Unfortunatey, the government keeps getting more and more involved in the auto business to the point that none of the manufactuers can make a reliable vehicle any more. Buying an old, lower-tech truck and keeping it fixed up is the only way to have a good truck. Add to that the $100k price tag for a new one and the answer is clear. Cool video and a great truck.
I bought my brother's 06 5.9, 6spd, manual transfer case, big horn edition with 200k on the dot. It died in a hay field bc of a blown water pump that took out the fan and fan clutch..I've wanted that truck since he bought it new in February 2006 and I always told him I'm going to buy that truck...when he told me to come get my truck I jumped on it! Since rebuilt just about every system with the exception of the engine and transmission. Love that truck! Never selling that girl! Paid for and 80k trucks are insane!!
I’m looking on buying my first car/truck ever on my own. I’m 22 and I’ve been wanting a 2500 5.9 Cummins especially around the $20,000 price point but obviously that comes with 200-300k miles. I want one so bad and my dad worked at Cummins and knows the engine inside and out. People are worried about me getting into a truck I’ll have to work on every week to get running but I’m glad to find videos the vouch for their reliability
I have a 92 first gen with 250,000 miles on it. It runs great. Just picked up a 2000 f 250 with 365,000 on it. It’s a little rough but once I finish the oil leaks I intend to drive it !!! Great video!!!
I own a 2004 with the HO Cummins and NV5600 manual tranny. I too have the S&B intake, also an Edge CTS 3 tuner and a BD exhaust brake. At just under 350k miles, it was getting tired (tons of blowby, oil consumption, poor fuel economy, smoking horribly). As we speak, it is at a shop that specializes in rebuilding diesels. All the work is done in-house, machine work and all, and warrantied. At minimum, the rebuild will include new valves and springs, cylinders bored .20 to .40 over and new pistons, new fuel system including fuel pump, common rail, fuel lines and injectors. I considered a newer or brand new truck, but the prices are too outrageous and all the technology (although nice) worries me for reliability reasons. There is nothing else wrong with my '04, and it is still in good condition inside and out. I think I made the best decision possible. And I can't wait to get her back!
I really enjoyed this video, It had great filming and editing quality, so I went to your channel to find more videos to watch and I was surprised to find you only have a handful of videos. This is truly some of the best quality I have seen out of a youtube channel and you have less than 1000 subscribers, I'm impressed, Keep up the good work.
My Cummins is a 2006 2500 4 door automatic. My father-in-law had bought it used and the #6 piston face was cut by the injector. Using oil horrid, substantial blowby, and needed rebored. Engine was toast so I swapped him in a reman longblock at 155K. He ended up giving me the truck couple yrs ago with 330K. It never had enough power pulling and made a grinding noise under heavy load. Finally got really loud one day on highway. I tore it down. Broke flexplate and crankshaft broke in two at #6 main. Of course I just had put on a new flatbed, new tires, turbo back exhaust, complete AC replacement, and rear airbags...Block is at the machine shop, spun the back 2 mains. Cummins =$$$ Such is life, lol. I'm with you though, parts beats a payment any day.
Found my 08 on marketplace. Stock with exhaust and plow mount. 264000 miles auto drove fine but had tons of leaks and small issues. Year and a half later it’s been a great truck. G56 swapped, EFI live tuning, Flatbed, 4th gen seat swap, 3rd gen BD kit with an s366, now it’s sitting waiting for a water pump. Can’t complain tho. Funnest vehicle I’ve owned to drive. Tons more work into it than I listed but have no intention of selling
this gives me hope. I've been passing on trucks that need work knowing damn well it's so fun to fix them. and with all the epa restrictions, these older trucks will keep climbing in price. i also never seen a truck lift that high when getting loaded. that was kind of awesome haha
Nice video, ive got a 04.5 cummins i just bought recently with 215k miles. Its an auto but the guy had all the paperwork showing it was fully upgraded 2 years ago, so I was cool with taking an auto as I dont haul nearly as much or as often as it seems you do. I've got my fishin boat and what not so an auto will work just fine, Anyways all i've had to replace on it so far was a front U-joint and im kinda the same as you, i like these trucks because they are just simple enough to do all the work yourself in your own garage rather than taking it to a shop. I just run a smarty Jr. on it with 4" exhaust and an air intake and it does perfect for what i need it to do , and it gets pretty damn good fuel mileage too, it came with 33" tires but it definately could use some 35's . Anyways have a good one!
