How does the Dodge V10 compare to the Ford V10, I have heard mostly good things a bout the Ford V10, but have not heard much about the Dodge V10. Is a good reliable engine? mileage? Anything else a person should know?

You are looking at a used truck so the best would be the 8.1 chev. the V-10 dodge did not have enough gears in my opinion because I did have one for 14K miles and the reason for selling it was the trannie. Not that it was no good just as I said not enough gears. the V-10 ford after the torque shift trannie arrived would be good. Non of the engines are available in a new pickup at this time. Good luck in your search.chevman

The buyer of my 2005 8.1 Chev, 4.10 (and 5vr) still owns 1994, or thereabouts, Dodge V-10. That Dodge loves to eat trannies (3 so far). He LOVES my old Chev - it's his runaround vehicle.Agree we previous poster about the Ford. That newer the truck, the better engine-trans combo.

Hello.I have 1996 Dodge V-10 in an Ram 2500hd supercab. The V-10 488ci,(8.0)ltr. This was the 3rd year that the V-10 was placed in the Dodge Ram P/u series, 1994 being the starting year. I know for a fact it came in the 2500 & 3500 P/u's. Mine was manuf. in Mar. 1996 in Mexico. Its the SLT version w/bench & bench jump seat. The engine has 280,000+ miles, and is getting tired. It still has good oil Pressure w/o fluctuation at idle, and 11 to 14 mpg even though its 17 years old. It has been coast to coast & border to border a lot, pulling a 31ft, RL Alpinelite 5th wheel. There were (2) problems with 1996 ram, First being the Transmission, second being the Braking system these problems were a design issue. Transmission was fixed and is now the AAmco worry. The brakes I have up grade as much as I can and still keep it legal by California limits. in 1997 or 8 Dodge did improve the brake system. I one thing I like is the Trans-cooler is external of the engine cooling system. NO ADDED heat to coolant. Dodge stop putting the V-10 in California P/U truck's in 2003 or 2004, maybe later, simple they refused to let them be sold here.Hope this helps!Oh! By the way I still have the V-10. Screw California.I had a Ford F-150 from 06/1975, I drove it for thirty years, Just because California said it wasn't legal to drive here, it didn't meet, and exceeded the smog requirements, It tested cleaner than most the P/u's, including the newer one's. It passed the smog test every 2yrs. I did it just for spite.

Not sure of the Dodge specs or reliability but the Ford V-10 in MY 2005 and up is an excellent power plant and very reliable.

had a friend who had one, traded it for a cummins powered dodge, said he could not afford the gas to pull his 30ft 5th wheel!

2003 Dodge V10 compared to Ford V10 | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

DougE
Explorer
Dec 16, 2013
Don't know about everyone else, but my '99 Dodge V10 needed a head gasket and fuel pump at about 100k miles.
john_bet
Explorer II
Dec 16, 2013
johnrbd wrote:
RR24 wrote:
only reason for asking, is I came across a 2003 Dodge 4 door dually with 48000 miles for $12000 seemed like a fair price

What's the cost of replacing the trans?
A factory reman installed by dealer is 4k+. I know because I priced one for my '04.5.
SoCalDesertRid1
Explorer II
Dec 16, 2013
In '01-up, Dodge trucks had rear disc brakes, with Dana axles up to '02 and AAM axles from '03-on.

Should be the Dana 70 and AAM 10.5" rear axles with the V10 trucks, I think. Diesels got the Dana 80 and AAM 11.5" axles, in the 3500's.

Sounds like it should be a good truck, with only 48K miles on it. :)

I would also look at '05-up F350's with the V10 and 6spd manual or 5spd auto.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Dec 16, 2013
By 03 the trannies were very good. Yes the mid 90's trannies had some issues, but by 2000 all the bugs were worked out. I had a 97 dodge conv van with a 5.9L and 46re that had no issues and I towed a 6500 lb TT with it. I believe that year truck with the V-10 had the 47re in it which is more than enough for the V-10! The only issues some had were sensor issues, no big deal, the internal hard parts were good!
Bionic_Man
Explorer
Dec 16, 2013
What transmission is it running. The 48re came out in 2003 in the diesels. Personally, I would argue at the output level of the V10, the 47re would be fine.
johnrbd
Explorer
Dec 16, 2013
RR24 wrote:
only reason for asking, is I came across a 2003 Dodge 4 door dually with 48000 miles for $12000 seemed like a fair price

What's the cost of replacing the trans?
KD4UPL
Explorer II
Dec 16, 2013
I had a friend that owned a Dodge V10. He liked it but got rid of it because of the poor mileage. He bought a suburban and said the mileage was much better.
I owned a Dodge of that vintage with a 360 and an automatic. You don't want the Dodge automatic.
RR24
Explorer
Dec 16, 2013
only reason for asking, is I came across a 2003 Dodge 4 door dually with 48000 miles for $12000 seemed like a fair price
Golden_HVAC
Explorer
Dec 16, 2013
You should be able to get the V10 in a F-450 can and chassis configuration. However those changing from a 6.8L V10 to a new 6.2L V8 Ford find the new trucks get better mileage, have a better transmission, and have about the same power. The extra 2 gears can make it "Feel" like it has more power because it is able to stay in the peak horsepower longer and at different speeds.

I think that the E-350 still offers the V10 with a lower HP rating than was ever in the pickups, and has a 5 speed transmission, so not as good overall as the F-350 with a 6.2L and 6 speed.

Fred.

Fred.
Bionic_Man
Explorer
Dec 15, 2013
When you are looking at something that is 10 years old, the condition and maintenance history is more important than what brand you have.

I drove some Dodge V10s when they were new. Did a great job pulling a boat, but they were thirsty. Power wise, the Dodge and Chevy are going to be very similar. You probably hear more (and can find more) Ford V10s out there because they sold so many more in the first place.