I have been looking into getting a diesel truck this summer as my 96' Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 is starting to get high miles and unreliable. I am tossing around between the Powerstroke, Duramax, and Cummins. I am looking into getting a 3/4 ton, CC, SB, AUTO, 4X4 but I don't know which is a good truck to buy. I tow an enclosed trailer, MX ATV, and all my gear ( weighing about 5000 lbs total ) and I want something that can do the job. How reliable are the Dodge 48re trannys? I dont plan on doing any heavy motor mods just the usual intake, exhaust, and the Edge EZ programmer. I plan on keeping the truck for a while as it will be an expensive investment and will be using it for my daily driver as well. If any one can point me into the right direction of which truck would better suit my needs,pros and cons of each, and other things I should consider, I would really appreciate it.

* I am looking in between the model years 03'-05' for the Big 3.*

 

On this site you'll get an overwhelming positive response for the cummins turbo diesel dodge ram. Just as if you go the powerstroke or duramax sites you'll get the positives on their favorites.

I've had a ford powerstroke 7.3 and several rams. In my opinon the dodge wins on being a work truck anf the cummins beats em all in reliability, durability and its ability to make power out of air and just about anything that will burn. Some say the Ford has a nicer interior, but the powerstroke 6.0 is problem prone. Others like the chevy with the duramax, some issues with the engines there but not nearly as much as the powerstroke. So... Drive them, know what you'll do with the truck and then pick the Dodge....

 

the biggest concern I was having was how reliable and strong are the 48re trannys from 03' to 05'? Are they 4 speed or 5 speeds?

 

4 speed and very reliable.

 

Where are you located?

 

who are you asking about?

 

Northeast Ohio

 

I was asking Slosh, as a friend of mine works at a dealership in CT, where I bought mine. If he was close, or wanted to catch a plane, I'd have referred him to Bill.

 

I will list my thoughts...6.0L Fords (03-now) are complete garbage. 7.3s (99-early 03) are reliable but really a hot rod motor. Duramaxes are nice trucks but they had some early issues and their 4x4s have IFS. dodges on the other hand are the best all around. Our allmighty Cummins engines (with the right care) will go nearly forever and are unmatched in strength and potential. Just reasearch more and more. You will find yourself in a dodge.

 

i totally agree, just research and you will probably favor the dodge, especially for a worker, here's some links to help you out with the research, they're all one's i've discussed on and i found them very informative myself to help pursuade my dad to get a truck.https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ad.php?t=94440

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ad.php?t=94301

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ht=cummins+ctd

...the third link is quite pursuasive in my opinion
good luck and happy shopping! just have fun with it and test drive a lot!

 

Well I will give you my opinion on what I did. Sorry for the long post. My Friends kinda make fun of me sometimes because I am not an impulse buyer by any means. I do as much research as I can because there are too many people out there that are FOS and will say anything to sell something and I believe in making informed decisions so I get the best bang for my buck. Soooo here is what I did.

1. Asked everyone I knew who owned a diesel how they liked their truck or if they knew anyone who owned one. What issues or warrenty work they had done.

2. Looked at just about every forum I could find for the "Big Three". Compared common issues with issues that people had with Modified diesels. I am the type of person who does not buy a new vehicle every few years. My last truck was a 1996 Ford F150.

3. I shopped for 2 months before I made my decision. I was looking for Used at first, then decided to buy new when I could not find exactly what I wanted.

Here is what I gathered about the big three.... In no partcular order.

Ford
F250 SD... 7.3 PowerStroke Diesel is a strong strong motor. I wanted one of these but was unable to find exactly what I wanted in a used vehicle since they stopped putting this in their trucks in mid 2003. They are out there just not what I was looking for.

F250 SD... 6.0 PowerStroke Diesel has problems and there is pleany of info out there about them. There seems to be a somewhat high number of people that are not satisfied with this motor. Ford is leaving this motor behind for the 6.4. Now is this because of the new emissions or because of the problems? I am sure Ford will say emmissions, but I feel that it is because of the design and Ford has gotten a pretty big black eye over this motor.

Dodge
Ram 2500 2ndGen Cummins. Did not really appeal to me, appearance wise, with their body style. Did not really consider them that much. Looked at a few. Heard and read good things about them though.

