Considering a new truck

[oldtool2]

I have been thinking about getting a new pickup did for my fifth wheel. It's not a very big or heavy trailer but when I buy, if I buy, I want to have the extra are capacity in case I ever do decide to upgrade something heavier.

I am considering 1500 and as of right now I'm not real picky on the brand. I am not trying to get into the age old 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton argument. I have a friend who is really trying to talk me into buying a diesel instead of a gas burner. My question is who makes the best diesel engine or isn't there much difference in the manufacturers. I have posted photos of the stickers from my fifth wheel below

My present truck is a Dodge 2007 1500 of the 5.7 L hemi engine. It only has 68,000 miles on it. It has a full-blown towing package on it and I have upgraded the rims from 17 inch to 20 inch. I haven't had a chance to put the truck through its paces. In the next couple months I hope to take it to South Carolina up through the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia and see how well it does. How well it handles the trailer is going to be the deciding factor as to whether I get a new truck or not. As far as the brand goes I would prefer Ford and then Dodge and then any of the others.. One other thing, it needs to be a crew or club cab. I have a 70 pound chocolate lab who likes to drive, LOL, so I need a backseat to keep her in!

What are your thoughts and why?

Jim

[Steelframer]

Oh boy! Now you did it, asking which one of the 'big three' is better,,,,AND asking if a diesel is better? I think this thread will hit 10,000 posts before Christmas.
Anyway you asked, so I'll start.
Our TT is 8000lb and 34' long and I towed it with our Jeep commander Hemi, it had a 6 speed with the 3.73. That jeep was very capable of pulling the TT, the downside...short wheelbase was prone to wind sheer and fuel mileage was 8mpg.
I needed a good truck for hauling construction materials and eventually we will be upgrading our TT to a fiver, so the DW gave me the 'green light' to get what we "may" need in the future, and that's the reason why I am the proud owner of a Ram 3500 Longhorn Limited DWR 6.7 Diesel. This truck is a dream machine, it's very comfortable for long drives, quiet, and it's great for pulling anything and everything, IMHO there is no comparison in Gas vs Diesel, the diesel was made for pulling and does it great. I am by No Way putting down Gassers, many do the job very well. What it comes down to is do your homework and find out what is right for you.


TT-2015 Cherokee 274dbh TV-2011 Ram 3500 Longhorn Limited

[B and B]

Hello Old tool.

I had gas Triton 5.4 V 8 and a 3.5 Ecoboost prior to the SuperDuty Powerstroke. I would buy the truck that you want to have in 5 years or longer. I am a Ford Guy for many reasons, have had lemons from other manufacturer. The biggest one is reliability, servicing dealer and cost. When I bought the F 250 Dodge had no stock, GM/GMC could not even come close on price or features. The Ford won out once again.

They all will be better than what you have. I will not look back now that I have a Diesel.

Best of Luck in your search!! Safe Travels!

[Homebrew]

2500 or larger, Diesel and Mega cab !
The only way to tow with 5 adults.




Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Kenny kustom]

The CUMMINS is the best engine of the three.

When I bought my 3500, I did look at Ford.
But with the free CUMMINS, Ford couldn't even come close.


2016 Sabre 36QBOK
2015 Ram 3500 CUMMINS

I am nice!

[aceinspp]

Loaded question as usual. If your wanting to go bigger then your going to have to go bigger tv. Old saying is buy more truck than you need for future up grades be it gas or diesel. Later RJD

[CWSWine]

I would look at where I'm now on payload and were I think might be in the future. If I planned heavy I would look at 1 ton diesel. If I was going to medium weight I would look at 3/4 ton gas. I purchased my for HD truck by how much it could tow and then learned that I run payload way before I run out towing capacity, so now the most important number for me is payload.

I would drive all three and by the one I liked the best. I would have Ram right now if they made one that would fit in garage.

[oldtool2]

I forgot to post the photos so I will post them this time.
It seems I may have given the wrong impression here. I believe the truck I have is capable of knowing what I want but I won't know for sure till I pulled up the mountains. If I'm not satisfied with it then I'm going to go looking for a new truck. A friend of mine is trying to talk me into a diesel and I've never owned one before.
Naturally if I go for a new truck going to get something bigger and capable of hauling something heavier than what I have now. My question is who makes the best diesel and why do you think that. So far it looks like a Cummings but I'm really not getting the information I'm looking for.
Who makes the best diesel and why do you think that? A fairly straightforward question.
Jim

[Kenny kustom]

Basically the CUMMINS is a more reliable engine.
Half the price to repair as the others.
Simply V8 vs inline 6.
The six is going to be easier to work on.
I'm not going to look each one up, but I think the CUMMINS has the best warranty.


2016 Sabre 36QBOK
2015 Ram 3500 CUMMINS

I am nice!

[lynn brownlee]

Finally went with the dodge 3500 cummins - wow - nothing out there it will not tow.

[Cover Dog]

In a perfect world my truck would have a Dodge Cummins engine, Chevy Allison transmission, and a Ford's suspension.

That trailer doesn't have much in the way of CCC I'm sure you will use that up in no time.

Good luck with you search .

