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Dodge Diesel what was the first year

7mopar

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Was really surprised with this one. Stumbled acrossed it looking for other Dodge truck info. It was Cummings will give that much will post year if no one gets it.
 
the first diesel was a mitsubishi engine the 6DR50A from chrysler japanese partner. with only 243 cid and only103 hp @220rpm it suffered from lack of performance. and did not return in 1979.... friend of mine got and old red diesel powerwagon a weak dog......
 
For the Cummins, mid 88....but iirc, they were called 89's. I was thinking 87 because my dealership buddy came over with one but OTD is setting in.
 
Believe it or not way off. Try 1959
Apparently with the cost of fuel what it was and farm equipment being mostly gas they were not in demand.
There was another tried in the 70s with a under powered forgien that never went well either.
 
cummings and dodge truck lines have been together since the fifty's i think . the fourty's fargo and larger dodge haulers had big flathead 6 gas engines . i now this truck has a gas powered 413 high nickel flathead six in it . and the fifty's saw the chrysler hemis in dodge badging , but i thought the inline 6 cummings took over for these monster gas 6's .
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I'm guessing 89 first year with a Cummins
as one who worked for the engineer who designed the 6B and for cummins Engineering team as recently as May.... the B series was originally a tractor engine, the Dodge Pickup-Cummins B series marriage came about in 1985 actually when the R&D team were set up, it was not until the 1989 model year that the B series was finally for sale in the Dodge Pickups. So the answer is 1989 model year trucks got them. And the first couple dozen were actually chassis cabs, not full trucks.

That said, some of the Dodge big rigs and heavy truck market featured M series and N series Cummins dating as back to 1950s. But those were not pickups.

5.9L 12v Cummins Diesel Specs (6BT Cummins)
 
I do.... All the time. After working for Cummins, it gets really annoying see "Cummings"
Myself I prefer Cat easier to spell. To me setting the Cat 4 valve bridge is the altimate. Shortening Cummins just doesnt sound right for an engine.
Just one question. Other than distructability just why was the 360 chosen? Twice the size it needed to be. Why not a smaller turbo engine?
 
Myself I prefer Cat easier to spell. To me setting the Cat 4 valve bridge is the altimate. Shortening Cummins just doesnt sound right for an engine.
Just one question. Other than distructability just why was the 360 chosen? Twice the size it needed to be. Why not a smaller turbo engine?
Cause of the power/torque requirements Dodge wanted at the time. They wanted a smaller version of the C series and liked what they saw in the B series, which had come out a few years prior in tractors and industrial equipment. Little known fact, there was actually a 5 cylinder designed at the request of Ford. Ford had also wanted the B series but the length and weight would have required a redesign of the Ford truck at the time . So Cummins built a 5 cylinder based off the B series as well as a 3 cylinder. Niether impressed Ford and Ford ultimately decided there was no need in what was a heavy duty diesel in a pick up truck. This was in 1985. Dodge stepped in, said they wanted the diesel but would go with the 6b since it fit in their trucks as it was plus Cummins had years of testing on the 6B from the agriculture side of things, so they saved a ton on R&D upfront. The 5 cylinder would die completely, the 3 cylinder was converted to propane and some diesel generators, but was later replaced by the 4B. Cummins has experimented with the 3 cylinder for some light SUV platforms but weight is a huge factor and even though Aluminum heads have been around for a while, Cummins is all about longevity (not to mention cost) so they continue to stay with iron.
 
Myself I prefer Cat easier to spell. To me setting the Cat 4 valve bridge is the altimate. Shortening Cummins just doesnt sound right for an engine.
Just one question. Other than distructability just why was the 360 chosen? Twice the size it needed to be. Why not a smaller turbo engine?
Also, while looking back, we can say that the 5.9 liter, 359 cubic inch B series is a power monster, when the VE version of B series was out, it was only rated around 200 hp and 300 ft lbs. not many people were turning them at at that point. One of the first to do it was Mark Chappell . A retired turbo engineer from Cummins. Mark would later start TST diesel performance and for a while, was the go to diesel shop in the country. Now, Mark has retired and boats around on his Cummins powered boat.
 
I have never quite understood the Ford - Cummins relationship. Dodge was looking for reliable desiel. Ford had their own in development.

Even tho son-inlaw swears by his Duromax I have never been able to get use to the sound of something that sounds like it will come apart at idle. Reminds me to much of the old Detroit's and Perkins.
 
I have never quite understood the Ford - Cummins relationship. Dodge was looking for reliable desiel. Ford had their own in development.

Even tho son-inlaw swears by his Duromax I have never been able to get use to the sound of something that sounds like it will come apart at idle. Reminds me to much of the old Detroit's and Perkins.

The Ford-Cummins relationship is actually quite easy to explain. Ford had an agricultural side of their business, completely separate from the automotive and pickup lines. In the early 70s, as tractors grew massively in size and power, they turned to Cummins, which had a great rep in the over the load trucking industry. Cummins provided a few different engines for Ford to put in their tractors, The N-14s, the M series, the C series and even the tried and true but now long retired 444 series. These tractors are still in high demand today, running for dang near for ever. So in the early 80s, when Chevy put the old 6.2 lt, detroit diesel into the K series trucks and popularity went thru the roof, thus demand for diesels started ramping up, Ford initially turned to Cummins. As I stated above, Cummins developed a couple different engines for them to test out, but Ford didnt like the price tag and all the changes that they'd have to do on their already re-designed truck. So Dodge stepped in. Once Dodge stepped in, Ford then started development on what would become their 7.3 liter diesel.

The duramax is really a junk engine in terms of longevity. It'll never match the longevity of the Cummins but they do make good power while they last.
 
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