Most elitists DO see it as a complement.

Thanks!

After all, what fun would it be thinking that you're better than everyone else without everyone KNOWING that you think that you're better than everyone else.

Again, you qualify for congress, you should consider running for a seat.

Exactly, but it's only fun if you are actually better than everyone else.

I certainly hope that I'm overqualified for congress, that is not a club I would want to be associated with. Those folks only THINK they are better.

I have both an OM617 and a 5.9L 12 Valve. I would agree they are apples and oranges. I love the ton of torque the 5.9L makes but the maintenance is a pain since everything is buried under wiring and accessories just to get to the fuel filter. Even the manual primer pump is 2 feet down into the engine bay. The transmissions aren't great as I just blew mine up but that's a Dodge issue and not a engine issue.

HMMmmm.... What is the difference between KNOWING that you're better than everyone else and THINKING that you are better than everyone else? If you THINK that you're better than everyone else, then doesn't that mean that you think that you KNOW you're better than everyone else? Who makes the call other than yourself?

Of course I make the call, who else would be qualified?

...I have a 12 valve Cummins turbodiesel, a 6cyl Merz turbodiesel and two 5 cyl Merz turbodiesels...

...The Cummins is in a '97 Dodge Ram 4x4 extra cab...I have no complaints about the Dodge truck itself or the Cummins engine although at 170K miles the trans does do some strange things...

...The '87 6 cyl Merz is another story...At a couple of hundred K, it's lifters are pumping down and this set only has 50K on them...
What's up with that???...

...It definately has more power than my 5cyl's but I just dont trust it from a reliability standpoint???...I've got to think my '79 and '80 300SD's are better overall cars than my '87 300D...

Found a cure for the engine outlasting the truck thing. F-700 93' cummins 12 valve and a Eaton 5 speed.

Both it and my 240D have about the same takeoff speed and top end. Both in my opinion are about the same durability wise . They both haul my tools , but I have to say for comfort and wow factor I gotta go with the 240D. As for the fuel mileage 12 on the cummins and 26 on the 616.

But then again 4000# compared to 19000# .

I totally agree. it's only better for everyone to know you are better than everyone else if you are in fact better. I have made quite a few mistakes in my past, questioning myself I'm not always sure I am correct, but I'm usually proven to be right and I get over it.:cool:

That always works for me, or as they say in AA, "fake it until you make it.". If you believe that you are the smartest guy in the room, most people will think so too. ;)

That's a mode of operation that's way too deceitful for me to use. It sounds like the way politicians operate. Are you SURE you don't want to run for congress?

It's only deceitful if it's not true. There is nothing wrong with acting like you're the smartest guy in the room; you probably are the smartest guy in the room anyway, if you don't take that roll someone else will. If you really aren't the smartest guy in the room, find a different room.

I'm very sure I don't want to run for congress, I have more important things to do.

heck, congress would be fine if my intelligence could change anything. waay too many checks and balances to effect any change there. too many money grubbers.

Yup, it would be a waste of time and talent for anyone capable of making actual contributions. It attracts people who like to see their names in the paper, not people who want to accomplish things.

hmmm I wonder if that could ever be changed... green party? libertarian?

Not in my lifetime. Third parties are completely locked out under the current system.

It probably changed when the founding farthers became the first office holders and replaced the previous government. It lasted for a little while, then it became no better than the system it replaced. Eventually, they will be another drastic change to the form of government and there will be a fresh start.

It is too bad when people think they are too good to serve their country in elected office.

There are plenty of honest good intended folks in elected offices, they just don't get as much publicity as the jerks.

we have 3 1990 dodges all with the 5.9, and compared to my 80 300sd, they both do well for what they were designed to do. My dads daily driver cummins is making about 450hp, is aboslutely a speed demon, and legitly gets between 20 and 26 with 50/50 in town and highway depending on how much fun you want to have. Now this truck has horrid steering, and needs alot of suspension parts, and has a new cab and bed from a gasser truck, but it will pull anything and i think it is fine for a 20 year old truck. We dont have tranny issues because we have the non-overdrive transmission, the overdrives cannot handle the power these make. Now my sd needed alot of work, but still was a daily driver. I averaged between 19 and 22 with all in town driving, and it had room out the end... I think it comes down to dodges require major repairs in areas that mercedes dont and vice versa...All in all we just dont like electronics so weve tended to stick with theses older mechanical diesels....

I think you might find a few more around here with the same philosophy!!:D

I don't think it's a matter of being "too good," but it has not the best way to contribute for a very long time. The "good intended folks" in office may be wasting their time and talent. I can't imagine putting up with the frustration of being powerless.

As I said, when good honest intelligent people choose not to run for office they should not complain when the elected officials don't do the job that the good honest intelligent person thinks they should.

I have been an elected official and it is very tough to make any changes, but I never gave up. It would have been easy to just go with the flow.

Sorry, but I don't even bother to complain anymore. IMHO, the american political system is broken beyond repair.

Shouldn't that be IMO Craig?

