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Which Heavy Duty Truck?

Glad to see they finally came up with more than just the disaster kit to address the CP4 issues in the 6.7’s . Conversion kit looks to be good stuff

That is on my short list for my 15 with 180k on it, it's going in this spring. One of my buddies just had his CP4 explode a couple weeks ago. He has always filled that truck from the transfer tank that has 2 micron filtration with water absorbing filters, never had water at the truck filters and the pump still randomly blew up. Blew the whole back of the pump out. He did all the work and had $9k worth the parts.
 
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That is on my short list for my 15 with 180k on it, it's going in this spring. One of my buddies just had his CP4 explode a couple weeks ago. He has always filled that truck from the transfer tank that has 2 micron filtration with water absorbing filters, never had water at the truck filters and the pump still randomly blew up. Blew the whole back of the pump out. He did all the work and had $9k worth the parts.
Oof. That’s rough. It’s on mine as well. I do have the disaster kit in mine so hopefully if it does go, that saves my fuel system. I only have 110k on my 16 but none the less, It’s worth the piece of mind.
 
Oof. That’s rough. It’s on mine as well. I do have the disaster kit in mine so hopefully if it does go, that saves my fuel system. I only have 110k on my 16 but none the less, It’s worth the piece of mind.
The local 6.7 guy was not a huge fan of them. He said it only works most of the time if there is a bearing failure that doesn't blow the case apart. He said the last few years when they come in, there coming in with the back of the pump blown out. He said if it breaks the pump case it's a full job. When my buddies did it, the engine was locked up from the pump. They had to unbolt the gear off the front of the pump.
 
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The local 6.7 guy was not a huge fan of them. He said it only works most of the time if there is a bearing failure that doesn't blow the case apart. He said the last few years when they come in, there coming in with the back of the pump blown out. He said if it breaks the pump case it's a full job. When my buddies did it, the engine was locked up from the pump. They had to unbolt the gear off the front of the pump.
I knew it wasn’t 100% full proof, but alesst have a better shot at not having to replace the full system. I didn’t know they were blowing the whole pump apart. Either way. That conversation kit is in my not to distant future.
 
I knew it wasn’t 100% full proof, but alesst have a better shot at not having to replace the full system. I didn’t know they were blowing the whole pump apart. Either way. That conversation kit is in my not to distant future.
I wish that new DCR pump would’ve been available when my cp4 took a shit I would’ve had it put in.
 
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The rpm won't kill anything. My Duramax runs 3500rpm pulling up hills at full boost. My 6.0 gasser will pull the same hills at the same speed at 5000rpm.
What kills me is that the new diesels are rated for peak torque where they will never run. The TCM does it's best to keep you above peak torque because they know it will break if it is trying to make full power under a big load down at 1500-1700rpm.

Low rpm kills parts. Combustion pressure vs time. Lugging a motor will break pistons. This is why gassers are all setup to make peak torque up at 4000rpm and carry up to peak horsepower at 5500+.


The drag race guys that are pushing 3000hp on boosted big blocks figured it out a long time ago. They can make 70psi of boost at 8000rpm and keep a motor alive for thousands of miles. That same motor will blow rods out of the block if it hits 50psi at 3000rpm.


Where the diesel will kill you is any issues are big $. If mine comes out of the shop with a sub $5k bill it's a win. Just had injectors done, that was $6k. My buddies Ford blew up a cp4 pump and it was $15k at the Ford dealer for a new fuel system from the tank to injectors. No warranty if he only did the $2000 fuel pump as they send metal through the entire system.
I was talking to an old rock truck driver that hauled masonary stone from the quarry and he said pulling a hill loaded with twelve tons of rock wound up to his rev limiter, he never lost an engine, it was always coming down the other side as soon as he had let off was when an engine would let go, everytime.
 
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I was talking to an old rock truck driver that hauled masonary stone from the quarry and he said pulling a hill loaded with twelve tons of rock wound up to his rev limiter, he never lost an engine, it was always coming down the other side as soon as he had let off was when an engine would let go, everytime.

That's not even remotely in the same class. Most of those bigger engines are de-fueling before 1500rpm. When I drove dump truck it was a boring 800-1200rpm window, and it was 13 shifts to make 55mph.

