Looking for a pick up truck

[Bleed Green]

What do you guys recommend? I was thinking Dodge because that is what my family has had all the time before. Wanted to see what others thought.
Thanks

[JDiepstra]

What are you going to be doing with this truck?

[Bleed Green]

work stuff. Hauling construction material mainly. I would like to be able to get a full bed so that I can carry full sheets of plywood if necessary.

[Bleed Green]

http://www.dodge.com/en/2009/ram_1500/

I was thinking something like this, but I was looking for other people's feedback in case they had owned it or something like it in the past maybe. The model with the full bed though.

[RockSet N' Grade]

I own a ford.....I have never, since day one, been able to find a comfortable spot to sit for long periods of time. It has been a good truck. I was a chevy man before that. I would say just find one that feels good to you 'cause you are the one driving it and go for it. I am not sold, as I was years ago, on one brand being better than another. With all the computer stuff they have in these things now they all rate the same in my mind. Dodge, Ford, Chev, Toyota.........find the one that fits your booty the best and move on down the road.

[Scag48]

Why buy a new truck? I'm not trying to be forward, but you're in college, right? There's plenty of other things you could/should be purchasing, a brand new vehicle may not be the most wise of investments, especially if you're trying to get a jump start on your own show. Nice trucks can be had for $15K. That's just what I'd do, though, I've never owned a brand new vehicle and probably never will, I'm just too cheap.

[Bleed Green]

Well its kind of a long story.... I have a car right now and this all started when the cash for clunkers promotion started. My dad said that if I would sell my car and he would trade his 1991 dodge truck in on the cash for clunkers thing that I could get a truck to drive that would be mine. If you figure that Ill get several thousand for my car and then we will get money for the old truck through the Govt. program they are running, the new truck will not end up being nearly as much. Plus I was thinking that I could use the truck for work when I had to and Dad would be able to use it as well when he needed to. As far as buying used, I think there is a limit as to what you have to get through the Cash for Clunkers program, I think there is some kind of stipulations that are in place as far as gas mileage and stuff. I would think it would almost have to be a new truck to meet that criteria.

[Scag48]

You know, I didn't think about that program. You may be money ahead with a deal like that. I mean, there are screaming deals on rigs right now, but it's only a deal if you absolutely need one, you know? Don't get me wrong, a good truck is a necessary evil in the business. If you can make it pencil with the incentives, I'd say it may be worth it. I've seen a lot of guys that I got into the apprenticeship with go out and assume they were going to make a ton of money right off the bat, even in a seriously crappy economy, that they went out, bought new trucks, and the payments sunk them. Hate to see that happen to you, that's all I was saying.

[Bleed Green]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't think that I could pass this deal up especially in this economy. The prices like this won't happen for a while I'm sure. I figure I can get one now and then I will have one when I need it. I'm sure if they were not running this deal then I would prolly not be as ready to go out and buy one right now, but to me I can't pass this deal up, especially with a trade in on top of the deal and selling my 2006 car which will give me even more money to work with.

[JDiepstra]

Well let me just say that I love my Dodge and after having a 2500 diesel I don't think I could go back to a gasser. Just be sure you buy enough truck for whatever you plan to do (tow/haul/plow......) cause you will kick yourself if you run out of truck someday.

[Junior M]

Just be sure you buy enough truck for whatever you plan to do (tow/haul/plow......) cause you will kick yourself if you run out of truck someday.

thats exactly what I was going to say..

[Bleed Green]

Would there be any benefit to getting a pick up that uses diesel over regular gasoline?

[CAT powered]

If you're gonna do C4C make sure the new truck gets 18mpg or more. If you want a diesel it will not. And a diesel will be significantly more expensive.

A diesel will give you much more power and much more longevity. There is a reason I own nothing but diesels. The 7.3L PowerStroke is one of the best diesels of all time. And it's surrounded by a pretty decent truck as well.

My son bought himself a 1999 F350 with a 7.3 this past winter. I can probably get him to post up with some more info about diesel pickups if you'd like.

