5.9 vs 7.3
 

WIch do you guys think is a better engine for pulling, towing, and racing? I kinda think the 5.9 Cummins is a better engine for making big power. The 7.3 is tough and realible engine. WHat do you guys think? If this is not in the right section please move it or tell me were to post it.

the 5.9 is the most reliable. I always here of the 7.3 blowing heads and etc.

I have never heard of the 7.3 blowing heads.

I think the 5.9 is a better motor. There is alot more room in the engine do to it being a stright 6. The rods are bigger on the 5.9 over the 7.3 and the inline engines are alot stonger than a v-engine.

i have always loved the 7.3s personaly, great alaroud engine, best powerstrok ever made period nothing can even come close. but if you trully looking for the power the inline cummins will stand above them all, hands down

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by the way the 7.3l powerstroke was the best powerstroke ever made, and i have never heard them blowing heads, gaskets maybe but thats no different the blowing a gasket on a cummins

Go with the Cummins. I own both an 01 7.3 and an 04 5.9. No comparison, the Cummins is overbuilt and is much easier to work on mechanically and space wise. There is no room in a 7.3 engine bay. Don't get me wrong, the 7.3 is a great engine with plenty of power and it sounds awesome, but it's the 2nd best engine you can buy. Mileage is another factor, 20-21 mpg on the highway in my 5.9, 16-17 mpg in the 7.3.

I have had several 5.9 diesels none of them had any problums. Had a 97 7.3 that got lemmoned :booo: but the 99 7.3 had no problums.
Stock power the 7.3 was a little better (compared to the same year dodge with a 5.9) But after adding a power chip to the 7.3 and the 5.9 the 5.9 was way better. More pulling power and I would consistently get 2mpg better with the 5.9 when pulling. Empty the mpg were almost the same.
I honestly would take a 6.0 over a 7.3 anyday.

Yeah the 7.3 is an AWESOME engine and would serve VERY well in stock set-up. I'll bet stock for stock you would be happy with either. You get into modding them.. 5.9 hands down.

5.9 period! If you notice when the 7.3 goes south, people don't rebuild them, they replace them with a 5.9.

i owudl have to say the 5.9... we had a 7.3 in the f350 dually at work, was a good truck, but my boss said it had problems from time to time... amongst a recall or 2, the cam position censor, which called it to stall. so id say he5.9, but my next choice would be the 7.3... its a loud engine too

The Cummins stayed mechanical for a lot longer, and has always used injection pumps instead of unit injectors, or the bastard-child high-pressure-oil actuated unit injectors that Ford decided to use.

I'd rather have a Cummins for the philosophical sake of things.

And I'd rather have a Duramax as a daily driver.

I want to buy a 5.9 CR, but I wanted to compare the two because in my opion they are the 2 best diesel engines put into a truck. I agree that the 5.9's engine bay is much nicer to work in compared to the 7.3's. I think the 7.3 would be better with out that HEUI Injection system and then there poulartiy with people who want big horsepower would grow. Then thay woul dnot have to spend 60 plus grand to make them 1000 horsepower.

I'd get a '97 7.3, but purely for nostalgic purposes.

the 6.0's had twice as many problems than the 7.3's ever had, belive me my dad had 2 7.3's and 3 6.0's there is no comparison between the two, all in all the cummins would serve a better purpose with towing, sled pulling, racing and tuned up daily driving, either go with a 2nd gen 12v or the 3rd gen cr

The 7.3 is a sh!tload better then the 6.0. I want a CR

The way my experiance has been so far I stand behind my decision for a 6.0 over a 7.3
So far better fuel milage and way better power and the torque shift is a way better tranny then the 4R100. Does the 6.0 have short falls compared to the 7.3 in some areas, Yes. But the 7.3 was to big of a dog for me.
As far as the HEUI goes at its introduction it was nearly a modern marvel, a great advancement in diesel technology. The HEUI was a sucess for what it was designed
The P-pump 5.9 was the bomb but the days were numbered with the advancing emissions

it was explaned to me like this gravity alone should be a deciding factor. your cummins runs straight up and down with the inline 6. the stroke pistons will always wear on the south pole side. so in my opinion if you want a million miles go with the cummins

THE CUMMINS ITS GREAT...BUT THE 7.3 IS V8!!!:yeah:

MBP. I would take 6 over 8 any day HAHAHAHA.

As for what engine you wnat man either will be a good engine. I suggest driving both and see what ya like. I drove both and like the stock power and speed of 7.3 better but li loved the smoothness of the I-6 cummins so much better thats the way I went.

5.9 is way better we use to have a 7.3 but it the engine didnt last long hauling cattle.... so we put the 5.9 out of my moms 89 cummins which acutually rolled over a millon miles... we rebuilt the engine and stuck it in the ford body, and its still going today. Also my friend has a 99 7.3 with double stacked chips and my 5.9 with a 60 horse programer blows his doors off :U: 5.9 all the way

:humm:

:pca1:

Both the Cummins and Powerstoke's are great engines. I prefer the Cummins due to severl reasons. Inline 6 makes more torque than a V8. The Cummins engine is built much tougher than the Powerstroke. Biggest reason I prefer the Cummins is the fact that it's 1000 times easier to work on one compared to a Powerstroke.

