Built Ford Tough

[houstoncutter]

93 dodge truck has 750,000 miles runs like a charm, and not made any major repairs. 2003 dodge motor and trannie seem to be holding up, but the body is falling apart. Couldnt get em to do a dang thing about, finally just gave up... They won.....well maybe not I will not own another one

 

[houstoncutter]

93 dodge truck has 750,000 miles runs like a charm, and not made any major repairs. 2003 dodge motor and trannie seem to be holding up, but the body is falling apart. Couldnt get em to do a dang thing about, finally just gave up... They won.....well maybe not I will not own another one

 

[KenB]

93 dodge truck has 750,000 miles runs like a charm, and not made any major repairs. 2003 dodge motor and trannie seem to be holding up, but the body is falling apart. Couldnt get em to do a dang thing about, finally just gave up... They won.....well maybe not I will not own another one

With 750,00 miles I would think you got your moneys worth out of that Dodge.
See if you can get that out of something else.

 

[Bullbuyer]

I keep hearing all this stuff about really poor fuel/gas mileage for Dodge trucks. I like the look but I also am the one paying for the fuel running through it - so I'll keep the old Chevy a few more years.

 

[cfpinz]

I keep hearing all this stuff about really poor fuel/gas mileage for Dodge trucks. I like the look but I also am the one paying for the fuel running through it - so I'll keep the old Chevy a few more years.

I can vouch for what you've heard about the Dodge gas mileage. When my wife and I first got married, she had a Chevy with the Vortech 350. Best riding truck I've ever ridden in but it didn't have any suspension under it (1/2 ton). Got 18/19 mpg on hwy, 15 on average in our hills, and that thing would run like a scalded dog. She sold it and bought a Dodge 3/4 ton with the 360 in it, that sucker won't get 14 mpg going downhill with the engine off. Rides nicer than my Fords but ain't got nuthin' on the bowtie. We looked at some Ford Superduties for her with the 5.4 in it and neither were impressed. The 360 has nice torque and does what she needs, just not crazy about the rest of the truck.

cfpinz

 

[houstoncutter]

93 dodge truck has 750,000 miles runs like a charm, and not made any major repairs. 2003 dodge motor and trannie seem to be holding up, but the body is falling apart. Couldnt get em to do a dang thing about, finally just gave up... They won.....well maybe not I will not own another one

With 750,00 miles I would think you got your moneys worth out of that Dodge.
See if you can get that out of something else.

Yep, I did and I still have it, but this 2003 truck will be my last dodge unless some serious changes are made.....Doors that dont fit and body parte falling off and rattling worse than the 93 does now after 750,000 miles... The 2003 has 40,000 miles

 

[houstoncutter]

93 dodge truck has 750,000 miles runs like a charm, and not made any major repairs. 2003 dodge motor and trannie seem to be holding up, but the body is falling apart. Couldnt get em to do a dang thing about, finally just gave up... They won.....well maybe not I will not own another one

With 750,00 miles I would think you got your moneys worth out of that Dodge.
See if you can get that out of something else.

Yep, I did and I still have it, but this 2003 truck will be my last dodge unless some serious changes are made.....Doors that dont fit and body parte falling off and rattling worse than the 93 does now after 750,000 miles... The 2003 has 40,000 miles

 

[idylglade1]

i am cody 15 and bought myself a ford f 150 1990 it a manual but thats great for me

 

[NamVet_Farmer44]

The thin area of the block was the flaw of the engine...the water jacket walls on the 53 block were designed too thin...it is not a certain flaw on some 53 blocks, that's just how every 53 block was made...they are all like that...and the thing is...most of the people out there running a cracked 53 block dont even know it

I'm not denying there was a thin area on the 53 blocks, however the vast majority of them never had problems. The reason a few cracked in that area is due to natural flaws in casting. That, combined with the thin area, resulted in an overly weak spot prone to cracking. But make no mistake, you had to have a casting flaw in the thin area, otherwise you'd never have an issue.

