Truck Decision UPDATE: Decison Made (pending)

martyn8677 wrote:
... I have generally heard great things about the Cummins diesel, but have never been a big Chrysler fan. While the motor might be good, I hear the quality of the rest of the truck is not great. ...

2. Lots of Dodge owners on here. Is my perception wrong about Dodge quality. Can any of you convince me otherwise?

Interesting post. I will give a disclaimer, I am a Chrysler fan, a GM fan, not much into Fords. You are asking the reader to change your belief system. That is pretty tough. If you "have never been a big Chrysler fan", I think it is fair to ask why? Have you had personal bad experiences with Chrysler vehicles?

A couple of thoughts to ponder:

1 Ford has had major problems with the Harvester International engines, to the point of law suits between Ford and International.

2 International trucks do not use International engines in their big trucks , to my knowledge. It is my understanding International uses the Cummins in their big trucks. Wonder why?

3 I am pretty ignorant on the GMs. I understand they had issues with the Duramax engine in earlier years, but do not remember which ones. Do any of the big trucks use the Duramax?

4 The Cummins engine has about 30 percent less parts than the Harvester International or Duramax, but as I understand, the most common diesel in big trucks.

5 When you say, "never been a big Chrysler fan", does this include all Chrysler vehicles? If so why? What part of the Dodge truck do you understand to be "truck is not great"?

In my opinion, it is easy to find things you do not like in any of the trucks. Some things require a lot of research. Each of the trucks have weak points. But you and/or I have to decide which weak points we are willing to accept. I have read through the years, Ford has a great body, GM has a great transmission, and Dodge has a great engine. So, which truck has a Ford body, Allison transmission and a Cummins engine?