[MTGunNut]

What would make me decide between GM and Dodge for their diesel engine? Argh, I cant decide.

 

[05_LLY]

I just am a GM Guy, but they are both good engines, you will always have a chance of getting a bad one no matter which one you get!! My recomendation is go test drive each and buy the one that best fits your driving style and habbits! Both are capable of big horsepower and towing great but if your going auto trans the allison will outperform a dodge auto hands down!!!



Ah, forget all that, Just buy the GM, After all this is a GM site!!!!!!!!

 

[duramaxdavid]

What are you going to be doing? hard core farming or mainly road travel?

 

[stever]

As 05 lly said the allison cant be beat as far as towing and all.

 

[MTGunNut]

HArd core off road stuff. I.E. work, pulling trailers in dirt, hauling crap.

 

[stever]

HArd core off road stuff. I.E. work, pulling trailers in dirt, hauling crap.

then some ,all kinds of pulling power

 

[duramaxdavid]

Stock for stock a dodge would be a better offroad diesel. If you have a couple hundred extra dollars to soop up GMs crappy front end then id go with GM

 

[Tow Master]

I shoped a little when I bought my dmax. I have also worked in a auto garage for 13 years and seen what cars come in for. Personaly I think cummins has a slightly better motor than the Duramax but the Dodge bodys and drivelines are junk. I have seen the older body ones come in for axles rear ends and u-joints in 50,000 miles. There interiors are cheap as well imo.

Case in point... A friend of mine bought a 05 Cummins CC LB Manual and it has 40,000 miles on it. He really doesnt tow mutch has Edge and a Intake. The turbo is makin noise, powersteering problems, cracked flywheek, and last month had it towed in because all 3 u-joints where falling out of it. No lie.

U make your decision you buy GM and have a truck to drive or buy Dodge and get a BIIIIIGGGG warranty to make the dealership happy

Vote here for GM allll the way :rockin

 

[Tow Master]

Oooooooooops

 

[budman1]

Towmaster I worked in a garage for some time as well before I worked as a mechanic in the military and GM vehicles were by FAR the most repaired. It got to the point that we would laugh when a Blazer would get towed in for a bad fuel pump.
HOWEVER, I have owned all of the Big 3 and never really had serious issues with ANY of them (except my Wrangler which has been a NIGHTMARE)...Had Chevy trucks, Ford trucks...all of 'em did what I wanted. Have a good friend who has had a Dodge Cummins for some time now...loves his truck. He had to bring it in for a leaky tranny line, and I think that's been it besides routine maintenance.
I think Cummins has the edge as well as far as diesels are concerned, although they're obviously both capable. Why do Ford and Chevy insist on a V8 design? I don't get it. We'll have to wait and see for Ford's new 6.4...I can't imagine them repeating history as was the case with the 6.0 PSD injector problems, although International is much to blame and the problem was mostly attributed to the earlier models. They lost LOTS of cash on that debacle. I can't believe Ford didn't negate their contract and sue or something along those lines. Shoulda stayed with the 7.3 and went from there.
Seems every other year someone else has the better diesel. We ALL remember how GM made diesels just a short while back. They couldn't pull my zipper down, heh.
Now if we're talking farm tractors, i SWEAR by the 'ol Fords...I DO think they are the best, heh.

 

[Tow Master]

Towmaster I worked in a garage for some time as well before I worked as a mechanic in the military and GM vehicles were by FAR the most repaired. It got to the point that we would laugh when a Blazer would get towed in for a bad fuel pump.

If I was driving a blazer I would MUTCH rather replace a fuel pump than tranny or driveline item. There was a week at our shop about 5 years ago where we replaced 5 trannys in dodge caravans in 1 week. After the third we had to get them shipped in because all the local junk yards ran out. I think in the same time period we put about 10 tie rod ends in Chrystler rack and pinion vehicales. Oh the customers where soooooo happy when 1 wheel tried to go the opposite way of the other. I hear thats reeeeeaaal exciting going about 70mph or so.

The most common GM problems are fuel pumps, upper and lower ball joints, and tranny's in 1/2 - 3/4 ton pickups (4L80)

 

[DMAX154]

My dad had a Dodge stratus he went through 3 trannys I think. My buddys Dad has a 91 Dodge CTD it has about 125000 miles on it and they have had problems with the tranny shifting in and out of overdrive since it was almost new, several trips to the grarge and numerous mechs. still no fix. Also the same truck is kept inside and the roof is rusting BAD. They are starting to get leaks in the cab. They also have to put a brick on the pedal in the morining when it is cold just to keep it running. Yeah Dodges are great. Think I will run out and trade in my GM.

Tow Master is right, the CTD is a great motor I think we all know that. However the Dodge truck is terrabile, it falls apart around the motor.

 

[Kawtipping]

I am a biased GM fan...I think most of us are here on this site for that same reason right? I have enough Dodge experience for my liking. Well at least the "older" ones (99-01). We have two CTD shop trucks. Both under 100k miles. Both rarely tow more than 3k lbs. Both maintained well. And both have trans issues. One even suffered a cracked block! Nothing a little welding couldn't take care of though. I have had the "pleasure" of using the better of the two (trans doesn't slip much, and block was not the cracked one) to haul a 32' enclosed tri axle car hauler on about a 800 mile trip. Trailer weight was around 15k with a tag. Other than the crappy interior (my opinion anyways), the truck handled it well enough. Sure it almost never would go into OD (who needs mileage anyways), and was working it's butt off pulling. But it never did let me down, and it was predictable. I would have much rather had my DMax at that time, but it wasn't in my hands yet. Now, if you are talking about brand new 2007 (not to include the Classic models), I would say that Dodge has the better engine option. Though it is 60% new (at least that is what I remember reading), it sounds like it will be THE engine to have. I have not seen the new Dodge interiors, but that would sway my decision. I still love my Chev!!

