thinking about getting a Diesel. Help!

[mtndew]

Love my 04 with the cummins. It has been a GREAT truck! Automatic transmission...no problems.

[Buckmark]

Almost to 8 pages..
I am noticing a few commom things in this thread.
1) If you go Ford or Dodge you most likely will be buying a tranny after only 125-150K (or sooner), you are looking for a truck that is 7+years old so mileage might be near the trans failure point? (or it might have already been rebuilt/replaced?)
2) With an exception of a few on here it seems everyone has "upgraded" their rigs and at im sure considerable cost? So to get the power & mpg that they mentioned you will have to factor in more money..
*
I know timberghost72 and i am kinda surprised his trans is going out, his truck has lived a pretty comfy life that i knew of, when i read his post i was like "wow" he really takes care of his rig and does not beat it at all..
*
This is for the Ford 7.3 guys, anyone have glow plug problems?
As with any rig though they can and will break
You have picked a great time with the economy and some dealers struggling , should be able to find a great rig at a great price.

[fishcrazy]

Who ever said the GM trucks have bad tranis or bad injectors are out to lunch. The Allison is the strongest trani you can get out of all 3 trucks. The Alli was built and geared for the Duramax. The others can't say that.  Somebody don't know their stuff. And no you don't have to add power to them. They will perform with out it. It just easy and cheap and fun to do. In 2 min I can add from 40 - 120 extra hp at the rear wheels. I paid $200.00 for the programmer. Do that with yer gasser!!! LOL 

Maintenance on the Duramax is the cheapest as well. You can go longer without oil changes and the filters are much cheaper.
The Duramax/Allis gets the best mileage on average. That is a proven fact. Anybody that says their Furd or CUMapart is getting over 20 in stock form consistently is full of hot air. I don't care what yer truck says it gets. Mine says 27 mpg and up. It's because I run a programmer and makes the truck lie. . Give me hand calc numbers or it's not true.None of the computers are accurate.

Check into a power graph of the engines. The Furd makes it's power with allot of RPMs. not good for a truck you are pulling hard with.

My 03 typically gets OVER 21 empty on the hwy. And those are hand Calc numbers running extra power. I get 17 or little over pulling my boat. When I add EFI Live and water injection I should push that to allmost 19-20. Talk to several guys with gasser trucks and they can't get that with an empty.

I will never go back to gas for a truck.  And they are just as easy to work on.


 
That should kick it over 10 pages LOL

[timberghost72]

It's my torque converter that is actually going out.  If I have to pull the trans out at 150k to replace the torque converter might as well replace the trans.  Ford now has reman transmissions with 3 year 100k mile warranties for $2000.00 so its worth it to just do it all now and have it last another 150k.  The old E4OD is pretty much a slushbox anyways so the remans  have all the updates and upgraded shift solinoids that have been redesigned.  

[mtndew]

Sorry fishcrazy, but my cummins is completly stock other than a cold air intake, and I get 21 to 23 mpg empty, and 16 to 18 mpg pulling my 26 ft travel trailer. Hand caculated, not using the trucks computer. No hot air, just cold hard facts.

[MuleySniper]

Who ever said the GM trucks have bad tranis or bad injectors are out to lunch. The Allison is the strongest trani you can get out of all 3 trucks. The Alli was built and geared for the Duramax. The others can't say that.  Somebody don't know their stuff. And no you don't have to add power to them. They will perform with out it. It just easy and cheap and fun to do. In 2 min I can add from 40 - 120 extra hp at the rear wheels. I paid $200.00 for the programmer. Do that with yer gasser!!! LOL 

Maintenance on the Duramax is the cheapest as well. You can go longer without oil changes and the filters are much cheaper.
The Duramax/Allis gets the best mileage on average. That is a proven fact. Anybody that says their Furd or CUMapart is getting over 20 in stock form consistently is full of hot air. I don't care what yer truck says it gets. Mine says 27 mpg and up. It's because I run a programmer and makes the truck lie. . Give me hand calc numbers or it's not true.None of the computers are accurate.

Check into a power graph of the engines. The Furd makes it's power with allot of RPMs. not good for a truck you are pulling hard with.

My 03 typically gets OVER 21 empty on the hwy. And those are hand Calc numbers running extra power. I get 17 or little over pulling my boat. When I add EFI Live and water injection I should push that to allmost 19-20. Talk to several guys with gasser trucks and they can't get that with an empty.

I will never go back to gas for a truck.  And they are just as easy to work on.


 
That should kick it over 10 pages LOL

I smile ear to ear each time I blow by my buddy in his 06 chev towing up ANY pass in my Dodge. Towing comparable loads too. It sucks when we have to stop at the top every time so he can let his fluid spewing Allison cool down. Oh well. I guess some trucks are just lemons.
 

[MichaelJ]

Michael

[Buckmark]

It's my torque converter that is actually going out.  If I have to pull the trans out at 150k to replace the torque converter might as well replace the trans.  Ford now has reman transmissions with 3 year 100k mile warranties for $2000.00 so its worth it to just do it all now and have it last another 150k.  The old E4OD is pretty much a slushbox anyways so the remans  have all the updates and upgraded shift solinoids that have been redesigned.  

