Hi. I am not a regular diesel dude but am a Ford F150 owner. I was asked a question by my wifes cousin who is in the market for a new(er) truck. He currently runs a Dodge club cab 4x4 with the V10 and is the market for a newer crew cab 4x4 diesel. I assume that he knows about the cummins but the question he asked was about the G.M 6.2 vs the Powerstroke. He needs to know which is better assuming the G.M is turbo'd. I would think that all late model diesels in G.Ms are turbo powered but I may be wrong on that. Are there any comparison webs or sites that he could use to do his research? I told him that I know 2 people that have Powerstrokes and love them, lots of power and good milage to boot. I know a guy with a new Cummins and 6 speed and he loves it too especially compared to his old Cummins powered Dodge, but as far as G.M products I come up cold. There are a few logging companys around here that use Chv/GM but most are Ford and a ffew Dodges are around too, but Ford is the dominant one. I could use some help here on this if anyone has time. I know that your opinion may be biased towards Ford products (HA!) but need stats to back them up. Thanks for any info you can supply.

 

The GM 6.2 and 6.5 engines are junk. Tell him to stay away from them. The only 2 engines he should be looking at (in my opinion) are the Power Stroke and the GM 6.6L Duramax. Tell him to drive them both and buy the one he likes the best.

 

I personally right now own a f250 psd.
if I got a truck with a gas engine it would be a chevy,
they seem to hold up better than the ford gas engines
I have talked to others that have the duramax and they seem to like it.
the psd, 7.3, and 6.9 are all basically the same engine as we all know, each getting a little better each time.
so they do have a pretty good track record

 

Andrew, I agree with part of what you say, "they get better each time." I notice that you had a 84 6.9L IDI. I purchased a new one in 85. I also see that you have a 01 7.3L DI, so do I. You said that the two are basically the same engine. I will say this, as far as the performance that I got between the two, the difference is day and night. While I had no problems with the 85 6.9L IDI, hands down the 7.3 DI is soooo much better. My 7.3L DI is chipped at about 315 hp and 630lbs.ft of torque. I cannot imagine ever needing more power than that for a pickup. If so, it is time to move to a larger class of vehicle (i.e. Peterbuilt with a 600 Cat). I have a friend that also is a road driver for another major freight line. Last summer he purchased a new 6.6L Duramax and is quite pleased with it. I guess time will tell.

 

The Power Stroke and the 6.9/7.3 IDI engines are NOT the same -- not even remotely.

 

Thanks Joe,
As I said, I agreed with part of what he said, "they get better each time." The 445 CID 7.3L DI is the best diesel pickup engine that I have ever had, or at this time hope for. I am a very pleased owner.

 

Thanks for the answers. They pretty much say what I figured anyway, the Ford Powerstroke is better than the 6.9 GM. My wifes cousin has the V10 Dodge to pull a 24 foot boat and it has lots of torque to do the job but the milage is pityfull to say the least. I advised him when he got the truck to get a diesel but he didn't and now he wants one. He said he is looking for a 98-2000 vintage truck so that puts the Duramax out of the field. I would personally go for the F350 crew 4x4 w/Powerstroke. My neighbour has one that he uses for commercial towing (40 foot houseboat hulls) and he says his milage is almost the same towing or not, which is impressive to me. I will keep him informed of any further info that is supplied. Thanks again for your advise on this matter. SR.

 

>>I assume that he knows about the cummins but
>the question he asked was about the G.M 6.2 vs the
>Powerstroke. He needs to know which is better assuming the
>G.M is turbo'd. I would think that all late model diesels in
>G.Ms are turbo powered but I may be wrong on that.

The 6.2L had a factory Banks Turbo as a option in the early 80's. The 6.5L was turbo charged.

Are there any comparison webs or sites that he could use to do his
>research?

The 6.2-6.2diesel.com web site is dedicated to the GM diesels.


> but as far as G.M products I come up cold.

I do not really agree with Joe altogether. The GM's are not junk, per se. But they are NOT in the same league, power wise, as a PSD or Cummins. They are fine in a non-working vehicle. Such as a Daily driver Suburban or even crew cab. (as long much isn't expected) The early 6.2's only made about 135HP and the 6.5L only made 195hp & 430lb. ft. They (6.5L) CAN be made into 300hp/500lb. ft. engines with some major mods. The old 6.2L, when treated properly, will return great MPG and will last a long time. The injector pump is the real weak point in these trucks but properly rebuilt they will give you years of faithful service. I have logged well over 400K in 6.2L equipped trucks with no ill effects other than a tranny that went south and a fuel pump that gave up the ghost at 135K. Of course, I spent 14 years working with and rebuilding these engines in the Army.

All in all, I think the guy musta been asking about the 6.6L Duramax as the 6.2 has been out of real production for years.

 

 

im going through the same process too choose my next truck. another thought when choosing a diesil, every vehicle has its flaws. the dodge cummins are quite loud infact almost rude in the noise they make at idle, the powerstrokes are a bit quieter but they come nowhere close to the GM's
the gm engines really arent so bad they have their good points especially how smoothe and quiet they run. if they were all so bad then AMG would not be using them for the ever stout hummer.
their weakness is the fsd's

the dodge cummins are a bad *ss unit, but they tend to run through trannys, ive also heard roumors of bad blocks floating around out there. the newer ones also have injection pump problems.

the fords in my opinion the best allround unit... but im very partial to them- just not the price,
the superduty is one sexy truck .

heres some sites that might give you youre own opinions, and they all have their own awesome list of links

http://www.ford-diesel.com/
http://www.trucks.about.com
http://www.62-65-dieselpage.com.
http://www.gm-diesel.com

let us all know what vehicle he ends up choosing. the testdrive always makes the decisions tho
-Sam