New Truck.

TRC51 · Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:28 pm

Well, it looks like I finally took the plunge. Finally found a dealer that would give me the deal I wanted.

I have been looking at trucks for the last 3 months straight. Been doing nothing but looking it seems. My Chevy has given me enough problems that I want to get rid of it. Somebody will probably get a problem free truck... knowing my luck. Anyway, I wanted something that will tow my trailer a little more easily than my 5.3L. I looked at the Hemi Dodge, the 6.0L Chevy and even the V10 Ford, but none of them get any kind of good gas mileage at all. Of all things, the V-10 had the best highway gas mileage. I also wanted to have a crew cab truck with a 6.5ft bed. I couldn't get that in the 1500 series (although Metro Ford currently has the new F150 that has one) and still get the motor I need to haul my trailer.

SOoooo... I ended up looking at the 3/4 ton trucks with Diesels. Let me just say, diesel is a whooooolllee nother animal for power. Wow. While diesel is more expensive, nearly every diesel I looked at got better fuel mileage than any of the gassers. The dodge was even rumored to make it into the 22's if dirven below 70mph. That makes up for the added fuel costs.... but not the cost of the engine. Good enough for me.

I drove all three truck extensively. So much so that I have been to most all of the big three dealers and have test driven two of each of the trucks (Chevy Crew, Dodge Quad and Mega Cab, Ford Superduty F350 Crew). I have also borrowed trucks from friends who have these trucks to see how they would do with my trailer. Here are my conclusions (quick run down)

Of all the talk of the big three and their horsepower wars in the 1500 series trucks, they all pull about the same. Almost identical actually. I believe that is mostly due to the weight of the trucks. Chevys are the lightest and tend to have the higher rpm spooling power, so in a race they would likely be the fastest of the three (including the Hemi). But the Hemi would be a close second. These two engines spool the fastest. The Ford has the best grunt in the motor, but just doesn't feel like it's moving the truck as fast. The Ford towed the trailer the best on the highway.

As for the 3/4 trucks.... I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a "perfect truck". Seems that every one of the three manufacturers have there highs and lows (I know, big surprise). But the 3/4 ton Diesels are surprisingly different. The Dodge Cummins (6cyl) pulls like a tractor and spools well. The Ford 6.0L Powerchoke... I mean Powerstroke has good power and pulls my trailer with easy, but seems like has a hard time moving the truck sometimes unless you are deep into the throttle. The Chevy with the Duramax, without a doubt the fastest and most impressive power.

Putting the power aside, the Chevy has the smallest amount of cabin area but has the nicest leathers seats. When you drive it, it feels "tighter" inside than the rest. Almost small in comparission. The ride quality is the best, but pretty much on par with the Ford. The Duramax is also the quietest of the Diesels, which is nice. Stereo was the best IMO as well.

The Ford is big, tall and tough looking. I was looking at the F-350 with the 20" wheels and I have to say... it was pretty sweet. The ride was nice, but it bounced from side to side a lot... and actually made my wife car sick. The noise of the motor was MUCH louder in the Ford as well. I got used to it when I drove a friends truck overnight, but when I got back my gasser... you really notice how loud it was. So loud you cannot carry a conversation next to the truck without yelling...especially when it's cold.

The Dodge... well, it was the Jack of all trades, master of none.... except cabin room. The new Mega cab is awesome for interior space. Bar none, the best in it's class. The motor was much quieter than the Ford, but not quite as as quiet as the Chevy. The ride was a little rougher (in the Quad cab) than the other two, but the Mega Cab seemed to even that out a little more with the longer wheel base. The stereo comes with inifinity speakers, making it sound better than the Ford, but not the Chevy. Th only true downfall to the Dodge though was that the bed length is about 3.7 inches shorter than the Chevy. Making it a tighter fit for my bike and ramps.... but they will fit.

Summary: The Ford and the Dodge are the tougher looking 3/4 ton trucks. Chevy's 3/4 looks very similar to that of their 1500's and not as tall off the ground. Other than that, the Chevy has most of the positives wrapped up. Quiet, nice ride, nice Bose stereo.

So what did I buy.... the Dodge of course! Duh.

I borrowed 1Bad12r's Chevy Duramax the other night and I have to say, I was very impressed. That truck has some balls. But after riding in it, I felt like I was driving my truck. Almost no difference on the interior other than the leather seating and little extra cabin room (crew cab). I had this feeling like I would be buying the same headache that I was currently driving, and not because 1bad's truck sucked... but just because it was the same thing I had. It just didn't excite me at the thought of owning it. When I borrowed the Dodge on an overnight test drive, I remember thinking... man, that looks good in my driveway. Even more so than the Ford that I had overnight... which I originally like the best. I guess I just needed to try something different for once. I have had four Chevy's now and none of them have made it to 50kmi without some work in one way or another. This latest Chevy has been in the shop 10 times now and it just turned 40kmi. Total time in the shop has been over a month for this truck. I have had enough I guess. That combined with the very bad reputation of the Ford 6.0L Diesel... and it being so loud, made my decision. And I am psyched!

So tomorrow I drive out to NH to pick up my new truck. Here's a couple pics:

New Truck.

Who is online