I gave up on my '03 f-250 supercab with the 5.4 gasser short box. 9 miles to the gallon, 10 with a tailwind. No towing no hauling, just my personnal vehicle. I couldn't live with that terrible milage. I have been looking at the 6.0 psd for a year now and after talking to everyone I could meet in the street with that motor, after reading so many posts with motor problems here at this site and other sites and looking and driving at them at the dealership. I decided to test drive a dodge 3500 ram with the cummins, $45k. I bought it 7k below msrp. it ran the first 500 miles at 15 mpg thats a 50% increase. I only have 649 miles on the truck and expect 20 mpg. Not even on the dodge web sites are there so many diesel engine problems as the 6.0. yes, other problems which are reasonable after some mileage and fair were and tear, but not the amount you have on the 6.0. I loved my f-250 but after looking at the dodge i just got so much more for the money. front wheel wells has a complete liner, staggered rear shocks, much cleaner enging install than the 6.0. doesn't have the whole engine compartment crowded. I got the 4 door cab. I lined it up next to the SD at the dealer and the cabs were just about the same size, +-1". The f-250 supercab vs the 4 door, yet my daughters have more room with the ram. brand loyalty is one thing as the ford was my first choice, but to read and personnaly hear the poor quality of the 6.0 i decided the ram was the way to go after the driving experience. Not to nock ford but at 45k you not only want to have a first rate product but have every right to one and demand it!. you expect trouble free milage period. I'm not ready to spend time at the dealership on repair issues. When it comes to money you vote with your feet. I'm happy that there are many drivers of ford 6.0's that are very satified with their expenditures. I bought the ram and i'm more than satisfied with the product. Its your money, spend the time looking at the product and then decide. At 45k the purchaser has every right to pick what is the best return on the dollar and at this time after purchasing the ram i got the best bang for the buck. i didn't want to be so brand loyal that I would buy an inferior product due to quality and detail that i would have a life long relationship with the area manager at ford. I WISH THE BEST FOR ALL OF YOU, but get what works. remember by not buying a real or perceived sub par product that is a message to the manufacturer to get it right the first time no matter what brand.
thank you

 

Welcome Arty, to Ford Truck Enthusiasts! Please read the Guidelines, it will help you to navigate through and understand FTE.
Must read if you own a 6.0
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=325000
See you on the boards.
Enjoy FTE …..

 

Just sold my 99 Ram yesterday and am picking up my new F-350 this week. Don't believe the hype, they all have their issues, the Dodge/Cummins is no different.

I agree that there's tons more room inside the engine compartment on the inline 6 but there's no question there's much more room in the back of a 4-door super duty than the Dodge (primarily why we started looking at a Ford for the 1st time). You can't compare fuel mileage of a Ford 5.4 gasser and a Cummins though, it's not a valid comparision at all. Now, I'd get 20 or so unloaded on the Hwy with my Cummins but put 10K behind it and I was down to 9-10mpg which is no better than guys with the Fords are registering in on. I will also say it's super nice (and cheaper) to be able to go to Cummins for parts and consumables vice being stuck with a dealer. I enjoyed that option with my Cummins.

Here's a list of some common problems they've had with the Dodge Cummins over the last 5-6 model years (repeat common): Cracking dashes, right stereo speakers blowing, brake pull-to-the-right, insessant torque converter locking and unlocking, death wobble, track bar issues, mega amounts fuel lift pumps going out (now to make it worse they've put them in the fuel tank, maybe they'll last longer but when one goes now have fun swapping it out), exhaust manifold studs backing out continually, exhaust manifolds cracking, poor to no rear brakes (pre-02s), extremely sub-standard 47RE auto trans and a total 2 week hault to production/delivery earlier this year to "recall back" the new 6-speed for a mysterious issue, and to take the cake that had a year + of poor production engine blocks that crack (53 block). Again, those are all common issues and I believe almost every single one of the above can be banged against a verifable TSB.

I owned my 99 for 3 years, between the 3 years I had it coupled with the years the original owner had it we had all of the above happen, some times multiple issues i.e. 1 short block replaced, 2 headgasket jobs in 100k, 3 stock transmissions in 80k miles, had to buy an aftermarket trans to for $5,000 because Dodge's auto won't cut it then had to buy a $350 trans commander to control it as the dodge PCM has crap programming for towing, 1 $500+ aftermarket 3-piece exhast manifold to stop the stud and cracking issue, had to put a set up chevy dually rear wheel brake cylindars on it and modify the stock porportion valve to get rear brakes, a right side wheel hub assembly because the rotor wouldn't separate from the hub to be turned $750. I spent close to $8,000 over the last 3 years trying to either get it to work "right" or bulletproof the factory weak areas. I finally had it this summer and sold it in favor of a new truck, all I was able to get was PP blue book so I lost all 8k in vested stuff over the last 3 years, oh well.

I'm not slamming Dodges, I liked the truck when I wasn't trying to fix problems that were inherent with the truck but there's a common misconception that the Cummins is bullet proof and the PSD is junk, and that is just flat not true. Again, they both have their own weak areas.

Buy and enjoy what YOU like, but don't be fooled into thinking one is light years better than the other.