Well said.

Had the 03 ( 305 horse ) cummins with 3.73 gears and added SBE intake and turbo back exhaust and nothing more !!! I was getting 20 mpg with 75% city and 25% highway !!!

Six will get better fuel economy over V-8 everytime !!!! :ok1:

if you want a real good pulling truck stock get a 93 7.3 5spd but the cummins if you think you might want to turn it up more. the 93 7.3 i had was amazing on how much power it had. it had no turbo but was still good

Go powerstroke. I have an 89 N/A 7.3 and my stepdad has a 97 7.3 Powerstroke. In stock form the do pretty well when you consider the 94-97 PSDs were only reated at 215-225 HP. To me it seems like the harder you load them down, the harder they pull. I know a few other people with the first gen 7.3s and they say the same. With the exception of the Cam sensor, the 7.3 was a relatively trouble free motor. Maintence is the key with the HEUI injection system. Regular oil changes and you wont have a problem with a 7.3. Oh and I'd rather be Strokin than Cummin because when you're Cummin, the fun's all over!:tttt::choochoo:

Not when your Cummin for a million miles. :pca1:

Wow brand loyalty...




You should really jump behind the wheel of a Cummins, then do an injector swap on a Cummins and a Powerstroke, after that, hook each one to a 15k pound trailer.

Id bet my last dollar your opinion will change.

I have driven a cummins as well. I do actually like them, I just aint a big fan of what it sits in. They perform really well and are over built for a light duty pick-up, which I like. I think that the tranny that dodge backs the cummins with doesn't do that motor justice in putting the power to the ground.

That all depends on what transmission you are talking about. I'll pit the hand-shaker NV-5600 behind my Common Rail Cummins against ANY stock trans ever put into a pickup truck. Upgrade the clutch and these cast-iron, 6-speed manuals will easily handle 1000+ horsepower while dragging a 60,000 lb transfer sled... in stock form!:rocking:

that's actually a pretty big drawback, one of the main reasons I like the cummins is BECAUSE it's an inline; it's a way better design for towing and working hard. just like any piston aircraft engine, european sports car or heavy duty truck, the inline/opposed engines are the most efficient design by far.

Oh and the older Ford 300c.i.d. inline six was and still is an AWESOME little engine. comparing that 4.9L inline 6 to the oh-so-popular 5.0L V8 for a heavy car or 1/2 ton truck is not even close.

...Then you get into engines like Toyota's 3.0L I6 turbo from the supra....HKS has a turbo kit for that engine good for 1000hp and 988ft-lb torque, at the wheels. No V8 that has ever been produced has had a turbo kit good for that kind of power. The Viper (and the Skyline, again an inline engine) are the only other two vehicles I've seen with 1000hp modifications available aftermarket. And the Viper, that engine is nearly 3x the displacement! That's weak sauce!

how could I forget the Supra?!?! good call. it doesn't require a complete rebuild to get the 3.0L supra to 1,000 hp; but the viper or 'vette V8/V10 engines both need complete engine builds to hold up to that much power with twice the displacement! As far as I know, the 'vette V8's only get to the 1200hp mark on race fuel/race tune and don't do so well on the street.

even with sportbikes, I'd rather have a 1000cc inline four than my 1000cc Vtwin; but my SV1000s fits what I want in a bike.

you're right. I was more reffering to the auto 48Re and such. The didn't perform that well in my opinion. You can't beat a hand-shaker behind any motor though. I think the new 6spd. auto I believe it's the 68Re that dodge is putting behind the 6.7 is decent, but hasn't been out for real long. Seems to be holding up better though. The Cummins-6spd manual combo is hard to beat for just about anything though.:yeah:

no comparison. the straight six is te most reliable best engine ever built. If the v-8s were so darn good then why did they quit trying to put them in semi's in the 80's?? 50 million trucks on the road can't be wrong!!:w2:

I have worked on a lot of those trucks look at an 8v92 driptroit phased out to the I6 any day of the week i would rather work on an I6 verse a v8 diesel. Hino Been in earth moving for years I would almost say its better than a cummins. But thats hard to say or even a volvo 33128 hours and never a major failure in a volvo wheel loader. That says a lot to me.

the 3408 cat is a hell of a stout engine. guy running one around here haulin corn a few year back got busted at over 115 mph loaded with corn heading to the feedlot. his is hot though with twin industrial turbos. i've had two powerstrokes and the cummins outpulls, lasted longer, adn got better fuel mileage than either one of the fords.

The cummins is also a medium duty engine, put in trucks all over the road..

The 7.3 is an amazing motor all around. it is reliable and yeah, it sounds really good. As for mods and power, the 5.9 is the way to go. The inline 6 is how it should be. thats why 99% of the big trucks have inline 6's, they can handle more torque. Not quite the hp that a v8 can put out for sure, but definitely better for pulling. Im a 7.3 guy at heart, but I own a 5.9 and love it.