3/4 ton diesel, which to buy?

[knucklehead 61]

so i am thinking about buying a new 3/4 ton 4x4 diesel truck for a dd.
i am pretty well sold on the '12 dodge 2500 4 door with laramie package.
any pros & cons to the dodge?
any reason to look into a chevy or (gasp) a ford? :helpme:

 

[sjstar]

Yep that would be my choice. 2nd would have to be chevy but ifs is not the way to go for towing, and well fords diesels speak for themselves. If it were me though i wouldnt go new i would buy a 06-early 07 Dodge ram cummins. Last year of the 5.9 and will have much better fuel economy than any of the more restricted emissions choked engines after those years.

 

[knucklehead 61]

our business will be buying it & we get a much better write off on new vehicles, so that narrows the choice down to...new. :eeks1:

Yep that would be my choice. 2nd would have to be chevy but ifs is not the way to go for towing, and well fords diesels speak for themselves. If it were me though i wouldnt go new i would buy a 06-early 07 Dodge ram cummins. Last year of the 5.9 and will have much better fuel economy than any of the more restricted emissions choked engines after those years.

 

[sjstar]

yea can never go wrong with a cummins plus i think they have the cleanest burning engine of the bunch with NO urea injection garbage.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

CTD for sure. Probably get the best mileage out of it vs the others also.

 

[xjbrian219]

buy a cummins

 

[REDXJ4FUN]

I have a 2011 2500 4 door long bed with 4.10 gears and it pulls like a monster. Millage isn't bad but not as good as the 06 I have.

xoom xoom xoom

 

[ChevelleSSLS6]

Cummins engine- I'd prefer a mechanical diesel(12 valve, pre 1993 or so) , Allison transmission (if I HAD to use an automatic), Ford frame/axles, and the body of your choice.

I'd go with a FSJ body, or maybe an IH Travelall body. Hmmm....

Anyway, on the Cummins powered, Allison shifted Ford pickups...
http://www.destroked.com/projects.php

Oh, wait... you said NEW pickup. I'm a GM guy, but I honestly think Ford has a better frame/suspension. The GM trucks may ride better though with their IFS and such, and the Allison is the best automatic out there for the job. The best engine out there is the Cummins, in my opinion. Geez.. sounds like the 'build' I rattled about above.

 

[POSJ]

The past two years DieselPower magazine has ruled the Duramax the winner, not based off of interior, ride or opinion. Based on numbers, or facts as I like to call them.

I owned a 2007 Chevy 3500 after an 01 Cummins and I would never go back to Cummins if I have the option for a Duramax of the same year. I understand that the diesel technology is different between those year ranges but I test drove an 07 Dodge 5.9L, 07.5 Dodge 6.7, 06 Ford 6.0, and two 07 Chevy 6.6's.

By far the best of the trucks were Chevy's for interior, ride, power. This in my opinion but the numbers and such stated in the article below are not opinions.

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/features/1111dp_king_of_the_hill_rematch/index.html

Read it for what it is, not with bias or for what you want it to say.

Obviously you know my opinion, make your own. Test drive multiple's of all three trucks. Everyone is going to tell you their opinion and why it is right, but it may not be right to you.

 

[jeeptech1]

i would have to disagree with the allison transmission theory. i am a chrysler tech and the transmission behind the 6.7 is very stout. we NEVER see them come in with issues and we have had some come in with 300k on them! as far as ride goes, the chevy had better win, its got ifs! no solid axle pickup will ever ride like an ifs. but, how many idler arms and pitman arms (the gm weak link) are you going to have to replace? oh and if you ever lift it, you will be glad you got a dodge, much cheaper! wouldnt touch a ford with a stick! try working on one! impossible! almost the same for the duramax as well. with the dodge you will be happy. just make sure you do ALL the maintenance and the truck will go well over 300k with nary a hickup! oh and whatever you do, dont run crappy fuel. they will plug up and you will regret it!

 

[POSJ]

Every review that I have read says that the Dodge has the weakest transmission and it feels like it has to labor to shift under loaded conditions.

