Marine Ironman. look up the ordering information on the 2003 and up 6sp. Its the nv5600 h/d. New Venture lists this as rated at 650tq.

 

I have not heard much bad press about the nv5600. It is pretty durable. It has a cast iron case and a higher input torque rating than the zf tranny in the ford or the chevy. They can be a bit notchy specially when new but they are very durable. Your not gonna get sports car performance out of a medium duty truck transmission.

 

Ok, I had been hearing about quite a few blowing up around here, the shops were packed with the 6 speeds for awhile but I never did ask if it was the rental trucks used by tree planters either, the rentals get beat into the ground around here. But I don't expect a sports car perf from one of them trannys. I had to laugh last night, they had a burnout competition at the race track just before the tuff truck competition and some guy with a '02 ford single wheel 1 ton auto went out there with his camper on and did it. That was funny, I'd hate to have to sleep in that camper. He did do good but I think it was a trans am the beat him.

 

My uncle in law drove his 03 6-speed cummins from Montana to Alaska and I pressed him for his opinion; if he liked the low-end torque and the way the gearing was set up. He had nothing at all bad to say about the tranny. I was very surprised to hear he had bought a Dodge because he has been an avid Ford lover for some time. He wanted a brand new truck for towing and had heard the controversy over Fords recent rumored 6.0 "problems" from a friend and steered towards the Dodge dealership instead.

 

Ford has some work to do in this area......perception.

 

The PSD is a good engine, but the cummins is the best diesel on the road right now. Nothing beats it in any area right now. That could change. Time will tell.

 

The 6.o beats it in all areas What is this Dodge enthusiasts forums. We sure have a lot of first time posters who like to say Ford is second to Dodge. Baloney. Fords best.

 

It's hard to make news when it didn't happen.

Saying the 6.0 didn't have problems was like when Clinton said 'I didn't have sexxual relations with that girl'. We all knew he did. In time, like Clinton, nobody will care. I don't think I've seen an injector issue from an '04 motor - so mabe Ford does have some of the bugs worked out. GM's launch was far better. I think that Ford kinda pushed the 6.0 out there a lil soon to stop the market take over.

 

I agree with you. But GM is as guilty as Ford. Theres no reason why GM should have had pistonslap in there engines. If they would have tested those engines for a long period of time. They could have corrected the problem. Competition between Ford and GM hurt quality here. It will be interesting to see how GM competes with Ford on there new style pickups. I think that will be awhile.

 

ok, i figure ill toss in my 2 cents worth anyways.

im going to just compare the 7.3 L powerstroke because im not familiar with the 6.0 and have never driven one, and im going to compare the mechanical 12 valve and the electronic 24 valve cummins.

first of all, i would like to add that any bias towards the powerstroke just because it is from ford is frankly stupid. if you really want to haul, and you buy a medium duty ford (F-650 and up) you have your choice of cummins, some powerstrokes in the smaller models such as the 650, and caterpillar. so lets leave any bias at home and look at the facts because ford has some rights to cummins anyways.

the powerstroke is a great motor because it has almost 15 years of production and according to ford, 98 percent of these motors are still on the road. V-8s produce more horsepower, and still produce lots of torque too. between inlines and V-8s though, i would like to point out that the inline engine is more reliable. i dont care what you say about straight sixes being unreliable, because i know that 7 main bearings for 6 cylinders as opposed to 5 main bearings for 8 cylinders should say something about the ability to hold together. straight sixes are also known for their relatively low number of internal moving parts, and i think we can safely say the less stuff in a motor, the less stuff to break.

now im not knocking on the psd, because i own one and i like it better than a 5.9 cummins anyways due to its bigger displacement, higher horsepower and in a pickup truck it is a better all around motor as opposed to the weaker cummins whose engine design is actually more suited to higher displacement for much larger vehicles. in a smaller truck, v-8s are great, and you get sluggish performance from a straight six. my friend owns a 98 dodge with a cummins and im constantly leaving him in the dust and hauling just as much weight as he can, and the fuel mileage is not far off from the cummins anyways. unloaded going across the state of Texas i managed to get 18 mpg out of my psd going 70-75 mph. i cant complain given that my 460 gas motor gives me 10 mpg. his dodge usually will get 20 mpg if you cruising the same speed, not a bad difference given that the psd has 1.4 extra liters.

