cummins or psd? $ for $

[wphedigger]

In your opinion considering the cost of the truck as well as the cost of upgrading which is the better value for durability, power , and towing? not the coolest looking or sounding.
you will be helping me decide on my next truck selection. i will also be posting this on the cummins forum. i look forward to seeing your responses. oh and i am looking for a truck in the $22000 dollar range to give you and idea on what model to compare

[H2OWALL]

Originally Posted by wphedigger

In your opinion considering the cost of the truck as well as the cost of upgrading which is the better value for durability, power , and towing? not the coolest looking or sounding.
you will be helping me decide on my next truck selection. i will also be posting this on the cummins forum. i look forward to seeing your responses. oh and i am looking for a truck in the $22000 dollar range to give you and idea on what model to compare

Depends on what you want to use the truck for? Just saying you want to upgrade doesn't tell me much. If you want all out power the Cummins is by far the stronger engine, it can take a lot more boost and a lot more fuel without doing a lot of other things to make the rest of the engine hold together. That comment will probably get a lot of responses, a lot depends on what year, engine, transmission, etc.... How much do you plan on spending on upgrades after your $22,000 purchase price.
I have a 2003 7.3L with the 6spd, I've only done the basic mods and I wouldn't sell it for $22,000 even with 120,000 miles on it and I wouldn't trade it for a similar Dodge.
To each their own. Go shopping drive both, see which one you like better and buy it. The real fun is making it your own with what ever mods you want to do.

[wphedigger]

just wanted to thank you for your input

[mschn99]

between the dodge and ford, in the price range you are looking at, neither motor is a bad choice. it may be a little easier to get more power out of the cummins, but the ford isnt any kind of a slouch.....its a Rock solid motor capable of producing plenty of fun......

my big draw back of the dodge, especially the years you are looking at is mainly the truck around the motor. the only real problem with the motors themselves is lift pump issues, which is easy to cure......but the bodies are tinny....they dent much easier than the ford, and the ford trannies have never been thier strong point, but i have heard many more horror storries about that generation dodge's trannies. they just dont seem to hold up if your looking at an auto.......the other thing that i dont like about the dodge is just personal preferance....i think the wheel wells on the last body style look ugly....there is too much wheel well and you can never really make it look full.....just my opinion though.........Marc

[F-350MAN]

I agree with you marc I've had all three American full size trucks chevy/gmc,and dodge couldn't keep up as far as being heavy duty I'am a builder and need a truck that can handle HEAVY loads and I'll put it this way without degrading the other two I wont buy any other truck other than a Ford PSD........the cummins is a good engine but can't say that for the truck. Ford has proved itself to me for all around use. they nailed it when they said "super duty" this is coming from a member with a family full of gm owners but I'am sold. my truck is my living and i need something dependable......just my lousy

[99Smokin73Stroker]

