Ford, Chevy, Dodge...

TonyD

I'm going to start shopping for a used 3/4 ton 4x4 ext. cab work truck (and plowing). I'm not trying to start a huge pi$$ing contest on the best manuf. But I would like some real world experiences (good and bad) from anyone who owns one. 1999-2004

After owning a dodge a chevy and numerous fords,I swore to myself I would never buy a ford again, but find myself looking at them again.
Bought a 2001 jeep laredo a fews years ago for my wife, GREAT vehicle I wish they made a pickup!

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"...You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong..."
Abraham Lincoln

BRNDIVY

Ford & Dodge owner here...

'03 Ram 2500 4x4 -This past year it's had quite a bit of repairs that you wouldn't expect out of a truck with 45K.

If you're looking for a Ford HD go with a 7.3 or V10. I'm not impressed with the 6.0L. They seem to be lacking in power.

JNLP

I've had all 3, and also used each with companies I've worked for.

My number one rule is NEVER by a Dodge again. My normal driving has killed them all (3) before they hit 100k. Constant repairs too. Maybe I just had bad luck with them, but I'm starting to see a pattern after our last one just died a month ago @ 6 years old and 90k miles.

Fords are ok. I especially like the newer ones. Just test drove an 06 a month ago & it is one sweet ride.

Chevy... Mmmm... Every Chevy I ever had let me beat the sh!t out of it and never had me tow them to a junk yard. They just keep running strong. My pick for sure, but if the deal was right I'd get a ford too.

Teetorbilt

IME, the Dodge's do not seem to last as long as the Fords or bowties.

Jeep made a J-10 pickup back in the 60-70's, I still see a few around.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

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747

Actually jeep made a pickup until chrysler took them over. What year was that 80,81. I think. Jeep in the late 70's made a snow boss pickup truck that came from factory with plow and everything. Also made the honcho package pickup it was decales on the side and hood i didn't like that pickup truck I prefered just the regular truck which came with tractor AT tires standard.. My father and his two brothers owned a jeep dealership until jeep (american motors) went out of business and jeep was bought by chrysler.

Ps honcho package was for the J10

Teetorbilt

747, not real big on Jeeps, having owned a few of them. I do remember a comrade that came to work driving a new one after catching a few 'square grouper'. That would be about '74.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

BRNDIVY

My personal ride is an '05 F150 4x4 and I absolutley love it..I couldn't ask for a better truck.

BRNDIVY

You got that right..My '91 F350 Flatbed w/ a 351 in it has almost 400k and still running strong. No major repairs since having it....

Eric K

98 chevy 3500 diesel. Motor needs a lil tuning to get it up to par but other than that I love the truck. 171,000 miles and not one break down (since I owned it from 101,000)

cmwacasey

73 to 87 chevys to 91 with the crew cab and suburbans.today go with toyota for reliability,or duramax and allison for heavy duty.or super duty, whatever.for extra super heavy duty go with MACK

TimNJ

What kind of problems you having? I have the same truck,03 Ram Hemi, not the diesel. 87,000miles.

BRNDIVY

My truck has the 5.7L as well..no complaints with that. It's the rest that sucks. Since last Dec., I have had to replace the carrier & pinion bearings, rear u-joints, left front axle, and the steering gear.

dougger222

Here's my experiance.

8/15/01 bought the 99 F250 extended cab short bed 4x4 auto 7.3 diesel with 40K miles with $5K in add ons for $25K. Last time I looked at the speedo it read 235K miles. It tows huge and plows for personal use only. Will never sell this truck mostly due to the fact that I've got over $15K in add ons in it to date.

11/15/03 bought the 00 Excursion Limited 4x4 auto 7.3 diesel with 104K miles for $20K. It's mostly stock besides rims and tires and now has 165K miles. It can tow whatever the F250 can tow and does it in comfort. My wife uses it as her daily driver as she can't seem to stand driving the 65 Stang anymore. Again, due to the fact the Excursion is no longer sold it will only be sold or traded for a 03 Excursion with the 7.3.

A month ago decided since the F250 was paid for and it had a great life towing the trailers it was time to move up and add another 7.3 diesel. Picked up a 99 F350 Lariat crew cab 4x4 auto 7.3 dually with 114K miles for $19K. The truck is sweet and pulls the dump trailer like it's not even there. Put a couple thousand miles on it so far and really like it. Only other dually I'd trade up for would be a 2000 Lariat LE.

I spent a combined of 9 months searching for the three diesels. The toughest find was the Excursion.

If anybody is interested in the maintance that's gone into the F250 or Excursion send me a PM and I can pull out my records.

If your looking for a diesel the best of the best is IMO the 99.5 to 00 7.3 Ford Powerstroke. GM had crap for diesels these years and sold 1/100th of what Ford did. The Cummins is ok in these years but are plagued with problems. Lift pumps $100 a pop, most take two a year or spend $1K on the in tank mod. Injector pumps will set you back $1K and most only last 100K miles. If your block is stamped with a 53 you might was well plan on finding a good junk yard donor motor. Clock spring and cps failures also top the list. Did I mention your stuck with a Dodge truck too?

The Duramaxes are ok but stay away from 01's and 02's especially if they have over 200K miles since the injector warranty was raised from 100K to 200K miles. Seen a lot of posts on gmdiesels.com with owners who have had to replace two sets of injectors. Even though warranty covers the cost most guys don't have another work truck at there disposal, nor does the dealerships doing the repairs. At one time national back order was 5 weeks, this was a couple years ago.

