At our local truck & tractor pull this weekend, they had an 8500# diesel pickup class, which I was looking forward to seeing. There were only 4 pullers that signed up: 2 Dodge dualies, 1 Dodge 2500 & 1 F-250, an '03 or '04 model. One of the Dodge 1-tons went out the gate. The 6.0 put on a good show but ended up about 20' from the winner.

I don't know what equipment the trucks had, but the Dodges were clearly not stock. One had dual straight pipes. The 6.0 sounded like it was straight piped but I don't know if it was chipped or not. I REALLY wanted to see the Ford teach the Dodges a lesson but it just didn't happen. I don't think this was a fair comparison, as the dualies clearly had more traction available. But even the SRW Dodge seemed to have more power. I would love to see a stock Ford, Chevy & Dodge as close to equal as possible hooked up to see what they would do. The diesel truck class is pretty new around here. Who else here has seen diesel trucks pull, & what were the results?

 

I consistently watch those events on my VCR (buy tapes on eBay). Guess what....The Dodges ALWAYS lead and for every Ford or Chevy there are at least 6-7 Dodges. Tells you a little about the power of the Cummins, huh? You are correct in thinking that the Dodges aren't stock. It happens that a lot of the professional pullers are (with the Cummins engines) running in excess of 100 PSI of boost and RPM in excess of 4200!!! You can't do that to a PSD or Duramax...the bottom ends won't take it and a chip doesn't doesn't cut it.

I've noticed that all of the PSDs that pull power out. The transmission stalls and the wheels won't even spin. The Duramaxes (for the most part) do better than the PSD's, but the Cummins is the overall king (when the u-joints don't hold up anymore).

Oh, and as far as more traction with a Dually. That's not correct. There is less ground pressure with the added contact patch of 4 rear tires (provided that the SRW trucks aren't equipped with wider tires.



Not brand bashing....just telling it like I see it.
Cody

 

Uhhh

Thats on a stock engine, 6.0

4200 is nothing...some of the Cummins run much higher than that.

 

PSD 60L FX4, is that your truck revving to 4200? Do you race or pull? The trucks I saw weren't the real serious pullers, they were just driven in off the street. The PSD just couldn't get his rpm's up & he actually went much farther that I thought he would.

 

Yes, that was 4500 redlined in Overdrive, actually. I don't do any pulling, but I do occasionally visit the drag strip. The 6.0 will turn more RPM's than you will ever need it to. With billet rods and some mild valvetrain work I would in no way be afraid of 5500, if you have injectors big enough to provide fuel to that point.

 

The cummins can spin 5000+ rpms. The builders say 6000 is a no no.

You might be suprised. The Dmax has a few years on the 6.0. It has a lot of aftermarket behind it. It is making serious power. More than the 7.3 was ever capable of.

 

and less than 65mph. that's some steep gears.

 

The speedometer had already had its return trip back to zero. Most any Superduty has a max mph for speedometer setting between 100-108. It then returns to zero.

 

What will your truck run in the 1/4 mile with those mods?

 

This guy is insane...I remember a thread that he showed what hapens to the towing mirros at 100+MPH....just crazy...
At those pulls a lot has to do with driver ability. Dont count the PSD down and out in those events, it depends on who has more mods.

 

My current 6.0 is quick, but when towing, the old cummins I had was better suit.

 

psd 6.0. Im curious what it tops out at?

 

I'm just getting at the fact that the Cummins doesn't have to run more than 2800 RPM to make torque like the fake diesels (7.3, 6.0, 6.6). And please don't tell me that the 6.0 and 6.6 make 560 or so ft.lbs. at 1500 RPM or whatever like all of the literature says. I've driven both the 6.0 and 6.6 (own a 7.3) with a lot of them being Duramaxes.... and they DO NOT even begin to run until 25-2600.

They're nothing more than diesel burning engines for people who have never owned a diesel before. People want the driveability of a gas engine and they want it to run like one too (look at all of the people who put gasoline in the tank). That's why the real diesels and the Cummins up to 98.5 didn't sell really well. "Oh, they don't have good throttle response." "I have to shift it too much to keep it in it's torque band." Then in 98.5, the Cummins went to the dumpster and it was all over.

So, once the fakers get down below 2600 RPM when they're pulling, the horsepower falls off and the truck falls on its face.

Cody

 

I'm not quite sure how to take this having been a diesel / owner driver for the past 10 years of both Ford and GM I wouldn't consider myself a first time diesel owner nor would I consider the diesel pickups I've owned 'fakers'. I think your making quite a few assumptions that aren't really based on any kind of facts.

Dodge does seem to rule at the pulls no doubt, but the motor lends itself to modifications more being a medium duty engine. But that same strength is also it's weakness when pulling a load at 75mph - it's a lot further out of the powerband where as the other 2 motors seem at home.

The reasons for Dodges lack of growth in that market is clear - they need an automatic transmission. Once that occurs IMHO their market share will grow.

Having been to numerous pulls and dyno events I can tell you the advertised numbers of the Ford (pre-flash) and GM vehicles are correct.

 

Come to think of it I pulled 500+ miles this last weekend at 65mph -I don't think I was even close to 2600 rpm I wanna say I was closer to 2000rpms and was pulling a 9000lb load and never came out of OD because of grade. If that's your definition of falling on your face - I'll take more of it!