I own an '03 common rail with a Smarty tune that has 560,000 miles. The only engine repairs have been 2 water pumps and 2 sets of injectors. It doesn't drip oil all over the place and I never have to add any either. The 47re has been highly modified by me and it's a daily driver. We've pulled a 14,000# living quarters horse trailer all over too going to horse shows
when I was in high school one of our neighbors had an excavating business and his main rig was a cummins dually (03 or 04 I think). had upwards of 350k miles and he did virtually zero maintenance on it. thing took a beating as it was driven fully loaded most of the time with machines and equipment. eventually the radiator busted and overheated the engine so he put a used engine in it and drove it for another 100k. one day the turbo caught on fire and the truck burned to a crisp on the side of the road. he still got somewhere around $19k from his insurance. unbelievable lol.
I just finished a resto on a 2006 2500 4x4 for the exact reasons you cited regarding yours. I put together a simple webpage showing the entire process if youd like to see the start-to-finish project.
I picked up a 2006 5.9 mega cab with a rebuilt 48re and a mild EFI live tune and trucks awesome i do miss my old Duramaxs at times but under the hood work on this motor is substantially less frustrating than the v8 diesels.
I owned a 2004 dodge ram 1500 I drove for 370k+ miles doing delivery work. Replaced alternator, waterpump and most not much else. Fuel pump lasted 350k +
2003 f250 with the 7.3 powerstroke. traded a 2011 chevy half ton for it. I couldn't be happier. the chev had a rusted out frame, no more rockers or cab corners, and the bed fender wells were non-existant. the ford leaks a little oil, that's about as bad is it is..
I have a 97 xtra cab 12 valve, had it since 2004. 300k on the odo but its had 35s on it since i bought with 53k so actual miles are higher. Normal repairs ie dodge steering stuff water pump altenator starter etc. My stupidity blew a head gasket so it got studs and all the extras turdo, injectors, afc live, valve springs etc. Been a good truck other than its an auto 😡 ive spent more money on trans rebuilds than i paid for the truck originally. Ive really been considering a g56 swap as i love that old truck. Ive had 2 new duramax's in the time ive had it and i dont have a duramax anymore. Junk is where its at, payments are for people that worry about what people in the parking lot at the grocery store think.
ive got an 06 5.9 3500 48re that just passed 200k the other day so not nearly as high as urs but i got it at about 170k just over a year ago bone stock besides a gooseneck hitch. midwest truck so the rust is getting to it in the usual places. i had injector 4 go out last winter which lemme tell u is a pain in 10° temp n snow to change out. i have a smarty tune, s&b cai, bigger intake horn, turbo back 4" exhaust as the mods on it n other than that its just been suspension n front end components I've changed. I'm looking after this truck to make it last n hopefully the engine outlasts the truck so i can just put it in another truck. shes gone to florida n back from Illinois n all over up here with no issues besides a leaky rear main n i really couldn't be happier with the truck. u know uve bought a truck thats been looked after when the radio is still stock lol
I have and 04 3500 6spd with 67,000 miles! (109,000km). I almost sold it for $40k 2 weeks but decided not too! It’s legit brand used, no frame rust, scratches or nothing. I’m betting I can get more than $40k if I continue to keep the miles off of it. Mind you I have a 2012 that’s my daily
I picked up my 04 last year with 361k on it. Now I got 370k and it runs like a champ! Pulls my camper real nice. I could run 90 mph is I wanted so power ain’t a problem and it’s all stock and original drive train far as I can tell
Sadly I'm a member of the runaway truck/trailer while loading a JD2240 club. I special ordered a new 2000 F350 7.3 Powerstroke w/6 sp manual super-cab that I paid $24K new. LOL And why I still own it and did all the same mods including a Garrett Powermaster turbo upgrade via 4" straight exhaust back, and only 150k miles. I'll never unload this truck it rips a 15K lb 30' toy hauler over 12,000' passes in 6th gear in the fast lane. Don't let the dude you bought that sweet truck from see this video, because your sitting an a $30,000 truck...
