# Duramax or Cummins???



## HuntinJake_23 (Jun 13, 2012)

Ok chevy and dodge guru's (no fords ): In the near future im gonna be looking at getting a newer truck(used of course) ive been looking back and forth at 97-01 dodge ram 2500's with the cummins, and also the 01-04 chevy silverado 2500 with the duramax/allison, i have pros and cons of each truck, ive been a chevy guy since ive been able to drive, what is yalls opinion?


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## DAVE (Jun 14, 2012)

I would stay away from a 10 year old diesel, but if I had to have one it would be the cummins.


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## aragorn1 (Jun 14, 2012)

The weakness of a Dodge truck is the trans.  If you go with a manual trans that has been taken care of(not abused then you will be fine).  I would go with the Chevy or a GMC with the Duramax/Allison combo.


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## Bighead (Jun 14, 2012)

I have been very pleased with my 02 Chevy 2500 with the Duramax/Allision combo it has over 200k on it now and still pulls, rides and drives very well. Other than your run of the mill stuff such as brakes, batteries and tie rod ends its given me no trouble, it's a farm truck too.


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## HuntinJake_23 (Jun 14, 2012)

thats one of my big cons is the independant front suspension, i have a 4x4 s10 with the IFS and its a pain to me


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## Flaustin1 (Jun 14, 2012)

Straight axle is the way to go.  But then again the dodge transmissions arent the best in the world.  My folks' work truck had 453k on it when they sold it.  It was a cummins.   Guy is still driving it.  On its 3rd transmission rebuild though.


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## NE GA Pappy (Jun 14, 2012)

Cummins. Period. End of discussion.


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## M80 (Jun 14, 2012)

I had a 1998 cummins 4x4 for 10 years, 5spd, truck never let me down.  Steering is not that good on the dodge's,  Chevy steering is the best.  It's night and day diff.  The chevy is going to be your everyday driver, with good take off and speed, comfort driving.  The dodge will be your haul anything anywhere, dependable engine, you really don't have to worry about the engine, it's just everything else.  Don't get me wrong, I loved mine, I just never hauled enough to justify having it.  You said you like the straight axle's front end, me too, but they do have there fair share of front end problems.  The chevy might be independent, but man it rides much better and I really dont think your going to be out muddin in it so you really dont have much to worry about.  

If you go with the cummins and are going to put a programmer on it make sure you put a new lift pump on it that will supply enough fuel to the injector pump or you will burn it up.

It's all about what you want, a noisy but very dependable cummins that rides like a dump truck, or a more daily driver vehicle, but make sure you go with a stick shift in the cummin's.


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## NE GA Pappy (Jun 14, 2012)

I hear a lot about Dodge transmissions giving trouble, but that has not been my experience. ,They had some problems with the first generation back in 1990 and 1991, but pretty well had it straightened out by 1994. 

Now, I don't pull a lot of 10k pound trailers, but on a regular basis, I put 2k to 3k pounds in the bed and haul it 40 to50 miles. One of my trucks did have to have a transmission in it a 240k miles, but it wasn't the transmissions fault. A coolant line for the tranny ruptured running the fast lane on I85. Before I could get it over 4 lanes and off the road it dumped all the fluid and smoked the clutches.  The other one now has 247k on it and not a hint of trouble from the tranny. 

I have seen Fords dump a transmission while trying to push a 24ft camper backwards into a camp site. I have seen Chevy's pop a transmission trying to pull a 16ft livestock trailer with 6 cows in it.   

I think all of them have issues with the transmissions from time to time, but if you service them like you are suppose to, most will last a very long time. 

Having said all that,  If I were pulling fairly heavy loads on a real regular basis, I would want a manual transmission too.  Better mileage, and it helps hold back on downhill grade better too.


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## Showman (Jun 15, 2012)

Cummins changed the engine design in 03 to make it a quieter running motor.  All brands have Transmission problems of one sort or another and remember that the Cummins has been around and in more varied applications for a heck of a lot more years than the Duramax has been.  Ford even uses Cummins motors in their commercial applications occasionally.  Cummins is a straight 6 where the Duramax is a V-8 and makes more HP but the Cummins is capable of producing more Torque and better fuel economy with the right mods.  It's just too bad someone hasn't come out with a vehicle that combines all the good stuff from all three manufacturers.


