My employee has almost given up hope on finding a nice 7.3. He has looked at a few 6.0 but has not found a good Oasis report yet!
A young guy working for the neighbor has a Cummins powered Dodge with a lift kit, bushwhacker flares, big tires, exhaust - fully loaded black truck a couple years old. We went out to the field with it to retreive the trucks at the end of the day. I am not into Dodge much but I was impressed by the 'feel' of the truck. It rode a bit rough but was very sweet!
A friend and his son just bought two new fully loaded Chevies. These guys are not brand loyal - they looked at all the makes including Toyota and Nissan (both of which they disliked). After narrowing it down to the big three, they drove, compared, ec, etc, etc. Both settled on full load Z71's. I will see them next week if I can run into the city to go over their comparisson summary to see the plus and minus of each truck they compared.
I am sure seeing more Dodge diesels out my way in the last year - looks like they have gained some market share in this segment out here anyway. There are a few (but not that many) new Dmax's and barely any Ford 6.4's

 

Whenever i get into a dodge truck, the best thing about it is getting out of it. I never have found a comfortable dodge 3/4 or 1 ton truck. I know they have these new mega cabs out now and hopefully that solves the problem.

Theres no doubt in my mind that people buy the dodge just for the cummins. Anyone that knows anything about diesels, know that cummins has a very very good rep with their pickup engines,and if they were put in something better (like a ford!!) no one would buy a dodge!

Im curious what a guy can get a new dodge for compared to a new ford 6.4?

I also can understand why out your way there arent as many fords. Ford scared a bunch of guys off (whether ya wanna believe it or not) when they had the 6.uhoh fiasco.

Being that said, from all the fords and dodges I have driven/ridden in, I would honestly take a ford 6 liter (definatly a 6.4 liter) over a dodge with a cummins in it. The work trucks we have in alberta has left a bad taste in my mouth and thats hard to spit out.

Love those cummins engines though, too bad (IMO) that they threw them in such an inferior truck!

Im also curious warren, what did your buddies not like about the import trucks?

 

I sat in the back seat and the room was fine - the seat isnt quite as big as in a Ford or Chev crew cab but the room was there. We didnt go far so maybe the comfort (or lack of) wasnt evident. The engine was very nice and the exhaust tone was as well!
On the imports, I remember them saying the Nissan was disqualified on ugliness and the Toyota - I think it was a cheaper feeling interior and bad configurations of cab/box length. Something about the box being too small on the crew max and the cab being too small on the regular crew cab if I can recall but I will get the whole scoop when we have java.
I am curious about the big three comparisson they made - and trust me, these guys shopped/researched for quite a while without any preconceived brand preference. I will drill them because I was surprised that they went with every option in the book including the factory Bose stereo w/subwoofer, moon roofs, leather, not sure about the DVD or navigation items.
You know my take on the 6.0 - there are some without problems but those are either being kept or sold to someone who knows the owner privately. I have been shocked on the Oasis reports we got back on some trucks that looked very clean with 120000 kms and lower as Mike wouldnt look at anything with more than that.
Sheldon, how big a factor do you think trim level plays in your bad taste for the Dodge? Work trucks can be plainer trucks and we all know how they get treated!! This one was full load leather and it didnt seem as bad as everyone has said in the past.

 

I know exactly what you mean too about the sounds. I love the sounds of the 7.3/6.0 but the cummins has a really cool unique sound to it, and once ya stick exhaust on one of them, its hard to beat.

I havent heard a duramax with exhaust on it, I wonder if that would sound good or not?

 

Around here Dodge Diesels out number the others by about 3 to 1. And the guys with the new Dodges really like the new motor and the mega cab. I haven't been in a new one yet so I can't say myself. My buddy has an 03 and has had a ton of problems with it but most was covered under warranty except for the second tranny.

 

What other kinda problems has he had Colin?
Im also assuming he has an auto, there auto trannies are just garbage.

 

Sheldon, they only seem to give problems if the guys work their trucks - kind of like the 6.0 headgaskets.
The grocery getter diesels work well!

 

Well ya know, thats where I cant stick up for ford auto's. My tranny in my truck had been replaced and that was less then 165k on it. Now I also dont know why but still, a good tranny should last alot longer.

Thats where it would be nice to have a manual, most manuals (of all brands) seem to last a long time.

 

Fortunately around S`toon it seems the other way around, I`ve seen quite afew 08 F series trucks. .
I suppose it could have something to do with dealerships.........

 

You should check out alot of the oil patch. Mainly dodges, with fords being a second. Ya see the occasional chevy and now a few toyotas believe it or not.

 

Dad has a Dodge Cummings, the only reason I like it is for the Cummings/ tranny everything else is average....AT BEST.

 

He has had alot of trouble with his computor, it took 2 years but it was eventully traced back to a dead cell in one of his batteries. As for the tranny it is a standard, and the truck has 300,000km but the first tranny went out before he hit 100,000. He puts on lots of miles but it doesn't get worked that hard. I know when he first got it he said he just about wore it our driving it back for warrenty work.

 

Good one wore it out driving back for warranty work those new dodges are pretty nice a lot of people say the only good thing about them is the cummins rest is just garbage but I personally dont know

 

I am in the same boat as you - I think that reputation was from the past and I am not sure its deserved now but like you, I am not sure either - it didnt seem all that bad and that engine kind of impressed me!

 

Reputation from the past sounds about right but then again some people have said that same comment I said in my other post about the newer dodges to