Most drivers don’t have the skills or the will to repair their own vehicles. For those of us that do these used trucks can be a great tool and huge savings that help your family to prosper.
I have a stock 04.5 6spd manual and am having some very annoying electrical issues causing intermittent loss of throttle response. I thought these things were reliable.
up to 2007 5.9 are the bargain of the west. where ther is little in the way of salted roads, and lotsa miles between stops. every word this fellow spoke is dead accurate. its not hard to visualize 750k. not hard at all. handsome trailer too.
I have an 06 also. I’ve been trying to figure out how the crank case ventilation works. Apparently it has no ccv filter like my 04.5 and 2014 does. Is there anyway to do ccv maintenance on the 06 Cummins ?
It will have some kind of CCV filter or baffle in the valve cover, Unfortunately the only way to know is to pull the valve cover. Some are serviceable/replaceable but they did go to ones that were integrated parts of the valve cover at some point on the late model 5.9s. Mine is serviceable, but that may be due to being a re-maned engine from Jasper. I have been told that the integrated style CCV are a baffle type, meaning they do not plug up, but I am not positive. If the valve cover was removed it would be easy enough to test if it is plugged, or allows air flow still.
Never had a blow out, knock on wood. I am religious about my tire pressure, and decent at weight placement. That said, sometimes it can't be helped, I have had nearly 6,000 lbs on the gooseneck, or in the bed. I don't like doing that, and try not to, for anything more than short runs.
Mine is an 05 but you got the same bed and almost the same bumper lol my thunderstruck don't have a hitch mount. My bradford has the tool storage underneath. But yeah really similar to mine. I bought mine for 17k when it had I think 260k miles on it (now about 340k a year later) they said it was rebuilt with about 7k miles on the rebuild. All the usual stuff like alternator/cp3/fuel sensors fprv and all that had milage written on it when it was replaced. Checked blowby and the oil cap just slowly spun in place didn't try to flip up or pop out at all. I did replace my turbo. Didn't upgrade it yet but I needed something that wasn't starting to wear out like mine was. (Bushings were worn a little more play than I'd like and couldn't spin free by hand) and 2nd gear (auto) has an issue where it likes to hang out in 2nd longer than it should. So transmission in the near future. But yeah its always been reliable its why I wanted a Cummins. Emissions is why I wanted a 3rd gen lol.
My 2001 f2shity 7.tree has 890 thousand miles..Michigan truck works construction and plowed every winter of its life...still stroking and in mint condition..purrs like a kitten.....been driving it for 23 years now....still stroking
Unfortunatey, the government keeps getting more and more involved in the auto business to the point that none of the manufactuers can make a reliable vehicle any more. Buying an old, lower-tech truck and keeping it fixed up is the only way to have a good truck. Add to that the $100k price tag for a new one and the answer is clear. Cool video and a great truck.
Find a bunch of used blocks and transmissions have them gone over and always have your truck going for a fraction of the price of new
Weird how they care so much about our cars but not our food
I bought my brother's 06 5.9, 6spd, manual transfer case, big horn edition with 200k on the dot. It died in a hay field bc of a blown water pump that took out the fan and fan clutch..I've wanted that truck since he bought it new in February 2006 and I always told him I'm going to buy that truck...when he told me to come get my truck I jumped on it! Since rebuilt just about every system with the exception of the engine and transmission. Love that truck! Never selling that girl! Paid for and 80k trucks are insane!!
