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Of the big 3 which do you consider most trouble free,i'm talking of the new models. I know it subjective

Engine or the rest of the truck?

Engine and trans

My rankings (purely subjective based off of some first hand experience with one combo and whatever internet rumors I have read).

Trans:
Allison
Aisin
Whatever Ford uses
Non-Aisin ram

Engine:
Cummins
Duramax
Whatever Ford uses

Been driving an '06 Dodge Cummins for the past 15 years, and just bought a '16 Chevy Duramax. Been having too many non-engine related issues with the Dodge the last couple of years to trust it's reliability. So far so good with the Chevy but too soon to tell how reliability will be. The last Ford I had was a '99 F250 Powerstroke so can't comment on newer ones.

I have more confidence in the Cummins as far as engines go, but am really liking the newer Chevy so far...

There are no flies on the Duramax. The Achilles heel of all these diesels is a combination of emissions and low sulfur diesel paired with fuel pumps not rated for such low sulfur fuel. All the new diesels have the DPF, DEF/SCR, and EGR systems that are so problematic. Most of them use the faulty Bosch CP4 pump that isn’t rated for the ULSD diesel with the lower lubricant and poor scar fuel rating we run in the US (not sure if the newest ones have fixed that problem yet).

That's consistent with what I've been reading on these newer diesels. My understanding is the '11 - '16 Duramax used the CP4 pump which was upgraded to the CP4.2 after '16. I understand Dodge also used the CP4 but not sure what years. I just converted my Chevy from the CP4 to the older CP3 pump and also added a FASS lift pump for piece of mind. I'm also running a fuel additive to help lubricity with the ULSD fuel.

Latest Duramax L5P uses Denso high pressure pump and common rail system. I wouldn't touch these new diesels with a 10 ft pole...too many emission problems. But that's just me.

I had a Ford gasser, 460, 4 sp.Piece of crap. Then a Dodge ram diesel.It blew the head gasekt with stretched head bolts and that was about $6 K repairs, plus three injector pumps at about $1800, and full clutch job at $2000. I put more in it with repairs than I paid for the truck. I now have a 2019 Chevy Duramax with about 13,000 mile son it.Keeping my fingers crossed . I am beginning to belive there is no best, It's the luck of the draw. None of them has the reliability of many Tacomas

Drag racing while towing a trailer load of mules will do that.

I bought anew 2018 ram with the 6.7 and the aisin transmission. Engine and transmission have been flawless and with this setup it's a towing machine. I wasn't going to buy a ram diesel without the aisin though.

I'll throw my hat in for the 6.7 Powerstroke. Friends have 2 ea 2015 and 2 ea 2017. Haven't had any issues.

They all do their thing IF you don't idle them a bunch, AND you get them up to full operating temp on virtually every start-up. Short-trip/stop-and-go is problematic for all of them. I'd not have a diesel from anyone unless I had a 20-30Min highway speed w/cruise set commute every day, or had a trailer hooked up daily with a 15-20Min highway speed commute.

@ 0F ambient, my '11 6.7L Ford takes 20-25min of 70+mph highway driving to come up to full temp in the engine and transmission. I do almost 0 "around town" driving with mine, but, when I have in the cold weather, I could drive around town stop and go, 45MPH and less for 90min and not get the engine up to full temp, which also means I'm not going to get a re-gen in the DPF even if it needs one. A plugged DPF due to long run times @ low engine temps means that the "plugging" continues forward from the DPF, next probably plugging the EGR or the SCR injector, or both.

Full-temp operation with full-length DPF regen cycles and using fresh-fuel from a trusted source will mostly keep you trouble free. Oct-Apr I use FPPF Total Power additive at every fill-up. May-Sept I rarely run any additive.

I have ~185K on my F250. Ford replaced my EGR valve under warrantee between 95 and 100K Mi when the CEL came on. I had to replaced the DEF tank heater in Oct of '20. The 1st in line water separator/fuel filter sits below the frame rail and I've replaced that housing 3X and the water in fuel sensor 2x more when they've been damaged off-road.

I'm not advocating for or against any of the big-3, merely trying to give a picture of what's allowed me to run a diesel pickup with all the modern emissions features mostly trouble-free.

In today's "diesel pickup world" my absolute #1 concern would be buying from the dealer with the most competent diesel service/repair staff. If you're not going to use the dealer, then find out what the repair shop you're going to use is good at and stays current on.

Horse1, well said. With our semi trucks, we’ve gone as far as speccing smaller displacement engines (I.e. 13 liters vs 15 or 16 liters), in order to get the engines to work harder and run hotter.

And idling is the devil.

If you want to beat the hell out of it I'd go with Ford.

Highway driving I doubt it matters much.



