04! 305/555 Just my opinion... Great fuel milage and plenty of power!

 

06! Because I own one. There. Now I am confusing the poor guy enven more. As far as Rail Pressure in the later models, an Airdog or Fass and regular fuel filter changes will save the injectors from high pressure abrasive fuel.

 

Rick...just a quick point of correction here. The 04.5 trucks still had the fuel canister fuel pumps like the 03-04 trucks. 05 trucks went to the intank design.


..

 

And they still suck!

 

Yeah you're right and I knew that, guess I was in a hurry this morning.

 

You may have noticed the trend on this forum that older is better,if that were true,we would all be driving model T's.I've owned 4 ctd's . 98.5 24v.,02,03 and 05.I had the least issue's with the 03,but the 05 is the best truck of the 4.

 

If you're gonna take that tack, I can tell you the '91 in my sig is a far better truck than the 2007 that spends more time sitting in the driveway. Just depends on your subjective definition of "best truck."

I think the OP was referring more to the differences in the engines (Best Common Rail). In that case, you've got the 5.9 or the 6.7 and within the 5.9 family, several significant differences. There might even be significant year-to-year differences in the 6.7 I'm not aware of by now.

Just trying to narrow down the criteria here.

 

I vote 03 to 04. The oil in those trucks stayed nice and golden forever, my 06 is as black as paint in a few miles. But I like the headlights much better on my 06, the 03 I had was no fun to drive at night.

 

Maybe another angle on this subject would be: Is there any predominant problems or issues that seem to crop up in certain years you might want to try to avoid? Things like the 53 block, etc.

 

Hey guys,
I know that some may not like this but my 03 is the worst truck that I have. The 03s are pledged with injector issues. Fuel system problems have been well documented and everyone knows that if ya let the egts climb a little you'll be running the risk of dropping exhaust valves seats. Do a search on long crank or slow/no starts starts and have plenty of reading about 03. That being said 03s can be made to run well and they do get great fuel mileage but to me the pros are not worth the cons. Myself I will stay way clear of the 03's. I like our 05 and our 06 much more.
sorry to the guys with 03,
Topper

 

Sorry as I cannot give opinions other than on the 2004.5 that I own. Was the 1st diesel and has been a great truck. My wife would disagree for the $$ I have spent.. programmers, tranny, turbo, wheels, free-spin, covers, caps,..

The only failure item I have had was the water-pump at 85k.. brake pads twice so far.. and replaced siezed rear calipers.. Axle u-joints were on the way out and was why I did the free-spin.. When ever possible I try to replace a faulty part with something better so I never have to replace it again.

Added bypass for oil and GDP and 2 micron filter very early and think that has been a big reason for no problems with injectors or fuel related.

I also liked not having the intank pump as it made for a much easier job to add the aftermarket fuel pump..

I am hoping to drive this a long time and hand over to one of the kids when they can drive.. Would be a very safe ride for any of my kids.

 

I think with the prices of trucks these days your going to come out ahead either route you decide to go! I saw a 06 mega for for sale the other day loaded to the gill with a 6 speed with only 47k miles for a whopping 21K, i was thinking about buying that myself! Buy a 3rd gen and enjoy the dang thing, keep it clean, mod it, and enjoy the hell out of it, thats what i do!

 

all i can tell u is, my 05 has been flawless. if u look at my sig, u will see my mods and options. with this setup, i can (slightly) pull away from my buddies 03 on the steepest grades while towing our trailers.( we each have the same 40ft recon fifthwheel toyhaulers) his truck is the same as mine, execpt he has 3.73s, and i have 4.10s. the real point to my rambling is he has a SMARTY JR on the 70 horse setting. i know my gearing helps alot, but imo the 05s have ALOT of power stock, and respond really well to even the simpleist mods.

 

The only problems Ive had with either truck were more or less caused by me...

Well, actually the u-joints went out in the 03, and thats a common thing with those trucks. Replaced under warranty. The power steering pump blew itself up...I got a good work out driving that for 2 weeks. Had to plan where I was going because I could really only turn left; wouldnt turn tight enough quick enough to make right hand turns. So 3 lefts equaled my right hand turn!

Other than that, not one single thing has gone wrong with it, and Im not easy on stuff. Oh, there was that one time my 57 Chevy hit the 03 and wiped out the bedside ahead of the filler door; and I was driving the 03...one of the dumbest things I ever did. Still dont know what I was thinking...

The only problem Ive had with my 07 was two transmissions, one stock and the other fully built. Obviously, running Smarty on 9 all the time, and woopin Duramaxes and Strokers, is going to kill the stocker. Ok, no big deal, full billet goes in. When that one went, I was stunned. Absolutely no warning whatsoever. Was going down I80 and went to accelerate; it revved up and that was it. Limped it home. Ended up being a defective converter...

Im still impressed how good my truck runs on an otherwise basically stock truck with Smarty. Others end up surprised when they try and run me!!

 

07 5.9 cause i own one