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## Browning01 (Jun 15, 2012)

Between the two DIRTYMAX hands down.  Heres a pic of mine.


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## 3205lpv (Jun 19, 2012)

I like the Chevy truck better, you can't beat the Cummins engine though. The duramaxs you are looking out are the Lb7 era engine, which is known to have problems with injectors. They are very expensive to fix. this website has a lot of good information about the duramax dieselplace.com


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## merc123 (Jun 19, 2012)

DAVE said:


> I would stay away from a 10 year old diesel, but if I had to have one it would be the cummins.



Nothing wrong with mine and it's 12 years old.  Bought it used in 2010 with 95k miles on it...


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## camodano (Jun 24, 2012)

when you are done with the Duramax and the Cummins get you a power stroke good for3 or even 400.000 miles. good luck with your search.


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## NE GA Pappy (Jun 24, 2012)

camodano said:


> when you are done with the Duramax and the Cummins get you a power stroke good for3 or even 400.000 miles. good luck with your search.



and you think a Cummins won't run 300k???

in a midsize commercial truck Cummins warranty is 250k.  I have 2 Cummins with well over 200k on them and expect them to run many more miles with little or no trouble. If they don't hit 400k, I will be sorely disappointed.


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## bluemarlin (Jun 24, 2012)

The Duramax is stronger and faster. Not that it can't happen but I haven't been beat by a Dodge. I've put over 250,000 on my 08 LMM and love it. I use to haul cars with it. She's retired from that and is my daily driver. To me it's the most comfortable of the 3 (Ford, Chevy, Dodge). The Cummins gets a little better mileage but not enough to offset the trans issues. Towing, my Chevy is a billy goat up hills and the exhaust brake allows me to not touch the brakes going down. The Allison is very easy to work on and has all kinds of upgrade options. Mine has Edge tuner that I keep on stage 2, 5" exhaust from the downpipe back, blocked the EGR, reroute the PVC, I upgraded to Alcoa 19.5's and got 200,000 miles out of them, added a 100 gallon fuel tank/toolbox in the bed that's gravity fed, etc... My dually gets around 10 mpg pulling 30,000 pounds and over 16 unloaded. I've seen 19 unloaded on the highway.

This pic is just under 34,000 pounds.


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## camodano (Jun 27, 2012)

yea it might wouldn't put money on it.


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## jesnic (Jun 28, 2012)

he Duramax is stronger and faster. Not that it can't happen but I haven't been beat by a Dodge. I've put over 250,000 on my 08 LMM and love it. I use to haul cars with it. She's retired from that and is my daily driver. To me it's the most comfortable of the 3 (Ford, Chevy, Dodge). The Cummins gets a little better mileage but not enough to offset the trans issues. Towing, my Chevy is a billy goat up hills and the exhaust brake allows me to not touch the brakes going down. The Allison is very easy to work on and has all kinds of upgrade options. Mine has Edge tuner that I keep on stage 2, 5" exhaust from the downpipe back, blocked the EGR, reroute the PVC, I upgraded to Alcoa 19.5's and got 200,000 miles out of them, added a 100 gallon fuel tank/toolbox in the bed that's gravity fed, etc... My dually gets around 10 mpg pulling 30,000 pounds and over 16 unloaded. I've seen 19 unloaded on the highway.

That is a very bold statement. It is few and far between to find a stock cummins anymore. I believe you might have to have a little more than a tuner to compete with most of the cummins running around our area.


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## bluemarlin (Jun 28, 2012)

That is a very bold statement. It is few and far between to find a stock cummins anymore. I believe you might have to have a little more than a tuner to compete with most of the cummins running around our area.[/QUOTE]

True. All it takes is money and you can make any of them as fast as you desire. 

I'm sharing the fact my 6.6 Duramax, with minor modifications, has been trouble free for 275,000 miles. The question regarding which truck has the best transmission is hardly as debatable as Cummins v/s Duramax question.

If I wanted a Dodge I would have bought one.


