J. O. BUDS

i bought an older 7.3 and rebuilt it. i wanted a nicer truck but knew something would probably end up going wrong, being my first foray into the diesel world

i gotta go with the consensus here though, 6.0s are perfectly reliable as long as you dont try to pop the heads off the block. of the 6.0 owners ive run into, the only ones whove had trouble have been the ones that push them too far.

lim_fc3vert

12v and 24v mechanical injection pump CTD's + a stick is just about undestroyable.
24v 98.5-01 dodges are great but when a lift pump fails the injection pump fails ($1600 not including labor...) so a fuel pressure gauge is a must!
PS 7.3's are victim to heavy mods.... So be picky and realize that depending on how extensive the mods are it will cut a PS's life in half or more.
everything has its pro's-con's but the most simple trucks will outlast anything.

Zack

Show me a 24v mechanical injected 5.9 that hasn't been P-pump converted.

7.3 victim to heavy mods? My friend Bryan set the fuel only HP record on a longblock with 220k miles on it.

xp1ik05

well all this is making the decision harder, i have found a few 6.0's that are a very good deal so we will see, havent found any 7.3's of 5.9's that are in my price ranger or worth buying for that matter....

HondaCRXsiHatch

i have a 03 6.0 and LOVE IT!! truck has 127k miles on it and runs like a champ every time i drive it. like stated before all you are going to hear really is bad about them, how many times do you have some one come and talk good things about something vs going to complain about them. the only problems i have had since i owned the truck is a HPOP (high pressure oil pump) and the only real problem with the truck since new is a set of injectors. i have the original head bolts still in the truck and i think the original turbo too and i drive the S*** out of my truck all the time. 6.0's fail when they don't get ran like grandpa driving down the road and never get the turbo going will see the shop more times then someone that opens it up atleast every other time you drive it. tranys hold up great in the 6.0's if you maintain it like flushing the fluid out and changing the filters when you should.

Slick-Trick

Like you have heard already, everyone has their own opinion. We work on and modify both of the trucks and they all even the Chevys have their own inherent problems. pros and cons, 6.0l can be made bulletproof but it takes money. but none of this is really needed if you are going conservative with the mods. they have an egr problem that causes the coolant to flash-boil, thus making the performance modification of deleting the EGR if you are looking for serious power. Head studs, fire rings are only needed again for serious power mods. The 24v dodge is alduramaxso a great motor manly because it is much cheeper to modify, parts are cheeper and labor is cheeper. an example is there are a couple of mods for the 6.0 that require us to lift the cab off the truck. a common problem with the dodge is loss of fuel rail pressure with add-ons. Just to keep this party fair the has injector problems. now when you get into power, all of these trucks have transmission problems and they all are expensive. so if you really are gonna keep it conservative on the power any of the trucks will be great. if you have any other direct questions please feel free to contact me.

UrGrlGveMeDkBrn

Blahahahah ..you should listen to this guy. He sounds like he knows what he is talking about. I mean it makes common sense that the more you beat the sit out of things the more reliable it will be!

Good Enough

Its a fact that if you dont work a diesel it will be prone to failure.

I work on everything from 5.9 cummins to HUGE Alcos. The worst thing for a diesel is lack of use or constant use with minimal to no load.

Wesley B

.....................

lim_fc3vert

im talking about vp44 CTD's, pre that year are very reliable

Yes victim to heavy mods, powerstrokes are diesel performance poster childs. Who wants to buy a truck with 2 8" stacks, ungoldly amounts of useless lift (blocks should be illegal period!) to be used as a work horse. I don't! You just misread.... i didnt say a powerstroke can't handle mods. They are just very common and most not done properly.... sorry?