Just got back from towing the '99 F-350 dually into the shop for it's 3rd (automatic) transmission since I've owned it. It averages one every 30,000 miles. I am trading it in, but for what? I bought the truck to haul cattle 40+ miles (the closest) to the sale barn. It had no power, so I had a chip put in which helped. So new, or newer, prefer a dually, also prefer automatic, needs to pull a trailer with 12 head of #1300 cows, and a hay trailer with 15 bales at #1200. What would you get, and why?
Need a new truck, soon
- Thread starter Dee
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denoginnizer
Well-known member
Do you think the chip might of caused your transmission troubles? I have been thinking of adding a chip to mine but have heard they can cause problems.Dee":36nghig5 said:
Mahoney Pursley Ranch
Well-known member
When I worked for Ford, warranty was voided on any mechanical problems if we found a chip.
Dad has spent quite a number of years as a professional truck driver. He knows what can or can't pull anything that needs to be pulled, and what the ramifications will be for a vehicle if asked to do something it can't do. All the extra's aren't needed here. He doesn't even need a clutch in most of his vehicles, he can simply shift based on the engine acceleration. I've seen him do it on more than one occasion. I wish I had his knowledge and experience.
buckaroo_bif
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Dee which auto tranny is in that 99 model? That's odd they don't last longer than that. The Allsion Auto's are an excellent trans. Was just wondering if it was an Allison that year, I think not...? Any of you Dodge guys how does the body hold up on your Dodge? Do they develop rattles and the doors fall off like on a Chevy? Just curious I like the Cummins very well but have heard about a lot of other problems Dodge has, like drive train.Dee":3pa6jl3w said:
Crowderfarms
Well-known member
On the earlier Dodge trucks, there was a known problem with the Automatics, of the input shaft being a little too short.I dont believe the Dodge Boys ever really admitted to this defect. I personally would never trust pulling heavy loads to an automatic tranny. I've just heard too many horror stories.
Cowboy13, I am going to have to step in your mud puddle here.
That's crap. They don't have A LOT MORE POWER. The Allison sucks more HP than the Ford tranny. Look at RW HP numbers.
I have run programmers on Ford (International) Diesels for years. Never had a problem. Ran them on both manual 5 speeds and auto's. The new programmers will also adjust the Ford auto tranny and not just the motor. Got a lot of friends who run them on auto's also. No problems.
Bunch O crap here also. I ran a 5 speed manual for years with the chip. Still had the same clutch in it when I traded it in. I pulled some loads with that thing you wouldn't believe.
Now if your dang Dodge has so much power bring that thing around and I will show you one PowerStroke that embarrass that poor Cummins pulling, top speed, or between red lights.
I also love when those HEMI trucks with the big ol HEMI letters on the side when they get embarrassed by a diesel. COME ON DOWN, this is FORD country down here.
Dang I hate these Dodge, Chevy, Ford wars but man get your facts right rather than your opinions!
:lol:
cowboy13":1qzib6b0 said:
That's crap. They don't have A LOT MORE POWER. The Allison sucks more HP than the Ford tranny. Look at RW HP numbers.
cowboy13":1qzib6b0 said:
I have run programmers on Ford (International) Diesels for years. Never had a problem. Ran them on both manual 5 speeds and auto's. The new programmers will also adjust the Ford auto tranny and not just the motor. Got a lot of friends who run them on auto's also. No problems.
cowboy13":1qzib6b0 said:
Bunch O crap here also. I ran a 5 speed manual for years with the chip. Still had the same clutch in it when I traded it in. I pulled some loads with that thing you wouldn't believe.
Now if your dang Dodge has so much power bring that thing around and I will show you one PowerStroke that embarrass that poor Cummins pulling, top speed, or between red lights.
I also love when those HEMI trucks with the big ol HEMI letters on the side when they get embarrassed by a diesel. COME ON DOWN, this is FORD country down here.
Dang I hate these Dodge, Chevy, Ford wars but man get your facts right rather than your opinions!
:lol:
flaboy+":5hvybsij said:Dang I hate these Dodge, Chevy, Ford wars but man get your facts right rather than your opinions!
Surely you aren;t insinuating that the information that may be posted on the internet isn;t 100% reliable!
dun
dun":bq9vteq3 said:flaboy+":bq9vteq3 said:Dang I hate these Dodge, Chevy, Ford wars but man get your facts right rather than your opinions!
