WHICH DIESEL PU TO BUY PULLING 10,000LBS

longhaired_bob

HI Y'ALL,
I'M NEW TO DIESEL PICK UPS. MY WIFE AND I PLAN ON TRAVELING FOR ONE YR FROM ALASKA TO MEXICO IN THE TRUCK WE BUY, HAULING A FIFTH WHEEL TRAVEL TRAILER. AFTER OUR TRIP, WE PLAN ON USING THIS TRUCK TO HAUL MATERIALS( FULL LOAD WEIGHING LESS THAN 10,000LBS ) FROM MEXICO TO COLORADO. I COULD REALLY USE SOME HELP IN DECIDING WHICH TRUCK TO BUY. I HAVE AROUND $20,000 TO SPEND AND ALL I WANT IS SOMETHING THAT WILL GET ME WHERE I NEED TO GO FOR A VERY LONG TIME. I AM THE KIND OF PERSON WHO MAINTAINS HIS VEHICLE HANDS-ON PER THE BOOK. IF I TAKE GOOD CARE OF MY TRUCK WHAT KIND OF TRUCK WILL TAKE CARE OF ME?

chevytruck_fan

realistically you should look at the Chevy/GMC and the Ford, for a couple reasons-

#1-Both have great diesels, but unlike dodge Gm and Ford have the transmissions to handle these torque monsters, the allison the on the GM even has grade breaking which will be nice when you are going through the rockies.

#2-if something were to happen to your diesel, the chance of finding a Chevy or Ford dealership in small towns is a lot better than finding a dodge dealership in a small town.

make shure you will have time to drive it about 1,000 miles before you go off hauling that big thing, this will give it time to break in but also work out any small problems it may have.

bwh

With that much to spend you are firmly into used trucks. The problem with that is that while you may maintain your truck the last guy may not have. You DO NOT want the GM 6.5L diesel, junk, junk, junk. Many GM dealers quit selling these because of the number of problems with them. So now you have Ford and Dodge for diesels. The Cummins in the Dodge is the better engine for sure. The Ford truck itself is better than the Dodge. The mid 90s models you would be looking at both have questionable transmissions. The Dodge trucks also have brake and front suspension problems. Either one will do the job but do not think you will get a trouble free truck from either brand. I had extremely good luck with my '99 Ford until recently when it went beyond the 100k warranty. It has been in the shop three times in a short period since then. I had a '92 (old style) Dodge diesel before that. Never had an engine problem, I had five transmissions and weekly brake problems though. My trucks pull big loads, up to 15k daily. I think what I would do in your shoes would be to find a '95 and up Ford PSD with a manual transmission. Expect to spend a thousand or two on new injectors after about 150k. It will most likely have glow plug problems at some point as well. But other than that it should pull like a train for 200-250k miles. I think you can easily get another 100k miles out of a Cummins Dodge but the rest of the truck may fall apart on you. Another possibility would be to look for a newer 454 automatic Chevy, '96 or newer, gas may be more but I bet with repairs you would come out pretty even.

warfish

All three trucks are good, some just better than others. If you haven't been driving a Ford, the split I-beam front suspension may drive you nuts trying to keep it going straight. People who have driven them for a while don't seem to notice it. The Dodge/Cummins is a know winner. The engine is rock solid and the other problems you may have heard about are rare enough to not be a factor in your decision. Stay away from the GM diesels. I love GM vehicles but hate that engine.

chevytruck_fan

Gm Diesels aren't as bad as everyone says, it seems someone started a romour about how the 6.2 and 6.5 was based off the 350 (it was not, that was the 350 diesel) go to www.thedieselpage.com and you will find some good info on GM diesels if you are leaning that way. LIsten to the guys on their they actually know what they are talking about.

modvptnl

While shopping for motorhomes, I fell in love with a 33' Safari Trek with the 6.5 GM diesel. Although a dog when driving it, I felt that a "fast" motorhome wasn't really necessary. Called a buddy that works at a GMC/Chev dealer as a tech. He LOVES GM products and said in no uncertain terms stay away from the 6.5 POS. Researched on the internet and called an outfit in Texas. They said GM did upgrade the warranty on these motors to 125,000 miles but that was to save face. They will leave you stranded with injector pump problems and other assorted electrical gremlins. The new updated pump will have a green tag on it and if the rig your looking at doesn't have the "new" pump instead of walking away from the 6.5, run!!!!!

Cummins and Cat power for me in a motorhome!!

BTW, I hate diesels for "commuter" daily drivers but in motorhomes or pulling 10,000 pounds I see their value.