Hi, I am new to this forum and diesels. I have never owned a diesel and currently do not, but I would someday like to own one. Like i said before U am new to diesels and know little about them but I love the durability I have seen and heard from them, I love the sound of a diesel, specially when they are torqueing, and Just something about them makes me think I would love one. Now to the real question. I am interested in knowing the best diesel engine. Best reliability, durability, power to mpg efficiency, ease of working on (since I don't quite know how to work on them), and ease of swapping. If I cm ever get the money, shop, and time together I would like to probably own a late model silverado (idk what year yet) and if it is not gonna be a dmax then the engine would be swapped into it. Some might say I should just buy a silver ado or sierra and be done and that may be the answer. Won't lie though, the 6bt with an Eaton fuller 6 sounds fun. Let me k ow what yall think, and please no bias just facts and experience. Thanks, caleb.

 

Well, you have to start where your heart is. If you like the Chevy stuff you might think the Duramax is King. Kinda sounds like you lean that way, if so thats great!! Go with what you know and enjoy it.
Being a Dodge guy I lean real HEAVY toward the Cummins stuff but that does not mean the Ford or Chevy stuff wont work for you. Grab what you like and go with it, after all thats what matters.
Also other peoples bias or NO bias are likely WAY different then yours. As stated I like the Dodge stuff so there is no bias toward this type but my facts and experience might be biased toward other brands but I wont think so but, others might. You ask for a MIGHTY task of us diesel lovers.

 

I guess that was a pretty loaded question. The only diesel I have ridden in or drove was my brothers dmax so that's the only diesel I've had the closest experience with. One thing that has drawn me to the Cummins is the ease of the early 6bt with only 3 wires, and the fact you can make good power with a few upgrades and not need any electric tune. I like a dmax but trying to get tunes and parts are expensive as far as i can see and I think the 6bt might be cheaper. I could be wrong though. Thanks for the input

 

Also, what kinda mileage does the mechanical 3 wire 6bt's get? If its bad it might be a bad idea for a daily driver

 

Most times they get high teens to low twenties if using a good tire and axle ratio thats not extreme and you use an OD trans.

 

Ok that's not too bad. Most likely better still than a gas towing. So would it be possible, again because i have little experience with wiring, to put a 6bt with im thinking an Eaton fuller 6 speed, in case i want to bump up power, and like 4.10 gears to get pretty good mileage? What im thinking of is a truck that has good power and can tow like a trailer load of cows and more like on a farm but gets good mileage if i want it as my daily driver. Would it still tow good is i put taller gears like a 3.55 or something? Again, i have little experience with this stuff

 

I dont know about the Eaton. Its not hard to get a cummins into the chevy or ford now days with all the adapters being made. If its a tow rig go 4.10, 3.73 would be good too with a good amount of tow power and MPG, 3.55 even better MPG but you should build it to do the job you need it to. Sounds like a tow rig, if so 4.10 is the best option.

 

I say Eaton because I know they can handle alot of torque, so if i wanted to turn the engine up I wouldn't have to worry about tear up the trans. There may be strong transmissions out there that are smaller then eatons but I haven't seen them. I think your right about 3.73 or higher. I have heard some say that so thank you.

 

The 4L80E can be built pretty strong and so can the Allison 1000/2000. We built performance auto transmissions used in the passenger car and trucks up to 2 ton like the bucket trucks and similar so I dont get a chance to work on the bigger industrial/commercial big trucks with the Eaton's and such.

 

Alright thank you for all your input. Its been helpful with research.