Another happppy dura-whatever owner

[Badunit]

I'm with you on the city dwellers moving to the country. It even happens in suburbia, they build houses next to something that's been there for years (a farm, a nursery, or whatever) and complain about the smell and noise and try to get laws passed to prevent the owner from doing what he's done there for years. They are also building closer and closer to our international airport (Dulles) and complaining about the planes being too loud! What exactly were they expecting when they're right under the flight path??



I don't agree with the logic behind higher sound pressure level (i. e. , noise) necessarily making an engine better. Example 1: I had a guy (idiot actually) in myhome town who would ride around with his muffler off because he thought it sounded cool. While he sure made a lot of noise he never could do a good burnout. Example 2: All the ricers who put "tuned" mufflers and the like on their cars and think they're cool when they just look like a bunch of fools.



Personally I like the quieter Cummins because it makes the truck more enjoyable to be in than one that drones. My opinion.

 

[John Berger]

Originally posted by MABurns

I don't get your logic either.

I'm not surprised, nor at the rest of your response. That's why I posted a reply. It's not a knock on you or any other Dmax or Stroke owner, either. Different strokes for different folks. If I could find a good cow ... nahh, never mind, aint' going there. :-laf



As for noise level being an indication of quality, that's isn't my point, nor do I believe that quality is derived in such ways. It's the irony of wanting a diesel that sounds more like a gasser.

 

[curatchko]

I have been one of those 'Chevy' guys for a long long time. My whole life basically.



My last truck was a 99 Chevrolet Suburban 2500, with the 300 horse 454 Vortec engine with a 4. 10 gear.



Performance wise, hands down that Suburban was one of the baddest trucks on the road from a stop light. Even while going 50 or so if you put the foot to the floor, she took off like crazy... . awesome performance. I could tow my 11000 pound racecar trailer at 85 mph and have half the pedal left... . no stopping her. Other than the 7 mpg towing.



Too bad it wouldn't stop. Brakes were total garbage. And the interior styling was junk... . dash layout was terrible compared to the Dodge. Seats sucked... had a lot of little things go wrong with it that for 45 grand, should not have been the case. It was not a 45 thousand dollar truck... . I paid 45 grand for it, but it's way over priced. Started having a clunk in that great IFS with only 35000 miles on it... not all it's cracked up to be.



This is my first Dodge, and I have to say I'm very happy with the Dodge part of the equation. Cummins? To be honest I expected more... .

 

[Badunit]

I want the low end torque that a diesel can provide. I don't want the single-digit fuel mileage that a gasser with similar low end torque would have. I want to be able to hear the engine but I don't want it to be "loud" (a very subjective term). Basically those are my criteria based on my preferences. As it turns out, the new Cummins fits the bill perfectly for me. No irony in that.

 

[MABurns]

It's the irony of wanting a diesel that sounds more like a gasser.

That is not it at all. I wanted a diesel engine for many reasons, being loud or sounding like a "gasser" was not one of them. So the fact that one or all (pretty soon) are quieter is a nice added benefit.



The common rail fuel injection system (and pilot injection) are a result of tougher emissions. An added side effect of a more efficient combustion is that it eliminates a lot of the diesel "knock", ie a quieter engine. Cummins did not make the engine quieter to keep up with GM. It is quieter only because it has to be (sort of).



At least my daughter doesn't run to the window yelling daddies home whenever the garbage truck drives by anymore!

 

[MCummings]

I like the fact that even a 6. 6 Liter and a 7. 3 Liter motor compare themselves to my old 5. 9 Liter 6 cylinder.



The only thing I don't like about the D-Max, is the V-8. I've never been a fan of V-8 Diesels in commuter type vehicles.



I'm not against V-8's,, just look how many 1,000-2,000HP Diesel motors out there are actually "V" Designs,,,,



I just like the fact that I have the strongest motor (Bottom, and Top End), and the ONLY Medium-Duty Diesel available in a Pickup.



In our driveway we have a Ford Product, a GM Product and a Mopar Product (Licoln, Chevy, Dodge) Paid to much for them,, except the Dodge, and none have given us any problems,, except the Dodge. BUT, The Dodge only started giving me problems when I asked it to work twice as hard,,, and be happy about it.

Now it works almost twice as hard,,, and is happy about. With 107K on it,, it is still a happy camper, just eats a little coolant.



My $. 02

Merrick Cummings Jr

 

[Jeff H]

There are a lot of used xamarud at the dealers right now. Make me wonder.

 

[MABurns]

MCummings,



Although it does not put down over 1000 HP the Cummins VTTA903-T800 (800 hp @ 2900 rpm) is a really good engine. It quite literally has saved my life!



. 02 worth

 

[libertyram]

If Chevy had put a JD or Cat under the hood I dare say very few people on this forum would rag on their drive train. Some would seriously consider jumping ship. People on this forum tend to be biased towards the I6 and for very good reasons. The fact that it was Cummins that got diesels into trucks to begin with tends to engendear some loyalty as well. So it should not be surprising that people on this forum are skeptical of different configurations that have been tried before with poor results in the heavy duty market.

