Duramax or Powerstroke

rjstractor does have the facts straights on the fact that all ford 6.0L diesels are "detuned" in cab and chassis format.

But they can be "retuned" back up very easily. It is just a PCM adjustment.

Next. 6.0L are not as "problematic" as people like to make them out to be. I know, I have owned two, the first one had 180,000 miles on it, and the my now F350 has 100K. I have not had any of the issues people seem to complain about.

That being said, there is reasons for peoples complaints,
1. Lack of maintenance
2. Using tuners and increase engine pressures above the rating for the head bolts
3. Lack of maintenance on EGR system which causes coolant to boil and blow head gaskets.
4. Not changing oil at 10,000 miles or less intervals per the manual.

If you don't plan on building a tire burning drag truck, a person can make the 6.0L very reliable by buying and After market EGR cooler with tube pass through's instead of finned passages, or do an EGR cooler Delete.
Just doing this will get rid of the biggest frets people complain about. From guys I know who have lifted and modded 6.0L trucks, these are the guys that add tuners, exhaust and crank up the fuel flow to blow black smoke, then blow a head gasket, complain about the engine, but fail to inform everyone of the mods they did.
I just now did my EGR delete and when I pulled my Turbo, Intake and EGR cooler, there was no build up of soot of any kind, it was just a thin black grime.
I really have to wonder what those other people are doing to their trucks when I watch Youtube videos and they pull out an EGR valve caked in what looks like tar. Then the pull the EGR cooler and it is complete plugged. That really makes me think they are dumping too much fuel into the engine and causing more harm then good.

If you are looking at a van-based C, you might be able to find a 6.0 powered Ford. Something to keep in mind is that for the van application the 6.0 diesel is detuned to 235hp/440 torque. The gas V10 is 305hp/425 torque. Since the 6.0 is detuned it's more reliable than the pickup version but still can be problematic.

Bryan that is funny to me. Reminds me of my younger days. I'm not a gear head any longer so I keep my foot out of the turbo as much as possible so in my environment I need as much power and oxygen as i can get just to stay even with the traffic. So, more power equals less throttle usage to accomplish the task of climbing over mountains and staying at 70 mph on the interstate.

Explorer1016 wrote:
More power always equals more mpg. Its simple physics.

Correction: More power = more fuel used. That is simple physics.

Klutchdust, since you already own a Dmax and are towing fairly heavy loads and probably towing through mountains, I would forget a stock gasser. Doesn't matter if you are retired and in no hurry, towing a heavy load through the higher elevations with a stock, non tuned gas engine would scare the bejessers out of me. I am towing close to 10,000# with my Ford 6.4 and drive through Kansas, Colorado and Utah. When you get west of Salina KS you go up hill both ways, then you have the mountains in Colorado and Utah and those are extremely difficult climbs with a tow load even for a stock diesel. Just because you flash a CPU with a performance tune doesn't always make the rig go faster. I do it for better fuel economy and much improved pulling power, ie: mopower. I recently installed an aFe Cold Air Induction System on my 6.4L and had an immediate improvement in mpg to the point where the modification paid for itself on my first trip out west. More power always equals more mpg. Its simple physics. More power also means less stress on the engine at typical operating conditions.

Duramax for sure. Much better motor than the Ford diesel.....I have owned both and the Duramax is the way to go..

I am looking in the pre owned market. I did see some diesel configurations offered but more Ford than GM.

Anyway the wife really is comfortable with a floor plan that as long as it has a slider and a separate rear bedroom is very comfortable with that. My idea of

having a diesel may be not worth it. Basically towing my Jeep or a trailer with two side by sides on it is my gig.

Just got back from a dealer in Fountain Valley, Jim the salesman was a real piece of work, how can you be rude and expect to sell?

carringb wrote:
Neither, at least not in a conventional class C. Ford stopped the E450 diesel in 2010, and GM does not offer the Express 4500 in diesel for RV applications. You can get the RV-prep package with the 3500 diesel, but that will limit the body size to about 24'.

You can get an F550-based "Super-C" with the 6.7L powerstroke. The GMC 5500 chassis went away in several years ago.

This. Not really any selection of conventional class C out there with diesel. You'd have to go a Super C then you can find all three available at least used as the Chevy duramax platform is no longer made

AFAIK, about the only new smaller C you can get a Duramax in now is the Tiger, either a CX/TX or Malayan. Personally after 4 years of diesel mechanic-ing & refueling in the USN, I'm a big fan a gassers; if I never have to smell diesel fuel on my clothes again, it'll too soon. The 8.1 & 6-speed Allison make my 9200 lb. Tiger CX a rocketship.

Jim, "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."

I am a DuraMax/Allison guy but GM isn't building the Kodiak Chassis any longer so I bought an 08 Ford F550 chassis/coach. I am nervous about the 6.4L and would not own a 6.0L because they have a long history of problems. You only have a couple choices, Ford, Navistar and Freightliner are the only ones I can think of right now. All of the above will be in the Super C catagory. The M2 Freightliner would be my chassis of choice if I had to make the decision today.

Host is currently not building any motorized units, then you have the Thor 33' Super C but Thor is getting a lot of bad press right now and then there is DynaMax. They build a nice smaller M2 class C and also they have the F Series Isata on the Ford F550 chassis with the 6.7L. Sounds like Ford finally got the diesel right with the 6.7L and I hear the new generation 6.7 is better than the first.

There is also Nexus with the Navistar chassis. That unit looks good as well but if you want to stay a bit more compact then DynaMax is the way to go.