ford's new diesel suck's tail pipe. my dad has two 08's and they have been in the shop for motor related problems all year long. It's all related to the new exhaust and turbo system. had a 04 duramax never had a problem. got a new dodge 08 no problems yet but it does have a kill system on motor if it idles more than 15 min has not idled that long yet.
Yes i have heard the same about ford so I'm leaning toward the duramax
I've got a buddy with a 4500 chevy and he documents 10 mpg ... loaded or empty. He has it 'chipped and it will RUN a hole in the wind , but only 10 mpg ! It has 19.5's , four door , 60" CA , and 2WD. I have heard the fords suck even worse .
Tigrooter , do you have the idle-up option turned on ? While it is idling , turn on your cruise- then set it . The engine should idle up and this feature cancels the kill . If you want a higher idle while it is running , just push the accel / resume - it will go up to 1500 rpms. Good for cold weather warm ups .
hell it's got to much in it. It's the new resistal addtion. had it a week and still trying to find out how to work the radio, sat and gps. will look in the book and find out.
Check out the new Dodge 4500 they will at least get around 13 to 17 after break in with the weight your packing. I have a 6.7 in my mega cab and love it and love the six speed my buddy fully rigged out is getting 17 mpg good luck out there.
Yes thank you not doing a truck at 10 a gallon that is for sure look at dodge tomorrow
the dodge 4500 will never get that good of mileage with the 4.40 gears they have. but it will be better than chevy or ford. buy a new dodge and put on a dpf delete kit. my long bed mega cab dually picked up 4 mpg getting rid of all that bs. another thing bad about ford is that thier front ends suck. my company weld truck is a 550 and it has to be aligned every 6 months. it is an 01 with the 7.3 powerjoke its average economy is around 8 mpg
Front end shake and shimmy on the 550? Mine did until I put Michelins on front.
Looking at the sterling trucks
The bullet has a cummings engine with a benz trans any body have one or have any info
the sterlings are cool lookin trucks but sterling dealers are not as abundant as dodge dealers so getting warranty work done would be a pain. in my area you cant drive 30 miles without running into a dodge dealer. its 90 miles to the closest sterling shop
sterlings are some good trucks uses the dodge platform and motors. they will have six speed eaton-fuller transmissions in them next year. if you could just get a cat motor in them! anyway CAT is leaving the highway in 2010 due to the emissions laws.
Ive heard sterling is going under as we speak too. If that helps. Just personal belief and this is coming from a man that has a broke down FORD rig with the 7.3 in my driveway, but I would go with Ford right now, just for the fact that they are going to adjust to the economic slow down without much help from the FED. Ive had problems with my truck but it also has 250,000 just plain stupid pounded to the ground miles put on it. Ive had it programmed for over 80,000 of those miles and since Ive been getting 16 mpgs with a pipe pro and a bunch of extra crud for yellow stuff! And it fairs much better at highway speeds than my pop's 02' 5.9L. He goes over 65 and mpgs go way down. But personal preference. Good luck.
My buddy has 2 Fords with the 6.0, '04 & '05 I think. He has been having a lot of grief with 1 of them, seems something in the computer isn't letting any fuel through. I will be working over there Tuesday, might be able to post more info.
I have a 99 ford with the 7.3 dually, up here in idaho(4700') at 75 I will get 13 with no wind, which is rare here.
Another pluys about the sterling is that it has a cummins computer for the engine. Any cummins certified mechanic can tweak the program to get you more power an mileage. Ask a dodge mechanic to do that and they'll laugh at ya. Just a thought.
Today went to the ford dealer the dealer was at 9200.00 off in cash back on 08 so a 6.6 Lt 19000 gvw 29888.00 out the door cab and chassis 12 ft chassis
guy said the 6.6 is a solid motor but the 6 Lt ford had a lot of problems with that motor any one have any thought and gas it's a F550
I think the 6.6 uses the same platform that the 6.0 does. They will tell ya whatever they have to to sell ya a truck. Talk to some people who have them. Maybe some ford forums. Just a thought.