 

[DPKetchum]

I've been reading this forum and my input if it counts is years ago I bought a home from a retired diesel mech from New Jersey. . Said he worked on huge cranes and earth movers etc. We talked DIESEL and what he told me was NEVER buy or own a V8 diesel,said they just did"nt hold up. Did'nt care if it was a ship,train,earthmover or over the road rig. Said inline was the only way to go. As far as big three auto makers I think they all screwd the public but in past I feel G. m was the worst!I have worked in auto dealer service depts in middle and upper mangement for 25 years and G. M. has had the cheapest repairs of the lot. I mean tsb's for oil lights flickering because of low oil psi and they revise sending unit to a lower psi when engine is crapp. My last time with gm was Cadallic when Nortstar came out. The rep about choked when I asked him why they welded two VEGA engines togather. Guess what!They suck oil like no tommorrow and leaked bad also. BUT IN HIS WORDS THERE WORLD CLASS>and don't fool yourself I found Chrysler pretty cheap too. Did Nissan a while and it was a world of differance,they admitted to problem' and made a effort to redo with some quality. Oo. Oo.

 

[JyRO]

Been readin'... had to jump in...

MABurns - I will have to respectfully disagree with your post, a couple posts back. Cummins most definitly made the engine more quiet in an effort to compete with the Duramax (noise-wise). You gotta realize that there is way more people out there driving the Big 3 diesel powered pick-ups, that are not reading and posting on BBS, than there is that do read and post on BBS. And those guys are, or are tempted to buy a DMAX partially due to less noise (& more power). Would I decide not to buy a Cummins because it was too quiet? Heck no! I'm not sure who would, realistically. If I wanted noise I'd play with the exhaust. I think the I-6 exhaust tone sounds awesome, I don't care for all the extra noise. But I do love my ISB. Let's see, my competitors new motor makes more power and less noise. Do I continue with a less powerful noisier motor, because everybody loves it already, and take a chance on losing sales/profit? Or do I try to one-up the competition? I think Cummins has one-upped the competition with the new motor. Sure the numbers are close, but in actual towing application, the inline 6 will have the grunt more where you need it, and be a simpler design to boot.



I actually listened to a presentation that one of the head dudes at Cummins gave where he talked about what engineering changes were made to the engine to quiet it down. Some of it was the mechanical structure of the engine that had nothing to do with emissions. Multi-shot injections at low RPM's may have something to do with emissions, but I do remember him stressing the fact that they (multi-shots) lower combustion noises, and smooth power output which reduces noises.



The original point to this topic was the guy bashing the D/C. I didn't think his point was too bad (to each his own), but to me he came off like a serious dumba$$.



- JyRO

 

[_MACKIN]

Honestly I believe MABURNS is on the right track..... Since Cummins needs to align it self as with the other big three have to... With the new emission standards it needed to revamp it's fuel delivery system more on the lines of their European market... . Bosch high pressure system, coupled with pilot injection WA LAA a quiet In line six ..... No??? Soon to come as with Ford the dreaded EGR by 04... ..... Will the 03 D/C be with cat in the lower 48 ????



MAC



Jyro





Who was bashing the D/C?? Here? No way... . More like a D/A bashing with a truck for sale was original point to topic... . But ok he looked like a dumbass... ... So says you !!!!!!:-laf :-laf Don't get mad Big Tex just joking ... ...

 

[rbagley]

Re: Been readin'... had to jump in...

Originally posted by JyRO



The original point to this topic was the guy bashing the D/C. I didn't think his point was too bad (to each his own), but to me he came off like a serious dumba$$.



- JyRO

Who was bashing Dodge/Cummins?

 

[_MACKIN]

rbagley



Woo look at my edit ... ... Your quick... .



MAC

 

[rbagley]

I hope he's not talking about me!!! I didn't think I bashed my Dodge. Heck, I like it.



Maybe "D/C" meant Duramax/Chevy???

 

[MABurns]

D/C--Damn quiet, no wait that would be D/Q, no wait that would be Dairy Queen, no wait... ... . n is for knowledge.



I do not work at Cummins so I have no idea, but I still do not think going for a quieter engine to be more like the Duramax was ever one of their goals. Being more powerful and still meeting emissions requirements, you bet.



Bottom line, competition is good!!! Otherwise we would all be driving diesel VW Rabbit El Caminos.

 

[JyRO]

Yikes...

(Cough... cough) My foot is out of my mouth now. I read all of the replies to the original post the first time, and it took so long I thought I was in the topic about the dude from the GM website loving his DMax and talking about how much he hated the Cummins he only had for about 6 months. Ooops! Sorry guys... the original poster here with the picture is NOT who I thought was a dumba$$.



I drove a Dmax/Allison and my biggest complaint (in the short drive I took) was throttle response. I guess its a function of an auto transmission, but in my 6 speed any movement of the throttle produces results. In the Dmax, I could push the throttle a long way and very little would happen, certainly the response wasn't proportional to the pedal push, like on my truck. I'll keep what I've got, I only have $13k to go.



- JyRO

 

[John Berger]

Re: Yikes...

Originally posted by JyRO

... . I'll keep what I've got, I only have $13k to go.



- JyRO

I concur strongly with that. Only a bit over 9K for me.

 

[Texas Diesel]

Re: Yikes...

Originally posted by JyRO

[B the original poster here with the picture is NOT who I thought was a dumba$$. - JyRO [/B]

I'm the original poster, so am I a dumba$$ or not ?

 

[_MACKIN]

Texas Diesel

I'm the original poster, so am I a dumba$$ or not ?

Who you asking ?????? :-laf



MAC



Jyro wrote

(Cough... cough) My foot is out of my mouth now. I read all of the replies to the original post the first time, and it took so long I thought I was in the topic about the dude from the GM website loving his DMax and talking about how much he hated the Cummins he only had for about 6 months. Ooops! Sorry guys... the original poster here with the picture is NOT who I thought was a dumba$$.