I'm a cummins can myself. I own one so in biased. But the 12 valve is a work horse. They're heavy as heck though. Motor with trans are around 1200 lbs. Get the mechanical version, pre '98 I believe. With a minor fuel plate grind you can get 900 lb/ft and 400 hp reliable. My business partner has one with 300k miles. We tow mini excavators and bobcats weekly. Tractor and trailer maybe 11k lbs.

I can explain it to you, I can't understand it for you.