Cummins swap overrated?

[punkmechanic]

To answer the original question "is the cummins swap overrated?". In my personal opinion, Yes. Im entitled to that opinion and thats what it is. Other will and do disagree, thats their opinion.

I agreet the cummins is a good motor. But it isnt great. It has gained popularity due to its availability in our size trucks. medium duty and heavy duty trucks have engines that would put ours to shame.

I like the cummins sound, but I could do that with the 466 or 360. I think for some the swap is appealing. I cant justify the expence and time to put in a motor that is more expensive to fix and everyone else has. I like to be different. Hence the reason I dont drive a dodge cummins, chevy small block or honda civic.

I dont need 1000 hp, 4500 lb/ft of torque, and a cloud to block the sun. I need a truck that fires everytime, hauls what I put in, on, or behind it, and gets me home. The idi does that, and it does that for less money than a cummins. A cummins may get me a couple miles per gallon, but Im gonna have to put a lot of miles to get a return, miles I could be putting on my 6.9 now.

punk

 

[BigRigTech]

Being a Cummins trained tech, I just have an itch to scratch so I found a 12V and now I just need wheels for it...Something different that you wouldn't expect a Cummins in..........I just love the sound, reliability and big torque.....I love the IDI for reliablity and cost to repair but it can't stack up to a 5.9 if you want to start turning things up.

 

[Agnem]

I think the swap is worth it if you want to do it and the end results are pleasing to you. That's what any kind of "hobby" decision should be about. I've done tons of things to my trucks that were neither needed nor required. I did them because I wanted to, and becasue I knew I would like the way it turned out. Now if your asking if it is financially worth it, I don't think so. I think you can keep your IDI on the road a long time for the money you will spend on a Cummins.

 

[obinella]

I think the swap is worth it if you want to do it and the end results are pleasing to you. That's what any kind of "hobby" decision should be about. I've done tons of things to my trucks that were neither needed nor required. I did them because I wanted to, and becasue I knew I would like the way it turned out. Now if your asking if it is financially worth it, I don't think so. I think you can keep your IDI on the road a long time for the money you will spend on a Cummins.

best answer!

 

[jwalterus]

I dont need 1000 hp, 4500 lb/ft of torque, and a cloud to block the sun. I need a truck that fires everytime, hauls what I put in, on, or behind it, and gets me home. The idi does that, and it does that for less money than a cummins. A cummins may get me a couple miles per gallon, but Im gonna have to put a lot of miles to get a return

exactly my same opinion of my truck

I think you can keep your IDI on the road a long time for the money you will spend on a Cummins.

I think you could keep your truck running for the next 50 years with general maintenance and the occasional rebuild before you'd spend the same money you would on the cummins swap

as far as I'm concerned, if you want a cummins, go buy a dodge, your truck was built around the IDI, it does fine, and unless you're planning to do some extreme motoring or racing (enough weight behind it to bend the frame, or 9 second 1/4 miles), I don't think there'd ever be a reason to install the cummins in a truck you use for daily driving, towing the boat to the lake, or going mudding once in a while, unless you just plain want to, but if you just want to, why are you asking everyone's opinion?

 

[Diesel JD]

I think a fresh engine with either an IDI or a Cummins with careful maintenance and a little luck will keep either engine on the road until the DOT takes our drivers licenses away cause we're too old and blind to drive (the young guys like me I mean ) or the enviro nazis ban them.

 

[bignastystacks]

I pulled in to get some diesel the other day and there was a guy in a jeep cherokee at the pump next to me. I shut off my truck and jumped out and he asked "did you buy that truck with a 12 valve or did you swap it out?" I told him its a stock truck. He says " thats not a power stroke." I said I know its a 7.3 IDI with a turbo. He had the most confused look on his face...I just walked away with a smile on mine.

 

[Darrin Tosh]

So what happened to Bird Hunter,...the dude that started this thread,...

 

[NapaBavarian]

So what happened to Bird Hunter,...the dude that started this thread,...

He went duck hunting with **** Cheney, check the county hospital

 

[NapaBavarian]

I pulled in to get some diesel the other day and there was a guy in a jeep cherokee at the pump next to me. I shut off my truck and jumped out and he asked "did you buy that truck with a 12 valve or did you swap it out?" I told him its a stock truck. He says " thats not a power stroke." I said I know its a 7.3 IDI with a turbo. He had the most confused look on his face...I just walked away with a smile on mine.

Every once in a while you'll find a craigslist posting for a 1987 F250 Cummins Powerstroke diesel engine that will last a million miles, barely broken in at 400k, and it gets 48.375 MPG to boot I always exchange a few emails just for fun!

 

[SparkandFire]

Every once in a while you'll find a craigslist posting for a 1987 F250 Cummins Powerstroke diesel engine that will last a million miles, barely broken in at 400k, and it gets 48.375 MPG to boot I always exchange a few emails just for fun!

The ones I see are usually a "Cummings powerstroke"

And they ALWAYS get AT LEAST 48 MPG!

I send them an email saying "I am a prince in Namibia, I very much like your car, I will send you 1 million Namibian dollars for your car and you can ship it to me in Namibia. First I will need your checking account number to have the dollars wired to your account"

 

[crashnzuk]

I pulled in to get some diesel the other day and there was a guy in a jeep cherokee at the pump next to me. I shut off my truck and jumped out and he asked "did you buy that truck with a 12 valve or did you swap it out?" I told him its a stock truck. He says " thats not a power stroke." I said I know its a 7.3 IDI with a turbo. He had the most confused look on his face...I just walked away with a smile on mine.

I don't know how you could mistake an IDI (any IDI) for a 12 valve Cummins He probably just took a stab since it didn't sound like a Stroke. Dude must not realize that there were diesels before the PowerStroke.
Travis..

 

[91fummins]

Well guys I done the swap and love it. Also I only spent about 500 doin it but its everyone to their own I guess.

 

[gatorman21218]

Well guys I done the swap and love it. Also I only spent about 500 doin it but its everyone to their own I guess.

And I think thats the key. You only spent 500 bucks to swap the engine. I dont know if that includes the engine or not. If your oem engine dies and you have another engine or can get one cheap you may as well put that one in. Like before mentioned cummins isnt the end all of engines. they may be good but why spend all that money just to gain a few horsepower or just to say you have a cummins? Does any pickup really need 1000 ft lbs of torque? I will go far as saying no, its just to compensate for low numbers on said driver. Go out and get yourself a medium duty truck and save yourself some aggrevation.

That being said I am going to transplant a 6v71 into a Ford one day. But to my defense thats not the "cool" thing to do

 

[IH_444]

If you are going for big horse, cummins swap is probly the way to go.
Otherwise, I like my IDI just fine.

Everyone has their own opinion. I want to put an old 2 stroke detroit in a pickup. Why? Certainly not because of the power, but because I think they sound sweet and are neat engines. A 4-53T would have a bit more power than a 6.2, its close to NA 7.3 (180HP)