Spend many many hours on turbodieselregistry, thedieselstop, gmdiesels, thedieselplace, and a horde of other diesel web sites.

But I tell most guys it's your money not mine buy what you like and want! Drive all three and find what you like and dislike about them.

Whatever you do don't buy a big block gasser job, the resale is horrible. Just checked NADA, the Excursion has a resale of $18,500 and a trade in of $15,500. I gave $3K down on it and owe $7,500 and never paid extra money towards principal on it. When that's paid off may try to find a 2000 Ford E350 7.3 but it would have to be really really nice with super low miles. Only problem is adding 4x4, know a guy with two newer Ford E350 diesels and it cost him $12K and $13K to add 4x4. He has his three sons roof for him and pulls the dump trailers with the vans.

dougger222

Your doing pretty good for a 6.5 Detroit! I knew a guy who had good luck with his 98 2500 but he moved to a 03 gasser at 180K miles.

I know a guy with a 98 dually 6.5 and at 240K miles he was on his third motor but original auto tranny, figure that out!

Another guy I know runs a few 6.5's and all have had at least one motor replaced. The fuel mileage is pretty good with the 6.5's. Heard of 6.5 Burbs getting high 20's.

Good maintance an just about anything and it runs better and longer than abused vehicles. Switching to synthetics is one way to add life to your vehicle.

RussellF

I went from a 88' Gmc with a 350 to a 2000 F-250 with the 7.3ps and the difference is night and day. I had very few troubles with that 350 though. I have 114k on the ford..........I have only put 14k on it though. All good so far......

kingston

I am moving onto a GMC with the Duramax. I loved my Cummins, it was just the Dodge wrapped around it. I have been through rear axle seals at 9K, two front drive shafts and one rear at 20Kish, brakes, rotors, calipers at 35K, both front front U-joints at 35K and finally right and left upper and lower ball joints and wheel bearings at 45K.

The truck is just over 2 years old. I feared what the future was to bring with this thing. It was never plowed and has towed an average 7K for about 15,000 easy miles. The truck was pampered, serviced reqularly at the dealer, and never abused?

I've moved into a brand new 07 GMC Dmax crew SLT. We've had Fords, Dodges, Chevys, and Toyotas. The Chevys/GMCs and Toyotas have been the best. The Toyotas in the late 80's and early 90's were indestructable if you changed the oil once in a while.

Good luck. Did you consider new. The 07 Classics are being sold a great prices. You should expect to pay under invoice minus all available incentives. The 07 redesign is making for some great bargains. I have heard great things about the gassers and the 360HP Dmax, well it speaks for itself.

joasis

I bought an '03 3500 Chevy last year...extended cab with a flat bed, and Duramax/Allison.....I can't say enough about how great it has been.....16 mpg under load, 18 cruising, and I had to get the injectors dome at 109k....I would look at a Ford next time...but this truck is a great one.http://www.contractortalk.com/attach...1&d=1166577885

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AirPro

Well, depends on what you want to use it for....nahhh, not really. If you are going to tow with it or HD 4WD, get the 7.3 powerstroke, If it will serve as a part time light plow truck and DD for you for the rest of the year...the gas engine may be ok. I currently drive an 03' f250 4x4 Lariat crew cab with the 5.4 engine. I wouldn't tow with it all the time, but it has given me ZERO problems in 70,000 miles and 12 MPG in the city, the only thing I have done to the truck is tires(once), oil changes(every 3,000) and just last week....brake pads.
The best looking and best performing truck out there is the Ford super duty IMO. I also bought an 06' E-350 van with the same engine last year, and so far not even a hiccup. Then again, I won't have to worry about that one for a few years(B to B warranty, free oil changes,brake pads,tire rotation for 3 years).

The Van is faster than the truck FWIW, those SD's with the 5.4 aren't made for speed!


Another vote on staying away from the 6.0 until it gets ironed out....get a 1999-2002 7.3L if you are going to go ford diesel.

tnmtn

i have an '03 chevy 3500. it has the dmax/allison combo and is awesome. i regularly tow 13,000#. i handles this no problem. i have heard others mention something about how chevy's handle having a plow up front. not much plowing in my neck of the woods bt you may want to check more into that.
good luck

IDIGDIRT

FWIW, I'm a Ford man and can't say how Dodge or Chevy would hold up to what I put them through, but the ones I have had have been extremely reliable. I tow a 14k trailer every day of the week with a large skid steer + attachments and with the exception of my 04 with the 6.0 Powerstroke, have had almost no problems whatsoever. Here's a rundown:
1991 F350 w/ 460 gas-beast of a puller but started getting weak after 100k miles. Sold for first diesel
1996 F350 w/ 7.3 powerstroke- sold at 109k miles and only work done was 1 set of brakes and glow plug relay.
2001 F350 w/ 7.3 powerstroke-dually ext cab 6 speed, replaced leather seat cover at 40k miles - thats it. At 43k miles some lady liked the rear bumper so much she pushed it up to the rear axle. So she was nice enough to buy me a new 04 F350 crewcab w/ 6.0 powerstroke.
1995 F-450 w/ 7.3 powerstroke-150k+miles as of today and only major repair was trans replaced at 140k miles. This truck works every day and has not let me down once.(the trans was going bad so I replaced it before it left me stranded)

The 6.0 powerstroke is a smooth running, fast diesel but is maintanance intensive. I had the EGR valve go out last month and clogged the injectors. I do like the Torqueshift trans though.
Like some others have said an older 7.3 powerstroke is the way to go. And the superduty's have a nice functional interior. Also they still come with straight axles in the front which I have found to be bulletproof.