Might have to move up to older Duramax. Advice?

Understood. Quickest way to eat up that new business bottom line is a few skyrocketing liability premiums. Good luck.

 

It's a lifter problem. Not sure the lifters care which motor they are in. Rebuilding a 2018 6.2 with lifter failure right now.

 

The one thing you may want to consider, most of the V8 diesel engines cannot be re-sleeved or rebuilt in chassis. The only one that can is the Cummins I6. Doing an in-chassis is a hell of a lot cheaper than replacing an engine. I'm sure there are shops that will do the work to rebuild a V8, but my days in the medium duty truck industry, the IH or Ford engines were throw away.

 

I guess I should have clarified: my understanding is that is less of a problem in the 6.6L - not that GM magically brought lifters to life and they have a preference of what motor they are in.

 

I think the core of the issue is bad steel. The OHC (cam followers) and pushrod motors (Lifters) both suffer from the same thing, bad needle bearings that fracture, disintegrate and leave the roller flopping on the bushing pin. Ford 7.3, Jeep 3.6, GM 5.3, 6.2 and apparently the 6.6 as well, Hemis also suffer from this. My personal experience with it, I've replaced the cam followers in a Pentastar for this (daughter's jeep) and working on the 6.2 for my BIL now. I am not a mechanic, just capable and willing to do the work to save my BIL the money. This job was way easier on the Pentastar.

 

I got really curious about a Power Wagon for a while. I opened an account over there. The things I learned…

• Reliable means getting 100k out of a truck.
• Ram interiors look AMAZING.
• It’s almost never the engine that gives you problems (it’s the rest of the truck: transmission, electrical, body mounts, diffs, etc)
• Ram Care (or whatever it’s called) is a joke.
• People get so angry about not getting problems fixed that they trade the truck in on…you guessed it, another Ram. (This incentivizes poor quality/longevity, btw)
• Highest buybacks out there.

The horror stories on that forum are mind boggling and blow any of Toyota’s completely out of the water. I know there are a few people on here who like their Rams. I’m steering clear until those guys have 200k+ miles on routine maintenance.

I’d probably go GM.

 

Thanks for the info. It’s tough. I would like an GM.. but in my opinion for my budget a GM gasser would be pretty damn wimpy I’m afraid. Unfortunately I’m fully expecting to have problems come up, (within reason) It is what it is if that truck is making me money and working. This would not be a forever truck ( I bought tundra for forever reliability and resale value for my future ). Well this could be the exact moment I can cash in on that. Hopefully move on to something better in a few years. I will say I’ve been a bit impressed with the amount of high mileage ones I’ve seen listed.

I’m not advocating for ram, but right now it is definitely a contender. It could be the answer to get me my capabilities I need within my budget. Keeping my options open.

it’s such a crapshoot.

 

I’m on the edge of making a decision like yours myself. I am either going to just keep my trailering options under 8k lb and deal with being at or a bit over payload but under my axle ratings which I think is totally doable with a WDH, or I’m going to bite the bullet and buy a bigger truck.

Like most of us, I originally bought this truck for the long term (10+ years), but if my family is outgrowing it, there’s not a lot that can be done about that.

If I buy a bigger truck, I will need to buy another daily driver vehicle, too.

I’m definitely following everyone’s HD experiences on the forum.

 

Might go check out a 2017 6.2 with 120k on the clock tomorrow. See what happens

 

Most of the lifter failures I heard about were in the 1500s.

 

Current state of BILs 2018 6.2 with 140k miles. gettin yeeted out for lifter failure repair and DOD delete.

 

My uncle buys his farm trucks used at auction. He tried two Fords (I think probably diesels but I don't know for sure) and he had so many problems with them that he went back to another Cummins Dodge. I'm not sure why he hasn't ever owned any GMs but my guess is that either they don't come up for sale much or maybe the price is higher when they do.

On the flip side, he had to fix up his Land Rover and use it to haul oats because his Dodge was sitting dead, waiting for a turbo. I can't imagine having a Land Rover be my most reliable vehicle.

 

I meant a Hemi 6.4. The motor seems pretty solid?

I’ve pretty much ruled out a diesel at this point. Can’t get one with my budget and it would be my daily as well.

 

The 6.4 Hemi also suffers from lifter failure. But it doesn’t seem to be any more or less prevalent than the GM or Ford lifter failures.

 

School buses.
Actually, now that I think about it, we did short or long blocks for the ISB (the only one offer for pupil transportation for our chassis). I was thinking of the IH DT/I6 engines. My mind has been all over the place.

 

Thanks. That is exactly my thought process . When I was younger and dumb.. I wanted a “ newer body style f150” I bought a 05 f150 from some other dumb kid. I lost thousands on that truck.. issues started the moment I pulled into my driveway. Hated it with a passion.

I have been trying to find out of state clean fleet vehicles that have been maintained by dealer.. don’t mind a few miles.. to me that shows Highway miles and that truck was driven and handled by the book. Have a bit of experience there as I used to work for a large commercial company.

it’s interesting about the gears in a ram 2500 for the years I’m looking at. The 4:10 can tow like 3,000 more pounds than the most common 3.73. Not sure if that applies to conventional towing or if the receiver hitch still maxes out much lower. Can’t seem to find that answer.

 

First off, congrats on taking a chance and stepping up to the challenges you are about to face! That said, I'd look at all of the options really close before jumping in with both feet.
Can I get heavy material delivered?
Can I use aluminum trailers?
Can I remove implements and make more than one trip or use two truck/trailer combos.
Can I rent equipment and have it delivered and picked up?
Can I limit the type and size of jobs I take on during the first few years?
Etc.
There is always pros and cons and compromise can sometimes be the best solution.
Good luck with your new business!!

 

Thank you, and that is AWESOME ADVICE and stuff to think about. I spend a lot of time thinking about those very things, including all this morning. Funny you mention it.

So I am a one man band, I’ll team up with others when needed and help each other out. I will definitely have to get creative in how I do things.. material delivery, machine delivery, renting, taking multiple trips for things.. I won’t be as fast and do as much as others.. but customers don’t care. They just see me getting after it. Plus I’ll be making money and working for myself.

I just need something that can tow a dump trailer with 3-4 ton of dirt in it.. I can do a lot with a dump, shovel, and a dingo.

But seriously thanks. I haven’t been on this forum in awhile and all the info and advice has been greatly appreciated.

 

And that’s why I am leaning towards just a gasser 2500 that can tow maybe 12-13k. That right there can open up a new world for me alone to start out.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but if you're keeping these towing "trips" below 50 mi each way, there is no reason for a diesel. You won't notice the savings in mpgs vs repair/maintenance.

 

Yeah, I have decided on a gasser. I’ve had lots of revelations through out this thread, haha. But that’s exactly why I created it.