The size of my rods!

[Ben Rumson]

Why I went Cummins...

I did A LOT of research before I bought my truck. Couldn't afford a new one so I got a 2 year old '95 with 86k miles already on it. I too knew I'd like the Cummins and hoped I'd get used to the Dodge... didn't take me long to love both.



I talked to several diesel mechanics (8 or 9 at least) and ALL but 1 of them said Cummins ANY DAY over the v-8 power stroke. Without any prompting the all in essence said "Cummins is no Slouch". The B series has been put put in every kind of SERIOUS DUTY vehicle - from Bob Cat's to Backhoes to RV's to the Commuter Buses our City uses, to large dump turcks, to ... yadda yadda yadda. The longer stroke of the Cummins says A LOT about what it was made to do - USEABLE Torque and pulling like a mule on steriods. I do have to admit though, I really like riding in the back of the Ford 4 Doors. I can't wait till Dodge comes out with a full-size 4 door as well. My Dad-in-law wanted a Cummins but chose the Ford with a PS instead because of the 4 doors alone. He's been real happy with it, but does not pull anything worth mentioning. Sure he'll like it if he's not pulling. It's smooth riding and relatively sporty to drive.



It's amazing that Dodge got such a SERIOUS, HARDCORE Diesel into a pick-up truck. Every aspect about it from design, quality, durability, dependability says "I can take the abuse" and out-perform ANY "v"-style gas/diesel conversion type engine. My good friend has tow bobcats, a backhoe, and a 98 Dualley - he buys filters by the case, and oil in 55 gal containers as they all have the same B Series engine. He's never had a problem with any of them. Neither have I and I've towed 21k 500 miles one way and made 4 back to back trips last summer - South central Montana to northern Utah. I killed my torque converter with my mystery switch in Lander, but have driven it for several month now with the shudder - burning the TC was my fault. Not engine issues what so ever.

 

[PRout]

You guys shoulda seen it when I posted that pic over on the Ford-diesel website...



Was cool to see one pic blow their whole theory out of the water.



Upset em so much they were makin up every argument in the book to shoot it down & got all personal too.



They argued that they have 8 rods vs our 6, and questioned the quality of the material they are made out of, saying that their rods were heat treated better, etc. Even started posting comments saying the same number of ft/lbs coming out of a powerstroke pulls better than the same number of cummins ft/lbs. They claimed it had to do w/ having more rotating mass. Was too much.



They ended up closing the thread, because it got out of hand.



Funniest thing was, a few months later the same people were posting questions on how hard it would be to swap their powerstrokes over to a cummins. :{

 

[LarryB]

Originally posted by Shortshift

You guys shoulda seen it when I posted that pic over on the Ford-diesel website...

Bout time to do it again huh Shortshift?

 

[PZicha]

Yea. . I remember that one , started friday morning and was finaly shut down on sunday. . That was some of the most entertaining back and forth reading I have made since I joined this site :-{}

 

[Mr. Brewski]

I remember seeing Rod/Piston assy's from Chev, Phurd, and Dodge Cummins at the Dodge dealer in Burlington WA in 1999. I'd almost bet that a single Cummins Rod & Piston weighs was two or three PS assy's weigh... . I wish I had a picture of the rods with pistons hung. Very impressive. That is what sold me. It was a REAL diesel...

 

[PRout]

Originally posted by LarryB





Bout time to do it again huh Shortshift?

Heehee. .



Yea, actually went over there for more perspective. Figured there may be info from different angles to consider.



What I found was, alot less "detailed" info than you find here. They seem to be spinning around in circles w/ the same ol stuff (alot more than we do here). There are a few posters there that know their stuff, but, frankly, didnt learn much, except how the dodge truck was inferior all the way around, but still couldnt lay out specifics that havent already been addressed & fixed. Was just general rumor, w/o details. Ended up getting more frusterated than anything, because if I did make an argument, the rebuttal kept coming back as personal, or just cheap shots at the truck, instead of saying things like, "the paint chips too much compared to a ford", or the layout of the instuuments is better, poor seats, pulling brakes, or whatever. It was mostly "the dodge quality sucks". I wanted to hear direct comparisons, of other items, instead of hearing ford outsells dodge 2-1. It didnt mean much. Also, sensored more than 3 times, & my posts didnt make it to the page, or was re-written! No bad words, just my opinion.



Really made me appreciate this site alot more, and I immediately renewed my subscription.

 

[Pit Bull]

I agree Shortshift, Its funny to hear some of the comments on the Ford site. Whenever you ask a specific question about a problem that they generally have with a Ford like "Cackle" you never get an answer. They just come back and say their bumpers are better then yours and start calling you a Troll. Some of the quys do seem real nice but the ones that like to debate don't do a very good job of it.

 

[LarryB]

Maybe someone could just post the rod picture without any text. Then sit a watch the fireworks. That picture really is worth 1000 words. Whats the URL, I'll do it!

 

[klenger]

#ad

 

[LarryB]

No, Sorry, I mean where do we want to post it? Ford site????

 

[PRout]

Its not worth it. More fun staying here & reading about how to make ours BETTER. .



By the way larry, I just wanted to compliment you on your projects. Pretty incredible how you got that cummins in that motorhome, and how well it worked out. Its quite a cool rig. Very creative.