I've seen Cummins, Duramax, John Deere, and definately Power Strokes blow up too. OMG he blew a motor! I have a 6.9 Ford connecting rod melted into the side of my pulling cooler. Built up **** blows up, it's a fact of life. Thats like saying my buddy's PSD seized a turbo at 60k, and they all do that! Every one!

Dodge auto tranny's suck, except for the 1st gen (torqflite) Thats why I run an NV4500 manual, and a 2 stage ceramic clutch thats meant to take the power.


And, to be honest.... I've never pulled in a light enough class that a chipped PSD could get past the 200ft mark :rolleyes

 

This was the 20k class......

 

That PSD was more than chipped then :blah

 

He also had straight pipes and a Banks transcommand.

 

PSD vs Cummins

quote:Originally posted by MW95F250
Let me know how many transmissions you have gone through to get 99k.



I have 190k and one transmission in a '95 auto. My torgue converter just went last week. And that is 190k of hard miles. I think I'll find a nv4500 to put behind it though instead of rebuild the auto. These old 12 valve cummins have so much potential. I think a good target is 400hp and 900lb-ft. That should tame the beast for a while.

 

I have read alot about the dodge tranny and the CTD, either the tranny held up or it did not, yes there were lots of storys of the tranny failing with 20, 30 or more miles on it, I hope the new 48re will hold up over all better than its older units

KC

 

Oh, and dodge automatics suck... and ford power steering whines...

TRBDSL360... 400hp is pretty easy, you don't need to O-ring the head or change cam or anything fun like that... I want to get 700hp and 6000rpms out of my pulling rig project ( A FORD truck with a CUMMINS engine) The sky is the limit man!

 

I want to see a Dodge with a Duramax and a Chevy with a Power Stroke and a Ford with a Cat!

 

please don't wish an Izuzu on my dodge, please

A ford wit a Cat, now you're talkin!

 

He's right, don't wish an Isuzu on his Dodge. That'd be just mean. Somebody already wished a Dodge on him! (low blow)

 

The only problem I have with discussions like these is the fact that so much misinformation seems to seep in through the cracks. Trying to get a straight comparison is like trying to keep water out of a damp basement.

I'll run through some of the misinformation that I saw.

Someone showed a picture of connecting rods and seemed to take great comfort in the fact that the Cummins rods were larger and heavier. Sounds good, but let's do a little arithmetic first. The Cummins engine has 6 cylinders while the PSD has 8, yet both engines develop the same horsepower. Consequently, the Cummins rods need to be 33% heavier to have the same strength.

Someone claimed that an inline 6 configuration is stronger than a V8 configuration. I'm not sure where he got this from but it isn't correct. In a 'V' configuration, the engine block is stiffer because it is wider; this type is less prone to twisting or bending than an inline configuration. The real advantage of an inline 6 is that it vibrates less than any other configuration short of a 12 cylinder engine. Rather than being much stronger, the Cummins actually needs a heavier block to have the same stiffness as a V8 configuration.

Another claim that I've seen several times is a Cummins engine is a true medium duty engine whereas a PSD is a light duty engine. This is also usually followed by the claim that the Cummins ISB is derated from some stratospheric level of power. However, both of these claims are exagerated. If you really want to know how good an engine is then instead of looking at a pickup truck look at something that really needs a good engine.

Ford uses the Cummins ISB engine on its 650 series trucks. It also uses the PSD. Since this is genuine medium duty application there is no opportunity to cheat. In this application the engines will have to be both strong and reliable since a uprated engine would wear out much more quickly. So, let's see what is available:

Cummins 5.9L ISB - 260 HP
Ford 6.0L PSD - 230 HP

The Cummins engine is 13% stronger. Since the real difference between light duty and medium duty is much more than 13% we can safely say that the PSD is also a medium duty engine while acknowledging that the ISB is a bit stronger. I've seen Cummins fans consistently skip this detail: the heaviest version of the ISB used in real medium duty trucks is only 30 HP more than the PSD.

Usually, when this is pointed out, something irrelevant follows:

Cummins engines can be suped up more for truck pulls.
There are firetruck and RV versions of the ISB that develop 300HP.
Cummins makes other engines that are more powerful.

Truck pulls don't make any difference; all racing engines are uprated but at the expense of reliability. The firetruck and RV versions of the ISB are also irrelevant because Cummins considers these applications to be lower duty than a medium duty truck. And, yes, Cummins does make more powerful engines than the ISB, but these engines are too big to fit in a pickup. Caterpillar also makes more powerful engines, but again, they won't fit in a pickup.

So, considering that in its heaviest rating, the Cummins is only 13% stronger, then how likely is it that the Cummins is a much better engine? Not very. The only fair way to settle this would be to examine maintenance intervals on medium duty trucks. Unfortunately, the 6.0L hasn't been out long enough to have accumulated this data.

In truth, I doubt either the Cummins or the PSD in 325 HP trim would make it to 350,000 miles if used for constant heavy towing.

 

I respect the cummins engine although I think its impossible to determine with absolution if its actually better than the Powerstroke. Having said that, your statement above solidifies why most of us over here have Powerstrokes. Dodge trucks are less than disirable with the cummins being the primary reason they are sold in the first place, with exception to the people who buy gasoline dodges not knowing any better. Diamler-Chrysler desperately wants to keep the cummins as it is probably responsible for 75%+ of the Light-heavy duty truck sales by dodge. Proof??? Ask yourself this question Would you have bought a dodge or a ford assuming they were both only available with a Powerstroke. I'm thinking Ford.

I'm not trying to offend you so please don't take it that way, the bottom line is that most everyone can admitt that ford makes a better truck. If and I do mean "IF" the cummins is a better engine, its not so descernable that it makes the Powerstroke a lesser truck Proof?? Sales Numbers.

 

Sales really don't equate to quality. Mind you I am not insinuating anything here, but look at Walmart. Walmart has sales up the wazooo. But you can find a lot higher quality products elsewhere (much nicer atmospheres too).

 

Good point, however vast majority of Wal-mart shoppers don't own 35-40K trucks. Not a demographically suitable comparison, but I see where you are coming from.

I get my OEM filters from Wally world Wifes Jeep of course!!

 

Another factor to consider in diesel comparisons is resale value.
My thought is that the Ford powerstroke superduties hold their value better than any othr truck on the market. Been to several auctions and i would have to agree. But haven't seen any Dodges withnthe cummins sell. Anybody else have any comparisons here.