V10 Info

[johnwen1]

Hey everybody,



A friend of mine wants to know where he find a bunch of information on the Dodge V10. Are there discussion forums available for V10 owners? He is going to get an 02 3500 QC and he is not to crazy about diesels (I don't understand either) and he wants the V10. Any help!!?? Thanks,



Wendell

 

[illflem]

Here's one

 

[Straight6Jeff]

Here's another v-10 board. www.pub8.ezboard.com/bdodgeramv10



GET THE DIESEL!!!!! Gas is killing me in this thing!!!!in the city, i'm getting 7!!!!

 

[RustyJC]

If he wants a V-10, I have a sweet 1996 3500 4x2 SLT extended cab with 45,000 miles set up for 5th wheel pulling.



Rusty

 

[MidwestMotorman]

ride???

Did you ever take you friend for a ride in yours??? With your EZ and VB/TC, I think it would be sufficient for your friend to fall in love with a diesel.



If he does get a V10, the first time you pass him loaded on the road will make him sick. Tell your friend to check us out on the TDR first.

 

[Okie-Go]

Why would someone want a gsser when they could have a diesel? I will vouch for Rusty, he does have a nice looking V-10.

 

[JimP]

I had a 96 ext cab 4x2 V-10 that would blow the doors off the 2001 Q/C cummins I traded for. This thing is the biggest dog I have driven. Pulling a 34FT 5th wheel, it gets the same fuel mileage as the V-10 with less power. The diesel gets better mileage solo,but for the added cost to purshase, upkeep, and the need to wear ear plugs,I vote for the V-10.



Jimp

 

[Steve M]

I'll go out on the limb here and agree that the V-10 will outpull the Cummins in it's stock form. And it will do it quietly. But my Cummins is plenty quiet in the cab at highway speed and it pulls our 5th wheel 70mph all day long wind or not. My '98 12v was noisy as a combine harvester. I was thinking about the V10 or even a 5. 9 gasser just to get away from the drone. When I drove the '01 24v, no drone. I brought it home... I'm getting 17. 5mpg around town and 13. 5 towing the wind anchor.

 

[MoparToYou]

I don't know what to think of some of the fuel mileage claims on this forum. I'm not saying they're, well, optimistic; just that I haven't been able to equal them.



My V-10 Ram got 6 mpg towing the same trailer my Cummins Ram gets 8. 7 mpg with. That's right, 8. 7 mpg on two separate trips, over a distance of 400 miles, while towing an 11K lb. trailer. To me that isn't much of an improvement given the high cost of purchasing the diesel truck, and the higher cost of diesel fuel.

 

[GSchlegel]

MoparToYou,

A quick count on my fingers seems to indicate your new, not broke in yet, CTD is giving almost a 50% improvement in mileage. I don't know how many miles you have on her yet, but most everyone experiences improved mileage throughout the first 30,000 plus miles. Will most of your miles be towing or lightly loaded? Just a few thoughts.

Gene

 

[klenger]

MoparToYou:



50% increase in milage from a V10 to a diesel is pretty impressive to me. I was only getting 9. 5 MPG pulling a 4000 lb TT with a 5. 2L Grand Cherokee.

 

[JimP]

Mopar:



Sounds like your 3500 is a little better than my Patriot blue/pewter Q/C 2500 4X2,A/T,354 gear dog. If I tow 55MPH with no wind I may get 7. 8 MPG. On the interstates,I try to tow at 65mph when legal, that turns the engine about 2500RPM'S. It won't pull in overdrive unless I'm going down hill or have a tail wind. That puts me at 6. 5 to 7. 0 mpg. My 5th wheel is a little under 11K empty.



JimP:

 

[MidwestMotorman]

mileage mayhem

The CTD is kind of funny with the mileage. Lots of people see great mileage, but others do not. Sometimes no one can explain why. The major causes are boost leaks, ECM needing a reflash or upgrade, and driver habits.



I am lucky to get great mileage. I saw was on a trip towing a heavy dumptruck loaded backwards on a flatbed trailer. I had my worst tank go 10. 57 and the best went 12. 38 mpg, with my GCVW being in just under 21k. My unloaded mileage is 17-19. I have towed 5k loads and ran 24 mpg. All of my mileage figures were for 55-60 mph driving.

 

[johnwen1]

Mopar,



I know what you mean about the mileage numbers. I get around 17 - 19 mpg running solo and it drops to the 6 - 8 mpg range when pulling my fiver. It's 35ft long, triple slides, and has a dry weight of 11,700. Loaded for a week's stay it will probably weight approx 12,500.

On a recent trip to Nashville, which was about 130 miles one way, it used a half tank of fuel to get there. That sucks!!

What kind of mileage did you get with the V10 running solo? I've heard that the V10 is one smooth engine! Did you like it? Why did you get rid of it? Thanks.



Wendell

 

[SEmerson]

Regardless for mileage ( and i beleave the diesel will get better). A v10 will be wore out after 100k-150k. And a diesel should get atleast 500k. So do the math. Buy 1 diesel or 3 v10s. And look at the resale value for the 2. A diesel is a much better deal.

