Truck time

scruffy · Apr 6, 2002

Hmmmmmmm, along THOSE lines, I am dead set against FORD! Biggest piece of new junk I ever owned. Day the warrenty ran out, it was gone, and a new chevy p/u was in the driveway! Darn truck was a dog in the speed department. That 350ci consistantly got out run by VW's from a red light. @150,000 miles on it, I discovered the problem, from day 1, it had a bad torque converter! Replaced it a 165,000 with a Dodge RAM 1500, which now has 99,000 trouble free miles on it. They ALL have their lemons, and they all have their good trucks!

Robert_in_NY · Apr 6, 2002

Your right, they all have their lemons and problems. My 92' F-150 and a lot of 92' models with the straight six had a problem with the oilpans rusting out. Must have been a bad batch of metal but Ford didn't fix it and we had a friend of ours replace it. So far with the 98' the only problem is the rear window had to be removed and resealed as it started to leak, someone at the factory liked to put the joint of the sealer tape at the top of the window. I had that fixed for free. But so far I have never had anything major go wrong with any of our Fords and my friends Chevy's are holding up great as well except for a few minor bugs when Chevy introduced the new line. The 92' has 151k miles and the 98' has 90k miles on it, the 02' has 750 miles on it with no problems yet but I will let you know if anything major goes wrong with it when we get more miles put on it. Later.

RobertN · Apr 6, 2002

I liked my last Ford, an '89 f250, 351wstick, 4x4. Sold it with 225,000 miles on it. The tranny did go sour... replaced the cheesy 5spd with a good old granny box. It was a great truck. The engine was still tight, and used no extra oil.

My Dad's mid 70's Chevy 1/2 ton was an ok truck but the 350 got terrible mileage, and it didn't hold weight asd weel as the other Ford and Dodge I used at the time.

My '89 Ford was great, but had a friend with a similar truck that was terrible. All have thier lemons. I fortunately, cross my fingers, have not had one in any brand...

I'll let you know when my Dodge crosses 500,000 miles /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

bgott · Apr 7, 2002

I got so good at short- blocking Ford trucks I could pull three down at a time, throw all the parts in a pile and re-assemble them without thinking about it. We had to replace less than half as many Chevy engines, which are way easier to work on. There are about the same amount of each on the roads around here. The only time we had to stick a motor in a Dodge is when someone blew a hose and melted the engine down or knocked a hole in the oil pan. I'm not into Fords much.

Rowski · Apr 7, 2002

Andy

We got a Chevy 2500HD regualr cab as a plow truck with 6.0L. I like the truck a lot, very comfortable. It handles the 8.5ft plow very well. I did not go for the diesel because I didn't need it. The allison transmission is very nice, I believe it has grade braking mode. One thing I did notice is the Duramax is very quite for a diesel. I did drive the Duramax and the 8.1L gas. The 8.1l was very powerful but this was an empty truck for the diesel may show better with a load. So far I'm happy with my truck but we will see on 5 years (100k miles) if it can hold up?

AndyR · Apr 7, 2002

Well it looks like I am going for the Chevy 2500 HD. I drove both Ford and Chevy and the creature comforts (the wife has her requirements) as well as the proximity of the dealer, pointed to the Chevy. Both are really nice trucks.

This is going to be a big change, going from a '95 supercab Ranger to the 2500 HD (and yes I am going for the Duramax/Allison/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif) with extended cab and long bed - almost 4 feet longer then what I have now.

As to the towing and hitch capacities - this is really making my head hurt. I will be dropping by the dealer tomorrow or the next day to try to get accurate weights as the manufacturer info is [censored] near useless. So far, it looks like I will have no problems at all with a straight hitch and should be ok with a 5th wheel - but. I need to figre out the wet truck loading ratio between fron and rear axles. It would seem intuitive that the rear axles is goind to be pretty lightly loaded - maybe 30% of vehicle weight. I need to get this right as this truck will likely have to last a while.

Nice thing about the LT package - I end up with some comforts /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif that the wife doesn't have in her cross-country.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 7, 2002

You will get use to the longer truck. Biggest thing I noticed when we jumped to a supercab is the tailgate looks a lot farther away even though it is only 20 some inches longer. Still a great truck, did you order it or are you getting it off the lot. If you ordered it how long did they tell you it will take to build? Have fun.

AndyR · Apr 8, 2002

I am ordering it either today or tomorrow. They are quoting 6-8 weeks /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif Everything on the lots is either a short bed or gas. Can't wait.

AndyR · Apr 8, 2002

ARGHH! /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif/w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif/w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif I hate dealing with car salesmen. Latest quote is 16 weeks /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif I wonder what is going to change in the 2003 line? But if I wait I may not get the 3 years 0% financing /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif This is really annoying.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 8, 2002

You hit the same problem we did, it took our truck 8 weeks to be built and we were worried about missing the 0% and luckily they extended it so we got it a 0% anyways. I hope things work out for you. One other thing you might try is we filled out the paper work and actually started paying for the truck before it was ever finished. Our salesman kept calling the plant till they had the VIN number, once they had that we could fill out the paper work before the financing rates ran out. Had to pay one payment before it before showed up but it saves a lot of money by going the 0%. Hopefully your dealer will be able to work with you on it. Take care.

