well your the first to claim to never have a problem from what i have seen on a forum, guess i am on to many diesel truck forums? like i said all i seen was lawsuits because intl wouldnt cover warranties but since they are so great i guess there shouldnt be any lawsuits for covering warranties? nothing goes wrong with them?

gald you love your 6.0 with 38k, my dodge has 90k 1 lift pump,cp3 pump and a rear u joint has been done on mine those were original parts replaced.

let me know what all has gone wrong with yours at 90k

im out.

 

I never said there were no quality issues with the early 6.0L. I wouldn't recommend a '03 to '05. Thereafter, they've made a pretty decent truck. But come on, they've made like a quarter million powerstrokes. I would think you could find a few problems on the internet. Why do you give a free pass to Dodge? Their tranny issues are well documented.

Had a u-joint go out on my Ram too about 35K. That was the second of several trips to the shop.

 

neve once did i give a free pass! never once did i say dodge didnt have issues! or did i? i mentioned a few post back dodge was known for bad trannies! Auto's especially! i got a 48RE its original and still fine but could go anytime, heck cummins are known for lift pump and cp3 pumps, both mine have gone out and they were replced under extended warranty no questions asked.

my truck is a 04 with 90k these problems i had were to be expected. like i said i got buddies with fords the ones with and that had 7.3s were much happier with the 7.3 over the 6.0...guess i got to go with there advice to stay away from the 6.0, heck another buddy of mine blew his juiced up dmax with a allison tranny..they all can have problems....fords just stuck out more to me then cummins and the dmax.

oh yeah and i have owned 3 fords and been happy with them..1 79 bronco ,92 f150 94 f150 (still own it).

 

I know quite a bit about school buses, and that full-sized school buses and Ford/Dodge trucks share the same engines. Some International-chassised buses are available with two International engines, one being a cheaper V8 (T444E, VT-365, and MaxxForce 7), and the other being an I6 (any "DT" engine, including the 360, 466, 466E [my favorite], and MaxxForce DT). Ford pickup trucks have the V8 engines -- the T444E from 2004 model year down (to how far, I don't know), the VT-365 in 2005 and 2006... and I actually don't know what Ford pickups have had from 2007 on, but buses have had the quietest engine I've ever heard: the MaxxForce 7.

The T444E was, in most cases I've heard of, a very reliable engine, if not a little weak. The VT-365, however, is said to be weak and has reliability problems, including issues with its fuel injectors. The MF7 was all-knew in 2007, so I don't really know how reliable it is, but it's THE quietest diesel I've ever heard. Can't even hear it at idle until you're 20 feet away, and at full throttle, it sounds like a muffled VT-365.

The Cummins ISB 5.9 and 6.7 was/is available in buses, as well. I know that the 5.9 doesn't hold up as well as other (International) engines, but I've heard nothing but good things about the 6.7 (so far) -- and it's the second-quietest diesel I've ever heard.

The GM Duramax is used in small type A, van-based school buses.

So, personally, between the options discussed in this thread, I would go for the Dodge for the engine, GM for the body. I don't like how the Fords look, and again, I'm not sure what kind of engine they have in them now.

Sorry if the issue's been resolved, but....

 

I agree. They can all have problems. My bro in law has the 7.3L and has had injector and tranny problems...but then I don't go around telling people the 7.3L is a POS, either. I guess that's what got stuck in my craw.

But then my father in laws 7.3L has been flawless. My dad's 5.9L Cummins has been flawless. And my 6.0L has been flawless. It's all a roll of the dice.

 

The Max Force 7 is the same engine 6.4 engine as in the Ford trucks. And in a non pickup application (Ford) have proven to be very reliable engines.


As far as the 5.9 Cummins not holding up this compared to International engines this would be the first and ONLY time I have ever heard such a statement. When it comes to a medium duty Diesel engines the 5.9 has been the benchmark for all engines to follow no matter what application they are in!

 

^ Thanks for the information! The only reason I said that about the 5.9 was that I know someone who directly said that, and I also notice it in our fleet of buses with the buses running rougher, louder, and weaker. Also, EVERY time there's a bus that doesn't start because of the cold, it's a 5.9; never a 6.7, T444E, VT-365, or DT466E.

But, I agree with Raptorlegs, it is a roll of the dice. Some of the 5.9s run beautifully and are reliable, others... agh.

 

Alot of it has to do with owner care as well as the old 12 valve Cummins engines require valve adjustments and depending on the fuel system they had it did not work so well!

 

i have driven fords dodges and gm products and my best expeience was an 08 f-250 diesel mated to the 6 spd. compared to a chevy 3500 duramax, gmc 2500 8.1, dodge 2500 with the 5.9 cummins and a 5 spd. gm products were auto. towing conditions were highway, city , rural and offroad towing supplies for t-mobile cell towers.

 

Hey guys, thought I would post back with a brief report on the truck I bought. I now have 900 miles on the odometer. The first 300 were with no load and I got 14.6 mpg. The next 100 miles was with my trailer (empty) hooked on the back, and I got 8.9 mpg. The last 500 miles was with the trailer (loaded), and I got an average of 7.4 mpg over the entire 500 mile trip. The return trip was dead into a 50 to 100 mph headwind, and for 150 miles the truck never once shifted into high gear. It was the strongest wind ever recorded in this area, and the strongest wind I have ever driven in, in 35 years worth of driving. The truck does great towing the trailer, and I'm completely happy with it.