I have owned a 2005 F250 6.0 FX4 diesel now for two years (first diesel) and I have decided to sell it to go for what I wanted in the beginning. I originally wanted to look for a 2006 Dodge 2500 crew cab 4x4 diesel manual (manual for the manual 4 wheel drive option). Does anyone have any suggestions of what year Dodge would be better to get. I love to mod, so this truck will be moded as money allows. I pull a 31' 5th wheel about 9600 lbs. fully loaded so this truck will be to pull this 5th wheel mainly. I will also use this truck to drive normally.

I have been researching different years and engines now for about a month and still can not decide. So I am going to the pros. Thanks to all for your input.

 

I would buy 06 or newer because efi tuning capabilities.

 

OK.. Thank you for the advice. That year looks pretty good in a megacab.

 

The mega cabs are very nice. But if you will pull your fifth wheel, you will need the proper fifth wheel hitch because it's a short bed.

 

if youre gunna pull alot on an auto tranny, put some of that hard earned money into transmission upgrades!

 

I have had several dodges over the years i prefer a manual tranns if you are pulling I have an 04 with a manual and it pulls my 40ft trailer with no problem even with the excavator loaded on it that puts the load at 30000 total I have heard the 06 is a good engine one thing to think about is long boxes really come in handy if you are hauling stuff

 

had an 06 big horn quad cab DRW. the 06 and early 07 5.9s are supported by EFI live if that's what you're planning on doing. the G56 in the later 5.9s is aluminum cased (so it has a tendency to flex in higher-horsepower applications) whereas the earlier NV 5- and 6-speeds are steel cased and generally considered a more reliable transmission but still by no means bulletproof either. in either event, if you're looking at pulling heavy, you'll want to consider sooner rather than later a clutch upgrade - i've heard nothing but good things about valair and south bend dual disc clutches. had a SB3200 DD in mine, with the replacement billet flywheel. much more positive engagement and i never managed to spin it, even with the smarty cranked to 9.

also, the later 5.9s are going to have cats on them which create a bit of an exhaust backpressure issue towing heavy up grades; just about any truck (as in rigs, not pickups) repair shop should be able to get you a 3' length of 4" pipe and some slip-joints to get rid of that.

anyone who tells you you "need" an air intake is probably thinking over-500hp. the factory intake system is capable of supplying enough air to support a little under 500 rwhp. the K&N drop-in filter, while snazzy looking, i found to be a waste of $80. it actually flows a little too well and doesn't filter as effectively as a mopar filter, so i shoulda left well enough alone. intake horns are easy as pie to replace and they look snazzy (and usually have some fittings installed for a boost gauge or meth injection), but otherwise they're only marginally effective. the head studs can handle about 35-ish psi boost reliably before you have to think about the head lifting, but studs are a good insurance policy either way.

keep a close eye on EGT on shutdown; the stock turbo WILL coke (cook the oil) if you shut down too hot. aftermarket manifolds usually have a pyro tap, but if not you can drill it (carefully) with the engine running to keep the shavings from falling into the manifold, then shut down and tap for the pyro probe.

the biggest efficiency benefit i saw in all the mods i'd done to mine was switching EVERYTHING to amsoil. did the engine with a bypass filter, trans, transfer case, and both differentials all at once while i had it apart putting in the clutch. even that was only about a realistic 1.5-1.75 mpg (combined) improvement.

in any event, i'd recommend looking for an 06 or early 07 if you're looking for routine stuff as they're "newer" and a lot of dealers still stock parts. buddy of mine has an 04 and it's getting difficult to find parts through dealer stocks around here with the 15s now out and being serviced (many dealer distributors only stock parts for models going back about 10 years). you'll probably pay a bit of a premium for a clean one as the manual trans / manual xfer case wasn't a normal fitment and they tend to be favored for hotshot-type work (less stuff to break) and people with a need for regular hauling / towing. late 07 is when the EGR / DPF crap got added, so it's more junk to delete and try to hide from the inspection people if you've got emissions testing or get pulled over going thru a tree-hugger state for rolling coal while pulling uphill. good tuning can mitigate a lot of the excess smoke though...

best of luck, and welcome to the Indiana Inline crowd.

 

oh, and if you want the best of both worlds (mega cab AND a longbed), there's always this:

Longbedmytruck.com | The Premier Longbed Conversion Specialist