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## jesnic (Jun 28, 2012)

That is a nice looking truck. I was simply replying to the statement of  

      "the Duramax is stronger and faster. Not that it can't happen but I haven't been beat by a Dodge" 

With the same amount of money spent on upgrade for upgrade, the cummins will perform better. The cummins was a purposely built, industrial engine. Meant to last for many, many hrs of extreme abuse. The duramax and powerstroke were built for pickup trucks. DC actually detunes the cummins to mate to the crappy dodge trans. But most people know, if you want to play, you have to pay. Even a 500hp duramax will kill an allison in short order. So, when you reach the treshold hp of any of the big three, be prepared to drop some coin.


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## Browning01 (Jun 29, 2012)

Well said jesnic, the Allison is a phenomenal trans, but more than a 60hp tune on the 5 spd or 80hp tune on the 6spd can kill them quickly.


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## southernboy2147 (Jun 30, 2012)

the cummins is loud and from what i hear does alot of trans issues. the year model duramax that ur looking at has had alot of problem with the injectors going out (4k minimum). but other than that I dont know of any issues. The durmax is more comfortable, classy and has a better ride imo compared to the cummins. its all personal preference.


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## Wild Turkey (Jul 6, 2012)

What you need and all of too is a :
Ford F250 with a cummins diesel, Allison trans, and Gm Brakes.
Now thats a truck every man could love.


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## jmh5397 (Jul 28, 2012)

Here's my '03 Ram Cummins story.  I'm the original owner with 236,000 miles.  I pull a 30' fifth wheel camper and a pressure washing unit that carries 600 gallons of water and 200 gallons of chemicals.  The only issue I had was back about 3 years ago, a friend of mine borrowed it to move.  When he brought it back to me, he filled her up with 31 gallons of the "good stuff".  Then drove from Roswell, Ga to Jackson...67 miles.  The "good stuff" being 93 octane gas!  The gas ate up the seals in the lift pump.  Took it back to the dealer, they cleaned out the tank, replaced the lift pump, and pulled the injectors, inspected them and put them right back in.  It's been fine since.  No transmission problems up to this point.  I've always owned Fords but when they quit using Cummins in the 250's and 350's....I quit using them.  Which truck is faster from red light to red light????  Who cares?  Which engine is found in heavy equipment, fire trucks, marine applications, generators, etc.?  If you're truly concerned about the Dodge transmission not lasting...call Jeff Garmin with Garmin Diesel Performance and he'll custom build you a trans for your application.


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## SCDieselDawg (Jul 28, 2012)

I'm a Dodge fan myself but be warned the 98.5 to 2002 dodges had issues with the injection pumps going out prematurely and it is a issue that is reacurring even with new pumps.


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## lbzdually (Jul 29, 2012)

I've had 2 2006 LBZ Duramaxes.  I sold the 1st one at 37k miles and had absolutely no problems out of it.  I got my 2nd one with 29k miles on it and it now has 110k with absolutely no problems at all.  I took the 1st truck to the dealer once in the 2 years I had it, and I believe that was because I got some bad fuel.  My truck is a dually and I get 18-19 mpg at 75+ mph empty.  I get 11 towing a GN enclosed trailer that weighs 7,000 lbs empty and up to 14k loaded with a big wind profile.   For a 3500 dually it rides like a Cadillac.


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## Ruger#3 (Jul 29, 2012)

My 99 Dodge 2500 bought new is approaching 200K with few worries. I will replace it with another when the time comes. The best truck I've ever owned.


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## Mud runner (Aug 8, 2012)

bluemarlin said:


> The Duramax is stronger and faster. Not that it can't happen but I haven't been beat by a Dodge. I've put over 250,000 on my 08 LMM and love it. I use to haul cars with it. She's retired from that and is my daily driver. To me it's the most comfortable of the 3 (Ford, Chevy, Dodge). The Cummins gets a little better mileage but not enough to offset the trans issues. Towing, my Chevy is a billy goat up hills and the exhaust brake allows me to not touch the brakes going down. The Allison is very easy to work on and has all kinds of upgrade options. Mine has Edge tuner that I keep on stage 2, 5" exhaust from the downpipe back, blocked the EGR, reroute the PVC, I upgraded to Alcoa 19.5's and got 200,000 miles out of them, added a 100 gallon fuel tank/toolbox in the bed that's gravity fed, etc... My dually gets around 10 mpg pulling 30,000 pounds and over 16 unloaded. I've seen 19 unloaded on the highway.
> 
> This pic is just under 34,000 pounds.




