Advice buying a truck

[chadh2o]

Dodge Ram 2500 diesel here. 2nd Dodge diesel (3rd Dodge) Love it and will buy another when this is grounded. Had to put new ball joints in this summer at 135,000, but other than that, nada.
My dad is on his second Dodge diesel, after 2 Ford diesels. The both Fords he had were having turbo problems, then injectors. His is the early 2016 model and had a computer issue with the trans, but new program and he has been GTG. 2x to South TX then Colorado and home, no problem pulling a 40' 5th wheel rv, avg mileage is 15. He gets 17-20 riding around OKC. If I could keep the stoplights to a minimum I might get that (13-15 currently in town, Colorado trip this summer 17 mpg, loaded pulling a jeep). But mine weighs in just under 10k daily with no trailer. Probably why the front end needed some attention.
Anything under 150k on a 2010+ Dodge Diesel would be fine with me.
Another buddie has a late 2016 Dodge diesel and has had no problems (sold his Ford, it pained him so). He now is glad he did.
All of mine have been very reliable, but I'm a maintenance freak. Oil every 5k, trans fluid 30k, power steering fluid 30k, rear diff 50k, front and transfer 75/100k. Fuel and air 20k. I even do the headlight bulbs, just because.
Okla and Texans luv their Fords and Chevys, that's for sure. I was a Chevy only, no ifs about it. Would NEVER buy a Dodge (POS), too working class. I was of this mindset, until I took the plunge in 2006, best truck I ever bought (a customer gave me a ton a **** about my snobbiness toward his Dodges, glad he did). Not one problem until my french fry grease fouled the injectors at 160k. $3500 later and down the road we went till I traded it for my current. Including the injectors, I haven't spent $7500 in repairs, 300+k miles on 2 different trucks, working them everyday (on pavement, not gravel and dirt) YMMV.

 

[doctorjj]

Is that because they are much cheaper to buy?
Anything made by that company has issues. Our Jeep Grand Cherokee limited that is made by the same company has a horrible reputation on Consumer reports. They have it as the most worked on vehicle.
Worst vehicle we ever owned. Had the dash removed three times to fix AC issues, Tranny went out at 80K, and the engine spun a rod at 120K.
Hundreds of online reports of the same time frame failures.
My buddy has an 06 hemi 2wd 1/2 ton with 80K on it. Sure as hell, the tranny went out, then 2K later the AC went out.
All gassers.
My experience with them in the past with a door once falling off with a faulty weld has steered me completely away from anything made by Dodge.
If Toyota came out with a diesel HD, I'd be all over it.
I see Nissan has came out with a diesel. Good looking truck. Anybody have experience with them?

You ever looked up Dodge in the dictionary? It says "to avoid".

 

[Swab]

We run a few 6.7 dodge 1 tons at work. All have loaded flatbeds with side boxes and bottom boxes and see a skidsteer or mini ex atleast twice a month. All are 4 door 4x4 and the only major repairs needed were a set of ball joints on two of the trucks.

We also run 1 6.7 f350 in the same setup and it hauls a 24' bumper pull trailer holding 8 power trowels and 3 concrete saws along with pans for the machines weekly. Not sure on exact weight, but it's right at the gvw on the truck. The big problem we had with it was a blower motor in the dash. We also have an f450 service truck with a 6.4 that we had to replace and injector on at 180k miles, but it was bought at auction with around 175k and maintenance is unknown.

My personal truck is 2006 3/4 chevy with a duramax that has over 450k on the original engine/transmission. It definitely doesn't drive and perform like a new truck, and I have replaced items like alternator, front end (result of leveling the front end), and now a fuel sending unit.

Overall any truck from the big three with their current gen engine/transmission will be good to go.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[Rooster1971]

I've towed a several cars behind a Cummings. 94 and 07. I like them.

YouTube 2014 Dodge 350 vs. ford 350. The ford chassis is flimsy compared to the Dodge.