I’m looking on buying my first car/truck ever on my own. I’m 22 and I’ve been wanting a 2500 5.9 Cummins especially around the $20,000 price point but obviously that comes with 200-300k miles. I want one so bad and my dad worked at Cummins and knows the engine inside and out. People are worried about me getting into a truck I’ll have to work on every week to get running but I’m glad to find videos the vouch for their reliability
A bit different rig, but I'm driving a '14 Cummins with over 400k on it as well. Great video. Repair, not replace!
I have a 92 first gen with 250,000 miles on it. It runs great. Just picked up a 2000 f 250 with 365,000 on it. It’s a little rough but once I finish the oil leaks I intend to drive it !!!
Great video!!!
I own a 2004 with the HO Cummins and NV5600 manual tranny. I too have the S&B intake, also an Edge CTS 3 tuner and a BD exhaust brake. At just under 350k miles, it was getting tired (tons of blowby, oil consumption, poor fuel economy, smoking horribly). As we speak, it is at a shop that specializes in rebuilding diesels. All the work is done in-house, machine work and all, and warrantied. At minimum, the rebuild will include new valves and springs, cylinders bored .20 to .40 over and new pistons, new fuel system including fuel pump, common rail, fuel lines and injectors. I considered a newer or brand new truck, but the prices are too outrageous and all the technology (although nice) worries me for reliability reasons. There is nothing else wrong with my '04, and it is still in good condition inside and out. I think I made the best decision possible. And I can't wait to get her back!
is the bd exhaust brake aftermarket? How hard was that to put on? i have a 03 nv5600 love it.
@nickkiosk5513 yep its aftermarket. I had it installed in 2019. As I recall it was around $1,500 including install. Best upgrade I've done
I really enjoyed this video, It had great filming and editing quality, so I went to your channel to find more videos to watch and I was surprised to find you only have a handful of videos. This is truly some of the best quality I have seen out of a youtube channel and you have less than 1000 subscribers, I'm impressed, Keep up the good work.
My Cummins is a 2006 2500 4 door automatic. My father-in-law had bought it used and the #6 piston face was cut by the injector. Using oil horrid, substantial blowby, and needed rebored. Engine was toast so I swapped him in a reman longblock at 155K. He ended up giving me the truck couple yrs ago with 330K. It never had enough power pulling and made a grinding noise under heavy load. Finally got really loud one day on highway. I tore it down. Broke flexplate and crankshaft broke in two at #6 main. Of course I just had put on a new flatbed, new tires, turbo back exhaust, complete AC replacement, and rear airbags...Block is at the machine shop, spun the back 2 mains. Cummins =$$$ Such is life, lol. I'm with you though, parts beats a payment any day.
My old girl in my pfp is a 1998.5 24v. 410k miles and still running strong. Original 53 block (Blessed?). Love it.
Good deal. I have same exact truck also in the 53 block club with 310k. Glad to see a fellow 53 blocker
Found my 08 on marketplace. Stock with exhaust and plow mount. 264000 miles auto drove fine but had tons of leaks and small issues. Year and a half later it’s been a great truck. G56 swapped, EFI live tuning, Flatbed, 4th gen seat swap, 3rd gen BD kit with an s366, now it’s sitting waiting for a water pump. Can’t complain tho. Funnest vehicle I’ve owned to drive. Tons more work into it than I listed but have no intention of selling
this gives me hope. I've been passing on trucks that need work knowing damn well it's so fun to fix them. and with all the epa restrictions, these older trucks will keep climbing in price. i also never seen a truck lift that high when getting loaded. that was kind of awesome haha
Nice video, ive got a 04.5 cummins i just bought recently with 215k miles. Its an auto but the guy had all the paperwork showing it was fully upgraded 2 years ago, so I was cool with taking an auto as I dont haul nearly as much or as often as it seems you do. I've got my fishin boat and what not so an auto will work just fine, Anyways all i've had to replace on it so far was a front U-joint and im kinda the same as you, i like these trucks because they are just simple enough to do all the work yourself in your own garage rather than taking it to a shop. I just run a smarty Jr. on it with 4" exhaust and an air intake and it does perfect for what i need it to do , and it gets pretty damn good fuel mileage too, it came with 33" tires but it definately could use some 35's . Anyways have a good one!