LOL, that's good. :D

The way to fix it is for good honest folks to run for office.

The biggest thing needing fixing is how we run campaigns (way too long) and how we finance them, (too much corporate money).

Once elected changing the seniority system is the next biggest thing on the agenda.

The only way to change it is by working within it.;)

BTW, Larry, IMHO, Craig has been yanking your chain a bit about the superiority thing and the Texas thing.

You armchair politicions can ruin any thread just so it can be about you right craig;) Having owned several Dodge 1st. gens with a 12 valve Cummins I would say, speaking with experience of owning both engines in question, the Cummins wins my vote along with the Dodge it's attached to, hands down over a Mercedes any day.

Talking about body and chassis and comparing the two,Brand to brand ,Mercedes wins .They designed, engineered and built a great motor ,body and chassis into a winning car design .Dodge had Cummins sell them a motor and put it in their truck .I maybe wrong but didnt they have frame problems with the first few years of that truck.Too much motor ,not enough truck under heavy towing .Anyone else hear this.

OMG! A thread comparing OM617 v 5.9L Cummins has broken down into a political jabfest. Who'd a thunk it?!

I own a '99 Dodge 2500 4x4 and an '84 300SD, used to own a 300D. Also currently own a 2001 Jetta TDI. The TDI is amazing for the sheer driveability. The 5.9L is a power horse. But the MBs are just plain fun to work on. It is higher maintenance, but it's not hard maintenance, and it's like bonding. Everything is just designed better on the MB for maintenance. And the ride in the MB is much better than the others as well. They all get you from one place to another, but I just enjoy getting there in the MB more. Doesn't make the engine better, just different.

YMMV.

I take your point, the problem has more to do with the structure of the campaign system than the individuals who run for office. The is much to much money involved, even at the local level. If there was less need to raise huge amounts of money to run for office, it would attract different types of people. The major hurtle seems to be the court's interpretation that campaign donations are a form of free speech that can't be limited by law. I don't know how to fix that problem.

Honestly, I don't know how well-intentioned people have the patience to participate in the current process; it appears incredibly frustrating. I'm used to being able to identify problems and getting them corrected in a relatively short amount of time. I guess "working from the inside" of politics requires a different skill set than mine. Not to sound less than humble, but I'm very good at what I do and I would suck at politics; I intend to spend my time doing what I'm able to do well.

BTW, Larry's comments are interesting; telling someone they should run for office has become an insult in some segments of this country. I don't know how the political process is supposed to overcome that much cynicism. Many people assume that everyone seeking office is doing so for financial gain of because they have an enormous ego. Although that may be true in some cases, I doubt it is true in the majority of cases; but being extemely cynical has become fashionable in recent decades.

There's nothing wrong with TX, I will be spending most of the next two months working there. I know a couple of dozen people who live and work there, they are very nice folks. It is entertaining to make fun of some of the local culture, they can be a little "over the top."

I do think the whole "truck culture" is very silly and I would like to see non-commercial trucks regulated like cars. In many parts of the country, these types of trucks are used as cars and should be subject to the same safety and emissions standards as cars. It is very silly that Benz and VW have to jump through hoops to sell diesel cars while we are surrounded with these useless vehicles. I have no problem with "real trucks" that are used for work, but these things should be gone. Rant over.

The solution isn't regulating teenagers' modified trucks, it's DEregulating the cars so that Mercedes, VW, and all the others, can sell their diesels with as little difficulty as the truck people do. More rules isn't what is called for here; let people do whatever they want to. But this includes removing the regulations that are giving the German sedans such a fit, and just letting them fall into the same category as the trucks. "The government is best which governs least."

And now, a thread-relevant comment:

Just to add yet another thing into the mix, I think that rather than a Cummins with a Dodge wrapped around it, I'd rather own a late 80s, early 90s, Ford F250/350 with the 6.9 and later 7.3 IDI diesels. Those things are pretty much just jumbo Benzes with a Ford body instead. Simple engines, reliable, would give a 617 a reliability run-for-its-money if you ask me. I'd buy one if I had the cash just to add to the fleet and have something besides a sedan.

Obviously, that's not going to happen.

It not just teens' modified trucks, let's make truck manufactures meet the same requirements for "light trucks" as cars and these silly things will disappear. As an alternative, let the cost of gas/diesel reach a reasonable price (maybe double the current price) and the problem will take care of itself.

I know my 12 valve Cummins runs cleaner than any early 80's mercedes.

Those trucks are coming under some very stringent regulations. Most have some variant of a common-rail system, I know the Powerstroke diesel has been a HEUI engine since it's inception in 94. All have complex electronic controls, and post-2007 have DPFs and now 2010+ gets this "diesel exhaust fluid" stuff.
The only reason why there are still diesel trucks is because the people who buy trucks put up with the noise and smoke for more power and mileage back in the late 80s. People who wanted cars wanted a living room on wheels and a rattling diesel doesn't give that. If diesel cars had been continuously sold since then, they would still be as widely available today as diesel trucks are- Look at VW for an example of this.


