Buying a new truck but trying to decide which...

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N-Trouble wrote:
...One dealer sells both GM and Ram trucks??? Have never heard of this...

"Ed Martin" in Anderson sells:

GM
Chevy
Chrysler - Dodge
Toyota
Honda
Nissan

All at one location.

My son sold his PT Cruiser to them, he bought a Dodge Caravan. We bought our Chevy Diesel dually from them. They have different building on the grounds for different offices for all the different branches of vehicles. So yes, some dealers do sell more than one brand at a time.

Click on the "Dealerships" tab on their page.

For the most part GMC SLT trim = Chevy LTZ trim. Differences are in the front end styling differences between GM/Chevy and that is about it. GMC also offers the high end Denali trim which is one above the SLT.

One dealer sells both GM and Ram trucks??? Have never heard of this...

Sorry, I would not go with a 2500 series from anybody. They are simply too limiting for many RVers. Instead for nearly the same price get a 3500. Brand? Heck that is just too personal to get into. Kind of like saying because your wife is not a red head she is not pretty. Meaning no disrespect, but you get the idea? What I like and prefer has no bearing on the subject. Its your money your spending, pick what YOU like best. What I will say is, go test drive all theee, preferably all on the same day and pick what you will be happiest with.

I can't complain about my Chevy 3500 Duramax diesel dually. I'm on my 2nd one now (first was purchased used and the body was falling apart, second one was purchased new). Before that, we bough a gas 3500 Chevy dually. No comparison between the gas and the diesel. I'll not go back to gas for towing.

I can't comment on the GMC version, never towed with one. But I do know my set-up is a really sweet ride for towing! After owning a dually, the stability, never a hint of trailer sway, and ... oh the power .... I'd never want to tow a trailer with SRW now. I'm just too spoiled now. And I sure do enjoy a comfortable ride, and driving uphill when towing a 35 foot trailer and STILL be able to pass passenger cars that are breathing through life-support just to make it to the top!

My last truck was a 2012 3500HD SRW Silverado LTZ. Current is a 2015 GMC 3500HD SRW Denali Dmax.
Night and day difference between the two. As far as GMC versus Chevy, simply preference for looks. I believe the LCD dash is only in the Denali trim level.

You want to be really careful if you will be towing a fifth wheel at some point to have plenty of cargo rating. If you will stay with travel trailers, then a 2500 should offer plenty of cargo rating, and still carry a maximum of 1,400 pounds hitch weight.

Yet even the smaller 30' fifth wheels can exceed 3000 pin weight when fully loaded. So if any plans include a fifth wheel in the next 6-10 years, I would go for the extra $900 and get the SRW 3500 truck.

I have heard that a 3500 SRW Dodge is less expensive than the 2500 set up for towing. This is because the diesel is standard on the DRW 3500, and the SRW 3500 is a deduct option to remove the two extra wheels, and fenders, so it became less expensive MSRP than the 2500 diesel all optioned up (that came with gas engine standard, and a expensive diesel option).

You can not beat any of the big trucks put out this year. My sister just traded in her F-150 Ecoboost for a new 2016 diesel F-350 dually. She was impressed with the power of the EB, but now is REALLY impressed with the power of the 6.7L diesel.

Before she had a Expedition that was traded in for a 1500 GMC crewcab, and was not impressed with it's ability to overheat on a short run into the mountains east of Phoenix towing her boat. The F-150 did much better towing the 8,000 pounds. But the F-350 dually is much better than both of those!

Yes the news is out on the 2017 F-350's with aluminum body. That should be about 700 pounds lighter than the current 2016. No word yet on how many months one will need to wait to get the 2017's though. They normally come out with the next model year in June or July, but nothing it out yet on the delivery dates.

With the 2014 / 2015 F-150's Ford had two factories to convert. They did the first one in August, and Kansas City I think in October. So KC plant could still produce the 2014 F-150 late into 2014, producing around 5,000 trucks a week in either plant. With the F-250 through F-550 plant, they have to convert it all at once. Hopefully sooner than later!

Good luck,

Fred.