Dodge front axle (4x4) has many drawbacks. Cannot disengage the axle/driveline, as it's always spinning when the truck is in motion. Ball joints and wheel bearings are a royal pain to change. Getting them apart, particularly the 1st go round, requires a lot of beating and pounding. Heck, even getting the dually "adapter" off the hub is a chore. In the time it takes to get 1 side apart on the (average) Dodge axle, I can get both sides apart, and back together again on a Ford, with the same axle (D60).
2wd Dodges have that same type front wheel bearing, with A-arms, while Ford uses the old school inner/outer cone/tapered roller bearings well into the mid 2000's, with the ultra tough twin I beams.
I work on a lot of these trucks. Suspension work on Dodges sucks. Pays well, but will wear you out doing so. Engine work on Fords sucks, as most stuff is rather hard to get to. Again, pays well, but gets old having skinned up hands from reaching into tight places.
However, I'd rather do these, than almost anything on a duramax. Those were NOT designed in a technician friendly manner.......

Yeah, I meant the NV 5600 6 speed. Can be difficult to type with a playful pup jumping on/off my lap, and nosing/pawing at the keyboard. Prolly why it took me 15 minutes to type this reply..........

 

Thank you for some 1st hand info ........ I thought that you were talking about the frame, body, interior fit/finish, etc. which is what most nit-pickers do. I pretty much agree with all you said BUT Maybe Ford will fix their issues and Dodge & GM will fix theirs - I really don't care which brand it is as long as it has a 5.9 Cummins - I know a Cummins in a Ford is do-able but I wonder if it's even possible in a Chebie or Jimmy and would they hold up to it? Seems like it would be pretty involved to do a Cummins in a GM.

 

Alot of people out them in older Chevy, back when Chevy had a good body an motor, the 80's

 

I've had a straight axle Dodge in the past (95 with Dana 60 4.10 front axle with NP241HD transfer case) plowed snow commercially with it for 8 years and 150,000 miles (8 foot Fisher) never a front end issue, not seals, not ball joints, not bearings...fuel economy sucked on the best day, but what price dependability? ~Bill

 

I dunno about putting a Cummins in a GM truck. I hate GM truck chassis (and bodies) more than anything. A GM truck that is more than 3 years old will have issues with getting the doors shut. Been that way since '73, why should they worry about fixing it now?
The GM 2500/3500 4x4 front axle is independant. Rides better, but sure is hard on things when you use it off-road, loaded down.
They have a lot of stuff I don't care for, which is why I have no intention of ever owning one.

A Cummins swap is doable, as there are plenty of adapter kits available. I just can't see downgrading the chassis under such a great engine.......

Cummins in a Ford, is very doable. My boss has an 03/04 (not sure which) F350 4x4 dually, powered by a 12V Cummins, backed by the original Ford 5 speed auto.

Had you ever needed front end work, your mechanic would have hated you, at least for a little while. 150K without needing anything done is not common, but it's far from rare.
Heck, I recently did a bunch of work on a 24V Cummins in a 2001 Dodge 3500. Odometer read 830K, but had been unhooked the majority of the last 3 years. Truck has well over 1M miles on it. Engine is not original, it went out shortly after passing the 1M mark. Just last week, I swapped the injectors for new ones. He had put the original 1M mile injectors into the replacement engine. Considering how cheap (comparitively) they are (under $100 each) I can't understand why he waited that long to get new ones. Powerstroke and Duramax owners would LOVE to be able to get NEW injectors that cheap, rather than $250-$600 each..........

Dodge trucks aren't the easiest to work on. Putting in a heater core requires pulling out the steering column, and removing the entire dash just to access the HVAC unit. Pays 6 hours. 5.75 of that is removing/replacing stuff to get to the HVAC unit. Physically swapping out the heater core takes under 15 minutes, unless you take longer than a 10 minute break in the middle........


All of that said, I would own a Dodge with a Cummins 12V or 24V. Common rail, forget it.
GM truck, not unless it was a very good deal, on something that is in quite good shape. Only one I've ever seen that I would consider, is an 85 K35 pickup I drove back from California for a friend. 6.2L diesel, with a banks turbo. Was originally a military vehicle. Time I got back to OK in it, the odometer rolled up to 15K *actual* miles. It had a 0 in front of the 15,000.......