I have the Dodge/Cummins combo. You would have to pry my cold dead hands from the steering wheel of that truck. Go with the Cummins, and keep the truck simple (IE, no automatic or power crap), and the truck will outlive the old 240D. Ford in comparison cannot hold a candle to the Cummins. They just aren't in the same league.

As for the old mechanical diesels limited RPM. I really don't notice the wider range of my ISB engine as I still run it primarily between 1600 and 2100 RPM. The 5.9B engine is a medium duty engine, and it acts like one. The 2600 RPM redline just comes with the territory.