Need actual owners experience on which 1 ton to buy.

[ulvik]

I really want some real world experience from actual owners to aid me in which new truck to buy. First off I am a die hard Chevrolet owner but from the price quotes I have been getting they are out of my price range regretfully.
1. 2017 Chevrolet 3500 crew cab DRW 6.6 diesel Allison trans. best price I found on lowest trim level was $50,000.
2. 2017 Ram 3500 tradesman crew cab DRW 6.7 diesel with Aisin trans. for $43,000.
3. 2017 Ford F-350 XL package 6.7 diesel crew cab DRW for $45,000.
All are basically equipped the same but I want real world advice pertaining to issues you have had with yours and your likes and dislikes. Just want to make the right decision for our future pulling needs of around 20,000 lbs as everyday use as this will be my daily driver also. I owned a dually before so I know the downfalls of that in itself. Just advice on particular models themselves. Thanks!!!!

[Grit_dog]

Fish, in short I believe Ram finally got good filtration because they were eating injectors, not pumps, but I’m sure it helps the pumps too.
Kinda hard to argue the virtues of CP4 vs CP3. That’s like saying overall the 6.oh no was a good motor or the 6.5 Turdbo diesel was a good motor. They weren’t.

[nickthehunter]

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but in my neck of the woods all you have to do is look at the rusted fenders and doors on late model trucks and it makes your decision of what to buy a no-brainer. Try it in your neck of the woods and see if that influences your decision.

[blt2ski]

Cummins,

Where are you pulling 14% grades for miles? I pull those kind of grades, most are at speeds of under 40 mph, most are local, ie city, county roads, some are forest service or campground roads, also clients driveways, had one that was 33% for 100 yds or so. Interstates can not be more than 6% with spurts to 8%. HP needed to pull a 14% grade at the weight you are at 60 mph, would be three times what your rig has.

Marty

[ppine]

Fish On One,
There is no doubt that the 6.7 diesel is a great engine. My transmission works fine but only has 4 speeds instead of 6. Coil springs would be an upgrade. The old truck does what it is supposed to and I am used to it. It is going up in value so I am going to keep it until I can find a good used F-150 diesel some day to replace it with.

[Ron3rd]

FishOnOne wrote:
GD,
Then why did Ram improve the fuel filtration in 2013 by adding a second fuel filter? Having said that the number of trucks the dealer sells and the number of customers they service the number of CP3's and CP4's is very little.

In addition Ford improved their primary fuel filters in 2017.

C,
All 3 brands have outstanding cooling systems with really good transmission cooling systems as well. The ram is no better than the others.

I agree with Fish and would not say the Ram is any better than the others. You can make an argument for any of the 3 being the best; nobody makes a bad truck any more.

Like the other said, check all 3 out and buy the one you like the best. IMO the Ford is probably the nicest in terms of overall features if you want a fully loaded truck.

For me it came down to price and bang for the buck. A Ram Cummins in my area was about 10 Grand less than a comparably equipped Ford and also much less than the Chevy.

Personally, I would be happy with any of the 3. They seem to all be about the same in terms of power and reliability.

The good news is you can't go wrong with any of them!

[FishOnOne]

GD,
Then why did Ram improve the fuel filtration in 2013 by adding a second fuel filter? Having said that the number of trucks the dealer sells and the number of customers they service the number of CP3's and CP4's is very little.

In addition Ford improved their primary fuel filters in 2017.

C,
All 3 brands have outstanding cooling systems with really good transmission cooling systems as well. The ram is no better than the others.

[Cummins12V98]

Just look on the TDR you will not find dead CP3's, if you do it would be from someone that is not running stock power.

GM did not dump them for Denso for no reason!!!

Another biggie I do hear some having high temps with their Allison's. I can tell you pulling 14% grades locked in 2nd for miles at temps in the 90's my trans has never been over the upper 170's. Pulling any grade in temps well over 100 the same can be said. My engine temps are kept well below 215 as the fan comes on and within a minute they are down. RAM has amazing cooling systems, I tow 33-35K with all temps in check in all conditions.

