Duramax or Cummins???

[Browning01]

Well said jesnic, the Allison is a phenomenal trans, but more than a 60hp tune on the 5 spd or 80hp tune on the 6spd can kill them quickly.

 

[southernboy2147]

the cummins is loud and from what i hear does alot of trans issues. the year model duramax that ur looking at has had alot of problem with the injectors going out (4k minimum). but other than that I dont know of any issues. The durmax is more comfortable, classy and has a better ride imo compared to the cummins. its all personal preference.

 

[Wild Turkey]

What you need and all of too is a :
Ford F250 with a cummins diesel, Allison trans, and Gm Brakes.
Now thats a truck every man could love.

 

[jmh5397]

Here's my '03 Ram Cummins story. I'm the original owner with 236,000 miles. I pull a 30' fifth wheel camper and a pressure washing unit that carries 600 gallons of water and 200 gallons of chemicals. The only issue I had was back about 3 years ago, a friend of mine borrowed it to move. When he brought it back to me, he filled her up with 31 gallons of the "good stuff". Then drove from Roswell, Ga to Jackson...67 miles. The "good stuff" being 93 octane gas! The gas ate up the seals in the lift pump. Took it back to the dealer, they cleaned out the tank, replaced the lift pump, and pulled the injectors, inspected them and put them right back in. It's been fine since. No transmission problems up to this point. I've always owned Fords but when they quit using Cummins in the 250's and 350's....I quit using them. Which truck is faster from red light to red light???? Who cares? Which engine is found in heavy equipment, fire trucks, marine applications, generators, etc.? If you're truly concerned about the Dodge transmission not lasting...call Jeff Garmin with Garmin Diesel Performance and he'll custom build you a trans for your application.

 

[SCDieselDawg]

I'm a Dodge fan myself but be warned the 98.5 to 2002 dodges had issues with the injection pumps going out prematurely and it is a issue that is reacurring even with new pumps.

 

[lbzdually]

I've had 2 2006 LBZ Duramaxes. I sold the 1st one at 37k miles and had absolutely no problems out of it. I got my 2nd one with 29k miles on it and it now has 110k with absolutely no problems at all. I took the 1st truck to the dealer once in the 2 years I had it, and I believe that was because I got some bad fuel. My truck is a dually and I get 18-19 mpg at 75+ mph empty. I get 11 towing a GN enclosed trailer that weighs 7,000 lbs empty and up to 14k loaded with a big wind profile. For a 3500 dually it rides like a Cadillac.

 

[Ruger#3]

My 99 Dodge 2500 bought new is approaching 200K with few worries. I will replace it with another when the time comes. The best truck I've ever owned.

 

[Mud runner]

The Duramax is stronger and faster. Not that it can't happen but I haven't been beat by a Dodge. I've put over 250,000 on my 08 LMM and love it. I use to haul cars with it. She's retired from that and is my daily driver. To me it's the most comfortable of the 3 (Ford, Chevy, Dodge). The Cummins gets a little better mileage but not enough to offset the trans issues. Towing, my Chevy is a billy goat up hills and the exhaust brake allows me to not touch the brakes going down. The Allison is very easy to work on and has all kinds of upgrade options. Mine has Edge tuner that I keep on stage 2, 5" exhaust from the downpipe back, blocked the EGR, reroute the PVC, I upgraded to Alcoa 19.5's and got 200,000 miles out of them, added a 100 gallon fuel tank/toolbox in the bed that's gravity fed, etc... My dually gets around 10 mpg pulling 30,000 pounds and over 16 unloaded. I've seen 19 unloaded on the highway.

This pic is just under 34,000 pounds.

Wish i still had my old dodge. We could have ran for titles. If you do go with a cummins check the block # and the vp pump. You dont want a 53 block (in 98.5-02) they have thin walls at the water jacket and prone to cracking. The vp pumps are known to go without warning but then you can do a hot rod pump. Duramax is a good motor but to expensive to work on and make power with.

 

[Showman]

Mud Runner: I have a 2000 Dodge 2500 w/Cummins. Had to replace the Transmission at 34,000 miles (under warranty) and had to replace the injector pump at 110,000 (that cost me about $1100). Other than a sensor going bad (cam shaft position), and these 2 problems, it has been a great P/U. Woops, I left out one thing. Had major trouble with the A/C dumping water onto the floorboard on the passenger side. The Blend Air door actuator broke and in turn when the Tech was trying to fix that, he broke my dashboard when he was taking it off to get into the dash (he claimed it was already broken and Carl Gregory backed him even though the Service Writer admitted they broke it-he quit and to this day bad mouths Carl Gregory and their shop). Dashboard was another $800. 4 times to the shop for the A/C but now it works like new. My engine is STOCK. No programmer is on it and it pulls like a bat out of you-know-where. Won't win any races but it pulls the boat and/or camper just fine.

 

[badger]

Here's my '03 Ram Cummins story. I'm the original owner with 236,000 miles. I pull a 30' fifth wheel camper and a pressure washing unit that carries 600 gallons of water and 200 gallons of chemicals. The only issue I had was back about 3 years ago, a friend of mine borrowed it to move. When he brought it back to me, he filled her up with 31 gallons of the "good stuff". Then drove from Roswell, Ga to Jackson...67 miles. The "good stuff" being 93 octane gas! The gas ate up the seals in the lift pump. Took it back to the dealer, they cleaned out the tank, replaced the lift pump, and pulled the injectors, inspected them and put them right back in. It's been fine since. No transmission problems up to this point. I've always owned Fords but when they quit using Cummins in the 250's and 350's....I quit using them. Which truck is faster from red light to red light???? Who cares? Which engine is found in heavy equipment, fire trucks, marine applications, generators, etc.? If you're truly concerned about the Dodge transmission not lasting...call Jeff Garmin with Garmin Diesel Performance and he'll custom build you a trans for your application.

Pretty much mirrors my experience. My 2003 has 259k miles and has been very, very good to me. Balljoints went about 240k miles, I had Jeff Garmin beef up my transmission at 65k miles to live with the 503 rear wheel hp and 1060 ft/lb of torque, not because the transmission failed, but because I knew it wouldn't live too long with the power output. I'm planning on driving it 500k miles, and then making the decision to keep it or move on.

 

[treeman101]

Got an 02 cummins w/6 speed. Best truck ever 24mpg empty 16 pulling dump trailer with skidsteer. clutch at 217000 a starter at 280000 over 300000 now and pulling every day. No upgrades except straight exhaust. Would buy 2 more in a heartbeat. But I am not taking anything away from the duramax they are also good trucks in my opinion.

 

[badger]

when you are done with the Duramax and the Cummins get you a power stroke good for3 or even 400.000 miles. good luck with your search.

Some food for thought...........

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/texas/420197-six-million-mile-man.html

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/1-7-million-miles-and-counting-00-t287101.html

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/archive/ram-hits-1-78-million-miles-t54841.html

 

[klwehunt]

Got a 01 dodge 2500 w/350,000 on it put a clutch in it at 330,000 drove it to Sturgis S.D. about a month ago w/ camper and harley,still runs like new.But it has NEVER got 24 m.p.g. Had a 02 duramax for a wlile w/181,000 it had to have injecters,warranty fixed it but at 250,000 it needed them again,it had to go.Did like the ride and the allison though.