What not to get?

Highbeam · Oct 5, 2006

Good post lonecowboy. Seems to be the general consensus.

jmt1271 · Oct 5, 2006

bx23barry said:
Dogde just seems to have light frames/body panels along with cheap interiors. they rattle and the paint falls off. At least from my experiance. The running gear might be the best but the rest of the truck is worse than chev/ford. I think ford has the best body/frame/build quality (most heavy duty) but maybe the worst engines (the desiels are navistar) while chev is mid-pack body/frame/build quality (nice driving/riding though) but does have the best gas engines. I have worked with/on them all in a large fleet and this is my opinion. They all work and they all break. Just some are better than others in different areas.

I just bought a new trk. Wanted diesel but couldnt justify the expense. I tow a couple times a month, and the trk is the wifes daily driver, alot of short trips. So gas was the best for me. I drove all of the American makes and the Nissan Titan. Dodge was on the bottom of my list. Until I drove one. I dont know if Daimlers take over has anything to do with it or not, but Dodge has changed alot. I was all set to buy a Ford F-150 when I went to the Dodge dealer. The only negative I found was the back seat of the Quad Cab was a little smaller than the Ford. What sold me was the looks and Very impressive Hemi. I thought that was just marketing BS, but the Hemi was EASILY the best engine of the bunch. The 5 speed auto is sweet as well. Needless to say, I am now a dodge owner. BTW, Chevy finished a distant 4th in my decision. Dodge-Ford-Nissan-Chevy, IMO.

jayhaitch · Oct 5, 2006

I just test drove a 97 Dodge Cummins 2500 ext/long box manual. Loved the engine/trannie combo. The truck has 235,000km. Paint isn't great. Previous owner did install a jake brake and idle control, so must have towed a lot. Local used truck dealer is asking Can$16,900, and they do sell pretty quickly around here. I'm tempted. But it has a home made plywood "box liner", and mismatched tires. Decisions, decisions......

Dmace · Oct 5, 2006

jmt1271 said:
I was all set to buy a Ford F-150 when I went to the Dodge dealer. The only negative I found was the back seat of the Quad Cab was a little smaller than the Ford. What sold me was the looks and Very impressive Hemi. I thought that was just marketing BS, but the Hemi was EASILY the best engine of the bunch. The 5 speed auto is sweet as well. Needless to say, I am now a dodge owner. BTW, Chevy finished a distant 4th in my decision. Dodge-Ford-Nissan-Chevy, IMO.

That was me last year almost to the T. I test drove the Dodge, Ford, and Nissan. I found that the Nissan was too weak and had too much going on in the dash. It just didn't feel like a truck. The Ford looked good inside and out, but the throttle-by-wire system felt like it had way too much slack in the line and again it just felt weak. All three trucks were V8's.

I wasn't quite sold on the HEMI based only on marketing, but at 1 hp per cubic inch, it did sound impressive. The day I drove one, I bought it. The interior is simple yet very functional. It has all the features you need (heated mirrors, AC, overhead console, cruise, etc...) and none of the ones you don't need. The throttle-by-wire system feels right on and is very responsive. The engine feels and sounds so powerful and it is. The ride was better and the tranny felt strong on full throttle shifts yet smooth with easy driving. The big changes in the new Dodge trucks are the more reliable drivetrains. This is were Daimler stepped in, the rams have the same tranny as the Mercedes SUV class and the rear ends were designed by Daimler.

LoneCowboy · Oct 6, 2006

jayhaitch said:
I just test drove a 97 Dodge Cummins 2500 ext/long box manual. Loved the engine/trannie combo. The truck has 235,000km. Paint isn't great. Previous owner did install a jake brake and idle control, so must have towed a lot. Local used truck dealer is asking Can$16,900, and they do sell pretty quickly around here. I'm tempted. But it has a home made plywood "box liner", and mismatched tires. Decisions, decisions......

run away!!!!!!!
seriously, doesn't sound like a deal to me.

to the guys with the Hemi's, I hear stories of pretty horrible gas mileage. What kind of mileage are you seeing? towing and not towing. 1500 or 2500?

Dmace · Oct 6, 2006

LoneCowboy said:
to the guys with the Hemi's, I hear stories of pretty horrible gas mileage. What kind of mileage are you seeing? towing and not towing. 1500 or 2500?

My truck is a 1500 Quad Cab 4x4 auto, with a mix of 70% city and 30% highway unloaded I get between 16-17 mpg. I haul around my race car at 3200 lbs on a 10k gvwr trailer (1500lbs +/-) and average 13 mpg - 80% highway. Not bad if you ask me. I also have the posi - limited slip rear differential with lower gearing. I beleive it is a 3.73 which doesn't help the gas mileage too much. Plus it's tough not to get on it at every light I stop at. I love the look on the guy's face driving the V6 mustang or pimped out civic when he loses to a full size truck with 10 bags of concrete in the back.

54,000 miles now and haven't touched a thing (except rear tires, that is

).
4CE-FED - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

rback33 · Oct 6, 2006

Dmace said:
Plus it's tough not to get on it at every light I stop at. I love the look on the guy's face driving the V6 mustang or pimped out civic when he loses to a full size truck with 10 bags of concrete in the back.

54,000 miles now and haven't touched a thing (except rear tires, that is ).
4CE-FED - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Gee.. Wonder why you had to replace the rear tires...

roxynoodle · Oct 6, 2006

I drive about 90% highway and on the highway get anywhere from 17-18.5mpg not towing. This is after the engine was broken in, before it was like 14mpg and I wasn't too happy. I haven't checked the mpg towing because I really don't want to know! I watch the gas gauge go down a lot faster though. My truck is a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 quad cab. It was built in June of 2003, which I believe was the first month for the hemi. It has the 5 speed automatic. On transmissions, I rebuilt the one on my 95 Ram with 202,000 miles on it. Turned out the torque converter was breaking loose but my mechanic friend told me to rebuild the whole tranny due to the mileage and towing ($1500 to do all of it, torque converter by itself would have been almost $1000). Well, the transmission place called my friend and said, "This is the nicest, cleanest transmission we've ever seen in a vehicle with this kind of mileage, we're taking pictures of it. We think it belongs in the Chrysler museum!". So, on the one hand, it sounded like they didn't think much of Chrysler trannies in general, and on the other hand I apparently spent an extra $500 that wasn't necessary. But, were it not for the torque converter looks like I had an exceptional transmission. I think though you will need to expect possible tranny issues no matter what truck you buy. I doubt many people buy a diesel truck and don't tow with it. They buy them because they are towing and towing is just plain hard on a tranny. I have also been warned against old GM diesels by several people, so I would look toward Ford and Dodge as well.

jmt1271 · Oct 6, 2006

My truck is an 06 Quad Cab 4x4 Hemi. 3.92 posi trac rear end with 5 speed auto. It is NOT yet broken in. 60/40 mix (hwy/city) I average 16-16.7 MPG. I towed my 7K Wagon 100 miles round trip, mostly city, and averaged 10 MPG. Was making no effort to maximize fuel economy and this isnt far from what I expected while towing. Hopefully it will get a little better, but I can live with it. If I was towing much I would get a diesel. On a side note, the Hemi is VERY impressive towing. I really feel that the HP and torque numbers are under-rated. I love this truck. If someone wants a little "more" from it, spend $360 on a Superchips programmer. Best $360 I have ever spent to add power/economy.

New Dodge convert.