Looking at a new Dodge, help me decide!!! (Power Wagon vs Cummins)

2500 Power Wagon or 3500 Cummins

  • Power Wagon

    Votes: 50 44.2%
  • Cummins

    Votes: 43 38.1%
  • buy several tons of bacon!!!!

    Votes: 20 17.7%

  • Total voters
    113
  • Poll closed .

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Also consider how long you plan on owning the rig. The cummins SHOULD have a longer engine life.

My vote cummins.

Ha ha. It SHOULD. But the gasser will only be $5k to replace when it poofs. We're actually finding the new trucks have more reliable gas engines than diesels now. :(
 

ripperj

Explorer
Can't help you decide, but I have a 2012 2500 with a mint chrome grill that I will swap for the black, if you go that route .
my truck is midnight blue with black everything but bumpers and grill. :)
 

bftank

Explorer
i agree with buliwyf on this one. don't count on those commonrails to go 300k. there blocks and heads might, but there injection systems won't.
 

plainjaneFJC

Deplorable
Go for the powerwagon. I have owned several Dodge diesels and currently have a duramax. I would only buy a diesel if I needed the pulling power, and it sounds like you don't.
 

BillTex

Adventurer
The Hemi's a poser...go soot burner or stay home and eat pork...

Hemi sucks so much fuel you will be calling it "pig"...either way you'll have bacon.
 

oldestof11

Observer
Get a 2013 Cummins if you have to have one. The Urea bumps up the mileage considerably and the 3500 is available with the 850ft lbs torque and Aisin trans combo
 

Saiyan66

Adventurer
First off, I voted Cummins.

Here's the deal though. If you don't want to have to worry about things like auxiliary fuel filters and fuel additives (to keep the fuel system running long term) go with the Power Wagon. If you don't want to worry about deleting the emissions system and possibly compromising your warranty (in order to get the fuel mileage diesels are supposed to get) go with the Power Wagon. If you DO want to have unlimited power, go with the Cummins. They do just fine off road if you know how to drive and you can go 600+ miles on a tank of fuel instead of 400. That is big for us adventure types. There are things that need to be addressed with the new diesels, but after they are taken care of they should be trouble free with long oil change intervals just like the old ones.
 

jps4jeep

Observer
Like mentioned plenty of times..

If you gonna do a lot of towing, go with a diesel

If you going to use the truck for lots of overland stuff and daily driving, the gaser will be fine.

One issue a friend of mine is having with his 06 cummins is, after he added 37" tires, winch, big road armor bumper and all the rollin'coal tuner crap, his transmission hates him and the front end hates him. Had to replace the trans around 100K miles and cost a pretty penny to get one of those high buck billet this and that transmissions. Wheel bearings were replaced twice and he also had to upgrade the front ball joints because they would go south after about 10K miles. Last we spoke (about a week ago) truck only has 115K on it.
 

njtacoma

Explorer
I don't think Larry mentioned it in this thread but he has in other threads about cost of ownership. The Gas engines are so reliable now, and the fuel mileage in a diesel isn't that great anymore, it can be a coin toss.

A friend of mine that manages a fleet for a water district says he looks at the replacement costs on engines now as a factor. A new Hemi is a lot cheaper then a Cummins if things get really bad. They now reserve heavy towing duties to the diesels and everything else has gone back to Gas power.

The power wagon fuel mileage is pretty bad though, but I like lockers and warranties, so PW for me.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
One issue a friend of mine is having with his 06 cummins is, after he added 37" tires, winch, big road armor bumper and all the rollin'coal tuner crap, his transmission hates him and the front end hates him. Had to replace the trans around 100K miles and cost a pretty penny to get one of those high buck billet this and that transmissions. Wheel bearings were replaced twice and he also had to upgrade the front ball joints because they would go south after about 10K miles. Last we spoke (about a week ago) truck only has 115K on it

The stock Dodge bearings and joints are lame. Now that he has aftermarket parts on, he'll most likely have better luck.

I've driven a few of the newer engines with tuners, I'd rather keep the stock settings. Trans might be OK if noone Momo's it. Driving a big truck like a Mustang is a sure fire way to wear out everything on it in record time.




I don't think Larry mentioned it in this thread but he has in other threads about cost of ownership. The Gas engines are so reliable now, and the fuel mileage in a diesel isn't that great anymore, it can be a coin toss.

A friend of mine that manages a fleet for a water district says he looks at the replacement costs on engines now as a factor. A new Hemi is a lot cheaper then a Cummins if things get really bad. They now reserve heavy towing duties to the diesels and everything else has gone back to Gas power.

This is exactly what I'm seeing. The diesels only make sense when you have no other choice because of weight or 35" or bigger tires and alot of travel. The gassers need more throttle and some screaming, but they get the job done.

If you can stay 285-75 r17 or less the gasser is fine on the highway.

My F350 6.0 dually got 15-19 mpg tops. My 2008 5.4 SRW gets 14.5-16.5. I can eat the cost of a few MPG's.
 
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