Opinions on diesel trucks

[Greenhorn]

I have a 2004 plain jane dodge single cab with cummins of course. I want a 4 door 4wd something for family and what not. Dont have alot of cash for trade so I am going to have to go higher mileage, current truck has 65k. Am thinking a ford with 7.3 or just maybe a higher mileage duramax truck. Tired of Dodge, they are great work trucks but I hate their transmissions (autos) and older cummins are just plain loud!

My question is, if oil has been changed and they havent been chipped and driven by idiots where is your personal cutoff when shopping for a higher mileage diesel? With gas stuff I never buy over 50k but a diesel am thinking even at 100k you could still get another 100k with no major repairs.

 

[SkwerI]

Tough market now. I'm not sold on the new Fords and the last 7.3 was made in 2003. The Chevy Duramax has become more popular in the last few years due to doubts about Ford's Power Stroke, but it's still a Chevy and they have more quality control problems than Dodge.

I really have no idea.

 

[dandandatreeman]

I have a 2000 dodge ram 2500 ex cab. Its loud and junk, but it is a good truck. I really think that dodge is the best bang for the buck when it comes to a diesel. Are you stuck on a diesel? you can find a gaser for alot less that has all the cab options that you want, and it will still pull.....not as good or with the milage of a cummins, but I think that all that would come out in the wash beings that diesel is more expensive nowadays.

 

[rskybiz]

100k diesel no prob on another 100k IMO even 150+ should go another 100k, as you said though it depends on the abuse and maint it recieved. Chevy's for a daily driver, Ford for work. my 2cents FWIW

 

[Greenhorn]

Thats a good point about cheaper gas and all, once you pull with diesels its hard to go back though!

 

[dandandatreeman]

TRUE TRUE!

 

[littlenick]

I have been looking at the truck market for about 8 months, of looking on craigslist everyday and looking at websites like auto trader. I think that you can get a better deal on a diesel nowdays than a gas for a used truck. I would look on craigslist, i see nice 99-2002 7.3L Ford 250's and 350's go for around $13 with around 120,000ish thousand miles. Now with a dodge cummins your truck should be able to pull in around $18 if you sold it in the spring and around $16 if you sold it now.

Ford stoped puting the 7.3L around early 2003. I would not buy a 2003-2004 6.0 PSD from ford. There is a real nice f550 dump for sale that is an 03 with only around 120,000 miles for $12k but i wont even consider it because of the year. The 2005 and 2006 6.0L PSD were pretty good, they changed the engine in those trucks. The 2007 6.0 i have heard is a really good engine. The new 6.9L i have heard pretty good things about too.

Over all you cant go wrong with a 7.3L from ford. A friend of mine has one with 243K miles on it and has not touched the engine except for new injectors (just 20k miles ago) and oil changes.

 

[NeTree]

I've not dealt with the 7.3 PSD, but my 6.9 IDI is still pulling iron at over 300k. The F600 isn't powered by Ford but a 325hp Cat, so there's not much comparison there, either. The Duramax is a nice engine, but the electrics in the rest of the truck are absolute shit.

 

[sawinredneck]

There isn't any way to win on this!
Avoid the older 6.0 PSD's like the plague! Head gaskets, turbo's, injectors, it goes on and on! I've driven one, powerful as hell, but you sure can't depend on it, and when it breaks, it breaks the bank!
The 7.3 is the bomb, but getting tired, I've also heard good things of the new 6.9 PSD, but it's new, too new! I'd sure as hell not want to be Ford's Guinea pig!
Used to be diesel was cheap and the engines were simple. Now, it's expensive and there are more sensors on the diesel engines than on gas. Yes, they are more efficient, more powerful and break less often. But weighing costs, it's splitting hairs at best now days between gas and diesel.
I've heard people flat in love with the Duramax, but I've found people flat in love with the Ford and Dodge V-10's. I wouldn't own any of them myself! I still think the Cummins is king and the newer ones are nothing short of impressive! 20-26MPG and quiet as can be. I'd save my pennies and buy a newer Dodge, '04 and up and be happier.
But I'm the same guy that did nothing but badmouth the 5.4L Ford engine. It was under powered, noisy and over priced to be the "big engine" in the original line up. Then I drove one, I was not only wrong, but fell in love with it! It's noisy and doesn't get the best gas mileage, but sure does everything I need and more.
Sorry, I'm not much help, but I'd look for "bang for buck" in the area keeping in mind what you realistically plan to do with it, and with the deals they are making and the financing available on new cars, you may very well be able to trade in your truck and drive away with a new one for less than what the payments on a used one would be. Just some food for thought.

