I owned three Dodge Rams....every one of them trashed the transmission at 100K miles or below....no frigging good. A multitude of other problems along the way, too.
I never owned a GM truck, and I never will now that they are Government Motors.
I have a Ford F150 with 99K miles on it and it looks like a new truck, drives like one too. Original brakes (still good), did have to get a second set of tires at 70,000 miles though.
Both Chrysler and GM can suck it.
I have a Ram 1500 with a 5.7 hemi. It’s a muscle truck. When I drive it, I feel 18 again.
Ditto. The new Silverados are so ugly, I don’t think they will grow on me, but I’m no Ram fan either. No problem, I don’t have to buy either.
The Ram is the better looking truck
It doesn’t seem to be price. Around me, Fords and Nissans seem to be cheapest, followed by Toyota.
All the smaller trucks are basic company units. When you get to the one ton series, they are all component trucks. The only thing company is the body.
Dodge has the Cummins, GM has a Japanese diesel and ford IH.
The Ford and GM have V8s and the Cummins in the Dodge is a straight 6. The Cummins is a far better engine over all.
Ford has the best auto in their big trucks. I wouldnt ever have an auto tranny in any diesel.
I would never buy a Ram. Again. I owned a`99 and that was the last Dodge I’ll ever buy. I won’t but a Obama truck either, but I would if it came to it over a Dodge.
F150 or a Tundra. Nothing else will do.
Ram trucks looks are actually pretty darn good, its a dam shame the running gear is crap, spoken from a 40 plus year mechanic.
I own a 2002 Silverado Dually with the 8.1 Vortec gas engine, best truck I have ever owned.
Thought about buying the new GM Silverado but even I have to admit it looks like 90’s era trash slabs. I hear 2015 will have some unique GM mid sized truck surprises.
Otherwise buy a Ram body and put it on a Ford? I agree Ford has the gear, Gm the bling and comfort and Dodge unique looks.
The styling is somewhat questionable for the truck market, they tried to take a fairly hefty price increase, and “Government Motors” is killing them among the majority of potential buyers. Voting with their feet, Ford or Dodge.
How much is fall out from "Government Motors" when it is time to trade?
Pickups used to be useful, now they are pretty. They used to be heavy and solid, with low beds you could reach, and bench seats that fit four. Now they have so much lift they’re practically useless, they have buckets seats, and the gay boys who drive them are more concerned about scratches than working.
If I needed a pickup now, I’d buy a 1970s ford and fix it up.
I’ve owned all three brands over the years, and based on experience, using these trucks as workhorses, i’ve found that:
The clutches and u-joints don’t hold up in chevy trucks,
The bodies on dodges rot away too fast in the upper midwest, along with manual tranny problems (GM and Dodge use the same MFR transmissions),
Fords have the worst brakes of any brand i’ve ever owned, and the modular engines aren’t worth the scrap metal they’re made from, and they get horrible mileage.
As for toyota and nissan, i never really considered them, mainly because they only make light duty pickups.
I’ve killed more pickups than most people have ever owned, and the current crop of trucks are all flash, and no substance, and way over priced for their intended purpose.
Government Motors vs Government Motors. I don’t know who to vote for. Toyota?
The most indestructible (other than brakes) "beater" pickup I ever owned was a used Mazda B2000… bench seats, rubber mats, "power" nothing and a power train that would not quit. It rusted away in the same pattern as it's siblings, but it never actually gave up the ghost. The plain vehicles that provided reliable, faithful basic hauling/transportation are the ones that I remember with the most fondness. I wish I could be similarly nostalgic about my Dodge Dakota, but I'm not.
Mr. niteowl77
Out in AZ I have been thinking about a pickup for a year. Good clearance and good to haul stuff.
Looked at the Rams. I was interested in the four corner air suspension cause the wife is short and its easier to garage. Thought about the new diesel even at the hefty five G premium, thought about the full skid plate Outdoorsman. Went by a big Dodge/Ram dealership to go through their fifty trucks and see those heavily advertised items and lo and behold, not a truck with any of those options.
I think I may wait for the new aluminum bodied Ford or get a current 2014 heavily discounted when the new one is a month away and they are trying to clear the lots. Love the Raptor but the gas mileage is sick.
There is one simple reason for this.
Say what you want about Dodge reliability and quality (I have always preferred Ford trucks myself) the current Ram is the best looking pickup on the road.
I have a 2009 Ram I picked up super cheap- I bought it to haul junk to the recycler and to pick up firewood. So I only cared about price at the time. First Dodge I ever bought after swearing all my life I would never own one.
Bottom line: They still aren’t (at least as of 09) built to the quality level of the competition BUT it rides better, and looks better than any truck I ever had. But it “feels” cheap.
I drive a 1990 Ford F-250 super cab 4x4 with the Navistar 7.3L non-turbo engine and an E4 OD tranny. I’ve owned the truck since new. Drivetrain has been very good but the suspension offers an extremely harsh ride. Lots of problems with the brakes and a little module on top of the engine that tells the tranny something has failed about 6 times but its a cheap, easy repair. Since it is non-turbo the towing capability sucks.
In 2004 I bought a Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins to replace the Ford but the Ford won’t die. I love that Cummins engine. The bodywork and interior on the Dodge is chintzy and the truck sits too high. Suspension is pretty nice and it has a very small turn radius. And I LOVE that Cummins engine.
I’ll have to keep them both until they die or I do because they aren’t politically correct engines and I like that.
But Ford trucks are #1!