Chevy Duramax-Cummins or Powerstroke?
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Re: Chevy Duramax-Cummins or Powerstroke?
NOTHING is going to beat Cummins for reliability. Period. Guess what? All they build is diesel engines, and they've been doing it forever! Their general design philosophy on these motors hasn't changed in a very long time, they just continue to add technologies as required, to meet power / EPA needs (higher fuel rail pressures, higher compression, higher boost, etc.) The typical Cummins I6 has 30-40% fewer moving parts than the V8s, which alone should be enough to convince you all, given the recall / reliability issues the powerstroke and duramax diesels have had in the past. Just using a grid heater design over glow plugs dramatically reduces parts complexity - if you've ever even THOUGHT about changing a set of glow plugs, you'll know what I'm talking about!
I took out an '04 powerstroke with the 4-horse 36' living quarters I mentioned above, from Virginia to Kentucky, fully loaded (water, hay, shavings, 3 horses, and 5 people) and had nothing but problems. I got 20 miles before I heard this crazy "phfeeeeew/poof" sound. I already had a vivid mental image of exactly what happened - some sort of turbo hose had blown off. I pop the hood and sure enough, there's a clamp chilling on the side of the engine bay, and the intake manifold hose had come off. We had to wait 4 hours for the dealership to open (and have a car shuttle us to/from the dealership to the highway) to fix it, WITH horses onboard.
I took out an '04 powerstroke with the 4-horse 36' living quarters I mentioned above, from Virginia to Kentucky, fully loaded (water, hay, shavings, 3 horses, and 5 people) and had nothing but problems. I got 20 miles before I heard this crazy "phfeeeeew/poof" sound. I already had a vivid mental image of exactly what happened - some sort of turbo hose had blown off. I pop the hood and sure enough, there's a clamp chilling on the side of the engine bay, and the intake manifold hose had come off. We had to wait 4 hours for the dealership to open (and have a car shuttle us to/from the dealership to the highway) to fix it, WITH horses onboard.
As far as your experience with an 04 PSD, stories like you just told exist about every vehicle. Guess what? Things break. And it usually happens when you need the vehicle most. I've never had a truck break when it was empty.
And it also sounds like you may have been overloaded. Judging by what you mentioned...36' 4 horse trailer with 3 horses, hay, and water...you were well over 12,000 lbs. With 5 people in the truck, you had to have a crew cab and most likely it was a dually. Guess what? A 2004 CC DRW with 4.10s had a max trailer tow weight of 12,800. And you had 4 passengers and their gear. You were probably in the neighborhood of 22-23k GCWR on a truck designed to carry 20k. No wonder you had so much trouble with it...you needed a bigger truck. And with that big of a trailer, it really should be behind a medium-duty truck like a F-450/F-550...which just happens to have the same PSD that the F-350 does and pulls the heavier weights just fine.
Originally Posted by uglyDC2
north of 12k they start to struggle ... espcially on any incline the 7.3 does better but not by much
Carolina Kracker
Joined: Oct 2007
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From: BFE
Re: Chevy Duramax-Cummins or Powerstroke?
I don't have a problem with the Cummins engine (had several trucks with L10 engines), but Dodge has never been able to put a reliable truck around that engine. Maybe that's changed in recent years but when I was really looking at trucks that could handle the weight, I could not find Dodges more than a couple years old. Everyone was using Fords and Chevys...that alone should tell you something.
As far as your experience with an 04 PSD, stories like you just told exist about every vehicle. Guess what? Things break. And it usually happens when you need the vehicle most. I've never had a truck break when it was empty.
And it also sounds like you may have been overloaded. Judging by what you mentioned...36' 4 horse trailer with 3 horses, hay, and water...you were well over 12,000 lbs. With 5 people in the truck, you had to have a crew cab and most likely it was a dually. Guess what? A 2004 CC DRW with 4.10s had a max trailer tow weight of 12,800. And you had 4 passengers and their gear. You were probably in the neighborhood of 22-23k GCWR on a truck designed to carry 20k. No wonder you had so much trouble with it...you needed a bigger truck. And with that big of a trailer, it really should be behind a medium-duty truck like a F-450/F-550...which just happens to have the same PSD that the F-350 does and pulls the heavier weights just fine.