[Grit_dog]

blofgren wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
Funny that most of the ram guys touting their trucks don't even have 100k miles yet. And another posting his old 5.9 truck in which the 6.7cummins doesn't even come close to reliability.

On the other hand my '12 6.7PSD has 140k miles which is not a lot but the engine and drivetrain has been rock solid and is used as a daily driver. I've had to replace a couple of EGT sensors and a Nox sensor to date. My cousin replaces several CP3 pumps per year that fail from most likely a manufacturing defect so don't think their bullet proof.

As for the brands the Chevy and Ford are American brands and the Ram is foreign owned and controlled. In addition you may want to pay attention to the number of recalls plagued one brand as this indicates engineering and build quality issues.

Can the CP3 fail? Yes, but at least it doesn’t trash the entire fuel system with metal shavings like the CP4 does. If the CP4 simply quit without spilling it’s guts everywhere I might have bought another Ford. There is a BIG difference in how they fail.

His "cousin" probably replaces several cp3s in 15 year old high mile 3rd gens.
Literally the only cp3s I've ever seen replaced are with modified ones for more fuel.
They don't make cp3 conversions for cp4 trucks because the cp3 s s uck...

[blofgren]

FishOnOne wrote:
Funny that most of the ram guys touting their trucks don't even have 100k miles yet. And another posting his old 5.9 truck in which the 6.7cummins doesn't even come close to reliability.

On the other hand my '12 6.7PSD has 140k miles which is not a lot but the engine and drivetrain has been rock solid and is used as a daily driver. I've had to replace a couple of EGT sensors and a Nox sensor to date. My cousin replaces several CP3 pumps per year that fail from most likely a manufacturing defect so don't think their bullet proof.

As for the brands the Chevy and Ford are American brands and the Ram is foreign owned and controlled. In addition you may want to pay attention to the number of recalls plagued one brand as this indicates engineering and build quality issues.

Can the CP3 fail? Yes, but at least it doesn’t trash the entire fuel system with metal shavings like the CP4 does. If the CP4 simply quit without spilling it’s guts everywhere I might have bought another Ford. There is a BIG difference in how they fail.

[DakotaDad]

I haven't got a dually... and I don't really have enough miles (20K) on mine to be any kind of longevity test.. but the majority of them have been towing, from home in the Black Hills, to the Grand Canyon and Moab, to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, and to Glacier National Park. So mountains are familiar territory.

I've been extremely pleased with my Ram. It's been a pleasure to tow with, and makes a pretty fair daily driver as well.

To be objective for a moment, I'd probably have the same experience if I had chosen one of the other brands. All three are pretty impressive trucks these days.

Drive 'em all. Buy the one that fits your budget the best, or puts the biggest smile on your face. Chances are, one of them will feel "right" to you. It's a little like buying shoes... you can get so wrapped up in the details that you forget that being comfortable is the most important thing.

[FishOnOne]

ulvik wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
Funny that most of the ram guys touting their trucks don't even have 100k miles yet. And another posting his old 5.9 truck in which the 6.7cummins doesn't even come close to reliability.

On the other hand my '12 6.7PSD has 140k miles which is not a lot but the engine and drivetrain has been rock solid and is used as a daily driver. I've had to replace a couple of EGT sensors and a Nox sensor to date. My cousin replaces several CP3 pumps per year that fail from most likely a manufacturing defect so don't think their bullet proof.

As for the brands the Chevy and Ford are American brands and the Ram is foreign owned and controlled. In addition you may want to pay attention to the number of recalls plagued one brand as this indicates engineering and build quality issues.

Not looking for brand haters just peoples personal advice on the vehicles they actually own. I am more interested in newer truck issues using either 6.7s or the 6.6 since I am looking to buy a newer model. But thank you for your input on your truck!

Good luck with your choice of truck and retirement. I thought you already purchased a new truck from the 2019 GMC thread.

