duramax or cummins

I'd rather have the cummins in a chevy......or ford
 
yeah the money involved with an allison swap to a cummins could be better spent on a built dodge trans
 
02gmc5.3 said:
I like how cummins guy talk about longevity but don't keep a truck more than a few years.
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I like how people take someone's honest opinion and makes a smartass comment.

Longevity / life span is a big factor when your buying a truck with over 100,000 miles and it doesn't matter how long you keep it.

I believed the the Duramax hype and made the mistake of buying one once but it will not happen again.
 
i just got back from school on the gm/allison combo. the duramax will make 1000ft lbs of torque with a chip, the allison will not hold up to the torque of a chipped engine. gm knocks the calibration down to around 550 ft lbs to make the trans last. if you buy a new one and put a chip in it, the trans will not hold up, if they "see" the chip when trying to calibrate the trans they will void your factory warranty.
 
John B. said:
I like how people take someone's honest opinion and makes a smartass comment.
Longevity / life span is a big factor when your buying a truck with over 100,000 miles and it doesn't matter how long you keep it.
I believed the the Duramax hype and made the mistake of buying one once but it will not happen again.
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Not being a smartass but 600rpm difference wouldn't make a difference if you didn't keep the truck over 300k, but in that life-span the allison would probably save you a good bit in brake material. It's hard to have a honest opinion about a truck if the truck wasn't purchased new unless who you bought the truck from was a good friend.

Now for my honest opinion, dads 05 duramax has had no trouble out of the engine or trans at 150k miles with the last 50k on a 80hp tune. Hell my gas sierra has over 210k with nothing done to the engine and its still got another 100k left or better.
 
when it comes to building a drive train skip the allison and go with a sun coast if you are going to chip it
 
Why does everyone think the Dodge truck falls apart around the drivetrain? My truck is 9 yrs old, has a 200,000 miles on it, and the only thing I have replaced is the fuel lift pump. It could use a new plastic dash though. Is this one of those funky deals that dad's tell there kids? So maybe old ass Dodge trucks fell apart even though they would keep driving?

My Tahoe on the other hand, I have replaced the transmission, alternator, distributor drive gear, intake manifold gaskets, one rear wheel cylinder, rear DS u-joint, and water pump twice. It is 12 yrs old with 133,000 miles on it.
 
drkelly said:
Why does everyone think the Dodge truck falls apart around the drivetrain? My truck is 9 yrs old, has a 200,000 miles on it, and the only thing I have replaced is the fuel lift pump. It could use a new plastic dash though. Is this one of those funky deals that dad's tell there kids? So maybe old ass Dodge trucks fell apart even though they would keep driving?
My Tahoe on the other hand, I have replaced the transmission, alternator, distributor drive gear, intake manifold gaskets, one rear wheel cylinder, rear DS u-joint, and water pump twice. It is 12 yrs old with 133,000 miles on it.
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I agree. My dodge is a '96 with 250k on the clock. I think that my terrible, no good, blows up on the way to the grocery store:)rolleyes:) 47re transmission is still original, and it is still pulling strong. I do have one crack on my dash, and my fuel sending unit cuts in and out. Not too bad for the age/milage if you ask me.

All i have put on since I got the truck 31k ago was a water pump. Blame that one on Cummins :flipoff2:
 
Again advice is helpful but do your homework...Look up everything on each truck bumper to bumper..FYI can't beat GM warrenty..Good luck, I know it's something to think about..
 
i vote cummins. ive never had experience with a Dmax so i can tvoice my opinion on that. my 98 24V had 234k on it. Ran like a scallded dog. it was a 5spd manual.it had a injection pump put on it 3k befor ei bought it and a lift pump at the same time. IMO the lift pump is the biggest weak link in the Cummins. i do agree that the Duramax's is over priced. i also agree the 02 and under auto trannys behind the Cummins is pure junk. i think the perfect truck would be a F250 with a cummins powerplant. the only thing messed up on mine was teh pwrdoorlocks on the drivers side didt work. i loved it, should have never sold it. what year models are you considering?
 
drkelly said:
Why does everyone think the Dodge truck falls apart around the drivetrain?
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Easy. Next time you're at the farm store or the lumberyard, take a look at what everybody is driving. When you go to DPG or Harlan or KOH, take a look at the tow rigs. At the truck stop, what are the hot shots driving? In any case, it'll be 50/50 Dodges and Fords. Sometimes a Chevy or two, but never many more than that.