I own an '03 common rail with a Smarty tune that has 560,000 miles. The only engine repairs have been 2 water pumps and 2 sets of injectors. It doesn't drip oil all over the place and I never have to add any either. The 47re has been highly modified by me and it's a daily driver. We've pulled a 14,000# living quarters horse trailer all over too going to horse shows
when I was in high school one of our neighbors had an excavating business and his main rig was a cummins dually (03 or 04 I think). had upwards of 350k miles and he did virtually zero maintenance on it. thing took a beating as it was driven fully loaded most of the time with machines and equipment. eventually the radiator busted and overheated the engine so he put a used engine in it and drove it for another 100k. one day the turbo caught on fire and the truck burned to a crisp on the side of the road. he still got somewhere around $19k from his insurance. unbelievable lol.
I just finished a resto on a 2006 2500 4x4 for the exact reasons you cited regarding yours. I put together a simple webpage showing the entire process if youd like to see the start-to-finish project.
Nice rig. Glad to hear someone else who will never have a truck payment
Cool video man. Nice truck, Those are awesome trucks with the G56 transmission and the Bradford bed. I’m from Nevada.
I picked up a 2006 5.9 mega cab with a rebuilt 48re and a mild EFI live tune and trucks awesome i do miss my old Duramaxs at times but under the hood work on this motor is substantially less frustrating than the v8 diesels.
I owned a 2004 dodge ram 1500 I drove for 370k+ miles doing delivery work. Replaced alternator, waterpump and most not much else. Fuel pump lasted 350k +
2003 f250 with the 7.3 powerstroke. traded a 2011 chevy half ton for it. I couldn't be happier. the chev had a rusted out frame, no more rockers or cab corners, and the bed fender wells were non-existant. the ford leaks a little oil, that's about as bad is it is..
I have a 97 xtra cab 12 valve, had it since 2004. 300k on the odo but its had 35s on it since i bought with 53k so actual miles are higher. Normal repairs ie dodge steering stuff water pump altenator starter etc. My stupidity blew a head gasket so it got studs and all the extras turdo, injectors, afc live, valve springs etc. Been a good truck other than its an auto 😡 ive spent more money on trans rebuilds than i paid for the truck originally. Ive really been considering a g56 swap as i love that old truck. Ive had 2 new duramax's in the time ive had it and i dont have a duramax anymore. Junk is where its at, payments are for people that worry about what people in the parking lot at the grocery store think.
air bag light dinging is probably the clock spring behind the air bag send all power From steering wheel into the column!
ive got an 06 5.9 3500 48re that just passed 200k the other day so not nearly as high as urs but i got it at about 170k just over a year ago bone stock besides a gooseneck hitch. midwest truck so the rust is getting to it in the usual places. i had injector 4 go out last winter which lemme tell u is a pain in 10° temp n snow to change out. i have a smarty tune, s&b cai, bigger intake horn, turbo back 4" exhaust as the mods on it n other than that its just been suspension n front end components I've changed. I'm looking after this truck to make it last n hopefully the engine outlasts the truck so i can just put it in another truck. shes gone to florida n back from Illinois n all over up here with no issues besides a leaky rear main n i really couldn't be happier with the truck. u know uve bought a truck thats been looked after when the radio is still stock lol
I have and 04 3500 6spd with 67,000 miles! (109,000km). I almost sold it for $40k 2 weeks but decided not too! It’s legit brand used, no frame rust, scratches or nothing. I’m betting I can get more than $40k if I continue to keep the miles off of it. Mind you I have a 2012 that’s my daily
12 longhorn edition 185k on mine. All the non-necessities pulled off at 35K
Great video
I picked up my 04 last year with 361k on it. Now I got 370k and it runs like a champ! Pulls my camper real nice. I could run 90 mph is I wanted so power ain’t a problem and it’s all stock and original drive train far as I can tell
Sadly I'm a member of the runaway truck/trailer while loading a JD2240 club. I special ordered a new 2000 F350 7.3 Powerstroke w/6 sp manual super-cab that I paid $24K new. LOL And why I still own it and did all the same mods including a Garrett Powermaster turbo upgrade via 4" straight exhaust back, and only 150k miles. I'll never unload this truck it rips a 15K lb 30' toy hauler over 12,000' passes in 6th gear in the fast lane. Don't let the dude you bought that sweet truck from see this video, because your sitting an a $30,000 truck...
