Considering a full size Diesel truck, opinions?

[GI-John]

As the title says, I'm considering my next vehicle purchase for when I get back from Iraq in a year or so, and have decided to get a full size truck.

This is going to be a vehicle I'm going to keep for many years, and must be capable of towing/hauling different trailers.

My initial thoughts are for a late model 3/4 ton Dodge quad cab 4x4 with the 5.9 Cummins Diesel. I am, and have always been a Chrysler guy, and don't see things changing. I'm thinking a 2003-2005 model.

I'd love to hear your opinions on the vehicle, engine, etc, as well as any other opinions you may have on this. I'm all ears.
Thanks in advance,

John

 

[Rev Den]

Well...you already know what I am gonna say.

If you want to keep it for many years, and have it perform well for those years....

go Ford.

Well the Dodge has the engine, that is all it has.

That said, you can't go wrong with either Ford or Dodge in a 3/4 ton and above truck.

Rev

 

[MisterFubar]

Find someone that sells a Cummins with an allison behind it in Ford body.

The year range you are looking it you can't really go wrong with a Ford or a Dodge.

 

[IXNAYXJ]

Awww c'mon, John; you know the can of worms you just opened! Most will say Dodge, but you know I still think the GM is the best overall product.

Check out this thread on PNWJeep:

http://www.pnwjeep.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8140

-----Matt-----

 

[DrMoab]

Well lets see. You can buy a Chevy...and have the electric switches break in the first two years, the front end fall apart and basicly have the ugliest truck on the road.

Or you could buy a Ford and have it in the dealer within the first two months with a blown motor...then get it back and take it back again with another blown motor in another month and give your money to a company who does everything they can to stand behind all the green orgs like the Sierra Club, Green Peace and others so they don't blast them for the horrible gas mileage their vehicles have a reputation of getting.Oh but you will have a good body oooohhhkeeyyy.

Or you can buy a Dodge and be a happy guy like me.

 

[Stumpalump]

All the big three deisels are good. Since you are looking used I'd look at 1 ton trucks. They have real radiator, oil and tranny coolers, big axels ..yeah! Mine even has a big power steering/hydroboost cooler. 3/4 ton is still gas truck territory. My favorite because they are dirt cheap. Like under 6 grand cheap are the 97 and up 6.5TD GM. People can't give them away.Refered to as a bastard vehicle in the car biz. They got most of the bugs out by then but they still must be modified to perform and run great. Port the intake plenum,free easy 1 hour job.K&N air filter and open up the fender air duct,$59.00. Run 4 in exhaust and crossover, $269 plus 50 for the crossover from Warpspeed. And install a Heath wastegate controller,$109.00. $ 50.00 boost guage if you want to max out the controller. Any more and you enter the danger zone on a 6.5. Then you can take your extra 45 grand and buy somthing really cool like investment property that you will sell in 20 years for the price of 3 new trucks. Mines a 98 crew cab 4x4 silverado 1 ton that I bought for $6125.00 in 2003. The property is up to 75K and the truck is hardly worth 2500 but I'm keepin it til it dies.

 

[BlueCuda]

All the big three deisels are good. Since you are looking used I'd look at 1 ton trucks. They have real radiator, oil and tranny coolers, big axels ..yeah! Mine even has a big power steering/hydroboost cooler. 3/4 ton is still gas truck territory. My favorite because they are dirt cheap. Like under 6 grand cheap are the 97 and up 6.5TD GM. People can't give them away.Refered to as a bastard vehicle in the car biz. They got most of the bugs out by then but they still must be modified to perform and run great. Port the intake plenum,free easy 1 hour job.K&N air filter and open up the fender air duct,$59.00. Run 4 in exhaust and crossover, $269 plus 50 for the crossover from Warpspeed. And install a Heath wastegate controller,$109.00. $ 50.00 boost guage if you want to max out the controller. Any more and you enter the danger zone on a 6.5. Then you can take your extra 45 grand and buy somthing really cool like investment property that you will sell in 20 years for the price of 3 new trucks. Mines a 98 crew cab 4x4 silverado 1 ton that I bought for $6125.00 in 2003. The property is up to 75K and the truck is hardly worth 2500 but I'm keepin it til it dies.

I can only say this for dodge. The 2500 and 3500 Rams are nearly identicle. The one difference between 3/4 and 1 ton in the 94-02 trucks is the dual wheels and associated parts to run dual wheels. The springs, axles(dana 80 for manual shift 70 for auto, but duallys all have 80s) motor trans etc are all the same. I am pretty certain the 03+ 3/4 and 1 ton trucks have very few differences, most having to do with the rear spring pack. I am a little behind on those trucks so I could be a little off. But in no means is the 3/4 ton light duty.

