Best used diesel 3/4 ton for around 20 grand?

[V45 sabre]

Wondering which truck people would recommend In a used diesel that is fairly reliable. I am leaning toward a 2005 or 2006 ram 2500 5.9l with an automatic.
thanks

[dewalt18]

You're leaning in the direction I would have recommended. Any pre mid 2007 cummins 5.9

If I were to do it again, I'd do a 6 speed instead of the auto though. My old 01 used to tear through them about every 250k

[gmcmax05]

Unless it's brand new, a Dodge 12 years old, ain't worth 20g's

[reddeerguy2015]

Originally Posted by gmcmax05

Unless it's brand new, a Dodge 12 years old, ain't worth 20g's

A low miler with no rust certainly is. Good luck finding one though.

[wildalberta]

I had an 06 5.9 truck. Worst purchase ever. Went to a duramax and dont regret it for one second.

[357xp]

The price of diesels Is why I went with gas. Saw an 06 ugly low rider base cheap 2wd duramax go for 17 g. No thank you. Was able to go 5 years newer 3/4 ton gas with 4x4 and all the options for cheaper.

[igotamike]

It really depends what you plan on doing with it I guess. You can get a lot of decent fords cheap. I had a newer RAM. I drive a lot so I hated the depreciation on it because of high km's. Sold it and bought a 2006 f350 that was already bulletproofed for 6k and it's been awesome.. As long as you don't mind the look....

[Drewski Canuck]

Having owned 3 myself, and my baby brother 3 as well, if you can find a STANDARD 5.9 in those years you will be happy ...er. My 5 speed developed a vibration in the shift forks at 350 K. Most autos had croaked at 180 - 200 K. Still not bad, but not as good as the standard. The 6 speed Getrag Tranny was even better.

The fuel pump on the mid 1990's years was on the rail and not in the tank, and it is a 4.5 K surprise when it dies. Ask my baby bro big zeke. Most were changed on a recall, so check for that. 03 had the frame, not the tank, but it got changed on a recall.

Next, understand that the front ends got soft when the coil spring and trailing arm design came in. In 07 they changed it up and made it stronger, but we are talking about a front end that wears out upper and lower ball joints about 200K, so not bad.

Biggest trouble is finding one in good shape. My 03 is closing in on 500K. Can't say why I would ever sell it. My 07 is pushing low 300's and is fine. The 68RFE auto tranny has been done at the high 200's, and the rebuilt is the hardened upgrade that should go 300 K.

So, 20 K??? Buy one, rebuild the front and rear ends, do the Tranny service and all new U joints, new rad hoses and rad flush, expect the water pump to fail in the low 300 Ks, and yes you will be into anything for 20 K.

Difference is that your Cummins Diesel truck may be one of those trucks that actually breaks 750 - 1 Mill K. That is not a FORD story or a GM story. But it is old news around the hotshot drivers and rig rocket crowd in Alberta.

Drewski

[TylerThomson]

7.3l ford with a zf6 standard transmission.

[sako1]

Originally Posted by wildalberta

i had an 06 5.9 truck. Worst purchase ever. Went to a duramax and dont regret it for one second.

this^^^^^^^ !!!!!!!!!

[jstubbs]

I have a 2006 Duramax currently and I like it. Very comfortable drive (especially compared to the Dodge diesels I've driven). Tons of power and hasn't given me any problems. Tows like a dream.

I'd recommend anyone buy an 06-07 Duramax (LBZ engine), but the prices on these things used are nuts. $20k probably won't even get you one with under 200,000 km. If I had to buy another truck right now, I'd get a gas job.

[TROLLER]

Neighbors 08 GM just turned 500K and he still has not even changed the injectors.

[dfrobert]

Duramax. There is a reason they are holding their value. Best motor and transmission in the diesel truck industry. 2003 and a 2008 in our family with over 600k on them still reliable and they've had hard lives.

[brslk]

Nobody ever agrees on such a question. "my blablabla was the worst POS" and "my blablabla ran 12 million miles and never even needed an oil change"

Bla bla bla...