On another note there was a member here who recently reported a replacing a CP3 pump on their ram. No common rail fuel system is bullet proof.

[ulvik]

FishOnOne wrote:
Funny that most of the ram guys touting their trucks don't even have 100k miles yet. And another posting his old 5.9 truck in which the 6.7cummins doesn't even come close to reliability.

On the other hand my '12 6.7PSD has 140k miles which is not a lot but the engine and drivetrain has been rock solid and is used as a daily driver. I've had to replace a couple of EGT sensors and a Nox sensor to date. My cousin replaces several CP3 pumps per year that fail from most likely a manufacturing defect so don't think their bullet proof.

As for the brands the Chevy and Ford are American brands and the Ram is foreign owned and controlled. In addition you may want to pay attention to the number of recalls plagued one brand as this indicates engineering and build quality issues.

Not looking for brand haters just peoples personal advice on the vehicles they actually own. I am more interested in newer truck issues using either 6.7s or the 6.6 since I am looking to buy a newer model. But thank you for your input on your truck!

[FishOnOne]

Funny that most of the ram guys touting their trucks don't even have 100k miles yet. And another posting his old 5.9 truck in which the 6.7cummins doesn't even come close to reliability.

On the other hand my '12 6.7PSD has 140k miles which is not a lot but the engine and drivetrain has been rock solid and is used as a daily driver. I've had to replace a couple of EGT sensors and a Nox sensor to date. My cousin replaces several CP3 pumps per year that fail from most likely a manufacturing defect so don't think their bullet proof.

As for the brands the Chevy and Ford are American brands and the Ram is foreign owned and controlled. In addition you may want to pay attention to the number of recalls plagued one brand as this indicates engineering and build quality issues.

[FishOnOne]

blofgren wrote:

ppine wrote:
I have a Ford F-350 with a 7.3 liter diesel. It has been a great truck since buying new. I replaced the brakes at 130k miles. I just had the front end redone at 165k miles, the Dana 60 front axle is extremely strong. I have never aligned the front end or rotated tires but have gotten 65k miles out of the tires, and the truck has always tracked straight. I have towed with it a lot and the trans is fine at 165k miles just by changing the fluid on time.

You have by far the best diesel engine Ford ever put in a pick up. Keep it and be happy!

As good as the 7.3PSD is I prefer the power and performance and reliability of my 6.7PSD/6 speed transmission and coil spring front suspension.

[blofgren]

alexleblanc wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
This truck with the Medium Duty Cummins and MD AISIN trans with Factory Rear Air Ride and factory towing puck system in the trim level you want. 3.42's up to 28-29K and over that 4.10's.

Ford still uses the Bosch CP4 injection pump that GM recently dumped because of too many warranty claims and they now use the DENSO pump. Cummins uses the tried and true CP3 pump.

Pic shows how well the rear air keeps the truck at a proper towing ride height even with full RAWR of 9,750#.

Notice what's in the background? Those are RAM Ambulances that are replacing Ford Ambulances.

You do know that most of the CP4 failures were 11-13 for both the GM’s and Fords, the current version of the CP4 from everything I read is improved and you’re not hearing about many issues anymore, I’d bet fuel contamination is behind most of the later failures. In talking to my local dealer, they haven’t had one failure of the current Gen and very few of the 14+ save for a few with actual proven fuel issues.

I don’t believe it’s as big of a problem as the gospel you’ve been trying to spread....

There was a member on here who had a CP4 failure on a 2016 Ford 6.7L with 9k miles not long ago. It was covered under warranty so it does not appear that fuel contamination was the cause.

It is not a big problem until it happens to you and then it's a huge problem especially if there's no warranty coverage. I suspect many of CP4 equipped trucks will end up being scrapped before they should be because these failures will cost more to repair than the truck is worth.

If you plan on selling the truck before the warranty ends, well it really isn't a concern. That is not my plan hence the purchase of a truck with the trusty CP3!