 

[MoparToYou]

I liked the power of the V-10 motor, which was much more instantaneous than the Cummins diesel. The turbo lag on the diesel takes some getting used to. I give the diesel motor full throttle and it just bogs for a few seconds, whereas the V-10 would be smoking the rear tires if I gave it full throttle all at once. The V-10 motor is a great motor, and very powerful. But then the Cummins diesel is also a great motor, with good power. I can't say that either one is better than the other for towing the load I tow with my truck; they really seem to be equal in actual towing power.



I got the diesel because everyone, and I mean everyone, said the diesel would tow better, which I haven't found to be the case (yet). My diesel isn't broken in yet, so it may get better. But even if it gets better it will only be marginally better, not the leaps and bounds better that I had been lead to believe, and was hoping for.



Unloaded fuel mileage is clearly better with the diesel though. I got 10 mpg empty with the V-10, and I'm getting 14 mpg empty with the diesel. The V-10 would loose 4 mpg when loaded (getting 6 mpg while towing). My diesel looses 6 mpg when loaded with the same load (getting ~8 mpg while towing).



I think one thing that will come into play here, as I keep this diesel truck for the long run, is that it is expensive to get more performance out of the V-10 motor, whereas it is cheap to get more performance out of the diesel. It will cost you ~$1000 for a set of headers and dual exhaust for the V-10, and that is likely the first mod you would want to do being as the stock exhaust is very restrictive. That $1000 will get you roughly 50 more horsepower over stock. If you spend $1000 dollars wisely on the Cummins diesel you can easily gain 200 HP, and that (I think) will be the big difference between these two motors. If you planned on keeping the Cummins diesel totally stock I don't think it is worth the extra expense at truck purchase, and the extra expense at the purchase of each tank of fuel, given that diesel cost more than premium gasoline around here.





Mopar.

 

[RustyJC]

V-10 Comparison

Our 2002 ETH/DEE only has about 800 miles and is box stock, so comparisons with our V-10 are premature. Having said that, our V-10 automatic would blow our ETH/DEE away on acceleration, either empty or pulling the 5ver! The V-10 is also quieter, smoother, etc. - it's a nice ride! Although it's still tight, I believe the ETH/DEE might be a little better at holding speed on grades than the V-10.



Mileage with the V-10 was 13 MPG at 70-75 MPH unloaded freeway driving, 8. 5 to 9 MPG pulling our 11,400 GVWR 30' 5ver at 60-65 MPH and 7. 5 to 8 MPG pulling our taller 13,500 GVWR 36' 5ver at the same speed. With only one short trip towing the 5ver, it's too early to tell what the ETH/DEE's towing mileage will be.



We went to the ETH/DEE primarily because our new 5ver put us over the V-10 3500's 19,000 GCVWR - our ETH/DEE as equipped is rated for 21,500 GCVWR.



Rusty

 

[johnwen1]

Thanks Mopar. You're right about the costs of horsepower gains with the diesel. I put too much on my auto and had to get the transmission upgrades from DTT and still only had about $2300 invested. It makes good power, but now my EGTs have to be monitored closely while towing.



Sometimes I just get tired of the noise the Cummins makes, especially when at the campgrounds. You should hear it fire up while in the garage every morning. It's my wife's alarm clock!! When she hears it fire up she knows it's time to get up!!



I've done some research and it's amazing to me at the difference in fuel mileage claims with the V10. Everyone loves the engine and that's the only complaint registered... ... . fuel mileage.



I may be in the same situation as Rusty with the GVCWR of the V10 equipped truck. Our fivers weight about the same. Somting to consider!!



Thanks again.

 

[Steve M]

I have a friend with a 5. 9 gasser in his Ram. He complains about it getting only 11mpg around town. He says he drives it like a little old lady but when I ride with him, the little old lady has a lead foot and even at a steady cruise, he's on and off the throttle alot while he chatters. I gave up on trying to help him get better mileage. I drive like I have a sore foot and get good mileage. But I would like to feel the thrust of a V10 one time. Then I'd probably get low mileage!

 

[MidwestMotorman]

cruise

I found out that the cruise was good for a solid 2mpg better than my unsteady foot.



My family is big on dodge, cars and trucks. We have only had one V10, whereas there have been eight diesels (the current number now owned). The V10 was a precursor to owning a diesel. My brother owned the V10 and he loved smoking those tires on the 96 Xcab 3500. However he did not think it was fun when both converters plugged up one day while going to a sale. He had to drive to a shop about ten minutes away at 15mph while the V10 was popping out the intake. A mechanic air hammered out the bottom of both converters to spill the guts, and he was off again. His truck only developed 20 psi of oil pressure cold, and about 5psi warmed up after this incident, and made the motor run noisy and rough. He immediatly sold the truck and got a diesel, and never looked back.



Caution from the Surgeon General: Sniffing gas fumes has been proven to cause dizziness and loss of brain cells. Sniffing diesel fumes has been known to increase testosterone and cause the desire to create more diesel smoke!!!