Ram 2500 3rdGen Cummins. Liked them and did a bunch of reaserch about the Cummins motor. Looked at issues with Auto's people had and it seems that the 48re is a far better trans than the 47re, IMO (<--- This is just my opinion).

Chevy
2500 Duramax. Injector issues. Over and Over again. Transmissions are really pretty good. I prolly did not do as much research on this as I should have. I made my mind up pretty early that I did not want a Duramax and saved my energy for the Ford versus Dodge battle to be duked out in my head.

What did I buy? Well I am posting on a Dodge forum. Why did I buy a Dodge? Made the most logical sense to me for the following reasons...
A. Cummins is the Best motor available, Followed by the 7.3 Powerstroke.
B. Offer what I needed in a truck. I am not a "Top Of the Line" person. Laramine and Lariat packages are a waste of money for me. I do however like Ford and Chevy's styling more than dodge on the inside. Dodge is very Industrial/Work style and Ford and Chevy are nicer, IMO.
C. Got a pretty darn good deal on a New 05' 2500 SLT two months ago.

I was in the same shoes you are several months ago and this is where I landed.

Hub

 

Well I am unable to determine right now how much money I am going to have. I am going to try and trade my 1/2 gasser in as well as putting some cash down. I would like to put at least $10,000 down on my next purchase. My family has always been Chevy drivers and haven't had any troubles with them at all. Now with me racing quads and traveling all over the U.S. our gas trucks pulled our trailer fine, but you could tell it doesn't have the right get up and go power I want. My dad realized this after are trip to a national in Florida and he sold his 1/2 Chevy gasser and bought an 06' LBZ Duramax CC,SB,AT,4X4. I absolutely love diesels now. I try and drive his truck as much as I can over my truck. Although the downside was he paid a nice chunk of change for it.

My plans for what ever truck I buy will be to put a nice little lift on it to make the truck look tough. Bigger tires and some flashy rims. I am not going to be modifying the motor at all other than an intake and straight pipe exhaust. I thought about a nice small programmer that would not give the new truck some additional ponies, but not enough where I would have to replace valve bodies, torque converters, etc. The only real issues I have heard about with the Dodges was the autos 48re trannys. Mind you the people who have all the troubles are the ones who add the 100+ horse programmers or chips to them and expect the stock transmission to handle it. I might have answered my own question there, but I just need feedback from people who dont have any mods done and how well they like the automatics.

Right now I am tossing between the Dodge Cummins and the Chevy Duramax. Both are trucks that suit every one of my needs and then some. One benefit I see is that in my particular idea, I would want to lift the new truck. The Chevy's IFS design is awesome, but lift kits are $$$$. The dodge lift kits are about half the money and maybe stronger with the SFA. I am asking so many questions and reading on so many forums trying to see which would be the better buy. I am like you Hub, I research and research until I know everything about the product I am looking at purchasing. I want to make sure Im not going to regret it in the future. Anyways thanks for all your help you guys. If you guys have any more comments or suggestions please post. Thanks again.

 

ATV Racing? Cool. Drop me a PM and I will give the URL to my ATV Website.

Another thing about a Diesel over a gasser that I rarely see people talk about is the fact that when you get where you are going with a diesel you are no where near as tired. Pulling with a Gasser just wears me out faster, with all the white knuckle driving.

I am sure you will find what you want and need given enough time and reaserch. Good Luck.

Hub

 

the 48re is a better trans ans will hold up to more than the 47re . but it still lacks a good torque converter . mostly due to the fact that dodge puts way to high of a stall in the stock tc . but if all you want to do is run like a ez and pull the trailer that you have you shouldnt have any troubles. its way cheap to run like a set of 315s on the dodges .

the allison trans in the chevys a strong stock trans but also could use a better tc . me personally i cant stand the indpendent fornt suspension due to the fact that they dont hold alignment very well. i do hear the newer ones are better but i still dont trust them .lifts are outragous for them to .

 

One thing that sold me on the Dodge was the handling. The '04 Ford 4x4 PS, I had, was a driving pos when it came to highway speeds. Towing only made it worse. When I got in the Dodge, it felt like a sports car compared to the Ford.
I put a tighter converter in, and 315 TKO's on, and plan on keeping this for a long time.