 

[REDXJ4FUN]

Second the Alison myth BS, the old dodge trans did suck but the newer ones even in my 06 are pretty good. I did finally break my 06 trans but it was at 125k and had been running a programmer and injectors and a pressure box on it for awhile and it finally snapped the input shaft. The duramax is a good motor but if you ever have to work on them it sucks and as said before the front ends aren't that strong I messed up the front end on my brother in laws pulling a trailer that was hung up because the rear tires didn't have enough bit and the front did. And anytime you pretty much need ramps or a jack to change the oil on a 4x4 truck like the Chevy its just wrong. And as for the new dodge six speed its been great. My work truck and trailer fully loaded is right at 23 to 24 k and its been rock solid. I have put about 50k into the first year of having the 2011 and its been worked hard from day one. The day after I recived it it was hooked to 13k and went 1100 miles.

xoom xoom xoom

 

[ChevelleSSLS6]

i would have to disagree with the allison transmission theory. i am a chrysler tech and the transmission behind the 6.7 is very stout.

I was a shop rat at the local Dodge dealership (Courtesy dodge, of Grand Rapids, MI) and we had a lot of Cummins automatics come in with transmission issues. Granted, they were behind souped up diesels, and I can't say weather or not the owners put a larger tranny pan and cooler in to help keep temps lower, or if the failure was not fluid temp related.

I later worked at the local Chevy dealership (Berger Chevrolet, yes THAT berger known for Camaros) and the guys weren't into working on the engines (no room to wrench, but that's the case with any new diesel, kudos to emissions junk).

While the cummins has the most proven architecture (think the Buick 3800 v6. Not particularly smooth, not the most powerful, but the damn things won't die). However, the newer engine designs (Duramax and Ford) are smoother, with GM taking the cake for smoothness over the International designs (current Ford Powerstroke is all Ford.)

 

[jeeptech1]

well, read reviews all you want. and like before mentioned, believe what you want. i can believe the old 48re(behind the 5.9) going, we still get them in. but as of yet the new 68re has not had issues and thats been 4 years of production. i dont care how smooth your engine is, when it comes down to it, more loggers, construction workers, and other types who use a truck for work every day drive a dodge, not a chevy, or a ford. and they beat on them mercilessly and still go well over 300k! id like to see a duramax do that (more than just one truck). i swear im not biased, i like chevys too. but after working on them all, the dodge wins in almost every department (except smoothness, but hey its a truck not a car!)

 

[jeeptech1]

i forgot to mention, if you do a emissions system delete (popular in emissions free oregon) everything is better. get easily 50 hp and we have been seeing these trucks get 17-19 mpg. dont see a duramax or ford doing that. oh and a 6.7 cummins is easy to work on. you can touch pretty much everything easily engine wise(not that you will really every have too).

 

[RollingWreck]

cummins is by far the best engine, but i agree with the auto trans in the dodge being weak. best option is to get one with a manual trans or use the Banks trans command setup. i have a 1st gen dodge cummins that has over 300K miles and still runs like a DREAM! manual trans shifts wonderful. just takes a little bump of the key and its running, not even a full crank and she is fired up. now on the interior side of things, ford has the best interiors. all have their ups and downs. just have to keep in mind the chevy diesel is an isuzu diesel. (that is not a bad thing)

 

[POSJ]

well, read reviews all you want. and like before mentioned, believe what you want. i can believe the old 48re(behind the 5.9) going, we still get them in. but as of yet the new 68re has not had issues and thats been 4 years of production. i dont care how smooth your engine is, when it comes down to it, more loggers, construction workers, and other types who use a truck for work every day drive a dodge, not a chevy, or a ford. and they beat on them mercilessly and still go well over 300k! id like to see a duramax do that (more than just one truck). i swear im not biased, i like chevys too. but after working on them all, the dodge wins in almost every department (except smoothness, but hey its a truck not a car!)

You do realize that the of all the work trucks with a diesel Dodge is $2,000 cheaper than the other trucks? Companies look at bottom line just like the gov't, cheapest wins.

 

[jeeptech1]

its actually very rare to see any strip model rams, most of them have normal accesories. most contractors and loggers like nice trucks since they spend most their time in the truck. since the op was talking of getting a new truck, then the transmission being a weak thing is a moot point due to it not having the problematic 48re. its like comparing apples to oranges, its a transmission but not anything alike besides that.

 

[carter442]

to the original poster my personal choice would be the cummins. my second choice would be the duramax. i dont think i would ever touch a ford especially since the new ones have a huge payment. as for pros and cons truthfully both of the trucks are pretty even both come with exhaust brakes both make around or above 800 ft lbs of torque. the cons are that both trucks do use the urea injection. i would look at what is offered on the trucks themselves like lockers and other options. i dont know if the silverado offers lockers in the front i know rams do for some models. hopefully someone who knows a little more than me can chime in on that subject

 

[carter442]

also i forgot to mention if you picked the ram and pick an engine other than the hemi which most likely will you get some of the price knocked off its worth a couple grand i believe