OBS Powerstroke Ford vs 2nd Gen Cummins Dodge Ram | What’s REALLY Better?

i'm andrew and i'm setting out to make better videos for diesel enthusiasts follow along as i review products do how to's and share my personal trucks here on just easels we are going to be going head-to-head with two of the most popular 90s diesel trucks on my right i have a 1997 ford f-350 with a 7 3 power stroke to my left i have a 1999 dodge ram 2500 with a 5.9 liter 24 valve cummins now both of these trucks have die hard following but today we're going to figure out which one actually comes out on top [Music] now we're going to be breaking these trucks down i'm going to be comparing both of them in a bunch of different tasks first up we're going to be looking at interior comfort and interior build quality second we're going to be looking at suspension ride quality and all the stuff that has to do with handling and actually driving the truck steering things like that finally we're also going to be looking at the powertrain we're going to be talking about how these trucks actually put down power what it's like to drive one of these which one actually has more grunt and finally we're going to talk about longevity durability and which one actually has a lower cost of ownership now this truck is my personal truck the dodge ram is my good friend's truck so both these i've had considerable seat time in and we're going to break these things down and actually figure out which truck is the best 90s diesel [Music] now before we get any further with this i want to address something you'll notice that if you're an astute observer both these trucks are different years right we have the power structure the 97 and we have the cummins that is a 99. the reason why i did this is because to put them apples to apples we have to do computer controlled diesels so if we did a 98 cummins that would be either the last year the p-pump 12 valve and that's definitely not fair to put against the 7-3 or we do the first initial year of the 24 valve but i had access to a 99 truck that's why we did this basically even though they are different years essentially they are apples to apples in terms of computer controlled diesels from the late 90s [Music] now let's start with interior to compare these two trucks head to head this is one place where there is actually some difference now both of them are going to be outdated they're both going to be 90s trucks they're both going to have that classic totally outdated you know 90s fabric uh ford still thought it was a cool idea to put an entire blue interior in this truck as you'll see on mine ram had to go with the absolutely hideous multi-color blotched fabric but both these trucks scream 90s and nostalgia ford is going to have the slight advantage in terms of interior comfort and interior build quality this is still a 90s interior right it's all plastic stuff's painted blue it's you know it's not exactly uh you know modern by any standards but it's very comfortable the dashboard doesn't usually fall apart the door handle trim will sometimes fall off there's little things like that it's not perfect but overall in terms of quality to quality with the second gen this truck's definitely gonna take the cake now the other cool thing is that these obs were actually offered with a crew cab so you could have full four doors on these trucks which was not available on the cummins trucks so that definitely gives these trucks the edge on the interior in contrast the ram while comfortable isn't quite as comfortable and it's also plagued with its notorious issues of poor plastic quality everything from the dash to the cup holders to the center console pretty much anything in front of you on the truck you can just guarantee it's going to fall apart interior wise this thing's actually pretty comfortable um obviously everything's very outdated on this truck and the other truck but that's kind of part of the fun right it's the nostalgia of growing up seeing these ugly interior colors all the fun things on these trucks but the second gens really falter when it comes to interior build quality things like the dashboard looking like the chips at the bottom of the bag all the plastics on this are really chintzy really cheap the coupled or squeak creek break i mean really the interiors in these trucks are so insanely cheap that is really the big downfall the second gens and why a lot of people don't like these trucks is because of the insanely low quality of all the plastic components right the dashboards the grab handles everything else like that is just really cheap and kind of falls apart this truck has been spared it's 56 000 mile truck it was kept garage its entire life but most of these trucks do not look this nice so when it comes to interior build quality both trucks are not great but i gotta hand it to the obs and a lot of these trucks since they have such high mileage they are so reliable you see them absolutely thrashed the dash is in a million pieces the cup holders have long since fallen out of the dashboard i mean everything plastic on these trucks has just completely and totally fallen apart now the obs fords will handily take the win in terms of interior build quality in terms of comfort i think they also get the win because they have the option of actually having a full four-door crew cab so with the 99 uh or you know early second gen trucks what you had was like kind of a half small back seat 98 and a half they introduced the actual suicide back door in the rear so that door opened to the rear gave you a little bit easier access to the back seat but again it was really small i mean you either had to be a or a kid to fit in that back seat and it was pretty much safe for just space and extra room for gear and whatever on the 7.3 you not only have the single cabs like mine you have the extra cab which is just like the ram right you have that half back seat and they also had a full four door crew cab those trucks are ridiculously roomy very comfortable i mean that was really thinking ahead of the time and potentially i mean everyone else in the 90s was you know still looking at trucks as work vehicles ford's kind of planning ahead and saying hey people are using these as family vehicles as everything else vehicles and so they have those full-size back seats that you can fit your whole family in go on a trip take your boat take your trailer whatever so that's a huge advantage in the ford category so if we're doing these head-to-head one point for the ford definitely winning on interior comfort quality overall build everything else with the interior i think the fords really win now the next category