Rod

what would you consider a "natural flaw in the casting"?...I'm not saying every 53 block will crack...my brother has gone through two 53 blocks...had them as daily drivers at first and as they got older...he stuck them on the farm and started hauling with them...both took over 150,000 miles of daily driving and then both cracked all a sudden after the first time they were put under a heavy load hauling tractors over the Blue Ridge Mountains...some people don't put there trucks under any strain, if someone like that has a 53 block, someone who does light to no towing, then i'm sure that block would last him a long time...but when put under heavy load, the thin part of the block will not hold up...it's just be a matter of time then

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

1) what would you consider a "natural flaw in the casting"?

2) if someone like that has a 53 block, someone who does light to no towing, then i'm sure that block would last him a long time...but when put under heavy load, the thin part of the block will not hold up...it's just be a matter of time then

1) Cheap castings, like those used in engine blocks, are not consistent. Some areas will be more brittle than surrounding areas, other areas more porous. If one of these less consistent spots happened to occur on that little tiny bit of thinner casting, you'd have trouble.

2) We had 9 53 blocks, all of them over 400 HP. For awhile, my 2001 HO 53 block was the highest HP, straight diesel HO in North America at 545HP. The odometer was into 6 figures before we sold that truck to a hotshotter. We downrated the power to 400 HP for him, and he racked up another 1/2 million on the same engine before he hit a sinkhole on a back road and totalled the truck. I used that 53 block truck for hauling bales, hauling trucks, hauling tractors, drag racing, off roading and everything else abusive that you could do to a truck. I had the pyrometer over 1800F hundreds of times testing air systems that we were building. In other words, the truck was abused from the time it was purchased until the day it died.

Our bread and butter trucks were Dodge pickups, over 1100 1999-2001, virtually all which had 53 blocks. We never personally saw a cracked 53 block, even though you always heard of a friend of a second cousin of my brother's uncle who had 6 that cracked. So, while someone may have had bad luck with a couple 53 blocks, they were very much in the minority. 99.99999% of all other 53 block owners were very happy.

 

[Moocow11]

we have a 05' 3500 chevy and a 03' f-250 ford the ford is in much better condition then the chevy and we drive the ford we harder than the chevy. we just use the chevey to pull trilers. and we already had to replace the trany the idler and 8 million other things

 

[johndeereboy]

Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust, if it weren't for DODGE's, CHEVY's and foreign cars, my tools would rust.

 

[NamVet_Farmer44]

1) what would you consider a "natural flaw in the casting"?

2) if someone like that has a 53 block, someone who does light to no towing, then i'm sure that block would last him a long time...but when put under heavy load, the thin part of the block will not hold up...it's just be a matter of time then

1) Cheap castings, like those used in engine blocks, are not consistent. Some areas will be more brittle than surrounding areas, other areas more porous. If one of these less consistent spots happened to occur on that little tiny bit of thinner casting, you'd have trouble.

2) We had 9 53 blocks, all of them over 400 HP. For awhile, my 2001 HO 53 block was the highest HP, straight diesel HO in North America at 545HP. The odometer was into 6 figures before we sold that truck to a hotshotter. We downrated the power to 400 HP for him, and he racked up another 1/2 million on the same engine before he hit a sinkhole on a back road and totalled the truck. I used that 53 block truck for hauling bales, hauling trucks, hauling tractors, drag racing, off roading and everything else abusive that you could do to a truck. I had the pyrometer over 1800F hundreds of times testing air systems that we were building. In other words, the truck was abused from the time it was purchased until the day it died.

Our bread and butter trucks were Dodge pickups, over 1100 1999-2001, virtually all which had 53 blocks. We never personally saw a cracked 53 block, even though you always heard of a friend of a second cousin of my brother's uncle who had 6 that cracked. So, while someone may have had bad luck with a couple 53 blocks, they were very much in the minority. 99.99999% of all other 53 block owners were very happy.