 

[Greenhorn]

Thanks for the input guys, am really thinking gas now. I do have a monster 18 foot trailer but only pull it for the odd job or when chipper breaks down. Probably a chevy with 5.3 4wd. Seems like when you go with the 6.0 and lower gears you really start drinking the fuel. Anybody in the know on newer chevy gas stuff, am going to try to stay under 50k miles if possible. Really enjoyed the chevy half tons I had before the tree biz, now my F450 will let me get back into one as long as it runs!

 

[lumberjack]

So this will be a secondary truck? I'd still get a 3/4T diesel. Having hp rocks.

 

[Greenhorn]

Yeah, just dont have the coin to get a bigger, smoother, quieter 3/4 ton diesel. A new duramax would be just the ticket - if i had an additional 20-30k laying around!

Think I would rather a newer gas truck and than an older affordable diesel for daily driving, bids etc. Toyed with the idea of getting a civic like you too....need an offroadish family camping vehicle though.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Are you saying a 2004 CTD is loud?

 

[Greenhorn]

Yeah, but its mainly cuz my stupid exhaust. The vibration inside cab is great for putting my 19 month old daughter to sleep almost instantly though! This truck is louder than the extended cab 99 CTD I had, man I miss that truck - way better that this 2004, mainly cuz the transmission - this auto sucks horribly.

 

[SkwerI]

If your only issues are the exhaust and transmission then those items can be modified a whole lot less expensively than replacing the truck. But if you're looking for something with a bigger cab then I can see your point. Heck, your current truck is newer with lower mileage than my daily driver and mine is much nicer than what most people drive.

 

[Al Smith]

Toyed with the idea of getting a civic like you too....need an offroadish family camping vehicle though.

If you want something to just drive cheap ,get a couple year old Ranger . With a 4 banger they get 26 or more MPG . Use that heavy diesel as a work truck .

Tom got one just about like mine ,just a few years newer .He found out he can go all week on the amount of fuel he used to run through in one day on a 4WD Ford 3/4 ton gasser .It's just an option worth thinking about .

 

[Greenhorn]

If your only issues are the exhaust and transmission then those items can be modified a whole lot less expensively than replacing the truck. But if you're looking for something with a bigger cab then I can see your point. Heck, your current truck is newer with lower mileage than my daily driver and mine is much nicer than what most people drive.

You might be suprised what it costs to rebuild that transmission to handle regular heavy loads - easily 4 to 5 k. And yeah its mainly the bigger cab I am after for growing family - if I was single I would put a serious transmission and better torque converter and run this thing into the ground.

 

[sotc]

If your only issues are the exhaust and transmission then those items can be modified a whole lot less expensively than replacing the truck. But if you're looking for something with a bigger cab then I can see your point. Heck, your current truck is newer with lower mileage than my daily driver and mine is much nicer than what most people drive.

Me too. Insurance will be an added, continual expense

Can you put your dodge up for sale while shopping?

 

[Stihl Crazy]

I run a 2004 F350 4x4 SRW Crewcab, 8' box. Has 270,000 kilometers. No issues yet. 30,000 kilometer warranty left. I get 24 mpg highway, 18 mpg going to work, 14 mpg pulling my 2 cord dump trailer. Truck/trailer empty are 5670 kg (12,474 lbs) on pit scales. Loaded with gravel the combo weighs 11,463 kg (25,218 lbs). No problem hauling, stopping or dumping.

Going to shot for 600,000 kilometers. The old 1996 F250 7.3 it replaced is still going strong at 674,000. The 6.0 was a big step up in power. The new 6.7 (or 6.9 whatever it is) is getting good reveiws from the guys running then up here. Priced a new one last week. $1375 per month.

 

[Greenhorn]

Why arent you measuring mileage in kilometers too?

 

[Stihl Crazy]

Because I hate metric. The litres per 100 kilometer thing is a headache. Metric hit here when I was in grade 6. The Imperial system is like my first language. Metric is like learning French, hard but not impossible.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Metric can bite my butt.

 

[HolmenTree]

Very happy with my 2007 Dodge 2500 4X4 Cummins 5.9 Mega cab.
Alot quieter then the older Dodges and Chevy or Ford can't beat the Dodge's roomy "mega cab".
Never had a problem with my automatic.

Willard.

 

[sotc]

Dang Willard, I just can't get over how sweet that setup is, now if you could build a lift over the top of all that I would buy it!

 

[sotc]

Except that little sissy wheel barrow