we want to talk about was driving handling suspension steering all that stuff what it actually feels like to drive these trucks and when you're comparing the two of them there's actually some key differences now on the fords there was actually a big split on the front end of these trucks the f-250s have a ttb front end that is a twin traction beam front end it basically oscillates like this you have like kind of separate axles on the front end it's very complicated there's a lot of joints involved it's not easy to lift to modify to really improve ride quality on i personally think it's a very weak front end and you'll see a lot of these trucks owners are actually moving away from that to solid axle swaps now the f-350s have a solid axle front end however it's a leaf sprung solid axle so it's going to be similar in ride quality to like a first gen cummins for example it's going to be very rough so the ford trucks have a very rough very you know choppy ride on all trim levels basically whether it's an f250 f350 you're looking at a pretty rough ride and not a whole lot you can do to improve it the f350s are obviously going to have the stronger front end right it's less complicated less steering joints let's everything else so if you're looking for durability and longevity those f350s are going to be where it's at a ram on the other hand has gotten a really bad reputation for steering track bar all that stuff front end issues basically i don't quite think it's warranted i mean i think the obs trucks have just as many issues with front end problems and actually prefer the front end on the ram truck it's a solid axle across the whole board right so 2500 and 3500 both have solid axle front ends um yes the ball joints aren't great for the factory but there's a huge aftermarket to support that the other big weak point again is the track bar again huge aftermarket to support that as well and then the steering linkage both trucks have you know honestly not great joints in the steering linkage so if you're buying one of these you can pretty much assume that the steering link is just shot either way it doesn't really matter which truck it is in terms of drivability i think that the second gens are actually going to have more potential to ride better right because it's a coil four link front end that gives you the ability to do soft rod coils shocks all that stuff i think that they're going to be ultimately better riding trucks and in my experience having owned both of these there's a lot more options to have off-road capability on a second gen more suspension flex movement ride quality all that stuff so apples to apples i'm probably going to give the win to the second gen cummins now i'm sure this is going to make a bunch of people upset because the seven threes and you know the obs trucks are known for having good front ends but i personally prefer the solid axle across the board the aftermarket support the ride quality everything else that comes with the second gens even if both these trucks ride like absolute wagons compared to something new now the fun part let's get into power talking about what these trucks have for powertrain how they feel how they drive and actually what they put down in the real world the 7.3 power strokes came with 180 wheel horsepower or 210 flyable horsepower by comparison the 24 valve cummin had 200 wheel horsepower or 235 horsepower from the crank now those are very small numbers especially compared to what we're used to today right 1000 foot pounds of torque from the factory and some of the new diesel trucks but what really separates these two is the ability to make power on these platforms to catch these up to modern standards to be able to pull a trailer all that stuff hands down the second gen's going to win the second gen even though it's not quite as easy to modify and get power out of as like the p-pump 12 valves that 24 valve is still going to be significantly cheaper to get power out of the 7-3 it's a famous joke among diesel owners that you can put five grand into a seven three and make like 350 horsepower but i mean sadly it's not that far off now in terms of power on the road these trucks really aren't that different on paper right that's only a few horsepower off each other but it is a big difference on the street now in terms of just overall drivability right if i was going to daily drive this truck um these get very good fuel economy this truck on 35s has no problem pulling you know low 20s in terms of fuel economy it's quiet it's comfortable uh yes it does lack some of the power uh that is offered on the cummins trucks but for daily driving it's not that necessary if you're trying to work this truck though uh you will feel like it is short of power um towing everything else this truck just doesn't have the guttural torque that the cummins does you know on paper they're not that far off but when you're actually driving this truck it just really doesn't have that grunt that the cummins does and it really shows now in my experience the second gens just do a lot better job of putting power down to the road i think it's a mix of the straight six i think it's a mix of being intercooled the turbo all that stuff but i really do think that they've just put power down better if you're looking to tow if you're looking to haul if you're after torque the 12 valve cummins and 24 valve cummins are going to do much better than the 7.3 power stroke either the idis or the turbo you know direct injection one that we're looking at right now these trucks have uh really impressive torque and honestly more power than the numbers on paper would suggest one of the advantages of the straight six is that it is able to put down a good amount of torque and it really has more grunt to it than the numbers would suggest right now we are going up a good sustained grade here the obs struggles on this hill um that's with a tune and with this truck all it has again is a tune and it is doing just fine now the other thing to note is that on these trucks the cummins trucks making power is a lot cheaper and a lot easier these trucks are already intercooled so you don't have to worry about putting in an intercooler and in terms of making power on the truck everything is just cheaper everything's easier to get to everything's easier to work on so if you're looking for making any kind of horsepower any kind of torque out of the truck the cummins is a better platform flat out if you're looking for a cool truck to just tool around it empty the obs is a great truck but if you're looking to tow if you're looking to haul if you're looking to go fast it comes is the only way in terms of these