Trading my Dodge 5.9L need help

[jmthomason]

I don't post often but wanted to ask a couple questions before I jump into another truck. Short history, Had a 7.3L Excursion, intake, 4" exhaust and chipped, loved it.
Now have an 07 Dodge Mega Cab 2500 with stock 5.9 Cummins. The reason I'm selling is that I no longer drive the truck much at all. I went from 20k/ year to 6k/year. I still need a good pulling truck but willing to go to an older truck with more miles. Here are my situations and questions after searching on this forum and others.

-I want to keep a 4 door, automatic 4wd truck so my options are:
7.3L Crew Cab
05-07 6.0L Crew Cab
03 and up Dodge 5.9L Quad Cab

- I don't want to spend over 20000 for the truck

-When I tow I will be towing either 9k or 12k bumper pull. 12k around town nothing more than 50 miles. 9k is my Bronco and trailer together and often pull it 5 hours or more. We travel NC, WV mountains and I do not like to slow up on the uphill grades. I'm unhappy if I'm not at speed limit. The stock Mega Cab keeps up just fine, it slows down but I keep my foot it and generally only loses 3-5 mph under Speed limit on the big hills. I was going to put a tuner on it but never got to it.

-The truck will sit alot of the time again about 6k miles a year now.

-Will a stock 6.0 get the job done for me?
What is my best option?
I like the Fords as far as size since they are closest to the Mega Cab.

What kind of miles do I need to stay away from on the 6.0ls. I see clean trucks with under 150k all over the 20000 price.

Can I mod the 6.0l with a mild tuner, exhaust, gauges, etc and not worry too much about the gaskets and studs?

Do I need to worry about the turbo sticking since it wont be driven everyday or week?

Is it better to get a higher mileage studded truck than a lower mileage none studded truck? I'm saying 100k miles stock versus 150k miles with studs.

Just don't want to be spending lots of money on repairs on a truck. I don't mind the maintainance but don't want to dive into the engine?


Thanks
Jon

[cyclonestroker]

I think you should be able to get well under the 20k price range. You should be able to find one for 16ish if you are patient, then that leaves you 4ish to play with and do a tuner, exhaust, gauges etc. First thing to do would be get gauges to see how the oil cooler is, and if thats good I'd do a EGR delete, a SCT with a tow tune, and you should be set. A 6.0 will pull those hills no problem. I ran mine down I-40 through the mt's with about 8k behind it and it was great.

[chicken man]

Stick with the Dodge. You will get tired of spending your money on a 6.0 piece of junk. Miss my 5.9 and wish I had never bought a Ford.

[pizza pig]

people who call the 6.0 a piece of junk are just ignorant and affraid of them. Grow a pair, the 5.9 common rail is nothing better than the 6.0, the dodge trucks are not nearly built well enough when put against the ford end of story.

OP i feel that if youre going to be letting the truck sit the 6.0 isnt for you, it loves to be worked and maintained, and you need both parts to that equation for the truck not to give you problems. Sitting leads to sticky tubos etc. Beat the snot out of it once and a while and it should treat you right though.

Take care of the basics, do your research on here on the issues and the ways of making the 6.0 more reliable there is tons of info on here. If you have any questions read these threads

Things to consider about owning a 6.0L
Replaced oil cooler still difference in temps

[jmthomason]

thanks for the help. I'm still looking and deciding

Jon

[RollinEarly99]

Sitting isn't bad for the 6.0, long idling time and always driving like a grandma is what kills the turbo and egr. IMO. The 6.0 definetly likes to be worked hard though!

[f350powerstroke]

If u get a 6.0 do an oasis 1st. Try to stay clear from the earlier yrs. Ur gonna have to spend to make it run efficient though. Coolant flush, egr bg service cleaning, possible oil,egr cooler replacement, bypass filtration, etc. The key word here is maitnence. but personally i'd buy a 7.3 or a 12v but thats just me

[Samsonsworld]

Originally Posted by chicken man

Stick with the Dodge. You will get tired of spending your money on a 6.0 piece of junk. Miss my 5.9 and wish I had never bought a Ford.

Maybe you should quit running trash gas through it.

[smokersteve]

How many miles on the 7.3?

[strokinpower]

The only thing I dont like about the dodge, other than the bad transmissions, is the quad is just too small. It's barely bigger than an extended cab ford or chevy.