AndyR · Apr 9, 2002

I am REALLY happy to announce birth of new truck!
/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/king.gif/w3tcompact/icons/love.gif/w3tcompact/icons/love.gif/w3tcompact/icons/king.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Wallet will be in labor/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif for quite some time but big beuatiful truck will be delivered Thursday afternoon. Truck is a Chevy 2500HD, 4 WD, Quad Cab, Long Bed, LT package, Duramax/Allison [all diesel all the time]. Doing an innagural run to Pennsylvania this weeked and will be at the NH TBN gathering next weekend.

Stupid local dealer (who shall remain poorer) told me none in area and 16 week lead time. A search through GM website showed my exact truck - just not in my first color choice, at a dealer in the next town. local dealer had no good answers when I asked why - so he lost.

Next task - trailers (and suitable payoff of the wife - this will cost me much more then a camera)

AndyR · Apr 15, 2002

I picked up my truck on Thursday and on Friday I drove to Pennsylvania and back to NH yesterday. The Duramax is one awesome engine. Hills, what hills, this thing doesn't notice them. (There are some pretty good hills in VT).

Mileage on the first tank of fuel was a little over 16 MPG/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Bayrat · Apr 20, 2002

I love my new 2500 Dodge. We have had as many problems with the GM company trucks as described in that previous post regarding the Dodges. Granted, the transmissions were troublesome on certain models. I checked into that before I purchased one and found that the culprit had long since been corrected. Mine came with a 100,000 mile warranty. I have the 5.9L and it has plenty of power, I couldn't justify the Diesel. Had the same engine in my 1978 W150 and after I ran it for nine years another person ran it for five more and then sold it to a Sheriff that STILL drives it. The body style was a turn-off on the pre '94 models, that's for sure, but I still perfer the last GM 1500 body style over the new one that slightly resembles the old eighties Dodge body. But it is like talking tractors, everyone has their own horror stories to tell about lemons. That loose bumper and missing shock is the result of a very bad dealer prep job. I will add that my brother-in-law took out the engine in his '97 1500 Dodge at around 58k because the oil pump blew and he kept driving it on his way to Pennsylvania one night. Dodge replaced it under warranty despite his negligence. That is the bottom line.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 20, 2002

In both of cases with the bumper and shock the dealer said it wasn't their fault and they are the largest Dodge dealer around here. They would not cover any of the cost and never even fixed the bumper. Even though the older Dodge trucks didn't look as nice as the new ones I have never heard anyone complain about them. They were built solid and meant to work where as most of the newer ones seem to be built to look at first and work second. At least Dodge is finally offering a 1 ton truck with single rear wheels if only Chevy would follow suit they will get a lot more sales. Take care.

Bayrat · Apr 20, 2002

I don't understand that. If the truck were delivered new and was missing a shock and the bumper was falling off, the dealer must have a death wish not to take care of it. One call to the 800 number in the owners manual will have a factory rep at their door. In my experience, the bigger the dealer, the worse the service as well. Seems they feel that you are insignificant until you get the factory invoved! Talk to ya later!

RobertN · Apr 21, 2002

The LA series motors(273/318/340/360ci) are great; I had one in my old Road Runner. They lasted a lot of years.

Interestingly, Car Craft or Hot Rod did a article a few years back, building a 360 mopar vs 350 chevy, using comparable parts. The Mopar made noticibly more HP and Torque(dyno'd bigger numbers), and was cheaper to build! The Chevy had more chrome available for it, but the Mopar ran stronger!

Bayrat · Apr 21, 2002

Yes, Chrysler always had great engines. They were not as plentiful as the other brands so aftermarket parts following the money produced more stuff for Fords and GM. But in my experience, the Mopars were faster out of the box than anybody else's, requiring little to bring home the trophy. I prefer the previous truck body style at this point /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif, so I purchased the 2500 which won't be available in the new body form until fall. I would have liked to have been able to get that new HEMI engine which is standard in them though /w3tcompact/icons/love.gif! I don't understand the transmission troubles, the best tranny on the market was the Torqueflite, why change it to be less reliable? I know that the HD tranny in the GM's was a slightly modified (to avoid patent infringement) version of the Chrysler legend, I had one in my company vehicle, a 1982 Chevy C25 4x4 and it even sounded like the Torqueflite. Guess that wasn't covered in the patent /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif.

Robert_in_NY · Apr 21, 2002

It is my brothers truck and the only thing they care about is getting his money. I have found most car and truck dealerships in my area are this way. Rod Woodson is part owner of the Ford dealership where I buy from and they own a ton of dealerships for every brand imaginable. Yet even though we buy a truck from them every few years they still treat us like crap. It is the one thing I like about tractor dealerships is that they are usually owned by a farmer or one time farmer and they are much nicer to people. Most of the car dealerships are owned by the same guy here so it doesn't do much good to change brands, and the smaller dealerships are being bought out by the larger ones so there are only a couple individual dealers left, one Ford and one Dodge dealer.

The rear window leaked in our 98' F-150 and the dealer would not fix it. I had a friend do it and when they installed the window at the factory the put the sealer joint on the top of the window where the water sits. Most of the 98' F-150's in this area have had their windows removed at one time but my dealer wouldn't do anything about it because we had too many miles on the truck. Oh well, later.