Engines don't like living on the rev limiter, but they're fine everywhere under it. Maintaining a steady rpm with throttle is different than the engine bouncing rpm up and down on a limiter. The inertia of the parts all changing direction from accel to decel breaks parts eventually.

Now, if he had his Jake on and was transitioning from full throttle to full brake, he could have revved them past normal fuel cut and just spun them apart.


I've also seen those big truck engines still running with broken cranks. There's a good possibility he broke them and there were problems started long before they blew apart every time.


But then again, they always say an engine runs best right before it blows up. 🤣
 
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I agree with that, but, his truck is paid off vs purchasing a new truck and acquiring that $800+ monthly payment. In his position. Which I was in a number of years ago, I installed gears and hauled my trailer for years. It worked for what I needed at the time. In 2017 i purchased a new 2016 F250 6.7 PS and it was obviously night and day in regards to towing, but it came with a $970 monthly payment (now paid off) but none the less, the decision he goes will be dictated by his financial limitations.

Sometimes it’s just cheaper to work with what you have. Trucks now days are dang near a mortgage payment..

Totally understand the cost. That's why I wouldn't even do gears.

Unless Dodge changed, there were only 3.73 and 4.10/4.11 available in the 2500.

What was your old truck?
A 90s 200hp V8 that started out as a 4 speed with only 3 usable gears towing would greatly benefit from changing 3.08 or 3.23 to a 4.11 or 4.56.
We now have giant torque curves higher in the rpm range and much more reliable trucks with 2-3 more gears.


I have used my BILs 12 RAM 2500 5.7 hemi with 6 speed to tow a 12000lb enclosed. It did just fine without losing speed up the hills or overheating. He bought it to tow a 38' camper and put about 75k on it all over the upper northwest before selling the camper.

The truck is just fine to do it. Guys just get scared of rpm like it's the 1970s.
 
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I'd never own a Chevy, but Dodge makes some nice trucks. The interior on my stepdads 2020 Ram 1500 is really nice, has a huge 12" screen.
 
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really nice, has a huge 12" screen.

Exactly why I'm never buying a new truck.

I spent $750 on a radio and another $350 on parts to keep the rest of the truck operational.

Realizing how integrated and expensive those screens are (mine was just a 7" touch screen). I'm not having a $3000 radio that can brick the entire truck.


But, I'm also upset my truck has carpet. All my others have vinyl that can be hosed out.

I want a modern drivetrain in a 1970s era interior. Is that asking too much?
 
Exactly why I'm never buying a new truck.

I spent $750 on a radio and another $350 on parts to keep the rest of the truck operational.

Realizing how integrated and expensive those screens are (mine was just a 7" touch screen). I'm not having a $3000 radio that can brick the entire truck.


But, I'm also upset my truck has carpet. All my others have vinyl that can be hosed out.

I want a modern drivetrain in a 1970s era interior. Is that asking too much?
$750 on a radio? now thats a rip off.
 
Back when I was able to do all of my own repair work, I drove a F-250 diesel.
Mainly because I wasn't rodeo hand enough to drive a Dodge, and wasn't good enough mechanic to drive a Chev.

(Current company vehicle is GMC Yukon w/ 3.0 Dmax)
 
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My heads spinning trying to figure out my best move forward, LOL.

BTW I forgot to mention I payed 2000-ish dollars for a extended warranty when I bought my truck 7.5 years ago. Now I wish I hadn't because no problems until this one annoyance. Of course if I hadn't something would have happened past the standard 3 year bumper to bumper, right?!

During Christmas I was thinking to myself, well what if I start putting money into my truck and something major blows up like engine or trans shortly after and all of a sudden I have to spend another $10 grand or so to get it fixed. Then I thought, well I can afford a new 2500 gas truck, like one with a 10 speed trans and 3 warranty such as the Chevy 6.6L.
Then on Christmas day while on the drive over to see my kids there sat on the side of the rode a late model Chevy truck, LOL, looked like a 2020 to 2023. Still there the next morning too!

Man it pisses me off they don't make expensive stuff like this, regardless of brand, with better quality!
 
My heads spinning trying to figure out my best move forward, LOL.

