Dodge Diesel 2500

I just put some money down on a new 07 Dodge. I definitely like the Chevy and Ford better but the difference in price is quite substantial. Especially, considering I'll only be using it to tow the boat and thats it. What is your opinion on the Dodge?

Best mileage amazing engine least favorite interior and exterior but a good truck and sound suh weet with exhaust. Like a 747 about to take off

I just purchased a 07 4x4 with 5.9L CTD a week ago. I love mine. I wanted a straight front axel and Ford has had way too many issues in the last couple of years. GM is IFS, so they were out of the question. That is one of the reason I purchased a Dodge over the other two. Did you get the 5.9 or the 6.7?

(Message edited by supraz on February 04, 2007)

i have a 04 ctd and love it. i was a chevy guy also, but the price is a little high for me. i haven't had any problems with mine, just turned 71K.

I love my 03 ctd, wouldn't trade it for anything!!

its the 5.9 quad cab. Really thinking of upping it to the megacab though.

Mega Cabs are nice, but I did not like the extra 20 inches of length. If you have a family of 4+, I would get the Mega Cab. It is just me my wife and our 2 month old, so I don't need the extra room...yet.

My '05 2500 is officially "just broken in" now that it has 60K miles on her. I love it, no problems... definately a truck. simple body, simple interior and the best motor. Congrats.

Great selection. I just did the research, and went with Dodge as well. The CDT is a sic powerplant.

I think the dodge trucks are great. My dad has a farm and has run a 94 cummins since around 97. It has around 150k on it(probably more comparable to 300k worth of highway miles) It has been a farm truck and beat to heck but that motor is bullet proof. The body and interior are completely trashed but he wont get rid of it because the drive train still does everything he wants it too.

My mom has a 2003 1500 with a 5.9 and it is a nice truck but get horrible gas milage and does not seem to tow all that great. I would stear away from the 5.9.

I have 87 thousand on my 04 and would not trade it for anything. I will get a long bed next time though. Short beds are great for turning radius but I could use the extra space in the bed. Other wise it is the perfect truck.

I bought a 2500 Mega Cab Cummins. I love it! Gets about 17-19mpg. The power out of the hole is not as good as a ford or chevy, but up top it pulls! The ride is probably the best 3/4 ton ride out there. I drove it to Vegas and all the passenger who own F250 & F350's were amazed by how well it rode, and the gas mileage. It got 17.8mpg doing 75 there and back from Bay Area.

How do you get gas mileage out of a diesel?




















sorry just had to ask...............

Diesels run on magic thats how

Brad,

Our trucks are almost twins.


04 3500

(Message edited by SEATTLE on February 06, 2007)

i see all these 2500's with black rims and i feel compelled to post as well.

It warms my heart to see all these oilburners!

Im crashing the Dodge love

Yeah, for some reason I have a thing for black wheels. I just put some on my old school full size cherokee too. They just look tough. Kinda like the truck.....

Diggs,

Truck looks great, what mods have you done and what has been the result (mileage, performance, etc.) Looking at changing some things on my Dodge but would like realworld feedback. Thanks

Probably the best, low risk mod for a diesel is an exhaust system. Turbo back is the best, but may void warranties if your dealer is a stickler. It'll net a few HP, around 1MPG better and keep your turbo cooler for long life.

Programmers are great, too, but an instant way to void a warranty if a dealer finds out. Some programs can be pulled without leaving any trace of their existence. I'd research carefully if you go that route.

Stay away from K&N type intakes. The filter oil coats MAS's and can cause problems. That and the filtering material is too porous. They allow debris and dust that can damage a turbo.

i have an 04 dodge but gas. horrible mileage 8.7 . thinking about switching to diesel.

I'll crash in here with you Matt, just so you're not alone. '01 Chevy 2500HD gets around 20mpg. Just got it and Love it.

Hey rod, did you switch gears when you went with the big tires?? Heard it said it can have some bad effects on your power and MPG. If not, I might suggest doing some research on the subject.

Just a thought.

Here's one more chevy for ya.

Hey Jim,
Sorry just getting your message. I have put a leveling kit, wheels, tires, and a Magnaflow turbo back exhaust. I will probably chip it and call it good. Overall it has decreased my mileage a hair. The wheels and tires dropped it and then got a hair back with the exhaust. I don't pay real close attention, but when I am on a flat highway at 55MPH the computer used to say I was getting 22 MPG and now it runs closer to 20-21MPG. City used to be close to 14 and now it is closer to 12-13. I have to admit with the new exhaust I tend to be a little heavier on the pedal though.
I am thinking about taking the center hub piece off the rims and painting them black. I have one spare hub that I will experiment on, but not sure what to think.....

Intake, Exhaust and Chip makes for big smiles.

DURAMAX ALL THE WAY

phaeton and anyone else,
What chip do you recommend for the Cummins? Can it be taken out when you take your truck in for service? What is the cost?