[RubberNail]

Had them all - gas, diesel, Ford,Chevy, Dodge. Any future truck that involves towing, diesel hands down - no gas competition on performance - but might not be the economic choice. Took me a few years before my pocketbook was deep enough! As for best brand, I like best the Cummins (Dodge) engine and the Allison transmission (Chevy/GMC) but Ford (Factory & Dealership) put the screws to me in 89, so never again. That said, hear good reports on all 3 brands, diesel and gas, and seems to me folks find fault or favor according to their need to crow or complain. I currently run a GMC Duramax/Allison with about 85k towing miles at full GVWR. Never been back to the dealership and no complaints. Likely the last truck I will ever buy.

[KenHwy61]

I was in your same position looking at diesel trucks. All are nice and all are expensive but the reasons I went with the Cummins was as a 6 cylinder it has 25% less parts, an unbeaten longevity record and if you open the hood you can actually see daylight through the engine compartment!

[tahoe1840]

Just a thought since all of these post are great, consider how much your towing, are you a full timer or are you pulling a couple times per year? Do you need the vehicle to pull job related trailers? Diesels are expensive to operate as compared to gas. Oil changes, fuel additives, fuel, and parts are all more expensive so the total cost of ownership of owning a diesel will be higher then a gas. I see that fuel alone really varies throughout the states but most of the time it appears that gas is cheaper.

[V-Lite Fun]

I upgraded to a F250 diesel last summer. There is a world of difference with the diesel. We usually travel out west in the mountains. The diesel does a geart job. What I like best with my Ford however, is the Ford brake controller. It is a state of the art system.
It is integrated with all the systems through the computer. I was told on the Ford forum to be sure to get it. I am glad I took their advice. Some won't believe this but here is my experience with it. As I begin to descend a mountain, I just tap the brake peddle in the tow haul mode and the truck shifts down a gear and with each tap it drops another gear. I use very little brake all the way down. If I want more braking power I hit the exhaust brake. It nearly brings me to a stop. Anyone who does much mountain towing values safe descents more than a ton of power going up. My gasser would get me up there, albeit slowly. The trip back down sometimes was white knuckle, 10% grades etc.
That's my experience. Best thing I've done in a long time.

Forgot to mention gas mileage. My gasser did 6 to 8 mpg. The diesel does 14 on the interstates and fairly flat roads. In the hills it drops to about 12.5. Depends on speed too. 65 on the interstate is about 12.5 but drop my speed to 60 and it goes up to 14. I did some experimenting with speed to see the difference. A few miles an hour can make a significant difference.

[twiggw]

Hold on to your hat Bubba! Like Steelframer suggested you're going to get way more info than you want. Good luck sorting it out. Happy camping.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by tahoe1840

Just a thought since all of these post are great, consider how much your towing, are you a full timer or are you pulling a couple times per year? Do you need the vehicle to pull job related trailers? Diesels are expensive to operate as compared to gas. Oil changes, fuel additives, fuel, and parts are all more expensive so the total cost of ownership of owning a diesel will be higher then a gas. I see that fuel alone really varies throughout the states but most of the time it appears that gas is cheaper.

Fuel additives? Ford says nothing unless it is -30 degrees C for fuel to prevent gelling. We get cetane booster as part of winter fuel blend. The only thing I will need additional with the Power Stroke is a fuel filter at 24,000 km. Same as Gas in my mind. I have a Ford service plan and Oil Changes cost the same. I have spent maybe $25 ON def IN 15,000 KM . My fuel costs are less than gas, both in price and more miles per tank.

[EdnKat]

Buy the one with the cup holders your DW likes. I've seen all makes at one time or another, broken down along the highways. From $2,000 Yugos to $2,000,000. Prevosts.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by oldtool2

I have been thinking about getting a new pickup did for my fifth wheel. It's not a very big or heavy trailer but when I buy, if I buy, I want to have the extra are capacity in case I ever do decide to upgrade something heavier.

I am considering 1500 and as of right now I'm not real picky on the brand. I am not trying to get into the age old 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton argument. I have a friend who is really trying to talk me into buying a diesel instead of a gas burner. My question is who makes the best diesel engine or isn't there much difference in the manufacturers. I have posted photos of the stickers from my fifth wheel below

My present truck is a Dodge 2007 1500 of the 5.7 L hemi engine. It only has 68,000 miles on it. It has a full-blown towing package on it and I have upgraded the rims from 17 inch to 20 inch. I haven't had a chance to put the truck through its paces. In the next couple months I hope to take it to South Carolina up through the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia and see how well it does. How well it handles the trailer is going to be the deciding factor as to whether I get a new truck or not. As far as the brand goes I would prefer Ford and then Dodge and then any of the others.. One other thing, it needs to be a crew or club cab. I have a 70 pound chocolate lab who likes to drive, LOL, so I need a backseat to keep her in!

What are your thoughts and why?

Jim

My though is when you went to 20" tires from 17" unless you also did a Gear change you just Killed your Full Blown Trailering Package! I would devote more time to Truck Color than What Brand! Youroo!!

[mike.t]

Originally Posted by tahoe1840

Just a thought since all of these post are great, consider how much your towing, are you a full timer or are you pulling a couple times per year? Do you need the vehicle to pull job related trailers? Diesels are expensive to operate as compared to gas. Oil changes, fuel additives, fuel, and parts are all more expensive so the total cost of ownership of owning a diesel will be higher then a gas. I see that fuel alone really varies throughout the states but most of the time it appears that gas is cheaper.

What additives? Where in the owners manual does it say this. You can usally go 15k on a oil change with a diesel. Reg, in Socal is $2.65 Diesel is $2.29 Gassers get terrible MPG while towing anything with some weight. Don't think your correct. JMHO