Ford guys think Chevy sucks. Chevy guys think Dodge sucks. Toyota and Nissan guys think everything else sucks...

If you have $20,000 to spend, buy an older truck you like and put $5000 into it and keep $5000 for any surprises.

[dfrobert]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Having owned 3 myself, and my baby brother 3 as well, if you can find a STANDARD 5.9 in those years you will be happy ...er. My 5 speed developed a vibration in the shift forks at 350 K. Most autos had croaked at 180 - 200 K. Still not bad, but not as good as the standard. The 6 speed Getrag Tranny was even better.

The fuel pump on the mid 1990's years was on the rail and not in the tank, and it is a 4.5 K surprise when it dies. Ask my baby bro big zeke. Most were changed on a recall, so check for that. 03 had the frame, not the tank, but it got changed on a recall.

Next, understand that the front ends got soft when the coil spring and trailing arm design came in. In 07 they changed it up and made it stronger, but we are talking about a front end that wears out upper and lower ball joints about 200K, so not bad.

Biggest trouble is finding one in good shape. My 03 is closing in on 500K. Can't say why I would ever sell it. My 07 is pushing low 300's and is fine. The 68RFE auto tranny has been done at the high 200's, and the rebuilt is the hardened upgrade that should go 300 K.

So, 20 K??? Buy one, rebuild the front and rear ends, do the Tranny service and all new U joints, new rad hoses and rad flush, expect the water pump to fail in the low 300 Ks, and yes you will be into anything for 20 K.

Difference is that your Cummins Diesel truck may be one of those trucks that actually breaks 750 - 1 Mill K. That is not a FORD story or a GM story. But it is old news around the hotshot drivers and rig rocket crowd in Alberta.

Drewski

Fix this and fix that and then make sure to bulletproof this. Sounds like a true dodge story. Be lucky to get 100k out of the old dodge front ends. Best thing they had was that 5.9 too bad it was surrounded by a bucket of bolts.

[BobNewton]

The Cummins glory days are long since past. The dodge pickup has always been junk. Automatic transmissions weren't an option if you wanted reliability.

I'm not saying I wouldn't buy an ol 5.9 truck. But with that budget I'd probably look hardest at a duramax. And for a little higher budget I would ecstatic to find a 6.7 power stroke. The cummins being in my opinion the weakest of all three engines. Cummins is running on a name built 20 years ago. Cummins isn't king anymore.

Everybody focuses on the few trucks that go 750,000. But don't fool yourself. They have their fair share of failures too.

[wildalberta]

People that love dodges are stuck on the cummins name. Most of the trucks ive had or have driven for work or hear about have been years behind. Sure the cummins torque is nice but the rest of the truck counts too. I too have an lbz 06 duramax. They are tough to find in good shape and reasonable miles. They fetch a good dollar if they are. I know i wouldnt let mine go under 20. But look at the new diesels and their 80-90k sticker price. Although i love my chev i think a 6.7 ford will be my next one. They are solid trucks with allot of power.

[harv3589]

My partner at work had an '06 Duramax...just hit 200,000km and head gasket went. Was more to fix that than the truck was worth so down the road it went. Duramax isn't without problems either....

[Norwest Alta]

1991 dodge cummins great truck if you could ride in it
2002 dodge cummins 24v 6 sp manual. My favorite truck. Lots of power, great ride and fuel economy but hard on u joints especially that wobble joint on front Drive shaft.
2016 dodge cummins. Nice truck but not nearly the truck that the previous two were.

Do your homework before purchasing. Fixing a diesel isn't cheap. If I had 20g to spend I think I'd get a ford and repower it with a cummins.

[sako1]

Originally Posted by harv3589

My partner at work had an '06 Duramax...just hit 200,000km and head gasket went. Was more to fix that than the truck was worth so down the road it went. Duramax isn't without problems either....

An 06 duramax was only worth 5g??

[dfrobert]

Originally Posted by harv3589

My partner at work had an '06 Duramax...just hit 200,000km and head gasket went. Was more to fix that than the truck was worth so down the road it went. Duramax isn't without problems either....