[Bleed Green]

If your son would post some stuff that would be cool. I just want to get all the info that I can before I make a choice on a truck. I think that I will prolly go with a regular truck instead of a diesel, but it never hurts to get all the info that you can. Thanks for the help.

[7.3 Rocket]

Ok so as you can tell from my name here I'm a Ford guy and I've got a 7.3 PowerStroke.

The 7.3 is one of the best diesel engines ever put into a pickup truck second only to the 5.9 Cummins.

Both are able to pull hard all day long however if you're into diesel performance, like I am, the 5.9 is able to sustain much higher hp levels and still be reliable.

The weak link on a truck with a 5.9 is the same as the weak link on truck with a 7.3 and that is the transmission. Automatic transmissions that is. Dodge is famous for blowing up auto transmissions and the 4R100 in the 7.3s is no prize pig either. A manual transmission in either will hold up beautifully so long as you don't smoke the clutch.

I'm not familiar with the Dodge transmissions, but I do know that the 4R100 can be made pretty reliable for a relatively low amount of money. I have yet to do mine, but if you put in a larger transmission cooler (like one off a 6.0 PowerStroke) and a valve body then get the truck tuned to take advantage of it you can make that trans pretty bulletproof. I picked up my trans cooler for 250$ on ebay and a valve body is 250$ as well plus I believe I paid $340 or so for my chip. So they can be made reliable for much less than a new transmisssion.

Now for anyone in the know on diesels I'm sure you're saying "Well that's fine, but those trucks are old. I want a new truck."

I'm going to be blunt. New diesels scare the living sh*t out of me. Dad's 6.0 had been in the shop 3x for not firing on all cylinders. 1: reflashed PCM 2: replaced injector wiring harness 3: replaced injector My truck's oasis report has only one thing on it and that is the CPS recall. An Oasis report will tell you any work done on the truck that was done at the Ford dealership.

And don't even get me started on the new diesels like the 6.4 PowerStroke or 6.7 Cummins. I've got a buddy whose dad just bought an F450 with a 6.4 that has 80k miles. They were pulling their toy hauler which is maybe 12k pounds. Nothing stupid heavy. The truck dropped a valve and has been at the Ford dealership for almost a month while they put in an entirely new engine. It also ruined the DPF before it dropped the valve. Oh AND on top of that they get terrible fuel mileage. I'm talking like 10-12mpg absolute tops. I'll stick with my 7.3 thank you very much.

Diesels outshine gassers when it comes to pulling heavy loads over long distances. If you just want to drive around town get a gasser, but if you want to drive any distance pulling a fair bit of weight a diesel is the way to go. They make tremendous amounts of power at low RPMs as opposed to a gasser which needs to be spun way out to make power. Forced induction is a wonderful thing as well.

I recently installed a chip and larger turbo on my 7.3 and holy crap that thing takes off like a rocket now so the whole thing about diesels being slow is a load of crap. Although I do have approximately 2,100$ into my truck in aftermarket parts right now.

I'm a bit of a diesel junkie though.

Oh and before Kaiser chimes in: Duramax sucks. I was at an 1/8 mile drag strip this past Friday. A Duramax from Diesel Power magazine was there. We talked him into running against one of our 7.3s. It was a 7.3L in an Excursion against a hopped up D-max. The 7.3 only really has a chip for a power adder and it beat the pants off the D-max that the guy claimed was pretty heavily modded. Of course that was before the race. Afterwards his excuse was that "it was in a pretty mild tune" Yea... ok, buddy.

[Votum Gardens LLC]

Test drive and research each one you can. Buy what works for you. For us that means Chevy and Duramax. Do they have their own set of problems? Yes they do. But in our experience the Ford and Dodge products don't give us the lifespan that the Chevy's do. If you're buying used by all means look for the Cummins and 7.3L. They're are darn good engines, rest of the truck may be junk, but those engines will still be going strong. Don't discount the GM 6.5L either, we have a pair of '95 K2500 with one having 397,000 and the other 414,000 miles on original engines and tranny's. And these have been worked hard over the years. Last couple of years they've been used mainly for snow removal. If you buy new either a cummins or Duramax. But remember a brand new Duramax is a pretty shitty engine, so give it time to break in. My 06 2500HD only got between 10-12 mpg until it hit around 40,000, now I'm getting 18 to 22 mpg depending on what I'm doing with the truck.