two you know being compared um i really gotta say from driving this truck i'm very impressed even with an automatic transmission right the automatics aren't gonna put down the the power like a manual does this truck is just going up this grade right now like we're doing 55 miles an hour 1500 rpm and this truck's just pulling like a freight train i got to say this is uh exactly why these trucks were so popular in 90s because compared to the competition they really had more pulling power more um in stock form and when you modify them so when it comes down to the power category i think i have to give the win to the second gen uh i think that they're easier to make power on from the factory i do think they have a little more kick in the pants i think they have more torque i think they have a little bit more drivability and while i love the sound of the 7-3 those trucks sound amazing the 5.9 24 valve comes wins in terms of putting power to the ground [Music] now reliability that is a key area that i think a lot of people are interested in in maintenance as well so let's talk a little bit about just general maintenance right on the 7.3 things are a little bit hard to get to if you look the turbos in the back of the valley at the back of the firewall uh access is a little bit harder even putting in a down pipe right the factory downpipe maybe this is a squash little thing to put in a bigger true size downpipe you've got to be banging at the firewall i think they're just generally harder to work on trucks the injectors are harder to get to the turbo's harder to get to everything about them is just a little bit harder to get to it's not saying that they're hard to work on right they're still pretty easy to work on especially compared to a new truck but they are a little bit harder to work on versus the cummins where everything is really easily accessible the turbo's right there the down pipes right there the injectors right there everything is just right in front of you and it's super easy to work on so plus points to uh cummins for engineering an incredibly easy platform to work on i think in terms of maintenance and just ease of working on the truck that's going to win now in terms of which truck actually will need more work that's a good question now both these trucks have some interesting stuff going on fuel injection now the 7.3 power stroke is a huey injector system with an h-popper high pressure oil pump powering the injectors in my mind it seems like a little bit of a complicated way to accomplish fuel injection but it has proven to be incredibly reliable the one catches the system as it is a hindrance in terms of making power so if you're looking to make power on these trucks you can pretty much assume that you're going to be doing hpop and new injectors on a 7.3 by comparison the 5.9 truck that is powered by a vp44 injection pump everyone is going to comment i'm sure that these trucks are plagued with issues in the vp44 injection pump and they are but the problem with that is really easy to solve the second gen trucks with vp44 injection pumps had failures because the lift pump was mounted on the side of the block and subject to engine vibration that factory lift pump failed and then took out the vp44 so if you own a second gen pretty much you're looking at putting a faster and air dog on it most of the used trucks have that and at that point you're good to go it's not something you need to worry about so both these trucks you're going to want to either favor the manual option because the manual transmissions are fantastic in both or you're going to be looking at doing a built automatic now both trucks have some you know hits and misses in terms of transmissions right the early second gens have the fifth gear nut that falls off in the transmission whatever a couple little things to look out for but in terms of transmissions either go automatic and do a build or get a manual and you're pretty much set after you do a clutch or something like that the other key area of reliability i think is worth mentioning is in the 24 valve cummins if you've heard of the 53 block that was a casting issue where in the 99 to i believe it was early 2000 to 2001 trucks um they would have the block fail the block would crack if you look at a second gen that's a 24 valve make sure it is not a 53 block the other issue that we talked about of course was the vp4 failure again really easy to fix just put a lift bump on the truck drive it and you're good to go there's a lot more common issues things like that that's a whole other video but these are just gonna be brushing the surface in terms of reliability and overall durability this is a tough one i think at stock power levels both these trucks are going to be very very reliable and that's evidenced by how many of you them you see with really really high mileage i think i might give the slight hair advantage to the 24v cummins but you guys can comment what your experience is on both these i think that it might be a dead tie in terms of reliability and overall durability of both these trucks [Music] so guys that's gonna wrap this up pretty much uh but we need to declare a winner in my personal opinion having owned my 73 for a few years now having driven my friends uh 24 valve cummins i think i would go for the comments why because i personally prefer the powertrain i personally prefer how easy it is to work on i personally prefer the torque curve and the delivery of power on the cummins engine i do think that the obs 73 will win in terms of interior comfort drivability things like that but i really prefer the second gen platform i think that the uh coil front end with the four link design i think the engine everything else just kind of puts me over in that camp you can't deny the good looks and the amazing sound of the 7.3 obs trucks but if i had to pick i think i'm gonna go second gen let me know what you guys think what would you pick uh what did you think out of this shootout would win and what do you guys own let me know in the comments below i'm curious what you guys think but if i had to do a head-to-head second gen's gonna win thank you guys so much i appreciate your time watching this video and please if you like this video hit subscribe there'll be more every week

Channel: Just Diesels

Views: 328,660

Keywords: cummins, powerstroke, diesel, dodge ram, ram, dodge, carli suspension, carli, lift, lifted, lifted truck, 5.9 cummins, Ram, Dodge, Ford, 7.3 powerstroke, f-25-, f-350, 2500, 3500, trucks, lifted trucks, diesel trucks, diesel truck

Id: KYh8mblj1U4

Length: 17min 47sec (1067 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 12 2021