advice on a used diesel truck

PM Bigdaddy he can give you the run down on what to stay from. All had good and bad years. I have a Duramax LBZ and love it. Lots of power and still getting 20mpg with a lift and bigger tires. Likes to drop down quite a bit if you lay on the go pedal to much though.

Yep, get up with bigdaddy-.
After months of searching I bought a 2005 duramax LLY a few months ago and so far I really like it.

Stay away from Ford 6.0's. 2004 Duramax'x had injector issues, but GM stepped up and redesigned the units in 2005. Dodge, well, its a dodge and the only problems I know of is the newer 6.7's bad fuel economy because of the regen cycles until they started using DEF around 2012/2013 year. Strongest transmissions are the GM allisons, followed by the Ford then the Dodge bring up the rear. I personally wouldnt own a ford, but thats just me. I like the cummins best followed by the duramax as a close 2nd.

thks for the input I am also looking at a couple of Silverado - gas driven. there is one with a rebuilt engine with 70 k and another with 120K Again thanks for the input ed

Ed,

The 7.3 in the older Fords are awesome engines. I bought my F250 two years ago and it already had 250k miles on it. I have had no major problems and tow a boat a lot. It's a great engine and truck.

Cummins - Love my 6.7

LLY or LBZ Duramax. Or a 7.3 Powerstroke if you can still find one.

Didn't Ron just have one for sale?

He did but im going to hang onto it unless. But all things are for sale. Ed you got my number. ..

sealark said:

He did but im going to hang onto it unless. But all things are for sale. Ed you got my number. ..

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you get the part yet?

submariner said:

Looking for a used Diesel Truck- 2000-2008. There are several on craiglist

F-250 Powerstroke
Dodge 2500
a chevy Duramax

Any input on which to stay away from or lean towards?? thks for any help/advice given ed

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One of the cars lots I deal with, got a clean 4dr 7.3 in. I would guess its 00-03 4x4 should be for sale soon

Bigdaddy's said:

you get the part yet?

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Hell no the asses said 24 to 48 hours in stock then they sent a email saying shipping date 15 march. I cancelled it called dodge they said a new one was 197$ but 300 were on back order with manufactur with no delivery time. You try I tried several all back ordered. Ill just use it like it is for now. I do have a screwdriver of yours. I took it apart the bad thing is the switch that you cant work on without unsoldering it from board. It works like it is. Like I said see what you can do but dont waste your time.

sealark said:

Hell no the asses said 24 to 48 hours in stock then they sent a email saying shipping date 15 march. I cancelled it called dodge they said a new one was 197$ but 300 were on back order with manufactur with no delivery time. You try I tried several all back ordered. Ill just use it like it is for now. I do have a screwdriver of yours. I took it apart the bad thing is the switch that you cant work on without unsoldering it from board. It works like it is. Like I said see what you can do but dont waste your time.

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May try pm Chumm Bucket, seems like he has a good grip on Car Electronics, just an idea

I see afew things in these post that are not true.. From what I read on the Duramax forums, the 04's are the way to go (LLY).. The LB7's 03 and earlier had the injector issues, I bought an 03 (LB7) Alittle over a year ago and it drove great, about a year later I had injector issues.. Fixed it and the truck runs great...
The LBZ's which is the 06's around 200k miles they like to walk the crank or spin a rod... But they are great running trucks, which is when the 6 speed's came into town.. Some LML's do have problems, its just the luck the draw.... You buy a diesel be prepared to spend some money on it unless you know how to work on it
The dodges are good trucks, but same thing they have weak transmissions and afew other things..

7.3's are great engines but will be somewhat hard to find and are still pretty expensive.
6.0's have a really bad rep, but if you have found one that has been bullet proofed they are great engines.
I have a 2010 f250 which is going to be the same engine as the 2008. If you were to find one of those i would make sure it has had the DPF deleted and a good tuner such as a H&S Mini Maxx or Spartan. Butttt i personally would not buy a 6.4. although once deleted and tuned they are crazy fast but repairs get expensive really fast.

Don't know anything about Duramaxes or Cummins

I've had all 3 at one time or another. The cummins has been my favorite by far. Yes the tranny is not the best but neither is the tranny on the Ford and for that matter the chevy. These trans will all hold up if you keep the truck stock. Its when people put programmers, 6" lifts, and 37's that the trans start to have problems. They aren't made to hold up to the added power, torque, and stress. Even so with a few upgrades the 48re in the dodges will out perform a allison all day.

An inline engine is by far the best lasting engine. Think about gravity on the cylinders when starting. An inline engine has gravity on the tops of the piston pulling down. Now where does the V engine have gravity effecting it. On the sides of the pistons and liners. Cummins is the only inline diesel engine available in the big three trucks. My last truck was an 03 dodge with a cummins it had over about 300 thousand on it.

I got about 12 cummins 12s and 24s valve sume is for sale

Thanks for the informative thread Ed, I am as well in the market for a diesel truck, the boat I am picking up is 6000lbs plus two engines plus trailer and load of fuel/ice/gear, tending toward the 7.3 or the cummins which ever I can find with the least amount of miles or in the best shape, still wondering if 4X$ is a must ?? any input welcome and I do not mean to derail the thread.