OK Back to the original question. I would buy the GM product. The Ford and the Dodge both sport new engines due to government mandates on emission levels. They scramble to meet the requirements and that can lead to problems. The Duramax is the least changed engine, to the best of my knowledge. The Cummins and the Powerstroke are totally revised. I personally chose the 07 model of the powerstroke to avoid the 6.4, and it has proved to be a wise choice. I have two friends with 08s. One traded his for an 06 after his engine blew because of emissions crap. I have another who waited out the shop time for a new engine over the same deal. The Cummins, which I honestly still trust well enough, had to increase from 5.9 to 6.7 liters just to overcome emissions choke down. The Duramax still has the same displacement with some tweaks. It is backed by the awesome Allison transmission. If I were buying one tomorrow, and I could overcome the design, I would buy GMC. Nice truck. Awesome torque, class leading horsepower, and a transmission that can handle it. That said, I will hold on to my 07 Ford Powerstroke until it rots out from under me.
BUY A DODGE. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG. THEY ALSO LOOK GOOD FROM BEHIND AS WELL. ASK RICK
I love my 2006 6.6L duramax!! They're a hell of a lot easier to work on then the new fords as well. The new ford engine bay is so pack full of crap that they would be a pain to work on. The Duramax has lots of room for elbows and wrenches. :-) Fuel filter is cake to change as well. I'll tell you what though, the new Fords sure do look good.
Well decided on a c4500 top-kick from GMC with a 6.6 duramax and allison tranny 29000.00 I will know tomorrow if my loan went through I just could not give up 12000.00 I kick backs on this truck
Now I will have to move all this stuff off my rig and make a bed on the new truck and all that... god I hate moving !!!
those are awesome trucks. Have several friends that use them, I don't think they will have anything else until chevy quits making them.
I have 5500 and love it. The turning radius is great and the duramax is not loud like some other diesels.
what all are you fellows hualling to need the 4500 and 5500s, I have a 3500 dodge getting 16 to 17 and it doesnt have any problems going. It is an 05 model, with the 5.9.
Okay my deal with Gm is dead.. Now I have a done deal with ford for a F-550 12ft cab cab and chassis with the 6.6 diesel or a sterling with the cummins 6.7 litter same truck
Now I can have the ford out the door 28100.00 or the sterling out the door for 34000.00 so what should I do
I like the way the sterling drive much better then the ford and my buddy's say the cummins will hold up longer need help have to pull the trigger on monday thank you
Bear
I looked at all three trucks, Dodge, Ford and Chevy. I have not looked at the sterling trucks at that time. What helped me decide was that when I was working up on the North Slope in Alaska, where the temperatures were pretty extreme, all you could see were Fords. There were a few GMCs and even less Dodges. Then I have an uncle that works in Iraq as a mechanic, where the temperatures get in the 100+ range and they drive Fords there too.
I do like the chevy trucks, but I settled with an F350 dually and have not regretted buying it.
Don't forget to check out International. They are building some pretty sweet trucks these days.
If it was between the 5.9 cummins and the new ford diesel, the cummins would win hands down. I know some guys that have the 6.7 cummins and love it and some that don't. They are right though, if you have a problem with the injectors or something towards the back of the engine on the ford, you're gonna ahve to pull the cab off. That's gonna add alot to the labor bill after the warranty runs out. Plus I've heard that some of the new fords are having problems with the new emissions package they got on them. Just hope you don't have it end up doin what this guys did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dKLKm5i2ic If it didn't show up, get on youtube and type in "Ford Flamethrower"
I was courious so I looked at the Sterlings. They look like a Dodge? or is that just me? Just a reabadged dodge? If that was the case I would go dodge.
the sterling bullets are dodge platforms their a 5500 instead of a 3500 next year they will have eaton fuller 6 speed trans in them.
