Ford F-350 or Ram 3500, DRW vs. SRW
ok I want a no bashing forum!! I have $25,000 or so to spend and have narrowed it down to a Ram 3500 or F-350. 2011 or newer, crew cab. now the hard part. What is the better truck for the long h...
Forum Discussion
About the Cummins: 98.5-02 are basically equal.
The block to avoid is 53, not 51. If you consider a 24-Valve Dodge, Google "53 block Cummins" first and make sure you don't buy one with that casting number.
The so-called "HO" is nothing to care about, a mild tuner will make any non-HO just as strong. A good tuner and a set of injectors will make it an absolute powerhouse. Cummins power tuners prefer the standard injector pump, the "HO" is same but with advanced timing. Tuners will put the tuning wherever you want anyway.
A set of injectors for those engines is only $400-$600, the whole set.
The automatics are junk in stock condition but are actually stronger and better than the manuals, if you have them built right. That will cost about $5k. The manuals are not indestructible or trouble-free.
The '01-'02 models have disc brakes in the rear but the drums work fine and the parking brake works better with drums. That's a non-issue.
If you're set on a 2011 or newer truck, for $25,000, you're looking at gas trucks or very worn-out trucks.
Don't buy into the nonsense that 250,000 miles is nothing on a diesel. They don't run forever and the rest of the truck will be pretty worn too. There's always that guy on the internet that has one million miles on his diesel, or his Studebaker...
Don't buy a mid-2000s Ford Powerstroke unless you have reasonable evidence it was "bullet proofed".
I'm highly suspect of the condition of any truck meeting your stated criteria with a $25,000 price.
That's unrealistically low, and if you find it, something is probably going on.
The block to avoid is 53, not 51. If you consider a 24-Valve Dodge, Google "53 block Cummins" first and make sure you don't buy one with that casting number.
The so-called "HO" is nothing to care about, a mild tuner will make any non-HO just as strong. A good tuner and a set of injectors will make it an absolute powerhouse. Cummins power tuners prefer the standard injector pump, the "HO" is same but with advanced timing. Tuners will put the tuning wherever you want anyway.
A set of injectors for those engines is only $400-$600, the whole set.
The automatics are junk in stock condition but are actually stronger and better than the manuals, if you have them built right. That will cost about $5k. The manuals are not indestructible or trouble-free.
The '01-'02 models have disc brakes in the rear but the drums work fine and the parking brake works better with drums. That's a non-issue.
If you're set on a 2011 or newer truck, for $25,000, you're looking at gas trucks or very worn-out trucks.
Don't buy into the nonsense that 250,000 miles is nothing on a diesel. They don't run forever and the rest of the truck will be pretty worn too. There's always that guy on the internet that has one million miles on his diesel, or his Studebaker...
Don't buy a mid-2000s Ford Powerstroke unless you have reasonable evidence it was "bullet proofed".
I'm highly suspect of the condition of any truck meeting your stated criteria with a $25,000 price.
That's unrealistically low, and if you find it, something is probably going on.