I know the F250s come with some sad leaf springs. A friend of mine had to put air bags on his 99 F250 to haul his enclosed race trailer. With the same trailer and hitch my 99 Ram 2500 would sit nice and level, and it was 2wd.

They are all three pretty good trucks, but I personally will only have Dodges . We have a 05 F350 with a 6.0 at work....truck moves damn good but between the death wobble, injector, and turbo problems its had I wouldn't own one on my dime.

 

[JohnX]

My initial thoughts are for a late model 3/4 ton Dodge quad cab 4x4 with the 5.9 Cummins Diesel.

Your initial thoughts are correct. That is all.

 

[jeepboy381]

Let me think of someone who is happy with their 6.0 Ford.........still thinking............wait still thinking.........okay I remember now!!! I don't know a single person now that has had a hint of not just good luck or any kind of luck with theirs. Auto tranny's, turbo's, and engines multiple times. Ford and International had a lawsuit over it! Get a dodge with a 6 speed and be done.
If you want a cheap diesel you can buy Ford 6.0's a dime a dozen. Or even better you can buy Fords new 6.4 flame thrower diesel and catch people on fire on the side of streets!! Just look up Ford diesel flame thrower on youtube.

 

[Avanteone]

Your initial thoughts are correct. That is all.

X 2

 

[1985xjlaredo]

I had a 7.4 and a 6.0 Auto PowerStroke's. Towed boats and gooseneck trailers all the time. Didn't loose a transmission untill 168,000 on the 7.4 and never had a problem with the 6.0.
If Ford's Deisel work trucks were so prone to having problems then why is more than 93% of all HD Fleet vechile's in the USA built by FORD with the PowerStroke in them since 1994. And Ford will have about a 180% better resale value when the time comes.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

My favorite because they are dirt cheap. Like under 6 grand cheap are the 97 and up 6.5TD GM. People can't give them away.Refered to as a bastard vehicle in the car biz. They got most of the bugs out by then but they still must be modified to perform and run great. Port the intake plenum,free easy 1 hour job.K&N air filter and open up the fender air duct,$59.00. Run 4 in exhaust and crossover, $269 plus 50 for the crossover from Warpspeed. And install a Heath wastegate controller,$109.00. $ 50.00 boost guage if you want to max out the controller. Any more and you enter the danger zone on a 6.5. Then you can take your extra 45 grand and buy somthing really cool like investment property that you will sell in 20 years for the price of 3 new trucks. Mines a 98 crew cab 4x4 silverado 1 ton that I bought for $6125.00 in 2003. The property is up to 75K and the truck is hardly worth 2500 but I'm keepin it til it dies.

thanks

now you have me looking at these

 

[BlueCuda]

I had a 7.4 and a 6.0 Auto PowerStroke's. Towed boats and gooseneck trailers all the time. Didn't loose a transmission untill 168,000 on the 7.4 and never had a problem with the 6.0.
If Ford's Deisel work trucks were so prone to having problems then why is more than 93% of all HD Fleet vechile's in the USA built by FORD with the PowerStroke in them since 1994. And Ford will have about a 180% better resale value when the time comes.

Because chevy had a shitty diesel and dodge quit the cab and chassis setup until this year.

We have had two PSD trucks at my work. We work our trucks hard, we haul batteries and the trucks stay at or near max GVW they never get light. The 97 We had was a solid front axle 2wd "SuperDuty"(per the badge on the fender). It had a 7.3 and it ate cam sensors like nothing else, transmisions as well. Hell the damn truck even came from the factory with a dead injector..pretty sweet huh? It also needed front leaf spring bushings every 30K or it would death wobble. We now have an 05 F350 4x4 that we use to do the same job but its loaded about %50 less. Its been in for death wobble 3 times when it had under 50K on it..I drove it the other day and its trying to do it again(70K). It started to lose power when it had about 30K on it, so they put a new set of injectors in it(all 8!). Then it lost power again and it was a turbo failure so it got a new turbo. We have also had 2 International 4700s with the DT466 navistar engine which share some engine managment issues with the 7.3...they eat cam sensors like a mofo as well.

A few friends of mine have 6.0s as well. One of them has been towed in for a no start problem. The other hasn't had much trouble at all, its been a good truck. Only problem is it spits, spudders, burbles, and smokes on startup.

