James_G

My dream would a 5.9 12v hooked up to an allison transmission inside a 92-96 , same style as my avatar only a fleetside, F250 sittin on 37's.

Anyways I'm looking at cummins now but my dad is really pushing me into buying another gasser.

He says due to it being a diesel it's not going to run well due to my short commutes (School,parties, the occasional mud hole..College stuff)

Although weekends I will put a couple hundred miles on her due to running from tallahassee to orlando.

Any input for having a diesel as transportation as I'm in school ?

Wondertwin1

Hey zap, how the hell do you know soooooooo much about cummins?

zap

Have a 5.9 sitting in the driveway. Want a 3.9 to replace my 4.2. Know so much because when I'm not in Lubbock for college, I'm 100 miles south in a town called Roscoe hanging out with West Texas farmers who don't know what gasoline is because it won't pull their water trailers. As long as you give a diesel time to warm up before killing it, its fine. If you drive about 15 minutes a trip, its fine. Most 5.9's pull between 19 and 28 mpg on the highway depending on what engine it is. I could tell you a little about Duramaxes, even less (and not a whole lot good) about Powerstrokes. I'm a mechanical engineering major who want to specialize in diesel engines.

James_G

So 15-20 minutes runs are alright as long as I give it some time to warm up in my driveway ?

Wondertwin1

Not so much warm up, as cool down. Same thong ahould be done with ALL diesels, especially tractors. They burn so hot, and the engine itself is extremely hot. Ever feel the difference in exhaust from diesel and gas? When you run it, oil is being pumped, and splashed, and getting to all the rings and gaskets on the internal parts, if you shut it down while its extremely hot alot, it could melt all you gaskets on your injectors, and warp various parts that could cause serious problems. When i pull a good load with any kind of engine, i let it run for 20 minutes before hand, and let it cool for about 30. When we run the tractors, weve let them cool for an hour+ before. Because its running at full throttle under load, it gets hot. With normal driving, your golden. Id still let it sit for a minite or two if your not in a hurry. And all the stuff i mentioned doesnt happen that extreme, but more like a little at a time.

zap

Some modern diesels have a system that will actually idle them until they are at normal operating temps. Cummins actually states to let the engine idle down to normal operating temps for at least 5 min after pulling something.

James_G

Alright well it sounds like buying myself a cummins isn't too insane an idea after all.

Thankyou for all the info guys, now the hard part, the search.

truck in progress

^^ i feel ya man. im looking for a new truck right now to and hoping to upgrade to a diesel prefferably a cummins. unfortunetly everyone in my area with a 2nd gen. dodge thinks their trucks worth 10 grand

zap

Unfortunately, they are because of the Cummins rummbling under the hood. Your talking about the 12-valve mid 90's body right? Most 24 valves are going for about 15+ here. Common Rails are going for 20+.

James_G

In florida the 2nd gen 12v's 4x4 go for around 7-10 grand.