 

[rcpd34]

Towmaster I worked in a garage for some time as well before I worked as a mechanic in the military and GM vehicles were by FAR the most repaired. It got to the point that we would laugh when a Blazer would get towed in for a bad fuel pump.
HOWEVER, I have owned all of the Big 3 and never really had serious issues with ANY of them (except my Wrangler which has been a NIGHTMARE)...Had Chevy trucks, Ford trucks...all of 'em did what I wanted. Have a good friend who has had a Dodge Cummins for some time now...loves his truck. He had to bring it in for a leaky tranny line, and I think that's been it besides routine maintenance.
I think Cummins has the edge as well as far as diesels are concerned, although they're obviously both capable. Why do Ford and Chevy insist on a V8 design? I don't get it. We'll have to wait and see for Ford's new 6.4...I can't imagine them repeating history as was the case with the 6.0 PSD injector problems, although International is much to blame and the problem was mostly attributed to the earlier models. They lost LOTS of cash on that debacle. I can't believe Ford didn't negate their contract and sue or something along those lines. Shoulda stayed with the 7.3 and went from there.
Seems every other year someone else has the better diesel. We ALL remember how GM made diesels just a short while back. They couldn't pull my zipper down, heh.
Now if we're talking farm tractors, i SWEAR by the 'ol Fords...I DO think they are the best, heh.

You can't compare todays trucks to low bid Military Blazers that were basically civilian SUV's converted to meet a government contract. The Duramax is the best diesel currently in production. It is MUCH quieter than the Dodge. The Chevy interiors are much nicer unless you want the Mega cab which islike a condo. Chevy's ride is also far superior to the other two brands.

 

[JMD]

Well for what its worth, Both me and my dad are in the same buss. in different locations, I own a couple of Duramaxes, he owns a Ford 6.0 (2004 I think, about 20,000 miles), and a Dodge Cummins (2002, 30,000 Miles). They all are workhorses, they tow every day. The Ford is plagued by injector and turbo issues, and just today the Dodge had to have a new injection pump put on at a cost of about $1,100.00 (we install). Together we have owned several ford, dodge, and GM products, and in my opinion GM makes the best truck.

Before someone decides between a Dodge and a Chevrolet, a person might want to visit a DodgeCummins forum and see the issues with their fuel injection pumps, and the legnths that a person has to go in an attempt to make these vehicles reliable, still with questionable outcome.

I guess I am a GM Guy, but not just "because". I have given all three domestic brands a fair shake at one time or another.

In addition, you might consider my opinion when it comes to standing behind their products, I am of the opinion that both Dodge and Ford suck at honoring their waranty, (Dodge sucks more than Ford). I guess I dont know about GM's waranty proces since I havent had to have any waranty work done on a GM truck since 1982, and even then it was nothing major.

Good Luck!!

 

[idrivebowtie]

in my opinion the cummins is a stronger motor but the driveline and body and over all crafstmanship is just shotty. you can buy it for the money but at the end of the day it is still in a dodge and that sucks

 

[MTGunNut]

how 'bout ford?

 

[05_LLY]

Lets not go there, For every good thing about a ford there are 2 bad things to go with it! But if i had to go ford, the only way i would have one is with a 7.3 and a manual trans, other than that there all problems!

 

[LBZscorpio]

in my opinion the cummins is a stronger motor but the driveline and body and over all crafstmanship is just shotty. you can buy it for the money but at the end of the day it is still in a dodge and that sucks

Well I can tell you from my experiences with my 07 classic LBZ c/c s/b, and my brother in-laws 06 CTD mega-cab, tiny bed 6spd, that his dodge is not capable of beating my chevy in any way, the only advantage his truck has over mine is back seat leg room, and that's only because his cab is so much longer, the interior is totally inferior, the ride is punishing, he can't haul anything longer than his 450 yamaha play quad because his bed is sssssoooo short, and he is stuck playing rowboat all day with his stickshit trans because dodge can't beg, borrow or steal a decent auto trans yet, so everybody keeps saying that the cummins is best, so why is it that duramax's won both west coast and east coast diesel shootouts in diesel performance magazine?? I would much rather have my well built, comfortable, strong, good mileage, excellent diesel engined truck in 200000 miles than a good running cummins surrounded by a broke down, uncomfortable truck cab!!!
anyway, sorry for the novel, but I had to pipe in my two cents!!

 

[agtech]

I registered on this site for the same reason- I can't decide which truck to buy. I've got an '06 f150 right now. Awesome truck, for a half ton, but I'm going to be pulling a 9000lb trailer now and need a diesel. I like the cummins track record for longevity, the GM rides nice and gotta love that Allison, but Ford has treated me really good with my current truck and the PSD seems like a decent unit although the 6.0 doesn't seem like it handles chipping very well (head bolt and gasket problems) and whatever truck I get will be chipped.

I also see some issues with fuel economy on new Dmax's. I'm hoping to get 15mpg pulling my 14x7 v-nose trailer at 60mph. One guy says he gets 22 and the next gets 12. I don't know what to believe anymore.

I have to agree with Budman 1 about the cummins. An I-6 diesel engine is just a better design. Besides the PSD and the Dmax there are hardly any V-8 diesels built anymore. I used to work at a Dodge dealer and it wasn't uncommon to see million mile trucks, and they still ran fine.

I just don't know what to buy.