[Lowedog]

This is for the Ford 7.3 guys, anyone have glow plug problems?

Both my trucks need glow plugs.  As long as they are plugged in or the temp doesn't drop below 40 it's not a problem.  I need to get the plugs and fix them but keep procrastinating. 

[Buckmark]

Who ever said the GM trucks have bad tranis or bad injectors are out to lunch. The Allison is the strongest trani you can get out of all 3 trucks. The Alli was built and geared for the Duramax. The others can't say that.  Somebody don't know their stuff. And no you don't have to add power to them. They will perform with out it. It just easy and cheap and fun to do. In 2 min I can add from 40 - 120 extra hp at the rear wheels. I paid $200.00 for the programmer. Do that with yer gasser!!! LOL 

Maintenance on the Duramax is the cheapest as well. You can go longer without oil changes and the filters are much cheaper.
The Duramax/Allis gets the best mileage on average. That is a proven fact. Anybody that says their Furd or CUMapart is getting over 20 in stock form consistently is full of hot air. I don't care what yer truck says it gets. Mine says 27 mpg and up. It's because I run a programmer and makes the truck lie. . Give me hand calc numbers or it's not true.None of the computers are accurate.

Check into a power graph of the engines. The Furd makes it's power with allot of RPMs. not good for a truck you are pulling hard with.

My 03 typically gets OVER 21 empty on the hwy. And those are hand Calc numbers running extra power. I get 17 or little over pulling my boat. When I add EFI Live and water injection I should push that to allmost 19-20. Talk to several guys with gasser trucks and they can't get that with an empty.

I will never go back to gas for a truck.  And they are just as easy to work on.


 
That should kick it over 10 pages LOL

How is it that your Duramax can go longer than The Cummins or Powerstroke between oil changes??

[MichaelJ]

How is it that your Duramax can go longer than The Cummins or Powerstroke between oil changes??

Don't you know?  with chevys, whether you change the oil or not they'll still fall apart so why worry about it wasting money on new oil???  lol  jk

Michael

[Buckmark]

This is for the Ford 7.3 guys, anyone have glow plug problems?

Both my trucks need glow plugs.  As long as they are plugged in or the temp doesn't drop below 40 it's not a problem.  I need to get the plugs and fix them but keep procrastinating.  

So when your up in the mountains and it gets below 40' you have to park next to a current bush...

[Lowedog]

If I'm out camping I just plug it into one of my generators.  It has to sit for a long time under 40 for it to not want to start without cycling them a few times.  It has to be really cold out like single digits for it to be a concern if the truck is only sitting for a day hunt or something like that.  It takes a long time for that motor to cool down to outside temps.  Lots of metal there.    They have slowly gotten worse to.  I should have replaced them when I first noticed it but that was about 2 years ago.   

[timberghost72]

Who ever said the GM trucks have bad tranis or bad injectors are out to lunch. The Allison is the strongest trani you can get out of all 3 trucks. The Alli was built and geared for the Duramax. The others can't say that.  Somebody don't know their stuff. And no you don't have to add power to them. They will perform with out it. It just easy and cheap and fun to do. In 2 min I can add from 40 - 120 extra hp at the rear wheels. I paid $200.00 for the programmer. Do that with yer gasser!!! LOL 

Maintenance on the Duramax is the cheapest as well. You can go longer without oil changes and the filters are much cheaper.
The Duramax/Allis gets the best mileage on average. That is a proven fact. Anybody that says their Furd or CUMapart is getting over 20 in stock form consistently is full of hot air. I don't care what yer truck says it gets. Mine says 27 mpg and up. It's because I run a programmer and makes the truck lie. . Give me hand calc numbers or it's not true.None of the computers are accurate.

Check into a power graph of the engines. The Furd makes it's power with allot of RPMs. not good for a truck you are pulling hard with.

My 03 typically gets OVER 21 empty on the hwy. And those are hand Calc numbers running extra power. I get 17 or little over pulling my boat. When I add EFI Live and water injection I should push that to allmost 19-20. Talk to several guys with gasser trucks and they can't get that with an empty.

I will never go back to gas for a truck.  And they are just as easy to work on.


 
That should kick it over 10 pages LOL

How is it that your Duramax can go longer than The Cummins or Powerstroke between oil changes??

Thats because the Duramax can only pull half the load of the Dodge or Ford so the oil doesn't break down as fast.

[timberghost72]

Yeah, glow plugs are a typical issue.  They are very easy to replace as long as they don't break in the head.  I had one break and it took me 3 days to get it out.  I really didn't want to pull the head off so I just kept spraying penitrating oil in there and worked at it a little every day.  I spent some time trying to figure another way to pull it out and ended up making a slide hammer puller with needle nose vice grips.  Five minutes of that and it was out

The glow plug relays are junk also.  I usually replace mine 1-2 times a year.  They are really easy to replace.