Surely you aren;t insinuating that the information that may be posted on the internet isn;t 100% reliable!
dun
IT'S NOT? Dang and I thought it was only the newspapers you couldn't believe. ;-)
DiamondSCattleCo
Well-known member
As a sideline for a few years, I ran a diesel performance shop. Overall, I worked on over 1000 diesel pickup trucks and these are my observations over those years:
Dodge/Cummins - The Cummins I6 is second to NO engine for reliability. Sure you can name Duramaxes or Powerstrokes that have gotten as many miles as a Cummins, but they are far rarer than high mileage Cummins engines. It comes down to build. The Cummins is a medium duty diesel, whereas the Powerstroke and Duramax are both light duty diesels. The Dodge standards are the toughest on the market, although the clutches will start to slip with 80 additional horsepower. The Dodge auto is the second best of the three. And if turning up the power is your thing, NONE of the competition can be turned up as cheaply, nor as far as a Cummins. 600 HP is obtained with simple bolt-on parts. And stock, the Cummins I6 outpulls either the Powerstroke or the D-max when loaded. The Common Rail Cummins engines (03 and up) are the more powerful when stock, however fuel economy is poor compared to the earlier 12 and VP equipped 24 valve trucks (but still better than Ford or Chevy).
Ford/7.3 - Good combination. Ford trucks are arguably the best built, with better frames, although off-road handling isn't as good as the Dodge (again arguable, depending on what you look for). The 7.3 is tough, although weak in the power department. Turning up the power gets difficult past 350 - 375HP. Best automatic in the business though.
Ford/6.0 - Again, pretty good combination. More power than the 7.3s, but still won't quite pull with a Cummins. Stay away from the 03 model years. Reliability on the 6.0s is not proven yet, as those silly hydraulic injectors are still being used.
Chevy/D-max - I won't bother discussing the Chevy diesels before the Dmax as they weren't tough enough nor powerful enough to be seriously considered for towing duties. The Duramax in stock trim is the weakest of the 3 current offerings for heavy towing, but the power can be turned up further than the 6.0L Powerstroke, and when combined with the Allison, can make a potent pulling machine. I've seen modified Chevies hand modified Cummins their butts in pulling competitions, although that was in the very heavily modified classes. The Alisson, when mated to a stock Dmax, is one of the best autos going, but you turn up the power 100 ponies, the Alisson will begin to fail. There are no reliable upgrades to the Alisson yet. As far as the rest of the truck, I found the Chev to be the most comfortable, however it was shocked way too weak for off-road handling.
Anyway, just my observations over the years. Take em or leave em
Dodge/Cummins - The Cummins I6 is second to NO engine for reliability. Sure you can name Duramaxes or Powerstrokes that have gotten as many miles as a Cummins, but they are far rarer than high mileage Cummins engines. It comes down to build. The Cummins is a medium duty diesel, whereas the Powerstroke and Duramax are both light duty diesels. The Dodge standards are the toughest on the market, although the clutches will start to slip with 80 additional horsepower. The Dodge auto is the second best of the three. And if turning up the power is your thing, NONE of the competition can be turned up as cheaply, nor as far as a Cummins. 600 HP is obtained with simple bolt-on parts. And stock, the Cummins I6 outpulls either the Powerstroke or the D-max when loaded. The Common Rail Cummins engines (03 and up) are the more powerful when stock, however fuel economy is poor compared to the earlier 12 and VP equipped 24 valve trucks (but still better than Ford or Chevy).
Ford/7.3 - Good combination. Ford trucks are arguably the best built, with better frames, although off-road handling isn't as good as the Dodge (again arguable, depending on what you look for). The 7.3 is tough, although weak in the power department. Turning up the power gets difficult past 350 - 375HP. Best automatic in the business though.
Ford/6.0 - Again, pretty good combination. More power than the 7.3s, but still won't quite pull with a Cummins. Stay away from the 03 model years. Reliability on the 6.0s is not proven yet, as those silly hydraulic injectors are still being used.
Chevy/D-max - I won't bother discussing the Chevy diesels before the Dmax as they weren't tough enough nor powerful enough to be seriously considered for towing duties. The Duramax in stock trim is the weakest of the 3 current offerings for heavy towing, but the power can be turned up further than the 6.0L Powerstroke, and when combined with the Allison, can make a potent pulling machine. I've seen modified Chevies hand modified Cummins their butts in pulling competitions, although that was in the very heavily modified classes. The Alisson, when mated to a stock Dmax, is one of the best autos going, but you turn up the power 100 ponies, the Alisson will begin to fail. There are no reliable upgrades to the Alisson yet. As far as the rest of the truck, I found the Chev to be the most comfortable, however it was shocked way too weak for off-road handling.
Anyway, just my observations over the years. Take em or leave em
El_Putzo
Well-known member
Nice post DiamondS. I have not owned all three, but have driven them all loaded and unloaded. I know guys with auto's and standards, chips and stock. Your comments are very close to the observations I've made, and the information I've read from unbiased sources.
