Ram 3500 CTD advice needed

OK, I am looking to buy a 10-16 dually. The few friends I Have in the trucking biz say to stay way away from the trucks with DEF. Nothing buy a headache. Which leaves me up to a 12 & down. My dilemma is I like the upgrades they did on the 13 & up. Electronics package is way nicer and trans/frame/engine upgrades too. Most everyone said deleting the EGR is a must regardless. So, to those in the know what do you say about the 12-down vs the 13 & up conflict. Is the EGR thing true too? My 96 is so reliable I hate to give it up but I have had for 21 years and the newer ones are so much nicer to travel in. Thanks for your input.

It seems going the newer one and deleting it seems to be the way to go.

I picked up a 2010 dually with 46000 miles. It is deleted and I love it.

Find a way to stay in love with your 96. Air ride suspension, new paint, late model seating, whatever it takes.

Everything after 03 has issues. EGR, common rail injectors that hang open and hydraulic lock the engine, (boom) diesel particulate filters, $$$$, DEF, more $$$$$$ VGT turbos $$$$ it just doesn't stop. The newer stuff runs ok when it runs but when any of the above mentioned quits, the check engine light comes on or worse and a tow truck gets involved.

Properly maintained, that 12 valve will easily go 500,000 miles or more. If you convert the pump to manual shut off, your electrical system could fail and you are still trucking.

Kevin

I concur, keep the 12 valve.

I bought a 2001 24 valve manual 6 speed quad cab 4x2 in 2016 with 97K on it for 15,000, it tows my Race Dakota and lives in my garage, 103K on it now, absolutely love everything about it. It's show room perfect, what I really like is it's exactly like my late fathers truck, only his was a 12 valve and I didn't buy it when he passed, I've tried to since, no luck.
Fast forward to a couple months ago, I bought a 2007 one owner 4x4 24 valve with 125K on it for 15,500, it's as clean as the 2001, but...It's gonna be a money pit, 68rfe, VGT turbo this and that, DPF this and that....$$$. I bought the 07 replace my 2500 98 5.9 gas RAM work truck, but I'm selling the 07, keeping the 98, I love everything about the 07 except for the future repair bills, and they are gonna happen, get on the Cummins forums.
I should have done my homework.

Thanks for the help. I joined the Ram Cummins forums. The general consensus is keep the 12v or buy a 14 and up. My 96 would require too much work for me right now. Just don't have any free time so I now will narrow my search and hopefully something comes up.

I have an 06, its been a good truck. I use it daily as my work truck, I have about 2000lbs of weight in it all the time, plus I tow a skidsteer tractor around with it. The biggest issues with the common rail 5.9 is the 48re trans in stock form is a bit light for the truck. Find a decent trans builder and the truck will last you for a really long time. The HO 5.9 gets decent mileage and has quite a bit of power stock. I've done one set of injectors at 350,000 km's . The truck rolled over 500,000 kms this morning on a out of town service call.

I am a mechanical injection person at heart but I would beg to differ..... 03-07ish in my opinion are great because they have no emissions equipment besides a catalytic converter. Put decent fuel filter setup on it and no hanging injectors. Custom tuning is all you need and it will run circles around a 12v with locked timing. Keep in mind that even the mighty 12v has issues (Dowel Pin).

I really liked my 05, It handled nice compared to my 02. I got scared I was going to have an injector pile up on it though and sold it well before that would happen (150k). The 14 and up probably drive way better as well but they seem to need to be deleted to be trouble free.

14 and newer have been a great package. That’s the route I’d go if I were getting rid of my 01.5.