V500 Have a 2000 Sterling good platform boom truck w/30k on it ,never a problem with it. Only drawback with Sterling is going out of business soon ,not enough market share from what I read. Rest of fleet F350's ,in about 15 trucks only 1 bad turbo changed(1200.00) parts and labor at dealership. Acually I blame myself for that because I didn't realise high end screech as dragging bearing, blew right after warranty was up. GO STEELERS AND PENS.
if you purchase a ford f250,350 or 550, hope that you dont have serious engine problems. they have to remove the cab to work on the engines. my buddys pickup was in the shop twice in one month. they had to remove the cab twice too. just to work on the turbos. loosing alot of money being down.
New ford and dodge diesels are no longer designed for extended idle periods. Don't know about chevy. I have good friend who is a mechanic, and that's what he told me.
a mechanic told me that the new diesels had fuel rails. and for some reason idling is very hard on the engine.i heard it too.
yeah a buddy of mine had the same problem, because of the truck idling for long periods of time!!(dodge)
The rails are not the problem with long idleing periods. It is the low RPMs are not enough to produce enough heat and burn the fuel effiecntly. With the new trucks the problem with long idleing of the new engines and they all have this is the EGR and the DPF(Diesel Particlite Filter) will get clogged. Then you have to run the donkey off of these trucks which then just puts your MPGs in the dumpsters. And if you do it too much you will have to replace the filter and it is extremely expensive plus labor intensive. Dodge is also the farthest along in the meeting of the new requirements for the emissions. Plus they are probably going to be going up even further with more restrictions around 2012 to 2015 is my guess. Also Dodge is also getting some of the best mileage out of the new motors unless of course you want to remaove all of this stuff. But you then have to take on all of the cost of maintence from this but your mileage will go up to high teens or even low twenties.
I have decided on the Sterling with the cummins in it, all the forum seam to like the cummins for longevity...
I don't like the idea of striping the cab off to work on a ford not good just no good things about the ford engine right now if there is a bad motor out there it will be the motor I would buy tomorrow for sure that my luck!
I know the cummins is a great motor it's what is in my vantage 500 I love that thing BEAST is all I can say
Sterling is just a dodge body I heard a lot of good things said about the frame and thing going on with dodge cabs I guess all I can do is hope for the best and burn a lot of rod to pay for the problems if they arise.
I'll post some pics after I get it here in the yard have a great holiday
Bear!
I will test that engine out after I get done from school and driving to TX to test for Cactus If he will have a michigan boy on TX soil.. I like the way the southern boys work big difference then here in the north in a good way!!
i would probably go with the dodge instead of the sterling. basically the same truck. you will have better luck warranty wise with the dodge. i've had 7 trucks with the 6.7 cummins they are sweet. look into a dpf delete kit and an egr block off. i picked up 4 mpg doing this and adding an edge chip. with the dpf gone you can idle all you want. i even switched my oil back to good old original rotela. you dont have to run that overpriced s**t cause you dont have any filters to worry about plugging. The 6.7 cummins was around for quite awhile before they went in the dodges. as all cummins they were an ag engine beforehand.
check out ebay for your best price on a dodge 5500 if you really wanna go big look into a ford f-650. you can get them with a cummins or a cat
Marsh,
What is a "DPF Delete"? What is involved in that? Thanks
diesel particulate fillter (soot sucker)
A DPF delete is a pipe that goes in where the DPF comes out . The down side is that if you use one of these , your factory warranty is void .
factory warranty is only void if you dont have friends that work in the dodge shop. or you can also put your factory exhaust on to take it in for work. but keep in mind if you take it in with all your filters plugged you are looking at big money to replace. i stop into the dealership all the time. this week they had an 07 come in had to have the whole exhaust replaced. he was running a chip he was friendly enough they warranteed it, they almost didnt and almost gave him his bill of $6,000. you can pay for alot of repairs for that much money. the 6.7 cummins has been around for a long time running without dpf's. if you have issues its not gonna be from your exhaust
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