Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Duramax may run nicely, but like the Ford diesel, I have a feeling there is going to be a much higher repair cost than on a Cummins. I have not looked at the Duramax V-8 up close but if it's like a Ford the mechanic will have quite a bit of time digging away at all the junk just to take a peek at the engine. If you haven't noticed, a lot of manufacturers of diesels have dropped their V-8's and made the straight six engine their main engine. I have an old Ford with a cat 3208 V-8 engine. It's got less than 200,000 miles and boy what a smoker it is! Doesn't burn oil, just smokes like a freight train. Probably didn't do that when it was new. My neighbor has a Mack truck with a straight six and over 400,000 miles and it hardly smokes at all.
The reason I bought a Dodge was for the reliability, simplicity and mileage. It sounds and runs like a good ole' reliable farm tractor. You don't need to burn rubber to haul a load with a farm tractor, and a man would be a fool to want to, burning rubber is not the purpose of a diesel.
What I'm hoping for in the future is that Dodge will eventually put the smaller 4 cylinder Cummins in its trucks. I have a 4 cylinder Cummins in my dozer and it's the torquiest little critter I've ever driven. That same engine in a truck would probably get around 30 mpg and still have enough power to haul about 8,000 pds. or so, and its proven reliability is what I like. If you compare the size of the engine, the 5. 9 straight six or the 3. 9 straight 4 Cummins they put out more power per cubic inch than any other diesel out there, in my opinion.
Have you ever seen a V-8 in a bulldozer or backhoe? There's a good reason they don't use them. And look how much larger in litres they had to build the Duramax and Ford just to get equal or slightly more power than the Cummins. The Cummins (Komatsu) is probably the most widely used diesel in construction equipment. There are, I believe, five or more different manufacturers of construction equipment that use it, including Case, Komatsu, Dresser, and Fiat-Allis, to name a few. As far as Allison Transmissions go, I have a feeling they would also be more expensive to repair than a Dodge transmission.
[This message has been edited by bigfig (edited 11-22-2000). ]
The reason I bought a Dodge was for the reliability, simplicity and mileage. It sounds and runs like a good ole' reliable farm tractor. You don't need to burn rubber to haul a load with a farm tractor, and a man would be a fool to want to, burning rubber is not the purpose of a diesel.
What I'm hoping for in the future is that Dodge will eventually put the smaller 4 cylinder Cummins in its trucks. I have a 4 cylinder Cummins in my dozer and it's the torquiest little critter I've ever driven. That same engine in a truck would probably get around 30 mpg and still have enough power to haul about 8,000 pds. or so, and its proven reliability is what I like. If you compare the size of the engine, the 5. 9 straight six or the 3. 9 straight 4 Cummins they put out more power per cubic inch than any other diesel out there, in my opinion.
Have you ever seen a V-8 in a bulldozer or backhoe? There's a good reason they don't use them. And look how much larger in litres they had to build the Duramax and Ford just to get equal or slightly more power than the Cummins. The Cummins (Komatsu) is probably the most widely used diesel in construction equipment. There are, I believe, five or more different manufacturers of construction equipment that use it, including Case, Komatsu, Dresser, and Fiat-Allis, to name a few. As far as Allison Transmissions go, I have a feeling they would also be more expensive to repair than a Dodge transmission.
[This message has been edited by bigfig (edited 11-22-2000). ]
