Yeah, plowing is very hard on them. You can count on doing ball joints pretty regularly and your track bar and some other things too. Almost all of the plowing I have ever done was with a stick and it isn't bad at all. Biggest problem is that reverse tends to be slow for clearing big lots. Never broken a frame though and I have plowed with all 3 brands.

 

Ford would be last on my list. I would choose Dodge first because of motor longevity. If there were no Dodge/ Cummins I would go for a Chevy. If there were no Dodge or Chevy, I would wait for Porsche or Toyota to make a medium duty diesel pick-up.

 

A statement was made about the Dodge 48re being the worst of the automatic trannies. This needs to be qualified, the Allison is a 5 or 6 speed depending on year and the Torqueshift is a 5 speed. The 48re is a 4 speed. Just like in a car, the more gears you have the better. The 48re strength and durability is second to none from all reports that I have read.

Oh, by the way, I drive a NV5600 handshaker.

 

I have to search around this website to factually determine for myself how the latest Dodge automatic transmissions are practically standing up behind the I-6 turbo Cummins' strong power curves. The new Alsian(?) six speed automatic transmission from Dodge, that is specially designed for the 5.9 and 6.7 liter turbo diesel engines, would be getting a lot of bad PR, by now, if it was a dog. The original automatic transmissions that came behind the first diesel engines that were introduced into the Dodge pickups could not physically withstand the brut punishment from the engine torque. A subsequent up dated unit known as 48re did a remarkably satisfactory job for years behind the Cummins, even though it was only a four speed automatic transmission.

Cummins has a strong initial and fast rising torque curve before the fairly flat maximum torque curve over the entire power band; therefore, the over bore stroke I-6 can function strongly with less individual tranny gears by starting in at a somewhat higher first gear ratio and with a greater ratio spread between gears that bring engine rpm lower down upon each up shift. V8 configuration diesels have slower initial torque rise over an increasing rpm range before maximum torque is developed; therefore, it needs more individual gears so the ratios can be set closer together between gears to keep the engine rpm at a higher level during each subsequent up shift. Under load the V8 engines have to turn at increased fuel consuming higher rpms then an I-6 engine.

Depending on the terrain, an I-6 can operate satisfactorily on both the front half and rear half of its power band, while a V8 operates most satifactorily on the later two thirds of its power band. On mountain grades an I-6 will pull longer while rpm drops before a downshift is required compared to a V8. I drove a Peterbilt powered by a screaming Jimmy 8V92 pulling a lightly loaded van. That unit covered the distances on comparatively flat Alberta roads like a scared rabbit as long as the rpm was kept over 2400 rpm, but in B.C.'s mountains that unit's two stroke V8 just got tired looking at the long mountain grade inclines if it did not enter the bottom with the rpm over 3500 rpm. I had to keep the rpm over 3000 rpm and went through a lot of gears down shifting two gears at a time on an eighteen speed Road Ranger. The under bore stroke in a V configured engine just gets limp when brute torque is required to crawl over the crest of a hill. Operating a Road Ranger behind an I-6 I could sequentially lower gears while down shifting without using the clutch and very seldom I got behind and had to downshift two whole gears. Dropping two gears at a time was reserved for pulling heavy super B train loads while crawling on steep inclines. Transport trucks do not use V8 engines.

I would not trade my Cummins engine for ten quarantee replacement Duramax engines in a GMC pickup, or twenty guarantee replacement Power Stroke engines in a Ford. If I wanted a pleasurable people mover I would buy a BMW 535i. I don't need a racing vehicle, I need a working pickup that can also provide a satisfactory degree of comfort for passengers. I found that the Dodge CTD is the best all round unit. Every succeeding model year Chrysler improves the creature comforts in their pickup trucks. When my 1998 GMC gasoline powered 1500 needs replacing I probably will look at a new Dodge 1500 gas unit.

 

Just get the Dodge and don't ever think about it again. If you go with something else, you'll always be finding ways to make yourself believe you got the best of the best.