BTW I forgot to mention I payed 2000-ish dollars for a extended warranty when I bought my truck 7.5 years ago. Now I wish I hadn't because no problems until this one annoyance. Of course if I hadn't something would have happened past the standard 3 year bumper to bumper, right?!

During Christmas I was thinking to myself, well what if I start putting money into my truck and something major blows up like engine or trans shortly after and all of a sudden I have to spend another $10 grand or so to get it fixed. Then I thought, well I can afford a new 2500 gas truck, like one with a 10 speed trans and 3 warranty such as the Chevy 6.6L.
Then on Christmas day while on the drive over to see my kids there sat on the side of the rode a late model Chevy truck, LOL, looked like a 2020 to 2023. Still there the next morning too!

Man it pisses me off they don't make expensive stuff like this, regardless of brand, with better quality!

Gears ain’t that pricey. Slap some gears in it, and run it. Even if you had to replace the engine at some point, it still would be cheaper than an $85k truck and $1000 monthly payment
 
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My heads spinning trying to figure out my best move forward, LOL.

BTW I forgot to mention I payed 2000-ish dollars for a extended warranty when I bought my truck 7.5 years ago. Now I wish I hadn't because no problems until this one annoyance. Of course if I hadn't something would have happened past the standard 3 year bumper to bumper, right?!

During Christmas I was thinking to myself, well what if I start putting money into my truck and something major blows up like engine or trans shortly after and all of a sudden I have to spend another $10 grand or so to get it fixed. Then I thought, well I can afford a new 2500 gas truck, like one with a 10 speed trans and 3 warranty such as the Chevy 6.6L.
Then on Christmas day while on the drive over to see my kids there sat on the side of the rode a late model Chevy truck, LOL, looked like a 2020 to 2023. Still there the next morning too!

Man it pisses me off they don't make expensive stuff like this, regardless of brand, with better quality!

One of the guys just toasted a trans in one of our 22s. 107k miles and it spit out a seal and dumped the fluid.


They all break. I swear it's dumb luck more than anything.


You have a 16 with 32k. It's going to last another 100k with normal maintenance even if you run it up to 5500rpm towing.

The main failure mode of the hemi is cams and lifters failing from inadequate oiling at low rpm.
 
One of the guys just toasted a trans in one of our 22s. 107k miles and it spit out a seal and dumped the fluid.


They all break. I swear it's dumb luck more than anything.


You have a 16 with 32k. It's going to last another 100k with normal maintenance even if you run it up to 5500rpm towing.

The main failure mode of the hemi is cams and lifters failing from inadequate oiling at low rpm.

It only got 32k miles on it??? Pfft, things barely broke in..

Put gears in it and be done with it. You’ll have that truck for years to come. 32k is nothing
 
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WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Truck engine maker Cummins Inc (CMI.N) has agreed in principle to pay a $1.675 billion penalty for installing emissions defeat devices on hundreds of thousands of engines, the largest-ever penalty for a Clean Air Act violation, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

The Department said Cummins allegedly installed defeat devices on 630,000 2013-2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 pickup truck engines and undisclosed auxiliary emission control devices on 330,000 2019-2023 RAM 2500 and 3500 pickup truck engines.


 
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I need some advice guys!

I bought my truck new and I've had a good experience with my 2016 Dodge Ram 4x4 2500 with 6.4 gas engine and 6 speed automatic. No problems and it pulled my 23ft travel trailer fine. Only has 32,000 miles though.

Now the dilemma. I bought a 30ft Cougar half ton 5th wheel earlier this year. Seemed on paper it'd pull it fine. Well it does until I hit a steep hill. The darn trans then goes from 2500 RPM all the way 4500 shifting what seems like 3 gears lower, grrr. If it went one or two gears lower I think I could live with it, and I sense that the truck would still pull one or two gears down much of the time on a hill, but its stupid how the trans suffers an "either" "or" on those hills?!

So I'm thinking I better upgrade with something about the same mileage but a little newer and pulls better.

Anyway, I imagine a bunch of you guys either own, or have friends and relatives, that have knowledge of which 2018-2022/2500 4x4 people have had the best luck with. This time I think I should probably get a diesel.

Thanks for any help!