As for the size of the truck, if you think you need a 3/4 ton get a one ton, especially if Ford or Dodge. The 2500HD is actually underated, much in the same way as the Topkick's and Kodiaks are, in what they are actually capable of. They also tend to be lighter trucks than the other two, meaning from a road legal standpoint we can get more bang for our buck. We had for a while a 06 F250 Super Duty, it's gone now because every time we put over a 1000lbs in the bed, we'd break a spring. I ripped the factory hitch right out of the frame on a 05 F550, trying to pull a trailer that our 2500HD never even grunted with.

Remember this each truck manufacturers has lemons out there. Do Ford and Dodge make good products, probaly yes they do. I just happen to keep getting the lemons whenever I test drive, lease or buy from those two.

[7.3 Rocket]

If you buy Chevy/GMC and intend to use it for any type of plowing make sure to gusset the frame or you could break it. If you don't believe me check over on plowsite.

Also if you intend to do plowing I'd stay away from GM due to the IFS. Any time I've seen a plow on an IFS truck the front of the truck drops like a ton of bricks every time the plow is raised. On our Fords and the one Dodge we had the front stayed pretty much the same when you raised the plow. I never actually measured it, but I'd guess it to be less than a 1" drop in the nose of the truck with the plow raised. Stock.

Ford and Dodge are built for work first and comfort thereafter which is just fine for us, but if you need those extra creature comforts and a cushy ride then GM is for you. Although you can get some pretty dang nice Fords and Dodges if you go with higher trim packages. That 450 with the 6.4L is a King Ranch and holy crap is that truck nice. It's even got the man-step. :laugh:

Oh and how does a Ford fall apart around the motor faster than a Chevy? :confused: Ford frames are built so they can withstand plowing, etc. without breaking. Can Chevy say the same?

Oh by the way I'm not total Chevy hater I just prefer my Ford or a Dodge with a Cummins. Dad has a '97 C1500 with a V6 in it and he just can't kill it. One time he forgot to stop at the bank and used his cash for a toll. We were about to run out of gas so he took diesel from the tank the truck has and pumped it into the truck's fuel tank and it ran like that for a while. Just recently we pulled the spark plugs and put in new ones and new ingition wires, etc. It is one hard to kill engine in that truck.

[Bleed Green]

We have always had Dodge trucks and vans. I like the way that they all drive and look so that is the way I am leaning right now. The 1991 Dodge truck that Dad has is what we are trading in as the "clunker" with the Cash for Clunkers Program. I think it has served it life well enough, even though it still runs. Just the fact that it is still going gives testament to me anyway that Dodge must not be too bad of a product. Ill let you know what I decide on after I drive some and narrow down what I like on the road.

[Gravel Rat]

You guys in the USA are lucky that older trucks are worth buying. Here where you have road salt and wet weather it distroys trucks quickly.

Once a truck has orange cancer its done you can't stop rust it just takes over. Truck frames rust out, cabs rust off, dealing with rusted out brake lines and wiring that is corroded.

Now the terrian it wears trucks out too. Twisty roads and 10% highway grades push engines to their limits. It doesn't matter what brand once you hit the 250,000-300,000 km (155,000-187,000 mile) mark the engine is close to done gas or diesel. When you have a diesel with that kind of miles here be prepared for some expensive repairs like I said doesn't matter what brand.

Seen a few Cummins crap out at 300,000kms (187,000 miles) they need a rebuild.

There is a big difference from a place where you drive on flat and straight roads to a place where you have steep highway grades and twisty roads.

When the a engine sees rpm swings from close to idle to over 2000 in every turn. Take my 6.0 I pull the engine down to 1200 rpm in the curve and once I'am out of the curve its back up to 2300 rpm.

