thinking about getting a Diesel. Help!

[jackelope]

never seen an onstar in a dodge and I see about 100 of them a day.
 

[jackelope]

I have not looked it up, but i am talking Dodge, not chrysler, as jackelope said the chrysler division was sold awhile ago and may have been picked up by fiat, but i am probably wrong but Dodge is there fullsize truck line and still controled by Daimler? Not arguing just asking.
Buy a Ford....

yeah...wrong. when i say chrysler I mean chrysler jeep and dodge. there's  no seperate dodge full size truck line.
it's all chrysler

[timberghost72]

Well since we're ONLY on page 10 I'll add this.
You ever seen Chevy or Dodge with a large load in the bed.  It drags a$$.  I put 5k lbs of limestone in my bed and only droped the susp. 2 inches. Stock suspension.  My Bro has a Duracrap and had to put airbags to help carry the load in his truck.  IMHO the Dodges are worse.   

[timberghost72]

I do agree with Kenzmad.  If I had to build a truck it would have the Cummins motor, Ford body, suspension, brakes and axles.  I'd probably get a custom built trans though.  BTS makes bullet proof automatics with solid torque converters

[whacker1]

I will ask again - anyone run Gear Vendor's or split differential?  It seems like this is an easy way to get life out of a motor and tranny along with picking up 3 miles to the gallon or better.

[jackelope]

in 12 years in GM and Dodge service drives I've never seen a splitter in a customer's pickup truck.

[whacker1]

That's interesting - I see splitter controls on the manual everytime they show the Eastman's show.  My neighbor sells the Gear Vendor brand, and they put them on a few of the trucks (4 or so).  It takes a lot of miles to make them pay, but seems like a good way to boost fuel economy and pro-long engine life.  The 3 mpg is what my neighbor mentioned on his 6.4 F-350.

[gramps]

I had a gear-vendors direct-overdrive on an '88 chev 4x4 w/a gutless 350 and a 4 speed manual w/no overdrive.  It worked great..gave me an overdrive ratio of .7 in 4th over and the ability to split 2/3 and 3/4.  They are spendy and will basically never pay out.  When i bought my 04 cummins, I thought about putting it in, but that model was not husky enough to handle the torque.  Don't need it anyway..could not be happier with the cummins...it out pulls a friend's powersmoke on the way to Montana every time...both loaded to the gills.
Oil changes...I sample my oil and am having no problems at 10K oil change intervals.  Have 90K + on it now and have been upping the mileage between changes based on the samples and will stay at 10K if everything looks good on the samples.

[cohoho]

Get my Duramax oil changes for free, got it when I bought the truck for the life of the dealerships....  So adding oil changes isn't a factor for overall cost and the reason I do them every 3,000-5,000 without fail.  I had the Dodge 01, couldn't hear the radio from the motor chatter. I sold it and bought a Ford, 2004 -bad ideal crappy motor 6.0 always in the shop for something, (if it had a the older 7.3 probably would still have it).  Tried to trade it in for another Ford, they realize it was such a crappy vehicle they wouldn't even trade it in......  Finally bought a new crew cab Chevy in 06 and it now has 115,000 and running strong - no chip- no added exhaust and gheez I always pass Dodges and Fords on the pass.....   But got to admit I miss the room and looks of Ford.....

Thinking of doing the exhaust and intake - anyone do that and what did the mileage jump too?  Chipping is a consideration also, but is it worth it, besides do they make a chip that doesn't make it sound ridiculously loud....

[sisu]

I do agree with Kenzmad.  If I had to build a truck it would have the Cummins motor, Ford body, suspension, brakes and axles.  I'd probably get a custom built trans though.  BTS makes bullet proof automatics with solid torque converters

Here is your dream rig. Click on the link for Ford-Cummins  Ford-Cummins conversion

[high country]

Get my Duramax oil changes for free, got it when I bought the truck for the life of the dealerships....  So adding oil changes isn't a factor for overall cost and the reason I do them every 3,000-5,000 without fail.  I had the Dodge 01, couldn't hear the radio from the motor chatter. I sold it and bought a Ford, 2004 -bad ideal crappy motor 6.0 always in the shop for something, (if it had a the older 7.3 probably would still have it).  Tried to trade it in for another Ford, they realize it was such a crappy vehicle they wouldn't even trade it in......  Finally bought a new crew cab Chevy in 06 and it now has 115,000 and running strong - no chip- no added exhaust and gheez I always pass Dodges and Fords on the pass.....   But got to admit I miss the room and looks of Ford.....

Thinking of doing the exhaust and intake - anyone do that and what did the mileage jump too?  Chipping is a consideration also, but is it worth it, besides do they make a chip that doesn't make it sound ridiculously loud....

efi live can tune whatever you want.............ANYTHING.  chips do nothing to the noise of the rig, that is all intake and exhaust. I picked up about 3 mpg with the tune.....and about 150hp

[timberghost72]

I do agree with Kenzmad.  If I had to build a truck it would have the Cummins motor, Ford body, suspension, brakes and axles.  I'd probably get a custom built trans though.  BTS makes bullet proof automatics with solid torque converters

Here is your dream rig. Click on the link for Ford-Cummins  Ford-Cummins conversion

Oh yeah, thats what I'd love to do.  Even covers the earlier years too.  My dream truck would be the '77-'78 F-350 CC long bed to do this in.  I've seen one in Marysville and am keeping my eye on it.  If the funds are there may even see if the guy wants to sell it.  Been doing a lot of fab and custom work at home on my own Jeep and also at work so something like this would be a great but challenging project. Would definitely cost some dough.  Maybe someday

[Curly]

anyone running a oiled element filter better not have long engine life dreams  

Fixed it for you.

Them oiled elements are a big Joke. K&N are the leaders in fooling people. Independent test show they do little to filter air and clog up first. Not sure about other trucks but in testing the factory AC Delco is about as good as it gets for filtering and long life. I think my filters run about $20.00
I love the claims they make about added power and mpg. It's just a bold face lie. You can get better mpg by just keeping a fresh filter in.

Kris

K&N do suck, but the Amsoil filters are oil type and are good.  They have a different type of material than K&N and will filter as well as the AC Delco but still allow decent air flow.

[high country]

oh boy, now you did it....had to go and throw amsoil into the mix

[Curly]

Yeah, well I have an Amsoil filter in my '93 Chevy 6.5TD ..........  I was worried the thread might be dead...