I'm going to set up a 68 Dodge Crew cab long bed to be a camper hauler, race trailer tow rig. It will be 2 wd a dually rear, 450/4500 level suspension and brakes, exhaust brake, etc. It will be Diesel. So I own 2 potential donor vehicles: 1 is a 98 12 valve ram 3500 4x4 automatic with 150,000 miles; the other is a 97 E350 2 wd dually cube van with a power stroke, with 130,000 miles. Both vehicles have about the same $ value right now.

The cummins would be a no-brainer, except for the fact that it won't fit without either stretching the front fenders and hood (hard/expensive), or putting a doghouse in the firewall. With my long legs and big feet, I don't like the doghouse idea too much. The Powerstroke would fit very well with no body mods.

Dodge doesn't actually built the cummins, and ford didn't butild the Navistar 7.3 powerstroke, so to me, the brand doesn't mean much.

So what are the pros and cons of going either way, other than pissing off all the loyal cummins fans?