im hardcore chevy but imho i think the cummins is a tougher engine, i looked at a 96 power stroke but went with the 12 valve bc the mehcanical, but ive owned all three and have not found one that i didnt have to work on... gm should have just started running cummins with solid front axel

 

But see that's just too smart an idea for GM to ever use.

 

when the 7.3 goes in my f-350 (300k miles already on the truck) i'll stick a commonrail 5.9 cummins in it, and back it with a ford 6speed. so i'm planning on it being another 300k till then.

 

They're really all about the same in my opinion. There are a few million mile trucks out there, but realistically who's gonna put that many miles on a truck?

 

One picture is worth a thousand words:

The Cummins will take alot more bombing before anything lets go on the bottom end, that's for sure.

 

those dmax and 6.0 rods aren't dmax and 6.0 rods

 

Ya your right. the cummins rod actually look a lot like 6.0l rods although cummins do have rods that are very similar. the dmax rods look almost like the 7.3 rods without the bottom balencing bulge. and the "6.0l" rods look like dmax rods.

 

Don't forget the Cummins rods need to be 33% larger anyways to make up for the fact that there's 2 less pistons to make the same power with roughly the same displacement.... Not really a fair comparison comparing an I6 to a V8 connecting rod.

 

That's an old pic, probably 7.3 PS rods. But the Cummins rod hasn't changed much over the years for obvious reasons.

 

I do believe that cummins is the superior motor of the three, I have a 99' with 259k on it with no problems and seems to just be getting broke in, although I also have 00' powerstroke with 376k on it without a rebuild and is still running strong to my surprise. No mods to either.