Truck choices

[TooeleGuy]

So I am EXTREEMLY torn. I am in the market for a truck. Diesel, 4 door, 4x4, RUNS EXCLENT. Heres where the problem comes;

I have driven a BUNCH of trucks over the past week or so and I have NO idea what to get. Growing up I was a chevy guy, but when I got into diesels I turned dodge due to the cummins. Anyhow... what should I buy? I have driven chevy, ford and dodge and I honestly don't know what to buy. I know that with the new emissions crap MOST of the mileage has dropped. I don't think I want to pony up the money for a brand new truck but at the same time do I want to take the risk of buying something that could have been beat or hot-rodded? anyways I am coming here in hopes SOMEONE can help shed some light on this. Used I would like to stay under 35k less than 90k miles. IT MUST RUN AND DRIVE PERFECT as it will be used in my shop. any help would be great. I DONT want to turn this into a ford vs chevy vs dodge debate I want real world opinion. Not my dads boss's son has a 13 dodge that gets 47 mpg and 1389 hp and 15000 foot lbs of torque

 

[crosbike]

I like dodges and would go with one again. Newer ones have emissions but you can remove it if you wanted.
Fords motors scare me still, I know of some low mileage 6.7 powerstrokes that have spun bearings or failed in other ways catastrophicly.
Chevys/gmc look awesome, have great options and seem to make great power. Personally I didnt want IFS and I wanted a mega cab so I went dodge.

 

[TRD270]

I have a 2014 Ram 2500 crew shortbed 4x4 with a manual. I really love the new dodges, I've never owned ford or chev diesel trucks just a handful of ford gassers. Cummins may not be the most powerful on the market but it has an amazing amount of power and makes it lower in the RPM range compared to the powerstroke and duramax. IMO the ford and chev motors are stupid complicated compared. Mine still has emission stuff intact until warranty is gone. Even with it all I get 21-22 on the hwy which isn't too much worse than my old 12v with way more comfort. I don't think your budget is unreasonable for a light used fairly low mileage truck unless you want all the leather and bells and whistles. I bought mine used with 33k on the odometer and its comfortably equipped for 38k a year ago

I'm still a sucker for manual but my understanding is the 68RFE and Aisin trans are much better than older dodge auto's



Also not Ford or Chev bashing, I loved my F150's, just never owned a diesel Ford and I've never owned a chev. I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the trucks they all make insane power and are with in a MPG of each other on mileage. Just a matter of your preference on interiors and which drivetrain you have more faith in. I wanted a manual which limited me to one manufacture, but I also like the relatively simple motor of the cummins compared to especially the fords. Mines a manual so I "only" have the 650ft lbs of torque, not 900+ everything else has. I don't tow a ton of weight but it doesn't care about my 10k trailer at all.


Also for what its worth I have Ford sync in my work truck and Uconnect in the Ram..... I'd take uconnect all day long if that makes a difference to you, I want to dismantle my sync almost every day

 

[clfrnacwby]

Do you need a 3/4 or 1 ton truck? I love my 1/2 ton Ram 1500 Ecodiesel.

 

[Houndoc]

We had a 2004 Dodge Cummins. Engine of course was great, rest the truck not worth diddly. Spent about $2,500/year 3 years in a row on repairs (mostly front end) so sold it with about 160K miles.

Replaced it with a Chevy with over 300K on it, spent $5,000 initially (still cleared profit after selling the Dodge) and drove it trouble free for several years, sold it with 355K on it and running great.

Now have an 07 GMC, 230K (guessing, my wife drives it not me so not sure on miles) and has required very little work in the 2 years we have had it.

 

[1adam12]

I love old 7.3 powerstrokes. But if i were to buy new i would look closely at gas motors from all 3. They are putting down impressive power descent mileage (compared to new diesels) and much cheaper and much simpler. Fuel is cheaper, no def and cheaper maintenance. Ive always thought that 80% of people who have diesels dont need them. My 2 cents and somthing to think about.

 

[Bart]

All of my experiences are with 2003 and older diesels. I love the Cummins motor but didn't like the way the Dodges fell apart. I have owned 3, 7.3 Powerstrokes and really liked them, but the solid front axle and suspension made for a rough ride and it took a football field to turn around in. I have now owned a couple of Duramax's and really like them. I have a 2002 Chevy now with 209k and besides the cost of replacing the injectors, it's been a great truck. It is my daily driver and I use it to pull the Jeep and our 11,000 lb boat. I really like the ride with the IFS.

 

[Jesser04]

All of my experiences are with 2003 and older diesels. I love the Cummins motor but didn't like the way the Dodges fell apart. I have owned 3, 7.3 Powerstrokes and really liked them, but the solid front axle and suspension made for a rough ride and it took a football field to turn around in. I have now owned a couple of Duramax's and really like them. I have a 2002 Chevy now with 209k and besides the cost of replacing the injectors, it's been a great truck. It is my daily driver and I use it to pull the Jeep and our 11,000 lb boat. I really like the ride with the IFS.

