scottw

iTrader: (1)

Been looking at dually trucks for a tow vehicle. Some of them in my price range have 200,000 to 250,000 miles on them. It will only be used for towing the boat and a occasional drive to work to keep it moving during the off season. I know this seems like a lot but I know of people who have put over 300,000 on their diesels. What do you think about the miles on a diesel?

Sonic30ss

I've got a 96 Dodge Cummins 3500 dually with 286,000 mi, big injectors, tuned pump, K&N filter,4'' exhaust, shift kit ,good convertor, still running the stock turbo, M1 oil.
This truck lived a VERY hard life for the first 250,000 miles of it's life. It still runs strong in it's semi retirement 18+ mpg, I don't think it will ever die.

hillbilly24

I am not a big dodge guy, all though i do own one right now for some silly reason, but I would not hesitate to buy a Cummins powered truck with 200k plus as long as the price is right. The various versions of the powerstroke and the old 6.5 GM's as well as the dmax engines are all great in their own ways, some better then others but none of them are really half million mile engines like the old cummins were. I am not talking about the new 6.7 cummins either. The biggest difference is the the old 5.9's were nothing more then an industrial engine shoved into a pickup truck. They are built to run tens of thousands of hours in power generation units and industrial pumps and other things like that. You give up some refinement with them and with the low redline they don't get you anywhere in a hurry in their stock form but they will run FOREVER. If I were looking at a high mileage truck I would rather have a pre 98' 12V cummins with the old 7100 injection pump, the later 24V engines run the VP44 injection pump and they are time bombs no matter who rebuilds it. It will set you back about 1200 in parts when it goes too and then you never know how long it will run, maybe 20k maybe 100k. The only thing to worry about other then that is the transmission. If you could find a 97 or early 98 with the 12V engine and a manual transmission you will own a truck that will outlive you.

Name That Boat.com

Scott, I have an '03 Duramax Crew Cab for sale with 87k on it. Lot's of aftermarket stuff and truck is in excellent condition. I'm buying a new Duramax and would sell before I trade it in. Would make anyone an awesome truck. Let me know if you have any interest.

Denny

ezstriper

the cummins seem very good..except for the trans....not good if auto, the later duramax which I have had for 2 years have been good, I would stay away from a 6.0 ford as they have tons of issues and are currently in a lawsuit between ford and international over warranty claims...Rob

czy40p

Are you sure you want the diesel? I bet you getting pretty good deal on BB gas dually, if you can deal with the tranmision shifting if the torque falls a little low. I had the 8.1 and the Allison combo in 3/4 ton seemed to good job pulling what I had to move. Might be worth looking at.

Jim

07DominatorSS

Second that notion about the Trans in a Cummins. They are pretty much pieces of Sh**. I have three Ford Excursions, two 2000, 7.3's and one 2005, 6.0. The one 2000 has 450,000 on it, all original, except the torque converter, the other 2000 has 208,000 on it and still going strong. The 2005 has 115,000 on it, and no problems either. We run AMSOIL in all of them, bumper to bumper.

scottw

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for all the info. Keep it coming. Also what about turbo charged compared to no turbo?

vette131

find a 99-03 f250 with a 7.3l pull the oil filler cap while it's idleing
& put your hand over the opening. look for slight to no crankcase
pressure coming out. run away if you feel a pulsing in the pressure. if blowby is minimal the engine is probably ok & you should be happy with the power & reliability.

hillbilly24

You really don't want any of the non turbo 6.2 or 6.5 GMs or the old 6.9 Ford. It is not that they are unreliable, in fact the 6.5 and the 6.9 engines will both run forever, they are just COMPLETE TURDS. There are a lot of after market turbo kits out there for them but I would stay away from that route if I were you.