards, always around some big diesels. EMD's with 645 cuin per cylinder that burn several thousand gallons a day at 900 rpm. Well, there was one thing missing. I no longer had that diesel under my hand. So I bought a pair of 5.7 Diesel cars (GM). Changed a few head gaskets. Bought a 6.2 in a suburban later and a 7.3 in a 93 furd Crew cab dually. One day in 1995 a Dodge whent by me sounding pretty good. <br>Drove one, new right away with my background that this was what I was use to, reliability, and needed one bad. <br><br>Bought a 96 Quad Cab long box, My son has it now with 207K<br>on it. I have what is shown below. Don't think I be buying a 03 or 04 until they have a crew cab. There is only 1.5 inches more back seat room in the 03 Quad Cab than mine. If no crew cab, I guess it will be an older Furd with a cummins in it. <br><br>Anyway, thats my story. <br><br>Dave Hawthorne<br>CWO4 (Bosn) USCG, RET.

rich

6800 lb trailer with loads upto 21k on trailer hills to climb with loads to job sites. I dont like sliding backwards down hills with loads. neede a dependable motor with real power it is the ONLY motor that can handle it . not much else to say.

moss2904

I was tired of replacing goofed up Ford's.

kamper

Well sometime it surprises me too..Always been a GM man. I have pulled trailers around for many years and just got tired of them passing me. I have a work truck that is a 01 CTD 3500 and we abuse the crap out of the poor thing. My work truck weights around 10,500lbs with the utility bed and has power up the wazoo. I got use to the 6 speed and the daully and bought one for personal use. We plan on buying a 30-32' triple slide 5ver in a couple of years so I went ahead and bought a magnum puller. I have been watching the diesel arena for years and the Cummins is a good choice and a strong puller. The Dodge also feels like you got a truck under you. The Duramax is a strong runner too but I was not willing to pay $5-6000 extra and maybe deal with beginners luck. Thought about waiting for a '03 but the '02 was a decent price. No regrets as of yet....Just my $0.02 Ken

DarrellB

Bought my first truck when I was 15 it was an 82 1/2 ton Chevy with a 305. That truck serviced me great for 5 years. I started making good money working 2 jobs when I was 20 and decided to buy a new truck. Got up one day and went a visited dealer lots and test drove all three (Dodge, Chevy, and Ford) Fell in love with the Ford/PowerStroke combo but wanted the 97 style body. 8) Dealer told me they could get one, but when it came in it wasn't the right color and didn't have half the options I wanted. &gt; I went and drove a Dodge again and decided on a 2500 with all the options and the Cummins engine and 5spd tranny. From then on it's all been down hill. ;D I've dropped some serious $$$$$$$ on this truck, but have loved every minute of it. I think I did pretty good for a 20 year old buying his first new truck. The truck listed for $37,000 and I got it for $33,000 including tax, also got them to throw in a set of SS Westin Nurf Bars and SS rocker panel trim. 8)<br><br>DB

Stormin_Norman

I liked the Ford chassis better than Dodge, but I like the Cummins better than the Powerstroke. With a 3K rebate and 7/70 powertrain warrenty I bought the Dodge. Had Ford matched the deal, I would have bought a Ford. My truck runs 80% of the time loaded, having the auto trans under warrenty for 70K was a good thing. So far with 5K on the truck I really like it and have had 0 problems, although locking hubs would be nice.

P Kennedy

As the owner of the second CTD and having run, worked on and owned diesels in all applications my first choice would have been a CAT, however they have never manufactured a diesel light enough in a I6 configuration that a pickup frame will carry. I am not Cummins N855 fan as these engines never produced the reliability of the 3406 Cat in heavy pulling applications in my experience. The B Cummins has proven itself over the years long before Dodge put them in a P/U as a hard running economical performer in equipment and capable of taking fairly high abuse. You will read on these forums a lot of mechanical woes but one must realize that they are here to correct problems economically without the dealers help. All the diesels have records of reliability but I dont like V8's as it has been proven in identical engine sizes they cannot produce the bottom end torque for pulling at lower rpm than an I6. If I had to buy a truck for some one to pull a trailer up to 12000lbs used 2-3 months of the year and DID not have diesel in their background it would be a Duramax with the Allison auto. GM offers and honors their warranty better and the Allison compensates while pulling up hill and down towing with less input from the driver. If you want a full time puller to mate with a commercial driving background the Cummins HO with 6 spd is far superior and more familiar to what one is used to driving. We are looking at building a truck from a class 8 and re-powering with a C10 CAT/Allison 2400 6spdOD and the Eaton 2 spd rearend. PK