On the other hand, my grandpa has a Chevy. Sometimes he tows his john boat down to the river with it. I suspect I know the reason why Chevies are the longest lasting trucks on the road. :lol:
 
:lol: Not hating on any trucks but the ratio of CTD's to Duramax in our club is like 5 to 1. We even have a couple hillbillies in TN still driving Fords:flipoff2:
 
saf-t scissors said:
Easy. Next time you're at the farm store or the lumberyard, take a look at what everybody is driving. When you go to DPG or Harlan or KOH, take a look at the tow rigs. At the truck stop, what are the hot shots driving? In any case, it'll be 50/50 Dodges and Fords. Sometimes a Chevy or two, but never many more than that.
On the other hand, my grandpa has a Chevy. Sometimes he tows his john boat down to the river with it. I suspect I know the reason why Chevies are the longest lasting trucks on the road. :lol:
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I hate to say it but last time I was at dpg the other day it was a field FULL of dodges and some fords not many chevies though.
 
GONOVRIT said:
:lol: Not hating on any trucks but the ratio of CTD's to Duramax in our club is like 5 to 1. We even have a couple hillbillies in TN still driving Fords:flipoff2:
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The reason you don't see as many duramax's is simple, they didn't make em until 01. Your not gonna see as many trucks in the 01-10 range as you will in a range almost double that.
 
02gmc5.3 said:
The reason you don't see as many duramax's is simple
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Are you sure about that? I thought it was because they're all parked at the dealership waiting on new injectors?? :confused:
 
I have owned two cummins. I work my truck everyday hard. I use it for welding and towing. I have 90,073 miles right now on it. I have run the piss out of it. The year is an 06' 3500 4x4 single rear wheel. The truck weighs 9500lbs. The Good: Truck has extremley good power with numerouse mods on it. No issues. Burnt the stock clutch up in 31k not dodges fault, to many upgrades and sled pulls. I replaced with a southbend dual disc. The thing a love about my Cummins is the simplicity of the motor. I also love the available aftermartket support. I dont want to bash anyones choice because it was their choice and money not mine. The Bad: I hate the dodge front axles and steering. I have however remedied that with aftermarket upgrades. Also the stock automatics trans. were not the best. The new ones are outstanding. Some issues I have first handed with other trucks. Ford: 7.3 had awful auto trans. 6.0 had bed rail seal issues. Turbo issues, egr issues and the list goes on. 6.4 have had turbo issues and water fuel seperation issues. 6.7? Chevy: Specifically Duramax overheating problems in some year models. Tie rod issues. Transfercase and wait for it transmission issues. All trucks come with issues. Even the new 6.7 cummins had some regeneration turbo cleaning issues. Cummins is a medium duty classified engine. Standard for a rebuild is 350 to 400k. All the new trucks are great in their own aspects. Figure what you value most and where your money is best spent. I wanted reliabilty, durability and value. I gave up some things like car like ride and ifs for a truck that works. Just my two cents. Good luck.
 
I love my Cummins but I hate my Dodge.......Thats all I have to say about that.
 
Duramax's are nice, but for me, the price, and ease of maintenance and working on it if something were to go wrong pointed me towards cummins. The newer powerstrokes didn't even rank in my comparsion when I was shopping.

My 03 has 150k on it, and the carfax showed no issues when I bought it, no major repairs, I had to put a water pump on it to replace the factory one at 148k, but it took about 20 minutes to change, simplicity kicks ass.

That being said, it sucks having to buy a truck based on engine, or tranny. It should be more like the heavy market, pick your truck, pick your engine and pick your tranny. Ford with a cummins with an allison would be my choice.
 
02gmc5.3 said:
The reason you don't see as many duramax's is simple, they didn't make em until 01. Your not gonna see as many trucks in the 01-10 range as you will in a range almost double that.
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Negative, I'm looking at 01 & up.
rock-lucky said:
.... I hate the dodge front axles and steering. I have however remedied that with aftermarket upgrades...
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What did you do? I'll willingly admit my truck doesn't steer the best. There are so many different fixes out there now its kinda hard to figure out what the problem is.
 
I have solid axle brand spyntec hubs. I installed XRF upper and lower ball joints. I also installed an adjustable track bar and new tie rod ends.
 
Yeh, that is definitely a negative with the Dodge. On rough roads they feel like the axles are welded to the frame.
 
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