Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahaha, thats all I gotta say about that

Cowboy Steve

 

Okay I joined this site for help with my 54 F100 and I tried to stay out of the diesel forum on here, since I am a cummins man, but I posted a link to this on Dieselram.com and it had those guys rolling on the floor laughing.

So what is it that you find so funny?

Yes the VP44 wasn't a great IP, but that doesn't mean that there are no fixes for it.

The P7100 on the 12 valve's was a much better pump and could be modded for little to nothing.

Another thing to watch out for on the 24 valve is the "53" block it had problems with the castings and would crack.

 

Cummins is a great motor but the rest of the truck is complete garbage. Thats the bad thing about it. I have yet to see a dodge out last the motor. Cracked blocks, failed lift pumps and inJUNKtor pumps, killer dowel pin disease, and this is just in the motor, I wont even get started on the running gear issues, lol.

I as well as others get just as good if not better gas mileage with our 7.3's as you do with your CTD so thats not an issue, the issue is which one will be the best bang for the buck and its the 7.3 hands down

Cowboy Steve

 

P.S.- post the link up to the dieselram forum you posted this in that had the guys over there rollin would ya.

 

Threads like these make me laugh!!! People just read about how crappy the early 90's to 2002 dodges are and they think we are killing the motor when in reallity for the most part alot of the people on here love the cummins motor. Its a great motor, that gets no arguement from me! However as stated earlier the rest of a dodge truck in those years sucks!!! Look on the cummins forums tons of annoying problems! Don't get me started on trannys there wasn't a crappier one ever made than those autos!!! Even bone stock trucks are lucky to see past 130,000!

 

Thats funny since My uncle has 2 99 dodges with the 5.9 cummins and my 2002 7.3 pulls much better than them, it might not run circles around it but it sure has more power.

 

As a dodge owner, I will never knock a 7.3 powerstroke. That stated, Im not into the diesel bashing. However a lot of you have made statements about the cummins engine being great but the rest of the truck being crap. Well your half right. Our tranny's suck, however Dodge has made great strides in fixing that issue. The 48RE in stock form is leaps and bounds improved over the old 47RE slushboxes, and the new 68RFE is a heck of an improvement over the 48! As far as the axles, I think you should take a look under your truck at who makes your axles.....they come from the same manufacturer as dodge, same with your transfer for that matter. As far as the bodies, they are all made from the same crap chineese steel and will rust out in a few years especially here in upstate NY where im at. I have owned all of the big 3 and a couple of imports and they have all been great trucks for what they were bought for. I looked at all of the big 3 when shopping for my new diesel. My dad stated it best, " get the most power for the money!" My dodge was less than both chevy and ford. Personally I think all 3 are way overpriced for what we are getting in return. However dollars to sense, the dodge was a better option for me. I know danged well my drivetrain will long outlast the body. However, just like old fords and chevies, someone will make a replacement body panel! Ever searched the net for places to get 60's-early 90's ford parts?? There is a blue billion places to get them.

 

that should be a non issue on 24V.

 

I have heard of a number of IP failures in these early year trucks. Some people go through quite a few and others don't have any problems.

I would get a 12v or later common rail and skip the VP-44 24v altogether. Granted, the highly bias opinions on this website won't ever agree, but the cummins has quite a few benifits on the PSD. If you want a nice truck, I would go with the ford (which was the option I took), but if you want a killer engine, go with the dodge.

The "rest of the truck" issues aren't too overly horrible on a dodge. At least it isn't like old toyota trucks...

 

What about the running gear upsets you? The dana 70 out back, the 60 in the front, the np5600 6spd, or the np transfer case. And which of those does dodge build?

My cummins diesel was a 93, old body style, and that truck had body and wiring problems, but the engine didn't give out to 450k miles. no drivetrain problems, except those you'd expect (i.e. rebuilding things around 220k miles)

My dodge of the era in question was a 97 half ton 4x4 with a 318 and a manual, Chrysler rear axle, d44 front, nv231 tcase and 3550 trans. Sold it to my brother at 150k, and he's still driving it at 250k, athough it is getting to where the gas engine needs a rebuild. I didn't have wiring probs, the body's not rusty (this truck has spent it's life in rural Alaska), it has been a great truck.

I'm not seeing the drivetrain probs, but unless you have a problem with Cummins, Dana, or New Process (New Venture, whatever), I doubt you see them either, because dodge doesn't build much of the drivetrain of their cummins trucks.

 

ok here's the DL... the dodge has an AMAZING motor... but the 7.3 is also the best thing to have ever been put into a ford... i will say the cummins will PROBABLY outlast the 7.3 by a small margin and it also does get 1-2 mpg better.. which to some people is a selling point... but the ford has the stronger frame, better axles all around, better tranny, better interior (personal opinion here, check it out for yourself), and my '97 doesn't have nearly as much rust as most dodge trucks of that era...

 

Now the older tranny's had problems yes, but my 95 3/4 ton 5 spd has NEVER been touched, the clutch has been replaced twice and it needs to be again, but the 5th gear nut hasn't fallen off. As for rust I live in MN they salt the roads like freaking popcorn, and just about 5000 miles ago (310,000 miles or so) there is a slight patch of rust starting, that's excluding the flatbed, because they did a crappy paint job on it. So you can't go and say all of their body's rust to hell, or apparently I and many others got the few that don't.

We had a 7.3 (before the powerstroke) back in the day it was a great truck, but once dad got his first cummins (my 95) he hasn't gone back. We've had it since 40k miles, just the starters and the clutch and then other regular maintainence. And if you think those have been easy miles think again, he's gone 22k miles without an oil change (he's forgetful), we had to put a flatbed on because the bedrail's were so bashed in from the 5th wheel, he once had the front driveshaft fall off and spear a deer that he ran over (which stayed there for the 150 mile drive home).

I agree with 79F150EFI, go with a 12 valve or the common rail, but I'm not sure that you'll be able to find a common rail in your price range. But if you get the 12 valve tab the KDP and it'll run forever (and so will the IP pump).

There you go powerstroked, but you may have to join to see the forum's.

http://dieselram.com/forum/ubbthread...page=1&fpart=3

Alright I'll try and stay out of the diesel forum's from now on seeings how you ferd guys can't get off your high horse. kidding.

 

My Dad's diesel can **** farther than your Dad's diesel.

 

The totalled truck that I took my cummins out of was in very nice shape before the wreck. I knew the owner of the truck, and if it wasn't an automatic, I would have fixed and driven it myself. The dually he has now is absolutely beautiful.

There really isn't anything wrong with them. I haven't seen any rusted out, and only a few with rust spots. I have seen (and own) many more fords rotted out than the dodges. I just don't feel that the quality is as high on the dodges and I don't overly care for the body design. For anything specifically wrong with them, I can't really find anything. With the manual transmissions, they are a real solid design. Not a big fan of the automatics.

 

I agree, the automatics from 94-98.5 were crap, our 97 had the tranny go out at 96000 miles and then when we sold it at 160000 miles the tranny was on its last legs.

Here's an idea, buy a wrecked dodge and then find a ford chassis and make a fummins. best of both worlds then. haha