 

wcbcruzer, that philosophy is sound advice. I went through more then ten years of on and off stress trying to decide on the best diesel pickup. It was not overly inconvenient to take the extra time as I was saving to pay cash for a new diesel truck and I definitely needed more time. I first looked at the old style Dodges when Cummins were first introduced into Dodge trucks. My spouse said they rode like lumber wagons. I looked at Ford and was planning to buy a one ton with a 7.3 liter Power Stroke. The engine did not totally please me, but the cheap flimsy body and suspension really turned me off. I had nightmares from previous gasoline Fords with that front twin I beam set up. Our son got a divorce and there went our savings for a new diesel truck. In 1995 I looked at a new style Dodge and its coil link suspension absorbed the bumps a fair bit smoother. I looked at smoother riding GMC trucks, but could not stand the Duramax performance at low rpm. GMC diesel bodies and suspension also did not look sturdy enough.

By 2005 we had enough money to get a new diesel and I looked at Dodge again because I had set my mind on an I-6 engine. My spouse wanted a GMC, but I said there will be no diesel pickup on our farm if it has a V8 diesel. I cursed those V8 gasoline engines in the old single axle grain trucks if you try to back up or start moving in a soft field. Unless you rev them up substantially the V8 engine will stall. The heavy loaded Mack I-6 tandems pull without me stepping on the fuel feed or with the slightest raise in rpm.

Anyway, I will outright own my 2005 Dodge CTD within three more months of payments. I got the employee discount, zero down and three years to pay it off with no interest. I am so glad I chose a Dodge that I just shudder to think I could have made a mistake and purchased a GMC Duramax to use for a pulling truck. Last year we pulled 10K back from B.C. In the Sinclair Pass east of Radium Jct. the Cummins pull the long long grade in sixth gear, and only near the top did I have to shift down because the EGT was getting much to high suddenly. I hardly have to push on the accelerator even to climb a steep incline with a load. If only there would have been pickups with diesel engines in 1969.

 

your past 20 posts have said the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. We get it already. I honestly didnt think it was physically possible to reword your oppinions as many times as you actually have. Why do you need to prove all of this to a CTD site? Come on bud you are preaching to the choir here.




basically, drive all three, and buy the one that feels right. Dont go on what some forum tells you, because what might be right for someone else might not be right for you. Secondly, a brand-specific forum is probably the worst place to come and say "which of the big three should I buy". I mean come on, did you really expect to post that here and have everyone respond, "buy a ford, they are the best"??????

ben

 

Ben, why do you not go onto another brand forum (GM) if you do not like to read the pros (my view) about a CTD. I do not state fabrications, but just facts of physics. I will have you know that I did not even know about this brand forum or any other brand forum until after I had already purchased my CTD. I formed my total opinion about a CTD by being as critical of Dodge as I was about GMC and Ford. I listened to nobody, not even my spouse about which diesel to obtain. I wanted a truck engine and not an automotive engine. It was my own indepth research only that satisfied me. I will have you know I owned Ford and GMC trucks before I ever thought about buying a Dodge. I was biased to Fords and GMC vehicles and it was their junk that turned me off, not what other people said. I am a critical thinker and trust nobody. If you do not like what I write, why do you not write something techical to educate us dumb CTD fans, and prove us wrong with your facts and wisdom. Your Duramax will run the wheels off my CTD in a drag race, but my CTD will pull a heavy load on past your Duramax on a long mountain grade.

 

Fay this is not about the CTD. I never have dogged the CTD and I praise it all the time. Im just frustrated trying to wade through your long drawn out thesis's that say the same thing over and over. Seriously, what took you half an hour to type could have been said in 10 seconds. "I think you should go with a dodge because I feel the CTD is a stronger and superior engine". Great fine good mission accomplished! You let the guy know how you feel and put your two cents in if you said that simple sentence. Thats all the thread starter guy was asking for. Everyones two cents. Not everyones two thousand dollars. Hes not looking for some engineer's thesis; I dont know if you are an engineer or are just trying to sound like one, but I really dont think he cares about the mathmatical equations of how an inline does make mroe torque (yes I said it does, again for the billionth time, read my other posts and Ive never put down the CTD or said it makes less usable torque than the other two engines), how moments act on the crank journals, or why the sky is blue.

Everyone else in this thread said "buy a dodge" but it was YOUR posts that I responded to. I never said "buy a dmax dont buy a dodge" now did it? Find me one post in the two years I have been here where I said that.

ben

 

O.K. guys, I think this one has run its course!