And now, a thread-relevant comment:

I have a 7.3 IDI with a Banks Power Pack and a ZF 5speed going into my 69 F250 later this summer- Power, durability, simplicity and mileage all rolled into one good looking package.

Doubt it. I was continually amazed when diesel was near $5/gallon around here, and gas over $4 and people would still let their big pickup trucks idle in the parking lot while they went in the store or the post office and bs'ed for a half and hour.

before you put a 7.3 in anything be sure and rebuild all the o-rings on the turbo and the hpop...
when they leak it's fun...

Probably true.

Later 7.3 IDI= 185hp 385lbs torque with no turbo, with the ZF 5 spd a great package. Mine is the lariat with pwr locks, windows, a/c and a working cruise, can't imagine what more a person needs.

The IDI has no hpop or turbo, gives my 240 a run for simplicity.

The 6.9 and 7.3 were very good in their day, and they do have the simplicity of the Mercedes. However, they both have relatively troublesome glow plug systems, and they will not start unless the system is virtually 100%, espescially the 7.3- the 6.9 was a little more forgiving. That's the advantage of the Cummins- no glow plugs, will start in virtually any weather. It also does not require cooling system SCA treatment.

Ha, this is an amusing, convoluted thread - good for a holiday weekend! I've got a '97 Ram 2500 with the Cummins 12V and have had a small fleet of MB's. It's definitely apples and oranges but they all deliver the benefits of diesel. More low end torque and better mpg than a gasser. Of course, I can throw my 210 or a 123 on the car trailer, hook it to the hitch, and for fun put 275 gallons (nearly a ton) of SVO in the back of the Dodge and still get at least 15 mpg at highway speeds. Shame about the rattling Dodge truck that the Cummins is bolted into, but that's not Cummins' fault :).

For the record, the 12V Cummins B series (as well as the current 24 valve engines) do not have replaceable liners.

Maybe the fact that both the 617 Benz engine and the 12V Cummins run great on SVO is the best thing they have in common. Bring on the $5.00 and $6.00/gallon diesel - see if I care! Whoops, that gets too close to the political discussion... :) Happy Fourth, all.

I saw an interesting Mustang in Hot Rod magazine a few issues back that had the 7.3 shoe horned in it. 38 mpg. Forgot what the hp was. it was not stock.

I have both an 89 Dodge, and a 85 300d. Need the truck for hauling, and have found it to be reliable, and rather nice to drive. Sure wish the Mercedes was not so underpowered, although it is a nice highway car.80+ all day long....

By the way on a windy day the Mercedes is all over the road. Fine when it is not windy, is this normal?

I did not mean to skew this thread into politics. Since I was ratted on by a leather related member last week and chastized by the moderator for a political statement, I must bow out at this point. My tongue is very sore and probably about a 1/4 inch shorter for doing so.

Since others don't appear to get such scolding, continue your fun.

how windy? my sd is pretty worn out suspension wise, and it does not get squirrely unless it's near hurricane crosswinds. (it blows pretty hard here on stormy days) the car is pretty aerodynamic, so it stands to reason that strong crosswinds would affect the stability of the car, or at least the feel of it on the road.

You're thinking 7.3 PSD. I've done the HPOP seals on my boss's F250, not a fun job by any means. Even less fun when i had to go back in a week later and change the fuel bowl drain o-rings. A word to the unwise- dieselorings.com is THE place to buy what you need for these jobs.
The 7.3IDI is solid, the only things to watch are potential cylinder wall erosion from cavitation. Use the additives, or at the very least keep on top of your coolant service, and you're good to go.
Biggest thing for me right now is how to make the oil filter and steering box play nice together. I'll have to sit the engine a bit high to get the oil pan to clear the steering linkage, but not too bad.

20+ mph winds. My steering box has a bit of play, that can not be taken out any further without it binding when turning.

This IS my life!
I have a 93 cummins with just 200k and an 86 603 MB with 160k on the motor.
The dodge body and brakes are showing its age and I have to constantly rig something like the A/c or the alternator wiring to keep the thing going. I LOVE THEM both each for what they are. Neither one has EVER left me stranded or owes me ANY $$$
The Benz gets 30+ mpg and the dodge 18to20
I can tow a HOUSE with the dodge and ride in style in the SDL.

This is quit an interesting thread to me as one of the vehicles I constantly consider buying is a Cummins powered Ram. Anybody know if my suspicion that a 6 speed manual 99 - 2001 Cummins powere Ram would be about the best of the bunch? Or do they already have the less reliable 24V motors. I've never heard about problems with leaky cabins and there a plenty of Rams running around here, but of course in Phoenix rain isn't exactly an issue. I don't think I've actually seen rain for over a year now.

- Peter.

Can I just have one of each? I love both engines and both applications. Depends on the task at hand.

Might want to check on the cumminsforum.com for problems related to the "53" block of that era.Not to want to scare you because that is a fine truck but it was a small problem with a few motors that isn't widely known.

Do you mean the Venezuealan manufactured blocks with crack in them? If so I'm aware of that issue.

- Peter.