That's because the trucks aren't rated to pull that weight. That's the problem a lot of people have. They don't know how to read the weight ratings on a truck and figure out if they can pull the load that they want. Most people see GCWR is 20,000 lbs and think they can pull 12,000 lbs and then load up the tow vehicle, too. Then they wonder why they are always breaking things. It's simple...they have the wrong size truck. You always need to consider your total payload when selecting a truck.
As far as your experience with an 04 PSD, stories like you just told exist about every vehicle. Guess what? Things break. And it usually happens when you need the vehicle most. I've never had a truck break when it was empty.
And it also sounds like you may have been overloaded. Judging by what you mentioned...36' 4 horse trailer with 3 horses, hay, and water...you were well over 12,000 lbs. With 5 people in the truck, you had to have a crew cab and most likely it was a dually. Guess what? A 2004 CC DRW with 4.10s had a max trailer tow weight of 12,800. And you had 4 passengers and their gear. You were probably in the neighborhood of 22-23k GCWR on a truck designed to carry 20k. No wonder you had so much trouble with it...you needed a bigger truck. And with that big of a trailer, it really should be behind a medium-duty truck like a F-450/F-550...which just happens to have the same PSD that the F-350 does and pulls the heavier weights just fine.
That's because the trucks aren't rated to pull that weight. That's the problem a lot of people have. They don't know how to read the weight ratings on a truck and figure out if they can pull the load that they want. Most people see GCWR is 20,000 lbs and think they can pull 12,000 lbs and then load up the tow vehicle, too. Then they wonder why they are always breaking things. It's simple...they have the wrong size truck. You always need to consider your total payload when selecting a truck.
loves quervo
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,378
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From: 757
Re: Chevy Duramax-Cummins or Powerstroke?
That's because the trucks aren't rated to pull that weight. That's the problem a lot of people have. They don't know how to read the weight ratings on a truck and figure out if they can pull the load that they want. Most people see GCWR is 20,000 lbs and think they can pull 12,000 lbs and then load up the tow vehicle, too. Then they wonder why they are always breaking things. It's simple...they have the wrong size truck. You always need to consider your total payload when selecting a truck.
Registered Member
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Re: Chevy Duramax-Cummins or Powerstroke?
02 550, 26k gvwr on the door regularly tip the scales at around 24 sometimes more sometimes less. With that said please keep in mind those tags are more of a guidelines more than anything else. Hauling a load safely and hauling a load legally are two totally different aspects. In addition don't forget that rating can also be legally altered through modifications and recognized through FMCSA (its a huge PITA). With that said most common non-commercial trucks can pull a rather very very heavy load in a safe manner with the single limitation being SPEED. Speed is the number one cause in accidents involving "heavy" vehicles. Also keep in mind anything with a door tag of over 26k requires requires a commercial license and that can be a deciding factor to the average joe such as a farmer and manufacturers know this and rate their trucks accordingly. Taxes and insurance difference are also a HUGE factor and also effected by that little door tag. In closing a experienced operator can haul a considerable load with a otherwise bone stock truck SAFELY with consideration to speed, equipment, along with planning of route.
Red is the new green
Joined: Feb 2009
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From: hampton roads
Re: Chevy Duramax-Cummins or Powerstroke?
being a former salesman for dodge chryler and jeep(davis moore,ks), and a few sterlings (which is a rebadged dodge) I have become partial to FORDS...yes fords. I love the way the motor is in the dodge, but the cummins cannot make up for the lack of quality in chassis. the fords in the past had interiors that looked sub par. but they didnt tear up as easy as the dodges did. and also the fact that you can just as easily go to edmunds.com and look at thier 10 year reliability reports between the two. if going PRE-2005 dont do chevy. but if all you are going to pull is a car with an enclosed trailer, and probably tools and spare parts. an f350 or equivilant will do fairly well for your needs. its not like you are hauling concrete. I figure, 2000lb car(import), 2000lb trailer (assuming its aluminum enclosure) and give or take 1000lb in spare parts and tools. that should be in the neighborhood of 4500-5500 lbs....
http://www.edmunds.com/dodge/rampick...merreview.html
http://www.edmunds.com/ford/f350supe...00/review.html
http://www.edmunds.com/dodge/rampick...merreview.html
http://www.edmunds.com/ford/f350supe...00/review.html
Last edited by NoTorque; Jun 26, 2009 at 06:50 AM.
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