Independent diesel pickup forum?

[BillNutt]

Dl5treez, thanks very much for your well-considered insight. Sounds like you work your trucks way more than I do. I drive quite a bit for work, but not loaded, and mostly local stuff. There are many 200-300 mile days, but all local/regional.

I don't think I broke in the '03 right. I was so tickled to get good mileage from a truck that big that I light-footed the truck almost all the time, trying to see how high I could get the mileage. Hindsight and a little education from this site and others indicates I should have loaded it after about 500 miles and broken it in harder.

I know the Cummins is a workhorse, but is it the best type of engine for what I described? It almost sounds like overkill. I wonder if the lighter-duty V8 diesels from Ford and that other company might be better suited to such use?

 

[Simplysmn]

Hey Billnutt if you will I will add my point of view on this I bought my 08 3 n 1/2 yr's ago daily drive it tow with it haul with it but then again I drive it like I stold it it's been and still is a great truck just hit 90,000 this week for a few month's on average I was running 500 miles a week and it never let me down I would suject you go drive a dodge I hear the 4th gen's are Sweet then go drive a ford and then a chevy I think you will be able to figure out your asking the question's that are good but you are also on the right site for the info you need .

 

[AWeiman]

i thought these guys did a pretty good comparison of new trucks. funny thing is after the fords and chevys put up the better numbers in there tests they still picked the dodge as the best suitable tow rig.

2011 Ford vs. Ram vs. GM Diesel Truck Shootout - Diesel Power Magazine



they have forums for all three brands on there site as well but i have never looked at them.

Diesel Power Forums at Diesel Power Magazine

 

[Dl5treez]

i thought these guys did a pretty good comparison of new trucks. funny thing is after the fords and chevys put up the better numbers in there tests they still picked the dodge as the best suitable tow rig.
2011 Ford vs. Ram vs. GM Diesel Truck Shootout - Diesel Power Magazine

they have forums for all three brands on there site as well but i have never looked at them.
Diesel Power Forums at Diesel Power Magazine

From the article:

"Of the six diesel-powered trucks we tested, the Ram proved to be the best value for the dollar. With the improved ride quality mentioned above, a very capable engine (although underpowered compared to Ford and GM) well suited for towing, integrated brake controller, and the strongest exhaust brake available, the Ram had all the bells and whistles the other 3/4-ton trucks had-but for nearly $10,000 less. "

Like I was saying before, the Dodge is cheaper, and money talks these days...

 

[Dl5treez]

Dl5treez, thanks very much for your well-considered insight. Sounds like you work your trucks way more than I do. I drive quite a bit for work, but not loaded, and mostly local stuff. There are many 200-300 mile days, but all local/regional.
I don't think I broke in the '03 right. I was so tickled to get good mileage from a truck that big that I light-footed the truck almost all the time, trying to see how high I could get the mileage. Hindsight and a little education from this site and others indicates I should have loaded it after about 500 miles and broken it in harder.
I know the Cummins is a workhorse, but is it the best type of engine for what I described? It almost sounds like overkill. I wonder if the lighter-duty V8 diesels from Ford and that other company might be better suited to such use?

I love the Cummins, but seriously that Duramax is a pretty good piece. I eat crow saying that as I was a big opponent of the original couple year's worth. I don't like GM as far as I can throw them, but those trucks are pretty nice for a mixed daily driver/part time tower.

The old Fords came home from the dealership and were outfitted with transfer tanks, tool boxes, headache racks, winky lights, and all the rest of the crap the crews "needed" to play in the woods. The old Dodge was originally for my dad to use as a personal truck but was retired to a "toy" when the '07 arrived--the '07 is the new victim. My family is in logging and fishing so these rigs have all at one time or another either been off road or towing heavy with trailers and beds full of various items. The '03 Ford tows a a 30' bumper pull with race cars, quads, whatever else we can cram in it, plus doubles as my personal truck. The old '96 reg cab was my project truck after selling the '99 but I sold it to buy the '07 for my dad, as the '95 was sadly starting to become unreliable for a 74 year old man to dink around in the woods with by himself. Our '03 Dodge was an impulse buy at an auction--had it long enough for it to break down 9 times, none of which were engine related, and it was sold @ the same time I sold the GMC... . I often wish I had kept the GMC but there were personal feelings making me hate it by proxy. :-laf

I'm no expert, but am a professional mechanic/equipment operator/wearer of many hats and have seen the good bad and ugly with all of them. The 2007 Dodge is an improvement over the other Dodges I have/had but in all honesty after playing on the logging roads PART TIME over 3 years it is showing fatigue with interior fit & finish, rattles, minor unreliable non-Cummins parts, and such that my Fords never have experienced..... just this morning I attempted to roll the passenger window down to read a sign and the regulator went down, the window stayed there for a second then fell into the door..... just another example of those little things that drive you bananas.