I really like the 6.7 Powerstroke, it's been great for us. We have an '11 and a '15 both F350's with the 6.7 and they are good to go work pickups.


But that said they are both deleted and that makes them REALLY great.



Horse1 gave an excellent post on the potential issues you face with the emissions systems.

This time of year a pickup might run for 6-7 hours straight with a lot of that being low RPM use so it was a no-brainer to delete. And the pickups are both out of warranty so no risk.


If I had the desire to buy a new diesel it would be tempting to delete right off the bat but it would also make me a little nervous on the off chance you had an engine issue.

Since emissions it's been a complete 180 on idling. My friend's Ford will shut off if you let it idle too long.

Before emissions, I was always told better to leave them running and not all the on/off.

Own 2 duramax presently and have had no issues at 45,000 and 105,000 respectively.


The yanmars we have in several pieces of equipment seem bullet proof. I’d love to see them make one for a truck.

The Yanmars I've run in the Tak CTLs and JD utility tractors have been stellar. I'm sure they put them in trucks...just not in this country.

I have the GM 3.0 liter Duramax in a Silverado. Currently at 10k miles. It is a really good motor and tranny. I like it better than the 5.3 gas motor

How is it in severe cold? Does it start without any difficulty?

Direct injection fixed most of the "hard starting" issues in diesel-land, assuming of course that out of the gate you have the proper fuel/additive for cold weather operation.

Above -10F ambient, I wait 4-5 seconds to start after turning the key to "on". Below -10F I wait ~30sec. FWIW, mine won't even attempt to crank until the glow plugs are warm enough to start it. You can turn the key all you want but nothing happens until some sensor says "Go". @ -20F and below I get a "Wait to Start" message with a countdown, and again, it won't start until the glow-plugs are hot enough. Doesn't matter if it's been plugged in overnight or just sat for a week, pretty much just fires right up once it's ready.

No issues with starting and we just had some -15 to -25 mornings. I did put additive in and have it plugged in overnight. Push the button and it fires right up, sometimes has a 4-5 sec wait for the plugs.

Good to know. Thanks

I like my Dodges, the 2004 has 205,000 miles on it. I had front end rebuilt, couple water pumps, that’s it. I never had to take the 2018 back for any warranty work.

since 2006, I've had the following:

2006 RAM 3500 dually 6.7 cummins manual. the thing was a beast, wish I still had it. I pulled a 16k lb fiver and it was flawless, but I only put about 15k miles on it. Only sold it because I was active duty Military transferring and couldn't keep all my vehicles.
I replaced it later with a 2012 F-450. this thing was also a beast, I pulled the same 16k lb fifth wheel across country..BUT when I got the 4th call from an attorney wanting to represent me in my lawsuit for the CP4, I got rid of it. Although I never had a problem, I didn't trust the TON of info on the CP4, I would avoid the CP4 with all I have!

I now have a 2015 RAM 2500 with 6.7L (68RFE) and a 2018 RAM 3500 dually with AISIN, both are great trucks, and both fully deleted.

Here's my $.02--the EPA is gonna crack down on the deletes. They have already put most, if not all, American companies out of business. you can find the small shops still doing deletes but they get the gear from Canada. I deleted my 2018 3500 but I still have the emissions equip If I need to go back to stock. I'm in the process of trading my RAM 2500 for a 2000 F-250 with the 7.3 (legendary) because I don't have the original emissions for the 2500, and It is going to come down to where the Feds put the screws to the states to NOT allow registration for deleted diesels.

My humble opinion is find a pre-emissions diesel- Duramax 6.6L, International 7.3L Power Stroke ('94-2003 F-250, 350) or Cummins 5.9L (third gen RAM?)

The EPA isn't going to stand still for the new diesels to stay deleted...that totally sux but that's the simple truth

Reading all this makes me want to keep my '03 GMC 2500HD with 8.1l gas and 6 speed ZF-6 manual.

They are already cracking down big time on deletes. I’ve heard $10,000 fines for the owner of the deleted truck, plus the shop that did it gets hit hard. It can also be hard to sell or trade a deleted truck to some dealers. I have also heard they are inspecting folks who get pulled over with a portable DEF tailpipe ‘sniffer’ to ensure the truck has a functioning SCR system. I don’t have any firsthand proof of this but was told this by someone in the diesel industry.

I just got rid of my 2011 LML with about 145,000 on it, and I kind of feel like I dodged a bullet. It was a pulling fool and truly a great truck, but there were a bunch of diesel problems that had (or could) occur. It needed an EGR cooler bypass valve, which requires removing the transmission to get to. Easily a $2,000 job. It also had a coolant leak at the oil cooler, which requires removing the front diff to get to. A $1,000 job. The DPF was near the end of its projected lifespan. That’s a $2,800 part alone. It also has the dreaded CP4 pump that may (or may not) grenade to the tune of $10.000. It already had the entire DEF delivery and sensor system replaced under warranty several years ago, so that had some age and miles on it.