Twisty road burn up tires in 24,000kms (15,000 miles) if you use 16 inch tires with 19.5 rubber I'am lucky to get 30,000km (19,000 miles) out them. Wears suspension parts, burns up wheel bearings and takes out ball joints.

As for diesel trucks holding any resale not a chance I paid 30 grand for my 03 F-450 2 years ago with todays market I will be lucky if I get 20 grand.

Like I said you guys are lucky anywhere southern states where roads are straight as a arrow and you have no problem with rust its worth buying a used truck.

As for old 7.3 powered trucks I wouldn't own one again. My current 03 6.0 runs good no issues besides the turbo replacement. You can modify a 6.0 to be more reliable by eliminating the emmissions crap.

[7.3 Rocket]

I like the way the 6.0s drive and the added features like being the first set of trucks to have a built-in brake controller and the tow/haul mode. Although it's not enough to make me want a 6.0 instead of my 7.3L. A DP Tuner with decel tune will do the same as the braking in tow-haul mode and for 250 bucks I can have a nice brake controller. The only issue with those 7.3s is the CPS and I can do one in under 5 minutes from when it quits til I have the truck running again. Explaining it takes longer than doing it.

It's a lot harder to change EGRs, injectors, and turbos. The 6.0 has had issues with all of them.

And where I come from 20 grand for an 03 6.0L is pretty good. The 03s and 04s were incredibly proned to problems.

And yea you'll need to find a pickup that gets 18mpg or more if you plan to take advantage of the C4C program.

[Votum Gardens LLC]

Then I geuss we're lucky when it comes to Chevy's, we have never broke or even bent a frame when plowing snow. And no we don't gusset the frame. Of course I have always thought that majority of damage done to a truck from plowing comes from the operator. As for wearing out a truck, well lets just say over the last 27 years that I have been driving I have personally ran three Fords and three Dodges into the ground. I have yet to do that to a Chevy. As a matter of fact the first truck I bought, a '77 3/4 ton 2wd with 350 and 4 speed manual, is still on the farm and running. I'm not a Ford or Dodge hater either, it's just that Chevy has yet to fail me.

[7.3 Rocket]

Pat of the problem is that some guys hit the pile at 20mph to try to stack the snow up higher. I've seen at least 4 threads about cracked Chevy frames over on Plowsite. Apparently Chevy used to gusset them from the factory but stopped likely due to cost.

I'll drive most anything, but for me a Ford was the best choice. Everyone with a used Cummins thinks it's worth 15 grand even if it's total rusted out junk. Except for one I found with a blown trans.

Every brand has its strong point and weak point it's just a matter of what weak points you feel you can live with.

[Scag48]

I'll drive most anything, but for me a Ford was the best choice. Everyone with a used Cummins thinks it's worth 15 grand even if it's total rusted out junk. Except for one I found with a blown trans.



Man isn't that the truth! I like Cummins, but I'm a big 7.3 fan and would like to buy a '95-'98 F350 PSD next year if the funds allow but the 5.9 ISB is awesome IF you buy a truck with a manual tranny. But then again, typically the rest of the truck falls apart around the engine.

[stuvecorp]

I so wish I would have bought a 550 with the 7.3 back when they were at the end of their run.:hammerhead:

[Junior M]

Man isn't that the truth! I like Cummins, but I'm a big 7.3 fan and would like to buy a '95-'98 F350 PSD next year if the funds allow but the 5.9 ISB is awesome IF you buy a truck with a manual tranny. But then again, typically the rest of the truck falls apart around the engine.
True, but take care of the truck, get an extended warranty incase anything large decides to break and your covered and you've got the motor you want.

tell me if this is true or not, but from what I've heard the 48re in the Dodges are supposedly bullet proof? my family pretty much runs strictly dodges(besides our chevy and a beat to hell 95 F250 and my Grandpa's new chevy 1500) and all the trucks in the family are late models, my oldest brothers 06 is the newest one so not much experience with this model.