I thought about this, and I thought about that(see my comments in this thread), then I thought well what if I throw more money into my Dodge and something major goes wrong on top of that money spent. Plus what if I still wasn't satisfied with how it pulled the 5th wheel.

So I searched for new trucks but man a $100,000 OTD for what I wanted. I test drove all brands so I narrowed it down to a F250. Then I decided to settle for a new Ford XL diesel at approx $70,000 OTD and to trade in my truck. My awesome wife has watched me mull over this whole dilemma from the beginning because she works from home right next to me as I'm on my computer.
Long story short a couple weeks ago she out of the blue offered to pull some money out of her investments to help out so I could get a truck like I wanted.

I found this one and drove all the way up to Pocatello ID to get it two days ago. A 2023 with 2000 miles on it, high output diesel/500HP 1200 lbs torque(over kill), Tremer, 35" Wranglers, 5th wheel prep, etc, pretty loaded. Got it for about 20% less than the $99,000 of its original OTD price of May last year. They offered a discount on it so I got a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty with zero deductible in case something goes wrong.

Thanks for all the help again.
image000000001004(1).jpg
 
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Remember that time around with WV It started at 2.8billon ,but amounted to 33 and change , of course being a foreign automaker , it did not end with a slap on the wrist like Cummins, they literaly to dole out 15.3$billion in US to 475k WV owners. So will have wait for the tally given its similar numbers of affected cars


In April 2017, a US federal judge ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine for "rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests".[44] Winterkorn was charged in the United States with fraud and conspiracy on 3 May 2018.[15] As of 1 June 2020, the scandal had cost VW $33.3 billion in fines, penalties, financial settlements and buyback costs
 
That is on my short list for my 15 with 180k on it, it's going in this spring. One of my buddies just had his CP4 explode a couple weeks ago. He has always filled that truck from the transfer tank that has 2 micron filtration with water absorbing filters, never had water at the truck filters and the pump still randomly blew up. Blew the whole back of the pump out. He did all the work and had $9k worth the parts.

Went ahead and had this kit installed on mine. Just picked it up from the shop. Wanted to get ahead of the CP4 failure. Ain’t into getting stranded somewhere with a $12,000+ repair bill. Figured it was well worth it to do it now. Installed the disaster kit at 95k and the S&S CP4 to DCR Conversion at 115k. 100% worth the peace of mind.
 
I thought about this, and I thought about that(see my comments in this thread), then I thought well what if I throw more money into my Dodge and something major goes wrong on top of that money spent. Plus what if I still wasn't satisfied with how it pulled the 5th wheel.

So I searched for new trucks but man a $100,000 OTD for what I wanted. I test drove all brands so I narrowed it down to a F250. Then I decided to settle for a new Ford XL diesel at approx $70,000 OTD and to trade in my truck. My awesome wife has watched me mull over this whole dilemma from the beginning because she works from home right next to me as I'm on my computer.
Long story short a couple weeks ago she out of the blue offered to pull some money out of her investments to help out so I could get a truck like I wanted.

I found this one and drove all the way up to Pocatello ID to get it two days ago. A 2023 with 2000 miles on it, high output diesel/500HP 1200 lbs torque(over kill), Tremer, 35" Wranglers, 5th wheel prep, etc, pretty loaded. Got it for about 20% less than the $99,000 of its original OTD price of May last year. They offered a discount on it so I got a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty with zero deductible in case something goes wrong.

Thanks for all the help again.
View attachment 8341103

Great choice. Don’t think you’ll be disappointed even a little. Ford makes a strong truck and the 6.7 is a beast.
 
Went ahead and had this kit installed on mine. Just picked it up from the shop. Wanted to get ahead of the CP4 failure. Ain’t into getting stranded somewhere with a $12,000+ repair bill. Figured it was well worth it to do it now. Installed the disaster kit at 95k and the S&S CP4 to DCR Conversion at 115k. 100% worth the peace of mind.
I got my truck back yesterday from getting the DCR installed. Now I just need to do body mounts.

Something the mechanic said to was that most of the trucks that come in with blown up CP4 pumps have bed mounted tanks. My buddy did and filtered all his fuel and changed that filter every 3 months. They run 400-500 gallons of fuel through that tank a week also.