D-Max life expectancy????
 

Looking into used trucks... hopefully a D-Max or maybe a Cummins

anywho... my price range is around 20k... probably a little less i have found a couple of 03s and 04s but the mileage is around 120k... i'm used to gassers and that seems high... but its not a gasser

i just trying to wrap my brain around spending that much for a truck with that many miles. basically i'm wondering how long i can expect the truck to last. i've heard around 400k on the cummins, but i would prefer a gm so im looking for a milage guess-tamate.

thanks
-josh

depends on how its driven but 120k is not very high. probably get another 150K out of it before parts start wearing out

I recently purchased a 2002 2500 ext cab 4x4 6spd manual and it has 278K logged on its clock! It starts and runs but has a miss issue above idle.

start a thread about it in the LB7 section

mine is sitting at 148k, replacing head gaskets right now cause i like to push things to the max and the 01 head gasket wasnt the best one out there :td:

250,000miles is the supposed overhaul interval for these engines.

Depends on your maintenance. If you aren't lazy on changing fluid intervals and go the x-tra protection step with bypass filtration you will get a few 100k miles for free.

Commercial trucks fleet operators know the secrets to get those additional miles.

x2

Thats just gettin broke in for a Cummins. If you want longevity, go with the Cummins

:nope:

a diesel engine should be able to go well over 250k if taken care of, hell i got 300k on my cummins an the cylinders are in awesome shape

talked to a Mercedes engineer today. Modern engines should be able to survive 100k miles per liter.

6.5liter x 100k= 650k miles Not that bad...:humm:

That's an interesting formula..... Hope you all put it to the test!

Most of the friends I have are getting close to 100,k on their D maxs . . . . .:jump:

According to all the Dodge articles that's what it is...350,000 for a cummins and 250,000 for a duramax or powerstroke...
But I've never seen anything verified by GM.

There is no debate that the Cummins is going to have longer engine life. Most anything in a straight 6 is going to last longer than a V8. Look at the old Chev, Ford and Jeep straight gas 6 engines... they are darn near bulletproof. Same applies to diesel.

that might be a little biased coming from dodge... just saying

Nope, just the facts.

The Dodge isn't the only thing I own BTW. I also have a Chev diesel, 2 Jeeps, and a Subaru right now and have had many others over the years.

I've just always thought that the Cummins was much heavier built than the 'others'. Ever see the comparison photo of the 'innards'? The connecting rod is roughly twice as heavy.
I also thought this because when guys bomb them, they just add power to the Cummins and it can usually take it. The other two have a lower limit where internals have to be upgraded to hold up to the extra power. That extra, or heavier built engine should run more miles just because it is heavier.
Cummins does state the 5.9L has an overhaul life expectancy of 350,k. We all know of them running much farther than that. I have a pic of one from work with 635,k on the clock. Still runs great. In fact the boss' were gripping about having to do a clutch at 400,k. The core of the business is class 8 trucking though, so I guess they were comparing it to that :argh:.

If GM and Ford state 250,k then can't we expect to see a lot of them quite a bit higher than that and still running well? I know of some 400,k + Power Strokes.

It really is all about how you take care off them and run them. I have a Cummins at home with a 'window' in the block. It is so big that it completely removed the left engine mount off the side of the block and you can see the purdy 'inside' parts very well (Especially the ones coming out of the 'window'!!) This poor 5.9L only has 140,k on it. I would think it should have had a lot of life left in it. I found out the first owner meticulously maintained it. Maybe the second (And last driver) didn't? I would sure like to know what happened to it (Besides the obvious!).

What ever the real number turns out to be here: I would not be afraid to buy, own or drive a diesel with more than 200,k on it. I have had gas engines run farther than that (And still run good enough to keep using!). When you look to buy one, just look it over closely. You can tell how it has been maintained. You should also run some tests on it. If it has good compression and gets good mileage, I would think you should have a good prospect and should do well with it.

yes the cummins 5.9 is a meduim duty engine, and dmax and stoke are light duty

Don't get me wrong, the Cummins engine doesn't walk on water or anything like that, but out of the big 3, the 5.9L is the toughest setup.

I've always wanted a OBS Ford truck with a Cummins and Allision trans... other than the Ford needs a football field to turn around I think that would be an awesome setup!

It is simple to explain why they last that long. A diesel engine makes 1000 to 2000 rev's per minute less than a comparable gasser.

Less revolution's= less wear= longer life.

The injection pump maybe won't last that long...

depends on the yr of the dmax, ive heard the early ones having less life expectancy then the later ones, that was in petersons 4wheel drive a few months back. I cant remember the exact reason but it was something to do with the aluminum heads.

with an allison behind a cummins, I think the other trucks drop in sales. I looked at Dodge and Ford. Stayed with GM mostly because '09's were disapperaring and by the time my local dodge/ford dealer got back to me, I owned my GMC 3 days. I told them I was getting a truck NOW.