 

[Parks 788]

Is that because they are much cheaper to buy?
Anything made by that company has issues. Our Jeep Grand Cherokee limited that is made by the same company has a horrible reputation on Consumer reports. They have it as the most worked on vehicle.
Worst vehicle we ever owned. Had the dash removed three times to fix AC issues, Tranny went out at 80K, and the engine spun a rod at 120K.
Hundreds of online reports of the same time frame failures.
My buddy has an 06 hemi 2wd 1/2 ton with 80K on it. Sure as hell, the tranny went out, then 2K later the AC went out.
All gassers.
My experience with them in the past with a door once falling off with a faulty weld has steered me completely away from anything made by Dodge.
If Toyota came out with a diesel HD, I'd be all over it.
I see Nissan has came out with a diesel. Good looking truck. Anybody have experience with them?

I never said the Ram was perfect. There are plenty of internet stories of Ram trucks having problems just like there are plenty of Ford and Chevy. You can go on each of the makes popular social forms and see people with great luck and others bitching and moaning about an issue. My point was that you get a lot of bang for your buck with the Ram compared to the others.

On the Titan HD, the truck is fairly playing and cheaply done on the interior from what others have said when they gave it a hard look. The capacities of the Nissan HD are also between a Max Tow F150 and any of the 2500/250 gassers. And further away from the Diesel 2500/250 capacities. If you are towing a load that is just a bit over the max capacities of the F150 why would you buy a truck that is marginally better than the 1/2 ton Ford? You don't, you step it up to a true 3/4 or 1 ton. Ive also heard the MPG is not all that Nissan claims it to be. All in it seems like a dog.

 

[dennishoddy]

I never said the Ram was perfect. There are plenty of internet stories of Ram trucks having problems just like there are plenty of Ford and Chevy. You can go on each of the makes popular social forms and see people with great luck and others *****ing and moaning about an issue. My point was that you get a lot of bang for your buck with the Ram compared to the others.

On the Titan HD, the truck is fairly playing and cheaply done on the interior from what others have said when they gave it a hard look. The capacities of the Nissan HD are also between a Max Tow F150 and any of the 2500/250 gassers. And further away from the Diesel 2500/250 capacities. If you are towing a load that is just a bit over the max capacities of the F150 why would you buy a truck that is marginally better than the 1/2 ton Ford? You don't, you step it up to a true 3/4 or 1 ton. Ive also heard the MPG is not all that Nissan claims it to be. All in it seems like a dog.

I've only seen one of the diesel nissans, and it was a nice looking truck on the outside. Never looked at the specs, so was just interested in any first hand experiences.
I'm only relating personal experiences with dodge products, and those of friends that USED to drive them.
My comment about them being cheaper pretty much describes those persons that get into the diesel pickup market for the first time.
For some, be it whatever reason, only buy the cheapest and expect the best.
I live in mud country where pickups are really work trucks that haul extremely big loads down roads that at times are more like bogs. In their lifetimes they may rarely see an asphalt road other than a trip to the elevator or feed store.
You won't see a dodge in the mix at lunch time at the local diner most likely.
That tells me all I need to know. People that make a living using diesels don't drive dodge products for the most part.
I do see a lot of them hauling RV's down the road though.

 

[doctorjj]

I've towed a several cars behind a Cummings. 94 and 07. I like them.

YouTube 2014 Dodge 350 vs. ford 350. The ford chassis is flimsy compared to the Dodge.

A lot has changed since 2014

 

[Rooster1971]

I foubt it with the aluminum bodies.

Signed a Gm guy...

 

[doctorjj]

I foubt it with the aluminum bodies.

Signed a Gm guy...

I'll take an aluminum body any day. But the body has very little to do with the overall chassis strength. I'm pretty sure the new SuperDuty's have the strongest frames of anyone right now.

 

[dennishoddy]

I foubt it with the aluminum bodies.

Signed a Gm guy...

I'm not sold on the Aluminum bodies either, although the GM commercials showing a tool box and some rocks dumped into the aluminum beds resulted in holes in both, but they only showed the damage to the Ford.
They have been out for a couple of years now. I was told the aluminum was much more expensive to repair insurance wise vs steel, but I've asked that question before when they were just coming out, and wonder if that is true.
Also think the aluminum is only in the F150's?