Hate to tell you, but 99.999999% of the 53 block owners didn't have thousands and thousands of dollars to take care of their trucks with...hauling bales and trucks is supposed to be a heavy load for a truck with 545 horsepower? :roll: ...that's nothing for an engine of them specs (if it is true or not)...Aint quite sure if I believe it or not...must be great to make a truck with a regular cummins HO engine from the dealership to put out only 55 less horsepower than a specifically made fully-modded engine in the Sidewinder Dodge that Gale Banks engineered...the same truck that held the Land Speed Record...hmmm...and you made a truck putting out only 55 less horsepower...don't try to sell me ocean front property in Arizona...and you made that truck...and 9 other 400+ HP trucks?...if that is so, you must have too much time and money on your hands

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Hate to tell you, but 99.999999% of the 53 block owners didn't have thousands and thousands of dollars to take care of their trucks with...hauling bales and trucks is supposed to be a heavy load for a truck with 545 horsepower? :roll: ...that's nothing for an engine of them specs (if it is true or not)...Aint quite sure if I believe it or not...must be great to make a truck with a regular cummins HO engine from the dealership to put out only 55 less horsepower than a specifically made fully-modded engine in the Sidewinder Dodge that Gale Banks engineered...the same truck that held the Land Speed Record...hmmm...and you made a truck putting out only 55 less horsepower...don't try to sell me ocean front property in Arizona...and you made that truck...and 9 other 400+ HP trucks?...if that is so, you must have too much time and money on your hands

Namvet, before you accuse someone of lying, you'd best have some solid facts, which you apparently don't have.

For seven years, I owned a diesel performance shop. We specialized in high horsepower diesels, sled pullers, and drag racing trucks. We custom built fuel systems, air systems and twin turbo systems. For 3 years, we had 3 of the top 5 horsepower straight diesel trucks in North America. These were either our own shop trucks or customer trucks that we built and were verified at third party events on a variety of dynos.

Gale Banks' Sidewinder truck is FAR from being the highest HP straight diesel truck on the road. You'd best head over to the Diesel Truck Resource or the Turbo Diesel Register and start looking up names like Trevor Woods (Wildcat customer, second highest horsepower straight diesel 24V, three years running), Don Morrison (owner, F1 diesel, unverified 800 HP+ 12 valve), Meachim Evins (Wildcat customer, fastest 1/4 mile street driven truck for the last year we were in business, 2004) and Nathan Wright (F1 diesel R&D and the guy who built my tubes for my twin setups. Also has the highest HP 24V on straight diesel, also currently has the highest horsepower common rail). There are straight diesel Cummins 5.9s kicking out better than 700 verified HP now and there are a few unverified 800 HP+ trucks. Banks is a joke at 600 and they won't even allow a third party to verify those numbers. They're the Walmart of diesel performance. Hell, their first diesel performance mods were 12 valve fuel plates that they stole from TST. Just you simply quoting Banks name tells me you know _nothing_ of the diesel performance world that I speak of, so why would you even remotely question me or call me a liar? Where I come from, you'd best have some solid facts before calling anyone a liar.

So now back to the 53 blocks. Go ahead and bring some solid facts on failures, not just a few complaints that you've read on internet forums. With logic like that, none of us should be driving diesels from ANY of the manufacturers, since they've all had failures with one iteration or another.

I'm out on this thread. I apologize for the thread hi-jack folks, and return you to your original topic.

Rod

 

[NamVet_Farmer44]

Hate to tell you, but 99.999999% of the 53 block owners didn't have thousands and thousands of dollars to take care of their trucks with...hauling bales and trucks is supposed to be a heavy load for a truck with 545 horsepower? :roll: ...that's nothing for an engine of them specs (if it is true or not)...Aint quite sure if I believe it or not...must be great to make a truck with a regular cummins HO engine from the dealership to put out only 55 less horsepower than a specifically made fully-modded engine in the Sidewinder Dodge that Gale Banks engineered...the same truck that held the Land Speed Record...hmmm...and you made a truck putting out only 55 less horsepower...don't try to sell me ocean front property in Arizona...and you made that truck...and 9 other 400+ HP trucks?...if that is so, you must have too much time and money on your hands

Namvet, before you accuse someone of lying, you'd best have some solid facts, which you apparently don't have.