This right here. It's hard to be the duramax Allison combo. I was a die hard ford person my whole life until 2011 owning a 04 6.0 and a 08 6.4. They were great trucks to drive around town it's when I was asking a lot of them when I had problems. I know these were the first years of a new engines so that needs to be considered. In the later years of both engines they made improvements to both. I pulled 21,000 with a duramax from Richmond ca home up over donners pass and it didn't skip a beat. Either of the fords I would have been worried about breaking down the whole way home. Nothing like being in the middle of Wyoming at 2 in the morning with a blown 6.0 with 20k on it.

 

[glockman]

I think the question of "do you really need a diesel" is the most important one. If you don't commonly pull more than 10K then the answer is no. The gas motors now have a ton of power. Gravy has a Ford Super duty with a 6.2 gasser that has almost the same horsepower and torque my 6.0 does. Consider the $100 oil changes, more expensive fuel and the huge increase in initial purchase price and you are far better off with a gas motor, unless you really need that extra capacity.

Add to this that the gassers ride so much better (while still being controlled towing 10K) if you are driving it empty very often and I think most people overestimate their need for a diesel.

Any of the new diesels will be awesome when they run, will be expensive when they break, when you buy them, when you put tires or brakes on them and when you fuel them up or change the oil.

 

[tv_larsen]

I think the question of "do you really need a diesel" is the most important one. If you don't commonly pull more than 10K then the answer is no. The gas motors now have a ton of power. Gravy has a Ford Super duty with a 6.2 gasser that has almost the same horsepower and torque my 6.0 does. Consider the $100 oil changes, more expensive fuel and the huge increase in initial purchase price and you are far better off with a gas motor, unless you really need that extra capacity.

Add to this that the gassers ride so much better (while still being controlled towing 10K) if you are driving it empty very often and I think most people overestimate their need for a diesel.

Any of the new diesels will be awesome when they run, will be expensive when they break, when you buy them, when you put tires or brakes on them and when you fuel them up or change the oil.

^^Agreed^^

My previous truck was a '98 Ram 2500 12V Cummins. I loved it - but repairs were killers, eg: KDP timing cover, core plugs, fuel solenoid, etc... When it was stock (180hp, 400ft-lb) it would not tow a 7500 lb trailer over Soldier Summit at the speed limit. I spent a LOT of money building a DTT trans and cranking the power to 350hp, 780ft-lb. This combo towed Soldier Summit at the speed limit no problem - but it was expensive and not as reliable as stock.

I finally sold that truck and bought a '15 Ram 2500 6.4L Hemi. Bone stock, it will tow a 8500 lb trailer over Soldier Summit easily at the speed limit. But beyond that, the ride, the steering, the brakes, everything about the handling of the truck is light years ahead of the '98 Ram. The '15 2500 6.4L Hemi is actually factory rated to tow and haul more weight than the '98 Cummins was.

The only down side to the 6.4 Hemi is the mileage. In the Cummins I used to get about 18-19mpg highway, 15mpg city, and 11-14 mpg towing. The Hemi is doing about 16-18mpg highway, 11-13mpg city, 9-12mpg towing. It's not bad, but it is a little worse - and it prefers 91 octane.

For occasionally towing an 8500 lb trailer like I do I would never buy a new diesel - it's just overkill.

Also, I have a buddy that tows a 7000 lb trailer (I-70 through Colorado) with an F150 Ecoboost and he loves it. For him it replaced a 1st gen Dodge Cummins.

 

[frieed]

I never pulled my trailer over Soldier summit, but with 8200# of trailer and "stuff" my 2013 Ecoboost will pull Daniels summit on the way to Strawberry Res. at the posted limit @2700 RPM, dropping a gear during the last 1/4 mile with RPMs bumping to 3300. All with only 3.5L. Gassers can do an amazing amount these days.

 

[TRD270]

Thoughts of dumping the diesel have been running through my head, I don't tow a lot but when I do I need a 3/4. While todays 1/2 tons out perform the 1 tons I grew up with, I still feel more confident with the 3/4 chassis. If Ford put an eco boost in an F250 this would have already happened. I'm a big fan of forced induction especially since my new house is going to be at 7300 feet. For this reason I'm still hesitant on the big bore gasser that gets doggy at elevation. I'm going to go test drive a 6.4 hemi this week to see if I can tolerate it, new gas engines are leaps and bounds above gas tow rigs in the past. I'm not sure I was to give up the power for when I do tow, but I'm also not sure I want to deal with the diesel headaches down the road associated with these new diesels. I wish I could have my 12V motor in this truck, 12V cummins was always sufficient on power for me, but being in those trucks for any long period of time sucks.