why is powerstroke...

[awenthol]

I worked for a company this summer that runs all powerjokes...Each one was in the shop at LEAST twice a month. Though, the one 7.3 they still had was rarely in the shop. The one foreman's has 45K miles on it (6.0) and it's on its 3rd turbo..second or so head gasket, tranny has been fixed many times....and all kinds of other stuff goes wrong with them. Not to mention I drove them quite ofter and the torque management was 5x worse than the cummins... I call them junk from what experiance I have. I have no, and have never had a, comment on the Duramax, as I have never driven one.

Edit: Thought I'd add that the owner of the company went with Fords cuz of the 7.3 (which he and the foremans liked) but since he has updated all the trucks to the 6.0 he has been VERY disappointed and is considering changing over to Duramax...

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Last edited by awenthol : 09-08-2007 at 08:10 PM.

[duramaxin14]

The bad thing is its stuff like this that makes ford have a bad name.

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Snow flake 2004.5 D/A Efi live, And way to many other mods. 2wd sled puller

K&P Diesel House

[wewille]

I got one of each and, love em both and i work on all three brands at work. True the 6.0 had problems in the 2003 and 2004 model years, and they were hit or miss problems. My 05 has had no problems yet and i love it. To tell you the truth i worry more about my cummins having problems than my psd, because of the 53 block, the vp-44 and the transmission(waiting to install my transgo kit). My psd i dont worry about anything, even though its still under warranty. Plus the majority of headgasets were on the highly modded 6.0's, so folks put studs in them and they hold up great. The other problems are the egr valves and the egr cooler. Both problems can be taken care of with a few mods. So the later 6.0's (05+) were solid motors. The 7.3 were great too the only trouble they had would be a cps going bad which is just a 20 dollar fix. Oh and the comment that it would suck to work on them because of the tight space is kind of true. The cab has to be lifted for several repairs like headgaskets, some guys can get the cab off in little over an hour though.

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2005 Ford F-250 Powerstroke. 1999 2500 extended cab short bed, edge ez, staight piped, silencer ring removed, walbro fuel pump, Diprocol fuel, boost, and pyro. gooseneck, 15% tint, transgo kit, a new western mvp v plow on order!!! and a 53 block

[Alt-Tab]

I've heard time and time again that Ford/Chevy diesels will go around 200k miles before needing a rebuild and Cummins will go 300-500k before needing a rebuild.

Of course there's exceptions to every rule, I know somebody's gonna say "Oh I got 837,943 miles out of my powerstroke before it died" or something, but I think it's the general rule of thumb.

That said, I didn't flinch once when I bought my '04 with 168k miles already on it.

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-- Taylor -- 2004 3/4 ton, 6 speed, 4x4, 192k miles Silencer ring missing, straight piped, AMSOIL 4510, Clearance lights, Mickey Thompson 325/60/18 Baja ATZ's, 2" leveling kit, Predator Stage III

[Moparman]

i dont know why ford went from the 7.3 to the 6.0 the 7.3 was a fine engine dad had one before his 6.0 260000 and only thing replaced was a clucth and altenator....oh and all these truck are stock no mods at all- Brody

The 7.3 could not be modified for the new pollution control systems.

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2006 white quad cab Dodge dually, G56, True Flow XDI air filter system, FilterMag, am/fm/cd/sirius, Fluidampr, LineX bedliner, 3.73, gooseneck hitch, Mag-Hytec rear diff cover, rear bags w/ in-cab controls, P235/80R17 Michelin LTX M&S on stock wheels

[Cope]

5.9L Cummins + Dodge solid axles + 2008 Ford F-350 truck body + New Chevy Interior + Allison transmission = MY ultimate truck...