I do have a funny ford dealer story though. We took the above mentioned 05 Super Duty in for its 2nd case of death wobble when it had about 40K miles on it or so. About 15K after its first death wobble TSB repair and alignment. The dealer gave it back and said they could not douplicate the problem. They did this twice without fixing shit. So one of our drivers knew what it took to start the death wobble so he took it in and made the service advisor ride with him back to the shop and then the service guy could drive it back. They got on the highway and accelerated to 60 and the guy commented on how nothing was happening. About that time he hit a bump on the highway and it started to DW like mad, the service guy said nothing. So Mike stayed in the gas and got faster and faster as the DW got worse and worse until the service writer cracked and told him to slow down LOL. When mike came in the shop and the service guy left mike said he bet money that asshole didn't get over 40 on the way back .

Sorry for the long post and poor spelling and grammar errors lol.

Clark

 

[JohnX]

I had a 7.4 and a 6.0 Auto PowerStroke's. Towed boats and gooseneck trailers all the time. Didn't loose a transmission untill 168,000 on the 7.4 and never had a problem with the 6.0.
If Ford's Deisel work trucks were so prone to having problems then why is more than 93% of all HD Fleet vechile's in the USA built by FORD with the PowerStroke in them since 1994. And Ford will have about a 180% better resale value when the time comes.

Because chevy had a shitty diesel and dodge quit the cab and chassis setup until this year.

Clark

Yep, like Clark says....Sometimes you buy a truck based upon what is available.

The Chevys sucked, the Dodges didn't have the right setup, so you go and buy a Ford.

While i won't say the Ford is a "bad" truck, I bought a Dodge....A better truck.

 

[FordGuy]

I run a Ford Service/Pts Department and have friends who run Chevy and Dodge. I will tell you hands down as far as durabilty Ford kicks there Ass!! they all have faults, It comes down to how long do you want it to last. Drive a 08' Ford and you will search no further.

 

[DrMoab]

I run a Ford Service/Pts Department and have friends who run Chevy and Dodge. I will tell you hands down as far as durabilty Ford kicks there Ass!! they all have faults, It comes down to how long do you want it to last. Drive a 08' Ford and you will search no further.

You are full of shit. End of story.

Time after time after time I hear just the opposite.

In fact just tonight I was talking to my boss's son. He is a Ford guy...well he was until his brand new F450 failed on him. Then failed again and then once again...before it had 10K on the ticker. Twice the injectors failed and now its lost a turbo.

Sorry but you just do not hear about this with Chevys or Dodges....period.

Oh and I have driven his new 08. Meh, the only notable thing about that truck is the fact that its so ugly a mother couldn't love it.

 

[DrMoab]

If Ford's Deisel work trucks were so prone to having problems then why is more than 93% of all HD Fleet vechile's in the USA built by FORD with the PowerStroke in them since 1994. And Ford will have about a 180% better resale value when the time comes.

Like the others said, availabity.

Funny thing though, I work in the oil fields and all I see this year are Dodges. Since they started offering Cab and chassis trucks the Fords are almost non-existent.

 

[MisterFubar]

Wait for toyota to put a diesel in a 3/4 ton Tundra, atleast you know they'll be around long enough to handle any warranty claims that might come up. atriot:

 

[scoobyxj]

Wait for toyota to put a diesel in a 3/4 ton Tundra, atleast you know they'll be around long enough to handle any warranty claims that might come up. atriot:

Pretty sure that got axed. Would have been nice.

 

[Prepmech]

Almost all of the new trucks have problems, and they seem to be getting worse as they are trying to make more power with smaller engines and better emissions. They are getting too complicated.

I like the old recipe for power: bigger engines with less boost. It makes for more simple and durable engines. The older CTD 5.9s and PS 7.3s will last quite a bit longer than anything new.

Chevy has never really had a good diesel engine. As soon as they started getting it figured out, they got hit with all of the new emissions standards.

'02-'03 F250s and F350s with the 7.3L are a pretty good truck. '02 was the year Ford started putting the D60 under the front of the F250s. They have four wheel disc brakes. They don't have any of the death wobble problems or the 6.0L problems.

The Dodges around the same year are pretty decent too. While the front axle is a D60, it is a LP. The interior, and fit & finish of these trucks isn't as bad as some of the older ones, but it still isn't the best. The coil sprung Dodges ride a little better than the leaf sprung Fords.

To get anything decent new, you have to jump up to a medium duty truck. The Chevy 4500s and bigger with the Cat engine are pretty nice. The 4x4 ones have a hp dana70 front axle. The big fords with the Cat engines are pretty nice too.