I’m willing to bet that it will cost the next owner more per mile with less reliability than it cost me. For the trailers I tow I couldn’t justify the headache of the diesel, so I went with a 6.6 liter gasser. Time will tell if it is as good as my old truck was, but you could buy a new crate gas engine for the repair cost of some of the diesel problems.

Jesus Krist K1500 your the grimm reaper of diesels.

To be fair, some of the bigger things (DPF and CP4) haven’t failed yet. But...they were due. I think some of the problems get overblown online, but I’ve known a few guys with failed CP4’s. The 2011 was the first year of the LML and the first year of the SCR/DEF system. First year is never good for reliability.

I almost forgot, it would blow out massive clouds of white ‘smoke’ (actually unburned fuel vapor) from the tailpipe when in a regen. Dealer said it’s normal but it isn’t. It is a degraded 9th injector. Good times.

The Ford 7.3 gasser is looking better than ever after reading this thread.

Well, I've got a 2001 Dodge with the 5.9 Cummins that I dearly love. It is currently sitting as it won't start - getting ready to launch into a stem-to-stern fuel system troubleshoot. Hoping it's not the VP44. I replaced the lift pump about 6 years ago and other than some front end work I've never had to touch it.

Any experience with olde 6.0 yo compare the 6.6l to it? Having issues with my ‘19 duramax and thinking about trading and going back to a gas truck. Pull skid steer or mini at least 4 days a week

Yes, I also own a 2016 Chevy 2500 with the 6.0 gas motor and 4:10’s (the 6.6 only comes with 3.73’s). The new truck has more get up and go empty and gets somewhat better mileage. I only have 2,500 miles in the new one and have only towed a fairly light aluminum bay boat. For both trucks it’s like the boat isn’t back there. I am pulling a heavier camper through some mountains mid June. I’ll report back when I do (remind me if I forget). So far, I do not regret leaving the Duramax for a gas truck. Also, the 2021 with Z71 rides better than the 2011 Z71 and way better than the 2016 4x4/non-Z71. I’m not sure if it’s shocks or what, but it is noticeable over potholes and dirt roads.

I dont think you can beat the Allison tranny. I have one in my 05 GMC diesel with 283,000 mi. and no problems yet. I change oil and filter with AMsoil Totque drive about every 50,000 mi. and no problems . My engine runs perfect . I get 19 mpg and about 15 mpg towing my double axle with tractor and concrete in it . The towing is about 7,000 lbs , so 15 mpg is pretty good. I have yet to replace a front end part or an engine part. I did need a transfer case rebuild @ 158,000 , a fuel cooler and some wire harness and break lines so far.

I had an 06 Megacab, 6 speed G56 and 5.9 for 230 K, U-Joints is all I ever replaced in that truck, 2014 Megacab 6.7 with the 6 speed G56 with 200k on it and replaced the water pump under warranty and the turbo actuator, that truck was deleted at 100k cause I felt like it but not because anything was wrong, current truck is a 2020 6.7 with the Aisin with 38k on it so far.

All three have pulled my trailers up and down the East coast and to Wyoming, Idaho, or Oregon yearly. Sometimes two states.

While I hate the DEF and emissions, I don’t baby them. If I drive them they get warmed up and ran. Mostly with either a 20ft enclosed, 41ft toy hauler or a 24ft gooseneck with my tractor and implements on it.

The latest truck is such an animal. The first two were great pulling trucks once they were programmed and such but this 20 is just a danged monster.

I will take my chances to 100k and if after that I have problems and I don’t feel like I’ll get hurt I’ll delete it. Right now, I wouldn’t touch a thing though.

Sounds like any truck will be better than your last truck. If you only put145k miles on a 2011 diesel truck chances are it was more of a want than a need.
A Ford V10 gas engine or GM 8.1 in a pickup was pretty much a bullet proof set up.

My Uncle was shopping for a 5th wheel RV in 2020, he was a lifetime Chevy 1/2 ton pickup owner. Well, once he got to looking at trailers he knew he should step up to a 3/4 ton truck. He ended up getting a 2500 Chevy with the 6.6 gas motor and man, he couldn't be happier. He pulls a 34ft 5th wheel all over the NE with the truck and it does excellent. I don't think it has the total grunt of a diesel, but with the 10 speed auto he has no complaints at all with it. Plus he gets better mileage empty than I do with my diesel. I pull a bit heavier than him and more often, so for now I like the diesel, but I wouldn't balk for a second if I traded into an adequate sized gasser that is set up properly.

GM 6.6 gas only comes with a 6 speed (a revised 6L90). It does seem to have plenty of grunt when towing.