Ford GM and Chrysler build good trucks today. Dodge had a lot of trans issues before 2003 but fixed that afterwards. That was part of the bad rep Dodge is still trying to shake.
Ford hit paydirt when they designed the Superduty. GM and Chrysler continued to use the same 1/2 ton body for the HD's while Ford used a totally separate larger body for the Superduty's. For the life of me I don't know why GM and Chrysler did not pursue that route to compete. The Superduty cab is huge. That is one big reason contractors scooped them up. Plenty of room for big men or a bunch of landscapers. Also the Superduty had more towing capacity.
But today, much has changed.
Ford destroyed itself starting in 2003 with the 6.0 diesel. The word is in the first year over 50,000 had to be bought back. Ford got into a pissin match with Navistar over that. Navistar redesigned but it wasn't much better. Now Ford has it's own design 6.7 diesel in the SD. Unfortunately like Dodge and it's bad trans from way back, it's difficult to take the 6 leaker stigma away. The new 6.7 is a clusterfck as were the last two diesels in the SD. Open the hood and you will see what I mean. It has two separate cooling systems and so much crap it makes no sense. I feel bad for Ford technicians but from what I heard they have made a bundle over the years.
GM has done well with the Duramax Allison combination. I think the low rider independent suspension turns alot of people off but seriously, it's a proven reliable design. I don't think GM can get off the grocery getter syndrome that many truck men seem to have. I bought one of the very first Duramaxs in the country back in 2001. I owned it for three years and traded it in on my current truck in 2004. It was a fun truck with all kinds of power. Unfortunately my quest for power exceeded the trucks ability and I blew a head gasket..... Then a tree in my yard fell during a storm and crushed it. Had everything fixed and traded.
I currently drive an 04 Dodge Cummins Automatic. If you leave these trucks stock they are economical and VERY reliable. In the middle of the 2004 year Cummins released the "600". It was what is known as the 2004.5 engine. That added a CAT and revisions to the head. The 2003 and 2004 models had no CAT or EGR. That would be my engine. That is what makes this truck worth more than the average diesel truck of the same years.
At around 40,000 miles I modified it with a bigger turbo, injectors, head studs and had the trans built for 600+hp. I was not having trans issues even with a power box and dynoing 400hp but I was taking it up another level and took the experienced guys advice. Today I dyno 530hp with torque over 1000ft-lb. 146,000 on the clock and I just love this truck. Owned it for 10 years... since new. Wheel well on one side just starting to rust. Will have it fixed. The biggest issue I have had with this truck is with the front end. I run 35" 10 ply tires which are hard on it. I found the solution pretty much to keep things tight and it's holding up now. Larger steering box and a bunch of other mods that beef up the components did the trick.
Today is a whole different ball game. All of them now use DEF (diesel emission fluid). In a way this is a good thing because instead of doing too much to control emissions "in cylinder" where you lose power and fuel economy, they treat the exhaust in the exhaust stream to keep Al happy.
RAM today is poised to take a nice piece of market share from Ford. RAM 3500 dually is rated 30,000 towing, more towing capacity than Ford and has a better inline 6 cylinder industrial diesel. RAM also added the Aisin automatic that is said to be beefier than the Allison. I think RAM is the only one that offers a manual transmission now. Friend of mine is in the landscaping business said he went to a snow plow symposium and was told RAM sales and use in commercial is unexpectedly rising. He just ordered a 5500 Cummins Aisin himself.
I personally have noticed more and more RAMs in use with utility fleets and tow trucks and ambulances.
There was a tree guy in my development last week with two F750 Ford tree trucks. Both had Cummins ISX engines in them LOL
Today I think Ford is the iphone of trucks. Sheep buy them.