Anybody wanna build one for me???? I can supply the the motor and axles

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2005 CTD 2500 Quad Cab SLT 48re: Black w/ silver bottom, 100k, Edge Juice w/ Attitude, 5" Magnaflow Turbo Back, AEM Workhorse, 35" BFG A/T's, 2" Superlift Leveling Coils, Silencer Ring MIA, Cat MIA...418hp

[ryans01]

to join in with the rest of the guys in killing the horse, here are my 2 cents worth:

CHEVY- 01', the best engine/tranny set up GM could have gotten, uglier trucks but better diesel powertrain.

FORD- in 99' they had a brain fart with the looks of the trucks, but improved the aready near perfect 7.3, in 03' they might as well sold Ford to some 3rd would country.

DODGE- 5.9 engine itself great engine...the electronics to fuel it and the poor quality rapper aound the engine almost make buying the truck not worth it...with both fuel pumps, death wobble, front 4X4 wheel bearings being a pain in the rear, no leg room in the extended cabs, prone to rust at the bottom of the doors, COIL SPRINGS, should have kept leaf, driver's side shock taking way to long to change out.

but at the end of the day i can deal with all of those problems because of the BEST dang little engine that could in under the hood of my truck.

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Ryan S.

"The BDR Edition" 2001 4 X 4, 3500, 2nd NV4500, II SO VP, SBC DD 3600 12CB w/ input shaft AND Valair HD HYDRO'S, TSTPM3, Edge EZ, AFE, FASS HPFP, 5" turnout stacks, gauges 319.9/776.8 4/25/09 DUNBAR'S DYNO

[duramaxin14]

99-02 was one ungly body style for chevy i must agree 03-07 got a little better 07.5 with tires and rims look badass

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Snow flake 2004.5 D/A Efi live, And way to many other mods. 2wd sled puller

K&P Diesel House

[ryans01]

to me the best all around styling was in the 96-98 and through 00' with the 2500 crew cab short bed trucks...i'd love to straight axle, 12v, NV54600 one of those

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Ryan S.

"The BDR Edition" 2001 4 X 4, 3500, 2nd NV4500, II SO VP, SBC DD 3600 12CB w/ input shaft AND Valair HD HYDRO'S, TSTPM3, Edge EZ, AFE, FASS HPFP, 5" turnout stacks, gauges 319.9/776.8 4/25/09 DUNBAR'S DYNO

[2B1ASK1]

Me reading all of these posts is a great help to my decision. I do not have a truck yet, but I have subscribed to the powerstroke forum, duramax forum and obviously this forum. You will always get the psd, duramax or dodge sucks at each one, I got it. But from what I have read and experienced is that with the major three, you will always have your trucks with defects.

For the PSD, they went from the 7.3 to the 6.0 in o3 if I am not mistaken and had major issues until 05+, then went to the 6.4 and it's happening again due to the emissions laws (which sort of suck). But overall, the PSD appears to be a solid engine and the general consensus is that ford has a great interior, and the ride quality is ok. But on the contrary, how many PSD retrofits do you see. If you do see any, it's people putting the cummins into a ford.

Cheve/GM has the duramax with the Allison. The duramax from the reports I have heard and read on (test drove a 2005 LLY) say the duramax is a solid engine, puts out the most HP an Torque between the major three, but cost the most also. The truck itself with the IFS rides smoother but is a smaller truck in general.

What I always read on every forum though between the major three is that the cummins is the predator on the top of the food chain. It is the easiest to work on, puts out an amizing amount of torque at low RPM for towing, and will last 500,000 with ease. But it comes wrapped with a chrysler body, and there lies the issue. Almost all retrofits I see is with a cummins going into something else, and on occasion, a duramax, but no one I know or have read on has said one thing bad about a cummins.

I will be making my decision later on this year, probably next year for an 06 not so sure yet, but the cummins diesel is probably going to win me over. My brother runs his own construction company and owns a 2005 DRW CC FX4 PSD and he let me drive it. I was impressed overall with the power and ride quality (I am not getting a dually) but I have driven each of the major three. The dodge seemed to ride like a truck, but knowing the cummins is under the hood IMO is a Major plus. I know I have been babbling, but I appreciate the info you guys share, which will in turn help me make my decision.