The '95 has been primarily a highway truck for vacation trailer pulling, etc. It did not see as much work duty as the other rigs but has exhibited similar issues to the Fords that have been off road most of their lives at the same mileage intervals... . moreso than the 1996 but that truck is a bit of a weird one so I should stop talking about it so it won't break in half next week... .

 

[NIsaacs]

Back in the day... . early '70's to mid '90's, the Fords were the rule in the log woods with the Chevy as second choice, the Dodge's would melt down to scrap as soon as they encountered off highway travel. I still have my '70, '74 and '75 all used in the woods and still good trucks, all Fords.



I don't know how the newer Dodges do off highway, I do know my '91 and '01, both highway trucks have been awesome and don't owe me a dime.



Now my old "Pete's, Macks, KW's and IHC log trucks were all good:-laf



The Autocar's, Whites, Diamond Reo/T's were few and far between for the most part, the Fords were junk... .



Nick

 

[CUMMINZ]

What will springboard DC to the front for a while is when they introduce 400+ horses and an 8 speed auto next year. I also think when the few bugs get out of the new Ford engine it will shine as one of the top vote getters.

 

[BillNutt]

What will springboard DC to the front for a while is when they introduce 400+ horses and an 8 speed auto next year. I also think when the few bugs get out of the new Ford engine it will shine as one of the top vote getters.

My '03 was the first year/new model when I bought it as well. Not sure I want to do that again (which is a strike against the Ford also). I'd sooner have the bugs worked out on someone else's dime next time.

 

[BillNutt]

I seem to have read that the C&C RAM comes with an Aisin transmission, while the pickup has a different transmission. Both 6 speeds, but what's the difference?

Are there other differences with the C&C, like fuel tank size?

 

[HBarlow]

All of your questions are answered on the Dodge commercial website.

Aisin is the Japanese manufacturer of hundreds of models of automatic transmissions used in perhaps all Japanese cars and trucks, many American and German manufactured cars and light trucks, and in a small number of FL MDTs behind the Cummins B5. 9. It is designed differently than the MOPAR unit, has a pto capability, and, at least in the earlier years like mine, had a 130k mile warranty. It is a very tough unit. I have not heard of a failure or a worn out unit.

The C&C was designed to accomodate the commercial truck market and the upfitters. It has a different frame with straight, flat rails, a 52 gallon fuel tank at the rear of the frame, additional fused or breakered wiring harnesses to the rear of the truck, stiffer multi-leaf spring packs at the rear, stiffer front suspension using the 4x4 front end minus the ring and pinion, axle shafts, and driveshaft, a derated engine, and less emissions control crap that doesn't cause soot issues. The engine software is different as well to adapt it to long idle, use of pto accessories in the field, and other commercial applications. I'd guess it may not accelerate as strong as the pickup but has completely adequate power for ordinary driving and heavy towing. It is probably slightly more economical to operate that the pickups.

Problems with C&C trucks have been very few. Mine now has 93k miles on it with no problems. EB, an oilfield hotshotter has over 300k on his with very few problems reported.

 

[Mhannink]

well honetly its become 6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other. every brand has its problems the thing to do is get on the websites, talk to people that use the truck like you plan too find out what problems they have had and what things they have to do maintence wise to keep the truck up to par. then once you get it narrowed down from there find a way to test drive a few of them see how they feel to you see which ones you like. after that look at the problems your gonna run into and what it takes to fix them, then decide.



myself personally i love my old 97 its a solid all around work horse and always ready to do anything, i plan never to get rid of it. however i do want a nicer truck something thats still reliable but quiet and comfy. the kind of truck you take a date out on. for that im looking at a chevy dmax. my 97 is a tank and i love it i always feel like a king riding around in my big loud diesel. mine rules the road around my area it just gives off that aura, but im really wanting a 4dr chev or gmc for other times. what im looking for a an 06 4dr 4x4 with all the bells and whistles. the truck rides really nice its very quiet inside and very very comfy great for takeing girls out on a romantic date, or long road trips without a trailer, its still a truck so i can use it for lighter duty things and its 4x4 with the 6spd double over auto. good low cruis rpms and i never have to worry about snow with the 4x4.



anymore its what you personally like and want and willing to do with out