Looking for a New Tow Vehicle?

[revrnd]

If you're shopping for a new TV, check this out:

2010 Heavy-Duty Shootout - PickupTrucks.com Special Reports

[cardinal4fun]

very interesting

[SaskCampers]

These tests are all very interesting but they fail to tell people the real story about many things. I wish I had done alot more reseach into Dodge trucks prior to dropping over 54k for one because they are the porest quaility of all of themand I am speaking of the gassers in my comments here so keep that in mind. The Dodge has the worst auto tranny as it was intended for Mercedes cars not a HD truck and are prone to problems if the truck is undergeared as the tranny is soo poorly geared, 1st to 2nd is a huge drop and then the poor old hemi has to overcome this. They seriously need a 6 speed like the Ford to make the Hemi work properly and on the subject of the Hemi, you need to be reving it in the 3 to 4k range to make it amke any power and it gets better mileage when pulling when it is up there. 4:56 gears actually will get you better mileage when pulling than any of the others. Dodge has had nothing but trouble with the front ends of their HD 4x4 trucks since the gen 3's and according to my service manager they still even with this last redesign have not totally fixed them. They chose to use a really poorly designed front axle and still havent't figured it out. If you go to any of the Dodge truck forums you will see thread after thread on people spending thousands and thousands of dollars to try and make these trucks drive properly.

Sorry for the rant but do your selves a favor and stay away from Dodge trucks. The car mags will never tell you the real truth about a truck, go to forums like dodgetalk and see what people say.

[revrnd]

John, is it the axle or suspension that's causing your problems? What axle is in it? I would've thought a solid axle would've been better than the IFS GM has decided we want in our trucks.

My '04 is in the shop getting the right front hub replaced due to the wheel speed sensor going bad.

Just under 200,000 klicks & no MAJOR issues. A few things over the years, just typical of the usage & mileage. I (along w/ a lot of others) wish GM would get the intermediate steering shaft "issue" fixed permanently.

[52Dodgeman]

"Sorry for the rant but do your selves a favor and stay away from Dodge trucks. The car mags will never tell you the real truth about a truck, go to forums like dodgetalk and see what people say."

I share many of your concerns about the new Dodges, but I also have concerns about the Ford and GM trucks also. My 97' Ram 2500 4X4 gasser keeps trucking along and pulls our trailer just fine. I did do a trans rebuild a couple of years ago but that was do to a problem I created by pulling a heavy load and not taking it out of overdrive. When it comes to the truck forums it is all subjective, every manufacturer has unhappy customers. Good luck in your search let us know what you buy.

[SaskCampers]

Originally Posted by revrnd

John, is it the axle or suspension that's causing your problems? What axle is in it? I would've thought a solid axle would've been better than the IFS GM has decided we want in our trucks.

My '04 is in the shop getting the right front hub replaced due to the wheel speed sensor going bad.

Just under 200,000 klicks & no MAJOR issues. A few things over the years, just typical of the usage & mileage. I (along w/ a lot of others) wish GM would get the intermediate steering shaft "issue" fixed permanently.

It is the AAM front axle itself as it has offset ball joints and the upper is not eeven really a ball joint in some sense. They also have unit front wheel bearings which arte prone to failure if you inadvertly submerge the hubs there bearing have been known to fail within a few thousand miles afterward. Dodge is also probably the worse when it comes to issues with tolerances because if they have an issue with something they just change the spec to suit their poor quality control and then you end up with trucks that can have over 1/2 play in the front end if it is at the outside of all their specs and reaar ends that clunk so loud it will scare people. I just recently compared an 09 F250 to our 08 2500 both within 2k of eath other in mileage and the Ford was easily twice the truck the Dodge is. Sure they all have problems but Dodge seems to have far more issues with extremly poor quaolity than Ford and GM combined. And I am on my 3rd intermediate steering shaft and it is worse than the one it replaced, if I keep this thing I will invest the $300.00 in a Borgson unit. Just to add to my 42 warranty trips, I have already booked the truck in for after we get home as it now has lifters rattling when I start it cold.

[revrnd]

Originally Posted by TheSasks

do your selves a favor and stay away from Dodge trucks.

I don't know, but I think Dodge has cornered the market amongst the "hang "stuff" from the hitch receiver & run dual exhaust crowd" here in Ontario.