For seven years, I owned a diesel performance shop. We specialized in high horsepower diesels, sled pullers, and drag racing trucks. We custom built fuel systems, air systems and twin turbo systems. For 3 years, we had 3 of the top 5 horsepower straight diesel trucks in North America. These were either our own shop trucks or customer trucks that we built and were verified at third party events on a variety of dynos.

Gale Banks' Sidewinder truck is FAR from being the highest HP straight diesel truck on the road. You'd best head over to the Diesel Truck Resource or the Turbo Diesel Register and start looking up names like Trevor Woods (Wildcat customer, second highest horsepower straight diesel 24V, three years running), Don Morrison (owner, F1 diesel, unverified 800 HP+ 12 valve), Meachim Evins (Wildcat customer, fastest 1/4 mile street driven truck for the last year we were in business, 2004) and Nathan Wright (F1 diesel R&D and the guy who built my tubes for my twin setups. Also has the highest HP 24V on straight diesel, also currently has the highest horsepower common rail). There are straight diesel Cummins 5.9s kicking out better than 700 verified HP now and there are a few unverified 800 HP+ trucks. Banks is a joke at 600 and they won't even allow a third party to verify those numbers. They're the Walmart of diesel performance. be nice, their first diesel performance mods were 12 valve fuel plates that they stole from TST. Just you simply quoting Banks name tells me you know _nothing_ of the diesel performance world that I speak of, so why would you even remotely question me or call me a liar? Where I come from, you'd best have some solid facts before calling anyone a liar.

So now back to the 53 blocks. Go ahead and bring some solid facts on failures, not just a few complaints that you've read on internet forums. With logic like that, none of us should be driving diesels from ANY of the manufacturers, since they've all had failures with one iteration or another.

I'm out on this thread. I apologize for the thread hi-jack folks, and return you to your original topic.

Rod

Yeah, well I dont really care about how it is where you come from...because where I come from, if you say you've got the highest HP 24V truck out there...you better be driving it around with a dyno sheet to comfirm the amount of horsepower...if I told you I had the highest HP Powerstroke in the world? Would you question me?...dang right you would...so don't start whining when someone else questions you...show me proof of the 3 out of 5 highest horsepower 24V in North America...that you happen to own...and i'll stand corrected...and I can see you are a thin-skinned individual by your paragraph regarded the 53 block in your last post...you know as well as anyone else that the 53 block was made too thin, and they are more likely to crack in that area than, for instance, a 56 block...that is all I have said about the 53 block...and from your first post, saying how perfect and great Cummins engines were and how they are superior to every other engine...you got offended when someone brings up a flaw in a Cummins engine...I know there's flaws in every make of engine, but if you know that also, then why are you getting so upset about it?

 

[somn]

Heritage_Farmboy How is it a man living in Virginia's Little Switzerland where the snow gets 3 to 4 feet deep you can't get to town for weeks yet you have the time to run 1200 acres of land tend to 800 cows without owning a tractor. You feed turkey crap to your cows and have hershery reject candy hauled in for cheap feed at 27 dollars per ton. Then one day you go and buy $550,000.00 dollars worth of tractors and combines to plant and harvest your 113 acres of hay and barley. As hard as that was for everyone to believe you then tell us you swapped 700 acres for 7300 acres at a value somewhere near $21,900,000.00. And now it seems you are an expert in the field of diesel engines. If you ever want to be taken seriously maybe you should go back thru all of the posts you have made on here and then you too will realize that in order for someone to take you seriously about anything you need to keep your stories more believable. I'm not doubting you knowledge of diesel engines but take a look at your past posts. Two words. WILD IMAGINATION

 

[NamVet_Farmer44]

check your PM somn

 

[Dave]

I have owned Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. They all beat walking or traveling horse back for long trips.

 

[NamVet_Farmer44]

I have owned Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. They all beat walking or traveling horse back for long trips.

After I saw them '08 Fords...I think i'd rather walk or ride horseback instead of being caught in one of them ugly things