Thanks Diggs,

There is a forum for CTD on the Carson Dodge website and it appears that it is moderated by someone who knows Dodge warranty issues. One mod they recommend for lower EGT and an increase in mileage is something they label as a performance package. It changes out the air box but not the filter and makes some changes to the exhaust, nothing that voids a warranty. Its around $750 installed from the dealer and customers are reporting about a 300 degree drop in EGT while towinig and 1-2mpg increase. Since our diesel prices seem to be more volitile than gas prices its something I'm thinking about doing.

As far as chips go I have talked to a variety of people and they all have a different opinion. My brother in law loves Bully Dog for his Ford, my insurance guy loves the Edge products and a truck accessory place I talked to uses Godzilla or some similar name. They say the zilla product leaves no trace and runs about a grand with everyting installed. I think I may wait til the warranty runs out then chip.

I bought a superchip programmer. Before you change the program, it stores all of your original settings and program. If it ever had to go in for a warranty, you could resore the original program in 5 minutes before taking your truck in.

Diggs i'm running the Quadzilla XZT 65 hp module. Mine is an automatic and from what I have read you don't want to chip it any bigger unless you update the trany and torque converter. Takes about 60 seconds to install remove it. I remove it before service just in case. It makes a big difference without the chip.

Not sure about a diesel, but most of the time a programmer will leave traces of it's existence. I'm not saying to stay away, but be smart about it. With Gas vehicles produced '96 and later there are emissions monitors that will be cleared by changing programming. Those monitors will take a few drive cycles to reset. If you change the program, then bring the vehicle right to the dealer, the adaptation numbers and monitors will be out of whack. If someone is looking for something suspicious on your vehicle (like a blown head gasket) they'll likely be checking out those values.

Just a heads up.... BTW they are no longer "chips" (though they are commonly called that). It is all programming now. Thus is why you can pull the old info, store it, and dump in your new info. It's also why it's important to get a good programmer. A cheap programmer that drops out parts of a program can create all sorts of strange problems.

(Message edited by guido on February 13, 2007)

Phaeton,
How much and where did you get it? I think you are in Oregon too right?

http://www.quadzillapower.com/products/make_dodge.html

We use to live in Bend. We since have moved to Redding.

I think I paid 299. I bought the MBRP muffler, AFE intake, Module and Timing advance all at the same time. Made a HUGE difference in throttle response.

http://www.xtremediesel.com/index.asp?PageAction=CARTDETAILS

thanks phaeton... do you know which one you got? There was not a specific one listed....

Diggs,
What are the specs on your truck. Wheels, lift, etc...? It looks good, real good.

tyler if you want the edge one I can get you a somewhat better price then that site from baxters, and it if specificaly 04-05 2500s

Sammy,
you are good at research ... let me know.... you are also good at getting deals.....

brett,
35" tires, 18" wheels, leveling kit

XZT

The link you posted phaeton is for the cart, here is the product

http://www.xtremediesel.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=661


Tyler that one looks good to me, and for that price I dont think it can be beat.

phaeton,
i think i am going to order it. can you tell me how you installed it and uninstall it when you take it in for service. thanks man!
Thanks Sam.

ordered it. thanks sam and phaeton....

All you do is undo two factory plugs. Plug those into the XZT harness then plug the harness into the factory positions. Fast and easy to do.

sweet.. so no hard wiring for power either. this is the same one you got right?
http://www.xtremediesel.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=661

Correct same one. No hard wiring. Let me know what you think. Foot full of fun!

I'm new to WW but with a post like this I have to jump in...

chad,
looks sweet... looks like mine (your's bigger of course). i got the same canopy and it has that real swept back look so i found i had to throw 40 lbs of air in my airbags in the back to make it look level. very sharp!

(Message edited by tyler97217 on February 14, 2007)

I was at the dealer last week and decided to test drive a 6.0 powerstroke f250. Wasn't really impressed. The truck drones too much around town and the power wasn't what i expected. Later that night, I brought my ford numbers to a dodge dealer and talked them down the price of an 07 quad cab diesel to the price of an 06 ext cab f250. After driving the cummins, I was blown away with the power it has for such a big truck. 600ft/lbs feels pretty nice . I don't care about interior materials too much but the dodge had a much more pleasant interior. Im a ford guy btw, 5th ford truck in 3 years.

I gotta 01 quad cab and over all I love it. I can't wait to get a cummins though - just for the power and torque/mileage. If I could do it over I would've gotten the 360 instead of the 318 for the extra power. Just hit 85K and havent had any problems. Good luck with yours!

Phaeton
Very nice power boost for not so much money. Thanks for the suggestion!!!

Phaeton, how do you like the AFE intake? Thought about this on my 2500 but hesitant from all the things I heard about K@N.

The AFE is a better system. You can hear much more turbo noise over the stock system. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing. I like it. Did help in throttle response.

Diggs glad you like it. Run it for a week then remove it. That is the best way to tell how much it really helps.

Diggs,

other than the power boost, what is your overall impression of the zila module. Its something I'm considering, just not sure yet.

man i am real happy. i was not expecting much since it is pretty cheap. it shifts smoother and has a big noticeable amount of power. took me 10 mins to install and i am no mechanic. i am sure i could do it now in just a few minutes...
it has only been about 12 hrs and i can take my foot off the gas