biodiesel truck conversion: dodge vs ford

January 2, 2006 3:54 PM

Biodiesel Truck Conversionfilter: can anybody weigh in on the Dodge (cummins engine good; multiply dying transmissions bad) vs Ford (engines bad; everything else ok?) debate?
posted by oigocosas to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

My dad preferred his Cummins Diesel Dodge over his ford because it had more power and could more easily pull his horse trailer and haul things. (This is a Ford F-150, 1995, full bed, slip diferential, automatic transmission vs. Dodge Dually 1996 (I think) 12 cylinder, stick shift, both pulling a goose-neck trailer). He's since switched out the Dodge for a Chevy because for his purposes (hauling horses and/or hay and other loads in the lower Applachain mountains) the Chevy has better brakes. He still misses the Dodge though, because the fuel economy was apparently much better with the Dodge. With the Ford, he had transmission problems, but with the Cummins, there were no problems to my knowledge. The truck belonged to one of my uncles previously.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:11 PM on January 2, 2006

Our company has used both Ford and Dodge trucks for fairly heavy-duty service. You're about right on the transmissions vs. engines. We've also found the Dodge brakes are marginal if you keep the truck near its max GVW. Overall, we've had better service out of the Fords.
posted by localroger at 6:12 PM on January 2, 2006

Rebuild the tranny. Dodge's pairing with the Cummins was the best thing ever.
posted by snsranch at 6:47 PM on January 2, 2006

thanks yall.

anyone else?

keeping in mind the biodiesel conversion, some say the dodges handle this better. and do they have dual fuel tanks like the fords?

does international make the ford engines? hows the reliablility of the powerstroke vs the turbodiesel vs earlier ford engines?

ive done some googling but value the opinions of this community...
posted by oigocosas at 7:24 PM on January 2, 2006

(crappy anecdotal answer)

My Dad switched to a Chevy with the Allison Diesel in it. He claims that it's a much better motor than the Cummins (or the gas V-10 version he had.)

I phoned him about this question - he said he wasn't too keen on the Fords (I think this was personal - he restores Corvettes and Ford is a perjorative in his house) and he preferred the build quality on the Chevy. Your mileage (quite literally) may vary...

There is a guy here in Dallas I know who has converted HIS Chevy to biodiesel and said it wasn't that hard, but that's all I know. I can look into it further if you want.
posted by TeamBilly at 2:41 PM on January 3, 2006

if you, too, are curious, then, by all means, look further, teambilly.

the "vibe" id been picking up around norcal has been "dodge best, chevy worst." after digging a bit, im back to my age-old prejudice "american built worst, japanese built best" BUT id like a domestic truck so that parts are always (think 10 yrs out) easily available.

i guess chevy tried making its own engines for a while which hasnt worked and soon isuzu will make them? international makes ford's? cummins makes dodge's. allison are meant to be excellent; i thought they only made them for big rigs...

i guess im just hoping for ease of maintainence and, call me crazy, reliability? i'm not a tinkerer but i do want to haul things and tow trailers and do with veggie oil and biodiesel...
posted by oigocosas at 9:58 PM on January 3, 2006