Digger i'm just the man you wanna be talking to, but I'm sure all of my buddies on here will frown on me for this post! But, this is a forum of fact and opinion, and this thread is somewhat for fact but mostly opinion I think. One fact is that the Cummins can hold gobs of power. Just go to a diesel show and watch the truck pulls. The stock/street has about an even mix of psd's, ctd's and dmax's. The super street class seems to be about the same but with a few more cummins trucks.... but the pro/modified class you can see that there are significantly more cummins powered trucks vs psd or dmax. The fastest 7.3 I know of is David Lott's truck, he's got all kinds of goodies on that beast and running I believe low 11's, but there are cummins trucks i've seen run low 10's. The lucas oil dragster runs freakin 7 second quarters and last I heard they were shooting for 6 seconds.
Anyways to the opinion part of my post, lol. I owned a 99 F250 crew cab long bed 7.3. I bought it for 18,500 with 112k in June of 04. It wasn't long until I was sold on Ford trucks. The biggest problem I had was just a cam sensor, which are well known to go out on 7.3's and leave you stranded. Other than that, the only things that failed were things that failed normally on all trucks, like my belt tensioner and power door lock actuators. The truck itself was definitely rock solid. Loaded down it still pulled strong and got decent mileage doing it. Speaking of mileage, I got a best of about 18 a couple of times, and was consistent with a combined highway/city 16 mpg average. The tranny was actually strong, despite people's "weak" claims. Throw a good TC in the auto and you've got a great transmission. My stock TC held up and the truck was chipped the entire time I had it. The crew cab interior is great, very roomy and quite comfortable. The speakers are great too, full blast they never distorted or sounded like crap.
I sold it about a month ago and bought an 03 quad cab long bed Ram 2500 Cummins with a 5 spd manual with 92,500 on the odo. I paid just what you're looking to pay, 22k even. I didn't want the older body style, because Marc is right the truck around the engine for the 02 down isn't too great. However, I just don't see where the "tin can body" idea comes into play on the 03 ups. A week after I got it we had some horrible weather blow through one weekend and one storm brought some pretty good size hail. I was out in the storm and couldn't seek cover for my truck so I had to go through it. Most of the hail was a little less than golf ball size and the sound was deafening as it hit my truck but I looked it over real good the next time I washed it and found NO evidence of hail damage. So for 03 up, throw that tin body talk out. As for the power, it's great stock, but once I chipped it I was like holy crap. I had a 140hp TS chip in my powerstroke, but it didn't pull nearly as hard as my cummins with a 130hp predator fuel module. The module was borrowed, but I bought an ATS xcelerator for it. Max 215hp. The tranny is great, stock clutch doesn't slip with the programmer. It rides a little better than my psd did, I give the credit to the front coil over setup. The quad cab is smaller than ford's crew but still better than a ford or gm and older dodge exteneded cab. The megacab is awesome, but a bit overdone. They should've just done it right to begin with. Overall I am really surprised at how much I like this truck.
For durability i'm going to have to go with my old Ford and the reason why is becasue I have not yet put my dodge under the same conditions that I have my psd. I haven't towed in my dodge or hauled anything more than painting tools, equipment and ladders. When I stuff a crapload of shingles or fill the bed with fresh, wet mulch i'll have a better idea. It really took a lot to get my rear end sagging.
For power hands down my Dodge. I remember what my psd felt like stock, and when I drove my dodge stock they felt much same. While my PSD ran really good and was quick for its size, it wouldn't be able to keep up with my dodge. That's just on free flowing exhaust and chips alone.
I haven't towed in my dodge yet so I can't really give a good comparison on this either. I did tow a pretty light trailer a couple of times in my Ford though. It did pretty well, but with an Auto you gotta be concerned about the tranny temp and all that stuff.
Basically I think it just comes down to what you want to do with the truck. If you wanna go all out and totally bomb the truck I would go with the cummins. If you want mileage go with the cummins. I'm getting slightly over 18 city and almost 24.5 in my cummins right now. Some 7.3 guys will claim over 22 or more and they MIGHT be getting that, I really kind of doubt it but there may be a few out there getting those numbers. Not sure about the 6.0, might be the same or slightly better with less cubes. Anyway, what are you really wanting the truck for? I'm curious.....and tired.....i'm going to bed! :pray:

[F-350MAN]

If you're that worried about milage buy a toyota these trucks are alot to move, regardless of what you buy you will be happy with DIESEL

[dadsbigstroker]

I dont know if you will do the work your self but the cummins is alot easier to work on than the psd. I just bought me a psd. I was looking at mainly a dodge because of the cummins but they are hard to find used. I have always been a ford fan and I bought a ford because they are alot easier to find used. but so far I am glad I bought the ford. the ride is nice the interior is very nice and I like the looks alot better than the dodge. But I have to say I hope nothing goes wrong because it looks like a nite mare to work on. I have a 03 CC LB with 95000 miles on it. The dodge would be a alot easier to work on than the psd.

[Monster truck]

Originally Posted by wphedigger

In your opinion considering the cost of the truck as well as the cost of upgrading which is the better value for durability, power , and towing? not the coolest looking or sounding.
you will be helping me decide on my next truck selection. i will also be posting this on the cummins forum. i look forward to seeing your responses. oh and i am looking for a truck in the $22000 dollar range to give you and idea on what model to compare

CUMMINS!!!! its a proven power plant

[mschn99]

Originally Posted by Monster truck

CUMMINS!!!! its a proven power plant

i cant argue that MT....but are you saying the 7.3 isnt????/