If you ask me CAT aint the right motor for a pickup. They are the loudest engine on the market, they are fuel pigs, and they are very proud of their parts. However they are probably the most reliable on the market.

My dream truck: Cummins engine, Allison tranny, Ford chassis, Dodge seats/driving position... now that would be a truck!

In a slick slide one-ton, of course...

I drove all 3 and went with the Chevy. The Cummins engine was great, but i didn't like anything else about the Dodge. I've been a GM man my whole life, but the Ford REALLY impressed me. It's a sweet truck. I ended up with the Chevy only because it fit in the garage better. I really like it, but either Ford or Chevy are nice trucks. Both diesels are monsters, altho I like the allison tranny. For the money they get for these things, I don't think you can go wrong with either.

I just about decided on the GMC Duramax/allison 3500 when my bud asked whats going to happen when your wife takes it for a ride....Can you say fender flares!! she has knocked two mirrors off my Tahoe. Guess it will be the 2500 GMC. But dam the dually looks so good in Fire Red

Sorry to hear about your rocky start buck, but I'm glad to see you finally came around


Seriously, I don't think you'll be disappointed with either a chevy or a ford but I would stay away from dodge they just seem to always be a little behind the rest.

I drove my 7.3 powerstroke for 180k with only minor problems (basic mechanical wear items) and now I have a 6.0 powerstroke that's been great so far, I've had a few issues that were taken care of under warranty but that's to be expected. I'll stick with fords for now.

Thanks for the words of affirmation ofshore. I'm starting to feel like I'm in a support group.

Buck

Need I remind you that Ford has had their share of tranny problems also, with both manuals and autos. The 6.0 liter PSD has been a problem child, that's why Ford has been looking for another engine manufacturer. What exact "long term reliabilty" problems can you cite? How many Ford Powerstrokes have gone over a million miles with out an overhaul ? NONE!
If you can bare to look at this article, here's a Cummins that has ...
http://list.priceweber.com/cummins/million_mile.html

I've had two Dodge/Cummins towing 14,000 lbs and had minimal problems and absolutely NO ENGINE issues. My '95 had a leaking axle seal and a bad ball joint and that's it. The 2003 is even better and don't tell me it's a pleasure vehicle, what a joke.... don't tell us you're talking "honstly" !!!
I AM biased , because I USED to be a Ford guy , but after having two Dodges I can "honstly" tell you that the Dodge blows 'em away. I will admit that in a drag race(with no load ) the PSD will smoke a Cummins , but I want torque and durability, not a V8 problem child. Come back when you can show me a million mile PSD, LOL!

Fist off this thread was started by someone who was seeking information and OPINIONS. Please don't turn it onto an arguement. It sounds like you have some valid information and opinions of your own to post and that's great, but lets not go down this road. As for seeing a PSD with a million miles, I have seen plenty of 7.3L's go the distance, no 6.0L's yet but only time will tell. I was the maintenance supervisor for a company called Durham Transportation(now Durham School Services) in their Palmdale California yard. The last year I was there we had 212 vehicles wiht an aggregate mileage of 25.44 Million miles from september 1999 through June 2000 (we based our year on the school clanedar. That's an average of 120k per vehicle in a 10 month period, They left the yard at 4 AM and returned at 8-9 PM, With a fuel stop and driver change at the yeard at around noon everyday. The comnpany owns something like 20,000 vehicles nation wide and we spent millions of dollars in research and testing and what I posted was the conclusions that we came too, have you noticed that no other fleet other then some government agencies run Dodge's ? Yeas they have ALL had trans problems at some time in their past or present, Ford and Chevy just seem to be alot more on the ball when it comes to taking care of them. Look at the E4OD, it was a piece of junk when it first came out. Now with all of the Ford updates it's a pretty stout trans, Unfountenly it's name was ruinned by the time they got it worked out. As far as long term problems on the Cummins, we never saw one get passed 100k without a head gasket, timing cover gasket, injectors and injector pump. Those are all labor intensive jobs that added up to operating costs that were 53% percent higher then Chevy and 47% higher the Ford. That doen't include lost revenue cuased by ecxessive down time either. If you include that Chevy is actually the winner due to better partsd availability, Chevrolet dealers are rewuired by thier dealer contracts to carry a more complete parts inventory then Ford requires, byt he way Dodge is also the worst int hat depratment, and no you can't get parts for a Cummins in a Dodge pickup at the Cummins dealer, you can get some of the stuff but they are a diffrent CPL # then Cummins uses for any other application and you can only get the parts for them at a Doge dealer. Oh and you are right I am biased, I still love 2 stroke detriot diesles nothing like the sound of an old silver star 92.

I think the Detroit 92's had 4 valves per cylinder like the 71N's. All Exhaust ! I will always have a soft spot for 2-cycle Detroit's. Doug

My dad was a diesel mechanic/instrutor in the Navy. When he retired, he taught at Cummins. My first diesel was a 6.9 Ford (IH). I told dad that it wasn't no Cummins, and he replied, "It ain't no Detroit Diesel either". DD is his favorite.