Hey, new to this forum and what a great forum it is. Anyways, im new to the diesel world (kinda). I grew up on a farm arounf powerstrokes and cummins and obviously tractors and such but have never owned a diesel myself. My current truck is an 01 ram 1500, i love the truck but, its not a diesel and thats what i really wnat to get. So anyways im trying to sell my 1500 for around 6K. I have another 2.5K-3K cash to add on top right now. I found this truck for sale locally, something seems to be off because its cheap. 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 Turbo Diesel [/URL]

So i guess my question is should i go for a 12Valve or a 7.3? I know the 12V is bullet proof and i like that but i also know the 7.3 is a great motor. Any ideas on what i should look for is much appreciated.

Thanks:

 

Looks like the listing is already gone.

What will you be using the truck for? You cant beat a 12v but Im just not a fan of Dodges. As long as you arent wanting to make a ton of power a Ford with a 7.3 PowerStroke would be a good all around truck.

 

Cummins motors will last forever, the Dodge will fall apart around it...

Ford Makes a solid truck and the motor isn't half bad either, just expensive to make goobs of power.

 

Agreed

My 94 Ford with nearly 240k miles is in good shape all the way around, suspension, body and interior. I have a friend with a 96 Dodge with 170k miles and he has had much more suspension/steering work done than I have, doors are not solid anymore, dash has caved in, etc.

 

depends on how you treat it many guys around here have dodges with well over 240,000 and they still look great inside and out. what you gotta do is what suits your needs best for examle if you are gonna want to haul people around as well your only option in the dodge is a ext.cab because they didnt have the 4 doors until 02,03 i think were as ford has em in the 90's and up.My opinion is the dodge just because im not a fan of the fords one bit. i had a 99ford superduty 7.3 here not to long ago and only had it about a month or so and sold it I just didnt really care for it at all and i work the crap out of my trucks and i went back to a dodge but i went with the 5.9 and your looking for a 12v so not really compareing apples-to-apples there but i would just find some drive em and get what u want and suits you best

 

Until Dodge got the Mega Cab, trying to compare back seat space to a Ford crew cab was not even a contest. Even when they got their "crew cab" in 03 it was still an extremely cramped space.

Three people in my family all have 1st gen 7.3 Powerstrokes, my pawpaw with a 96 with 180k (auto), a great uncle with a 97 with 200k (5 speed), and another great uncle with a 97 with 275k (5 speed). All three trucks have been worked and also used as DD's. Never a moments trouble out of any of them, most that has been done is changed glow plugs. Have been excellent, reliable, capable trucks

I love my 12v, but have great respect for 7.3 PowerStrokes, both are good engines

 

Dodges crew cab isnt cramped. My 07 has plenty of room for my 5'11" 210 pound frame behind the driver seat where i have it for driving. Its a huge improvement over my 2000. Now i dont see where you said anything about the cab space so not sure why that even got brought up. 12v is bulletproof and simple. Most people that say the dodges fall apart just didnt take care of thier truck right. My 2000 still has the factory vp44 and orginal dash and seats. No cracked dash or ripped seats like the dodges are known for and she is getting close to 200K miles. The 7.3 is a good motor if you're going to keep it stock but we both know that wont happen . Only thing with the 12v is i would get a manual. No autos. Dodge has never had a stock auto that could hold the cummins til lately. Just my .02

 

Skinny brought it up talking about cab options. Besides the OP was debating between two different trucks so we are just simply discussing all possible advantages/disadvantages.

 

I was just saying that oct6454 didnt bring it up as a concern. I always felt sorry for people sitting behind me in 24v. The backseat is just useless in that thing. I think we are all saying the same thing though.

 

Gotcha. And it all works together