the cummins however, responds very well to modifications, has a stronger overall design, and can still hold its own hauling heavy loads across the country. between the 12 and 24 valve motors, the 24 comes factory with higher power ratings due to its 12 extra valves, and can be chipped up for some extra power. the 12 valve's advantage is reliability due to less parts, and also that modifications are entirely mechanical, and relatively easy to do.

but the bottom line, in a pickup truck, the psd is better suited for the truck it is in and can leave a 5.9 cummins in the dust, but the cummins is still a good motor too. oh, and dont touch the isuzu produced duramax, it really is a p.o.s.

 

Firts to clarify i didnt say Dodge was better than Ford,i said the cummins was the best diesel on the road. The current cummins turbo diesel is the best in its class. Not older versions. Im not trying to start anything here, im just trying to get past the name and make of the product and look at facts and stats.

 

GR8LIFE:

You are smoking some serious drugs. Seek attention now. There are several PSD/Cummins threads at this sight. Go read through the 1,000 posts on the "is the PSD the most durable" thread in Ford-v-Competition.

In all areas the 6.0L PSD is the best diesel engine on the market, as proven in recent tow tests w/ the 6.0, the DMAX and the 600 ISB. Now ... the PSD also has equal horsepower but at a higher RPM. What that means is that the engine gives power longer and further up the RPM chain (both are about the same down low, about 40 ft-lbs of torque in difference).

Because of that ... the PSD cannot be beaten in-class in these tow tests. A Cummins in it's power-band is moving down the road at less RPMS to the rear wheels than a Ford PSD. That would be about 2900 engine RPM compared to 3300 engine RPM. I have all the math in the other thread. There have been no refutations of that, because there cannot ... it is laws-of-physics.

Additionally, the comment that 7 main bearings vs. 5 main bearings is better is another lack-of-education comment. The ligther pistons, shorter throws and other factors go into the net STRESSES applied to the bearings. You cannot say that one is better than the other SIMPLY due to the quantity. By that logic, all engines would have extra bearing tossed in. Airplanes would have 10 engines on each wing, and so on. More does not equal better, as we have found out with the "more" 40 ft-lbs of torque the cummins has at lower RPMS ... namely that it is useless, as the PSD out-tows the Cummins in these tests.

The Ironman

 

That argument would work if inline sixes werent reliable. Unfortunately. That is not the case.

I think its a cross between great natural balance. Low rpm operation and more bearing surface to support the load. How many wiped out mains have you seen on an I-6 in your life? How bout v-8s? I dont know about you but I have yet to see one on an I6. V designs are a different story. I ran a 300 with 5 lbs of oil pressure on the mechanical guage FOR YEARS. The vehicle wasnt worth saving so I figured I would just run it til it pooped. It went another 90k miles. In the end the engine never died. The vehicle got to the point where it was unsafe to drive AT ANY SPEED.

I noticed something the other day. I like to go read the manufacturers propaganda every now and then. Remember when cummins was braggin up the 5.9 and said it had 40% fewer moving parts. Its not 40% any more its 30% now. I wonder where the extra 10% of parts came from.

 

It sounds like you're contradicting yourself ironman. First you say the PSD is better because it tows more and has more rpms to use up; but then you say more does not equal better. What the PSD is, is the best performing diesel. Alot of people get performance and quality mixed up. If it goes faster/has more hp, then it must be better. When I consider what the best diesel is, I consider reliability and maintenance. And even though the PSD is an outstanding diesel, it doesn't outstrip the Cummins by as much as people like to think (or enough to rule out a Cummins when considering a new diesel) and the Cummins will ultimately cost less to get it to 250,000 miles.

P.S. Its good to know that your diesel CAN do more, but how often to you actually use it to its maximum payload and tow capacity.

P.P.S. I find GunSmoke460's comment on the previous page very well-grounded and credible.

 

DieselDoner:

I agree completely. I made that point 500 posts ago in the "is the PSD the most durable" thread. I took the definition of durable which has two parts required:

(1) Long-lasting
(2) Good performance over that time

"Longevity" is the word which goes to lasting over time, minimal maintenance type thing. When combined with good performance or top performance, it becomes a new concept called "durable".

The Ironman