Wish i still had my old dodge. We could have ran for titles. If you do go with a cummins check the block # and the vp pump. You dont want a 53 block (in 98.5-02) they have thin walls at the water jacket and prone to cracking. The vp pumps are known to go without warning but then you can do a hot rod pump. Duramax is a good motor but to expensive to work on and make power with.


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## Showman (Aug 8, 2012)

Mud Runner: I have a 2000 Dodge 2500 w/Cummins.  Had to replace the Transmission at 34,000 miles (under warranty) and had to replace the injector pump at 110,000 (that cost me about $1100).  Other than a sensor going bad (cam shaft position), and these 2 problems, it has been a great P/U.  Woops, I left out one thing.  Had major trouble with the A/C dumping water onto the floorboard on the passenger side.  The Blend Air door actuator broke and in turn when the Tech was trying to fix that, he broke my dashboard when he was taking it off to get into the dash (he claimed it was already broken and Carl Gregory backed him even though the Service Writer admitted they broke it-he quit and to this day bad mouths Carl Gregory and their shop). Dashboard was another $800.  4 times to the shop for the A/C but now it works like new.  My engine is STOCK.  No programmer is on it and it pulls like a bat out of you-know-where.  Won't win any races but it pulls the boat and/or camper just fine.


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## badger (Aug 8, 2012)

jmh5397 said:


> Here's my '03 Ram Cummins story.  I'm the original owner with 236,000 miles.  I pull a 30' fifth wheel camper and a pressure washing unit that carries 600 gallons of water and 200 gallons of chemicals.  The only issue I had was back about 3 years ago, a friend of mine borrowed it to move.  When he brought it back to me, he filled her up with 31 gallons of the "good stuff".  Then drove from Roswell, Ga to Jackson...67 miles.  The "good stuff" being 93 octane gas!  The gas ate up the seals in the lift pump.  Took it back to the dealer, they cleaned out the tank, replaced the lift pump, and pulled the injectors, inspected them and put them right back in.  It's been fine since.  No transmission problems up to this point.  I've always owned Fords but when they quit using Cummins in the 250's and 350's....I quit using them.  Which truck is faster from red light to red light????  Who cares?  Which engine is found in heavy equipment, fire trucks, marine applications, generators, etc.?  If you're truly concerned about the Dodge transmission not lasting...call Jeff Garmin with Garmin Diesel Performance and he'll custom build you a trans for your application.


Pretty much mirrors my experience. My 2003 has 259k miles and has been very, very good to me. Balljoints went about 240k miles, I had Jeff Garmin beef up my transmission at 65k miles to live with the 503 rear wheel hp and 1060 ft/lb of torque, not because the transmission failed, but because I knew it wouldn't live too long with the power output. I'm planning on driving it 500k miles, and then making the decision to keep it or move on.


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## treeman101 (Aug 8, 2012)

Got an 02 cummins w/6 speed.  Best truck ever 24mpg empty 16 pulling dump trailer with skidsteer.  clutch at 217000 a starter at 280000  over 300000 now and pulling every day.  No upgrades except straight exhaust.  Would buy 2 more in a heartbeat.  But I am not taking anything away from the duramax they are also good trucks in my opinion.


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## badger (Aug 11, 2012)

camodano said:


> when you are done with the Duramax and the Cummins get you a power stroke good for3 or even 400.000 miles. good luck with your search.



Some food for thought...........

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/texas/420197-six-million-mile-man.html

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/1-7-million-miles-and-counting-00-t287101.html

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/archive/ram-hits-1-78-million-miles-t54841.html


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## klwehunt (Aug 24, 2012)

Got a 01 dodge 2500 w/350,000 on it put a clutch in it at 330,000 drove it to Sturgis S.D. about a month ago w/ camper and harley,still runs like new.But it has NEVER got 24 m.p.g. Had a 02  duramax for a wlile w/181,000 it had to have injecters,warranty fixed it but at 250,000 it needed them again,it had to go.Did like the ride and the allison though.


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