Everybody has their favorites, and when purchasing, you have to go with what you like whether it's reliability, power, comfort, ride or whatever other attributes you may be looking for in a truck. You are the one that is going to pay for it and drive it, so who gives a rat's behind what anybody else thinks.
Everybody has their favorites, and when purchasing, you have to go with what you like whether it's reliability, power, comfort, ride or whatever other attributes you may be looking for in a truck. You are the one that is going to pay for it and drive it, so who gives a rat's behind what anybody else thinks.
DiamondSCattleCo
Well-known member
Something that I didn't put in the original post that I should have: In my mind, any of the combinations that I listed will work well, especially for towing duties in the 10 - 12,000K range. Personally, I buy based more on the dealer than the truck. Our Dodge dealer is FAR and away better than either the Chevy or Ford dealer in town, so its Dodge trucks that find their way to my yard.
Rod
Rod
DiamondSCattleCo":27a93u3q said:
Ya almost had me believing you there Diamonds until you bragging so much on the Cummins. It is a VERY good motor sometimes just like all the rest. Then ya went and said it is capable of 600HP with simple bolt ons. WRONG, at the PowerStroke round up there was a very well know Cummins expert that showed up with his Dodge. He had the high dyno pull of all the trucks @595HP on LP with over $15,000 invested in his high performance mods per his comments! Another 552 HP/1230 ft-lbs - w/ H2O/Meth.- I would hate to have to pump that crap through my engine to boost the HP. Some lightly modified PowerStrokes pulled right at 400HP with a $1500 investment. If you have modified 1000 trucks and got 600HP from the Cummins for less than $10K you are in the wrong business. Cummins can't even do it.
Wonder how ya figure the V365 is a light duty motor since International does not rate their engines?
Does Dodge still have the Aisin manual tranny. That's laughable. Aisin tranny's wouldn't even hold up in a Jeep. I hear Dodge is making in roads in the tranny area. They have copied the electronic controlled auto the Ford uses. And you say the Dodge has the second best tranny. Give me a break.
Cummins makes a good engine, I won't dispute that. Dodge makes lousy trucks though. I have owned them all and know of what I speak.
Lets face it you probably drive a Dodge and want show the world how great it is huh? If Dodges outpull Fords, why are all the cattlemen down here pulling stock trailers with Fords that used to own Dodges?
Suck it up. Like I have said in the past there are good ones and bad ones. Depends on who you talk to as which is the best. ;-)
El_Putzo
Well-known member
flaboy+":2q0vknpc said:
I was just going to say that very same thing, only switch the Dodge and Ford around! :lol: Must be a regional thing.
Does it really cost $1500 to get 400Hp out of a Powerstroke? I know several people getting 400-425 out of their Cummins for $1000 or less. Sorry, just trying to get ya all riled up.
DiamondSCattleCo
Well-known member
flaboy+":1cn7oa0a said:
<sigh> This is one of the reasons I got out of the business. Too many internet specialists
1) Wildcat Diesel Performance was the name of my company. When we shut down last year, we had the #2, #3, and #4 light diesel trucks in North America running on no drugs. Respectively, the trucks were dyno'ed at 601 HP, 598 HP, and 597HP on several dynoes over several shows. These numbers were obtained with TST Power boxes, twin turbos, and formula 1 Mach series injectors. No internal engine work was needed to net those numbers. In order to use that kind of horsepower repeatedly and in real world circumstances, you would need to o-ring the head, and if you were towing heavy, you'd need a new cam shaft. If your Cummins expert could only pull 595 HP with propane, then he was incompetent. There are 800 HP+ trucks running on propane and other drugs. Check the turbodieselregister.com and dieseltruckresource.com for independent confirmation.
2) I figure its a light duty engine because I've actually had them disassembled. The crank, pistons, and rods are MUCH lighter duty than a Cummins. Open a couple engines up for yourself and have a peak.
3) Dodge used Getrags in their heavy duty trucks until 1994, when they switched to New Venture NV4500s and NV5600s, both of which are rated at 1500 lbtft. The 04.5 switched to the G56 transmission, which unfortunately uses a dual mass flywheel, so like the Ford that used it before, if you really want to put the power to the ground, you'll need to swap to a solid flywheel.
4) I'm far too old for those kind of games. I could care less what anyone drives, but do NOT ever call me a liar based on you having spoke to 1 idiot at a dyno event who couldn't even pull more than 600 ponies on drugs. Do some research, attend a couple hundred dyno shows, and then you can talk.
Rod
