The insurance on my PSD is about $100 less, then our '03 SUV[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] The agent was worried more about me using it for business, then pleasure.

I agree with what's being said about the diesel's over gas[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I have a few mods on my 7.3 and my fuel mileage fluctuates. It depends on how much I want to stand on the pedal[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] for the most part, I avg. 15 mpg around town and 20 on the highway. I have gotten as good as 22 on the highway. When I am towing, I get 15 mpg[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] @65 mph. Compare these number to my Chevy 5.3, around town and on the highway, I was getting around the same. But towing I saw the biggest difference, I went from seeing 10 mpg with the gas, to 15 mpg with the diesel and on top of that, I had plenty of power and torque to pass[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] on a grade[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] if I wanted too[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]


As B&R mentioned before about himself, I too, am a Ford man[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] But take a look at all 3 trucks[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] The manufactors are pushing each other[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] which is good for the consumer[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] If your looking for a standard cab, look at all 3. If your looking for a Crew Cab, Ford and Chevy IMHO are bigger then Dodges. To me, they (Dodges) CC are not much bigger then the extended cabs on Chevy and Ford.

Good Luck

 

Very Cool Guys! With all this valuable informaiton this really helps me understand what im getting into. I know have a better understanding of the gas mileage, insurance and personal preferences. Thank you all for you honest help. Now I have to do my part and walk into a bunch of dealers and check them out for myself.

Thanks Again!

 

Bombest, If you're near the Santa Clarita area you're more then welcome to stop by and check out my truck, 04 Dodge 2500HD HO 4x4 Laramie CC. It looks stock but it's got a little something for those pesky Mustangs[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] This way you can take a good long look and ask ???'s. Heck I may even hook the trailer up and let you see how it tows..............

 

That would be outstanding! Im not very far from Santa Clarita. Next time Im planning to head that way I will hook up with you. I will send you a private message a couple of days before.

Very Cool.

I tell you... there are some nice people still left in this world!

 

I have always been a Chevy man but I am on my 2nd Dodge Cummins. My first was a 98 that I bought used. treated me great and towed great. My wife and I wanted more room and I wanted a manual tranie so I bought the truck in my sig. So far I love it. More power than I know what to do with. My 98 had 215 horse and 460 ft/lbs of tourque. My new one is 325 horse and 600 ft/lbs of torque. The fun part is if you dont care abought warrenty or have a BOMB(diesel mod) freindly dealer you can buy a fueling box of your choise for well under a grand that will give you anywhere from an extra 25 horse and 100 ft/lbs all the way up to as high as 200+ horse and 400+ft/lbs of torque over stock. Fuel milage is far better than anyone I know pulling with a gasser. Personaly I dont like Fords. I do however respect the older 7.3 powerstrokes. A lot of people had them for a lot of years but Ford thought it was necisary to replace the 7.3 with a new 6.0 powerstroke in 03. If you go to the Ford site listed previously you will see that they had nothing but problems with them for the first year or two. They had to buy back more than 500 of the 03 and 04 model year trucks with the new 6.0. They hopefully have the bugs worked out buy now but I would stilltake an old 7.3 over the new 6.0 if I where forced to drive a Ford. I like the duramaxes a lot but like the new Ford diesel they are new and have only been out a few years. I realy like the GMC trucks but I want to wait till I feel comfertable with the new Duramax before buying one. That is why I drive a Dodge. I am not the biggest fan of Dodge but I trust and understand how the Cummins works. It is the same desighn as whenit was introduced in 1989 in the trucks. It has just been revamped a few times along the way to accomodate emision standerd changes and the need for more power to stay on top of the hill. As far as everyone telling you that it cost so much more to service them than a gas I would have to argue that one strongly. When ever I had a gasser I always ran mobile 1 in them. I realize this is considerably more costly thatn the cheap standard oil but I figured it was worht the extra protection. It typacly ran me $35 dollars for a service doing it myself. Now on my Cummins I run either the Mopar diesel oil or Shell Rotela F. It costs me $35 dollars to service it myself when I do just the oil and a little more with the air fillter but so did the gasser. On top of that I had to change my oil on the gassers every 3000 miles. On my new Cummins the extream duty servise interval is 7500 miles. The lite duty interval is every 150000 miles. These new Cummins are super easy on oil. My Cummins holds 15 quarts and I think they are all close to that. I dont work mine real hard but I still stick to the 7500 mile scedual. So if you think abought it, it is acualy cheaper for me to servise the diesel than my old gassers. Now if you are not going to be doing it yourself then you are at the mersy of what ever price you can get it done for. Insurance is a little more but I never checked into how much more.

For a lot of great reading conserning the Dodge and the Cummins check out DieselTruckResource.com

 

Whatever you do if you are hauling a load GET DIESEL. It is all about the torque. We have a 2001 3500 Dodge Cummins 6 speed manuel. With all the mods we have done chip, air box/filter, 5" exhaust all the way front to back etc... we are at somewhere around 610-630 FT LBS of torque. Also if you don't want to worry about transmission issues get a manuel unless it is an Allison automatic.

 

I pull just fine with my gas motor, however, I sometimes wish I had a diesel. I pull some serious weight with my truck and once you get it up to speed it pulls fine , but it is a little sluggish off the line with weight on it.

 

Apparently my husband corrected me on our torque it is closer to 700ft/lbs with all our modifications. Gotta love it! Cummins all the way[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I don't own a diesel, besides my tractor, but my neighbor, owns and operates a diesel injector and pump repair shop. I posed the question to him on Ford, Chevy, or Dodge.... His response was, DODGE.....
He said the powerstrokes (International Harvester) are wonderful, but when something does go wrong, you are out a bunch of money on repairs, said electronic injectors and controls are very expensive for parts and labor. Said the Duramax is just kinda so so, had a lot of problems early on, but seem to be getting them worked out. Said Dodge (Cummins) really have there stuff together on a dependable motor and drivetrain setup. Also said the older Ford with the 6.9, and the newer 7.3 and 7.3 turbo motors are much better longtivity wise than the new powerstroke.

Also don't forget about farm diesel. A lot of people run it here. Much cheaper.....About 1.50 a gallon here. The only place people get busted here for running farm diesel is at the cattle sale barn. It isn't a pretty fine when caught though.

Kirk

 

It all depends on how much you use it. The 3 rd gen cummins get no where near the 1 st or 2nds generations did in fuel, This is due to emmisions. I have a 2004.5 with 22k on it . I average 13-14 in town 4x4,4.10s 8300 lbs all the time, this is unloaded. Hwy at 65 mph i get 19. 12 k behind me 12 mpg. Each manufacturer makes good rigs, i choose dodge because i had a 2 nd gen that was great. They have all the power you want or need- stock. Once you start adding mods/boxes, you become your' own warranty., and at a cost of 12-15k for replacing an engine. I figured it would take 6 years to = out the upfront price of the diesel, but now at the cost of diesel, it's further away. You need to decide how often and heavy you will tow and then make a decission for the cost offset. If you tow rarely, and well under 8k, you can buy alot of regular gas cheaper than a new diesel engine.