Which 3500 Series 4x4 Diesel Truck Would You Buy?

4theroc

Chevy 3500
Dodge 3500
Ford F-350

Im in the market for an 2002-2004 late model dually. Any of you guys know if the late model dodges still have problems with the transmissions?

You guys like the Cummings, duramax or the Ford?

which has the best 4x4 setup?

RobertCDF

The 02 ford should have the 7.3 liter powerstroke diesel... That is one beast of an engine. I have it in my 99 f-250 and I love it.

__________________
Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

ron schenker

Ford F350

__________________
Don't worry, the baseboard will hide it!

JPhelps

I'm kinda partial to the cummins. I have one in an 02 dodge, but its a 2500 six speed manual. 21mpg, and when I have my trailer(16ft) in tow 16-18mpg. Having said that I like fords powerstroke too, my brother has had several. I like the idea of a dually but I dont' pull anything to justify that much truck. Truthfully I think now I could probly get by with a half ton gas, but what the hey.

Eric K

98 chevy dually w/ 6.5 178,000miles runs like new.

In_Mexifornia

I just had to tow a guy who bought a used '02 Ford diesel. This house is on a hill and he got stuck at the bottom because there was no way to turn around and the reverse on his transmission went out. Truck only had 62,000 miles on it. He only had the truck 2 months.

After the last Ford I had I told myself I would never buy another one. Just one problem after another. The engine went out, the heater coil went out, the throttle body went out, the yoke on the differential went out. The straw that broke the camels back is when they replaced the engine and put new plugs in there, they messed up the treads on the plug that was the hardest to get to. One day the plug just popped out and since the threads were messed up it was impossible to get another plug back in there. The warranty had expired and they weren't going to do anything anyway. I got a new plug in there barely and tightened it as much as I could, drove it super slow to the dealer and unloaded it on them without saying a word. I bet the first time anyone stepped on the gas hard it popped out again.

TempestV

'02 dodge 6 speed- I was reading about a guy that has one at 936000 miles mostly pulling a large horse trailer and his repairs so far are:
1 new clutch at 600000
1 new tranny at 650000
rebuilt the head at one point
3 new injecter pumps
around 270 oil changes

the same guy claims that on '03 they changed some stuff and they don't last as long after that.

Carguy

Any year dodge for me if you get one make sure you don't get the automatic they will not last behind the cummins deisel.

__________________
I fought the lawn and the lawn lost.

dougger222

Probably a hot shot running campers around the country. In 2003 Cummins introduced the HO motor. Thinking it was good for 300hp and 600trq. A couple years ago I saw a picture of a dash shot of a 99+ Ford Super Duty, the speedo was for a diesel and it read 907,*** miles, for sure a hot shot, this was at least three years ago.

If your buying a diesel to run around the country and rarely shut it off you can just stick with two wheel drive and plan to get at least 400K miles before the motor gets tired. You should be able to get 75K-100K+ miles out of your tires.

In the real world your truck will be started and shut down a lot every day and you should be able to see an easy 300K miles out of any of the big three diesel pick ups. If your buying a truck to work a lot a Ford is the best bet and if your looking to do both buy a Dodge, if you don't really need a truck at all and want a car like ride try the GM version of the pick up. The quality gap between the big three has been tighter than ever mostly due to import truck sales rising over the past 10 years.

I'm a Ford fan by nature but would buy a Dodge/Cummins over a GM/Isuzu any day. Here's a list of my work trucks and mileage,

99 F250, first diesel, $15K+ in aftermarket stuff, bought with 40K miles now has 237K miles. Tranny failure at 83K miles. Towed around 15K lb's weekly all last year, never skipped a beat.

00 Excursion, diesel number 2, mostly wife driven but gets up and pulls up to 15K lbs if it has to. On the open road 18-20 mpg is enjoyed. Bought with 104K now has 173K miles. Motor and tranny never touched, Ford 100K mile ESP conforms via Oasis report this truck has been flawless since new. 165K miles first time front end was worked on (Dana 50).

99 F350, third diesel and for towing the pinacle of 7.3's with the crew cab, long bed, dually, lariet combo. Bought las Fall with 120K miles currently has 125K miles. Pulling 15K lbs is a breeze in this rig.

dougger222

The 03+ Dodge Rams with the Cummins will have decent auto trannies, there strong but not as strong as they could be. 48RE or something which is a step up from the previous 47 design.

IMO, the 99.5-00 7.3's are the cream of the crop. Forged rod motor, Dana 50 or 60 straight front axle with leaf springs, Sterling rear ends, and HEUI (Cat) fuel systems. These trucks are made to go 400K+ miles. The 01's got the mechanical diode failure in the auto tranny and Navistar also started using PMR's then. 2003.25 is last of the Navistar 7.3 motor after that they used the 6.0 which everybody knows is problematic. I'd never want to own a 6.0 out of warranty.