Most drivers don’t have the skills or the will to repair their own vehicles. For those of us that do these used trucks can be a great tool and huge savings that help your family to prosper.
I have over 600,000 on mine and go to Texas loaded daily 5.9 been a work horse just don’t dog it
My dad had a 2000 3500 with 1.3 million and a 2005 3500 with 900,000 miles.
I have a stock 04.5 6spd manual and am having some very annoying electrical issues causing intermittent loss of throttle response. I thought these things were reliable.
It's the fuse box, replace it.
Rock On 💯🤙🏻😎
up to 2007 5.9 are the bargain of the west. where ther is little in the way of salted roads, and lotsa miles between stops. every word this fellow spoke is dead accurate. its not hard to visualize 750k. not hard at all. handsome trailer too.
I have an 06 also. I’ve been trying to figure out how the crank case ventilation works. Apparently it has no ccv filter like my 04.5 and 2014 does. Is there anyway to do ccv maintenance on the 06 Cummins ?
It will have some kind of CCV filter or baffle in the valve cover, Unfortunately the only way to know is to pull the valve cover. Some are serviceable/replaceable but they did go to ones that were integrated parts of the valve cover at some point on the late model 5.9s. Mine is serviceable, but that may be due to being a re-maned engine from Jasper. I have been told that the integrated style CCV are a baffle type, meaning they do not plug up, but I am not positive. If the valve cover was removed it would be easy enough to test if it is plugged, or allows air flow still.
Ever had a rear blowout? How much weight you got over the rear axle?
Never had a blow out, knock on wood. I am religious about my tire pressure, and decent at weight placement. That said, sometimes it can't be helped, I have had nearly 6,000 lbs on the gooseneck, or in the bed. I don't like doing that, and try not to, for anything more than short runs.
Miles mean nothing once you replaced the motor and transmission or at least clutch
Mine is an 05 but you got the same bed and almost the same bumper lol my thunderstruck don't have a hitch mount.
My bradford has the tool storage underneath. But yeah really similar to mine.
I bought mine for 17k when it had I think 260k miles on it (now about 340k a year later) they said it was rebuilt with about 7k miles on the rebuild. All the usual stuff like alternator/cp3/fuel sensors fprv and all that had milage written on it when it was replaced. Checked blowby and the oil cap just slowly spun in place didn't try to flip up or pop out at all. I did replace my turbo. Didn't upgrade it yet but I needed something that wasn't starting to wear out like mine was. (Bushings were worn a little more play than I'd like and couldn't spin free by hand) and 2nd gear (auto) has an issue where it likes to hang out in 2nd longer than it should. So transmission in the near future. But yeah its always been reliable its why I wanted a Cummins. Emissions is why I wanted a 3rd gen lol.
Just hit 500k on my 07.5 6.7
So you’re saying my 92 Cummins will go every then
What does that mean?
Wheel. Chalks.
Would love to see some v10 videos
Somebody sell Me an awesome 3rd gen please!
Garbage
My 2001 f2shity 7.tree has 890 thousand miles..Michigan truck works construction and plowed every winter of its life...still stroking and in mint condition..purrs like a kitten.....been driving it for 23 years now....still stroking
I love to hear that, it's impressive. I hope she pulls 1M and keeps on working hard!