Must be an expensive gasket.....

No trucks are without problems. However, GM has essentially been running the same motor/transmission since 2001 I believe. It has only improved over time. That speaks volumes. Bottom line is that it's your money. Buy what you want.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by harv3589

My partner at work had an '06 Duramax...just hit 200,000km and head gasket went. Was more to fix that than the truck was worth so down the road it went. Duramax isn't without problems either....

Running it tuned? I haven't heard about a lot of 06+ Duramax trucks popping headgaskets, especially at that low of mileage, unless they were tuned and getting ran hard. But I suppose you never know. Like others have said, no truck is perfect by any means.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by BobNewton

The Cummins glory days are long since past. The dodge pickup has always been junk. Automatic transmissions weren't an option if you wanted reliability.

I'm not saying I wouldn't buy an ol 5.9 truck. But with that budget I'd probably look hardest at a duramax. And for a little higher budget I would ecstatic to find a 6.7 power stroke. The cummins being in my opinion the weakest of all three engines. Cummins is running on a name built 20 years ago. Cummins isn't king anymore.

Everybody focuses on the few trucks that go 750,000. But don't fool yourself. They have their fair share of failures too.

The cummins glory days are still here. The only true diesel in a pickup. Inline 6, big pistons, low end torque. I'd take one any day over a V8 high revving, low torque, glorified gas engine.
How many hwy tractors you see running a V8?

[dfrobert]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

The cummins glory days are still here. The only true diesel in a pickup. Inline 6, big pistons, low end torque. I'd take one any day over a V8 high revving, low torque, glorified gas engine.
How many hwy tractors you see running a V8?

That's laughable. Your beloved Cummins, Detroit, Waukesha, Cat, list goes on, have all made V-block "true diesel" engines. Not only in V8 configurations either.

The Duramax makes peak torque at about 1600rpm BTW, hardly revving high.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by dfrobert

That's laughable. Your beloved Cummins, Detroit, Waukesha, Cat, list goes on, have all made V-block "true diesel" engines. Not only in V8 configurations either.

The Duramax makes peak torque at about 1600rpm BTW, hardly revving high.

Of course there have been many diesels in V6 and V8 configurations. My favorites were the old detroits.....made lots of noise anyways

So which hwy trucks nowadays run a V8? Not talking about the old disposable 3208 in a gravel truck.

I will admit, Chev got it right with the Allison transmission. And they do make a nice riding pavement truck

[dfrobert]

Pavement truck? Ha. Come on. Dodge solid front end still rides like a team of horses. You'd think it would last though. To each their own. Our Dmaxs have been through the crap in Alberta and back. They keep ticking if the owner does his part. I like to run what works good and lasts. Can't afford to run junk that ends up in the shop.

[wildalberta]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

The cummins glory days are still here. The only true diesel in a pickup. Inline 6, big pistons, low end torque. I'd take one any day over a V8 high revving, low torque, glorified gas engine.
How many hwy tractors you see running a V8?

have you actually driven these new trucks. these new dodges are complete slugs. both towing or not the gm and ford run circles around them.

[Fowl91]

Our Dodge 5500's usually make it around 75,000km before they need a head gasket and new front end. Ford F550's seem to last better other than they usually get a turbo after 80,000km.

To the op, I would be looking into 06 or 07 Duramax with the classic body style. Hard to find, but I think that's the best option for those years. In your price range expect a lot of kms.

[Norwest Alta]

Originally Posted by wildalberta

have you actually driven these new trucks. these new dodges are complete slugs. both towing or not the gm and ford run circles around them.

Your right. My 6.7 cummins is a dog compared to my old 5.9 24valve.

[harv3589]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

Running it tuned? I haven't heard about a lot of 06+ Duramax trucks popping headgaskets, especially at that low of mileage, unless they were tuned and getting ran hard. But I suppose you never know. Like others have said, no truck is perfect by any means.

Completely stock truck and well maintained and he didn't drive it hard and rarely pulled anything. They all have their problems, point is the duramax isn't without theirs