TempestV

I said in my post that he is pulling horse trailers- he owns a horse farm and pulls a trailer to deliver horses.

any idea how much work he had done on that truck?

the dodge I was talking about was 4x4

In many ways I prefer the Ford, I like the dodge mainly for the cummins/manual tranny combo.

How about a ford with a cummins engine and nv5600 six speed swapped in?

ford already has the best tow rating, as well as the best transfer case, axels and interior.

add the best engine and tranny combo, and you got a pretty nice truck.

TempestV

supposably they are suppose to be switching over to Cat trannys, which are built to handle a diesel, currently the only auto tranny built from the ground for a diesel is the allison, so the cat probably has some potential
Personally, I don't worry about auto tranny deficencys since I'd get the manual, and the nv5600 is a very nice 6 speed for dodge

4theroc

Im a chevy man at heart. I think my next step would be a dodge, but for me to buy a ford, thats like me pulling teeth. The dodge is a beast i will admit, however since i have dumptrucks with manuals, I really dont want to drive one in my pickup. My only set back with the dodge is the dang automatic transmisson. Just about every dodge truck my dad ever owned had problems with the transmission

dougger222

I see, sort of a hot shot, big cowboy hat anyways!!!

Didn't see what was done to the 900K miles PSD but a few years ago a guy on TDS posted about his 550K mile 01 PSD. He did a tranny at 250k, auto and didn't touch the motor. He ran as a hot shot.

2003.25+ I'd opt for a 5.9 Cummins but prior to that the 7.3 w/Ford. My 238K mile 99 F250 outpulls my Aunts 80K mile 01 2500 stock for stock. You can do a lot more to a Cummins though than any V8 diesel.

Thought about a Cummins dually really long and hard for a while and after spending hours on TDR decided a third PSD was a better choice. Used to have a ton of good links to TDR but that PC crashed, mostly owners posting with each generation, miles, mods, and repairs. At one time when I checked not one 185K miles Ram could compare to the 185K mile F250 as far as minumal repairs goes. Lift pumps, injector pumps, clock springs, and 53 blocks to name a few.

Sure the 7.3 has it's issues, cps, hpop o-ring leak, fuel seperator o-ring leak, glow plugs, glow plug relays, but all these can be done DIY, trust me done them all but the hpop leak. 4x4 in both trucks are going to need upkeep, which usually means hubs and ball joints at some point. My Aunts front end was first worked on at 65K miles. The F250 lasted until 150K miles and the Excurison 165K miles the F350 dually 120K miles. My buddy is finally doing ball joints on his 99 F350 PSD, 200K miles.

Didn't really start doing anything to the F250 until 200K miles. The Excursion is still very trouble free at 173K miles.

I'd take a Cummins with no 53 block with a good injector pump with the lift pump mod tuned up running on veggie in the F250!!! The home owners could smell my truck before they saw it!

Mater

Ford 7.3L, but only a 250, don't need the 350.

Chris Johnson

04 Chev 3500 dually duramax and allison tranny

Power/Comfort/Speed/Quiet!!! (compared to other diesels)

__________________
Chris

tnmtn

i have an 03 3500 duramax/allison with 4 wheel drive. by far the nicest truck i have ever ridden in. imo. the milage is excellant and it tows around 12,000# pounds great. for the years you mentioned i will take they GM/Chevy any day.
good luck,

hatchet

I personally think all the major truck mfg's have their own pros and cons - I've had good luck with the duramax and allison tranny. A friend of mine who has driven fords since around '71 and wouldn't buy anything else - switched to Chevy in '03. He's a poster child for Chevy now - with his Chevy 3500 duramax dually he hauls a 26k gvw trailer fully loaded at 70-80 mph everyday / all day. He's got 2 of them and both of them get worked hard.. never had them in the shop except for oil change and tires as far as I know. He's replaced a lot of brakes on his trailers though

__________________
Rich
WIT Construction Co.
Superior MT Contractor

dougger222

I hope your friends in Montona with you keeping those streets dangerous. 26,000 lbs behind a one ton at 80 mph? Really, really stupid if you asked me. I should take this post over to a RV forum and see what those guys think of your friend. LOL!!!

Sorry to come across like this but I've seen too many people dead on the side of the road due to careless driving.

hatchet

I don't disagree dougger. I won't drive with him His crew will show up in the morning and have a huge load of 8" posts loaded up in front of the excavator and they just shake their heads. Wondering how slow they're going to have to go so they don't run off the road. Then waiting for the butt chewing when they took too long to get there.
I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go round. I told him one time that he should call his company R&T Construction (Rip & Tear). He's always in high gear and if it breaks well it needed fixing anyway.. he does good maintenance on his equipment though

__________________
Rich
WIT Construction Co.
Superior MT Contractor