Let's open a can of worms...

B.O. Plenty wrote:

romore wrote:
Engine failure can happen to anybody regardless of brand. These guys run up a lot of miles in a hurry and turn their trucks over every two to three years. Chrysler is likely offering the best lease terms and then there is the legendary low fuel consumption to consider.:B

Legendary low fuel consumption??? I don't think the Ram I got rid of was any better than the Chevrolet I now have. I doubt that any of these are leased. Nobody would lease out a truck to have a couple hundred thousand miles put on it in a short time...

B.O.

I purchased a used Leased work truck.... 2012 Ford F 250.. 135,000 miles...August 2015.
lots of records... Good Car-Fax.... so yes they do...
135,000 miles with 4,100 hours.... 600 idle hours... So a FREEWAY truck.

Cummins and dependability.

I too have noticed most haulers are Rams. My assumption would be cost as well. It also played a role in my recent decision to purchase one.

Halmfamily wrote:
.

So, why is it they all seem to use RAM 3500 DRW? By the way this is what wife wants for our next truck. We shall see.

Just curious. Have a great Christmas everyone.

You can ask your wife why.

In the past it was better fuel economy they were just cheaper to operate. When you use it to make a living it's about bottom line. The Cummins has always been legendary for its longevity.

I have no idea how the new ones compare in highway fuel economy towing a heavy load.

blofgren wrote:

Adam R wrote:
Cummins is a good, durable, simple and fuel efficient engine. Not too crazy about the rest of the truck, but it's not a bad package. The torque management of the newer trucks sucks big time, but sometimes simpler is better when you are working your equipment for a living.

For a pure work truck, I'd probably consider a Ram if I was hauling stuff. For a daily driver, I'd prefer a Ford for the comfort, smoothness, ride and power. It has more bells and whistles, but some of them are really nice.

Now give me a new Ford with a 6.7 Cummins (without the dreaded torque management)? That would be a really nice combo.

Adam

Have you looked at or driven a fully loaded HD Ram in the last 5 years??:h I would agree that the Ford is more refined with more bells and whistles in previous generations but definitely not the current generation. And I owned 3 Fords before my current truck in my signature.

I have noticed that most hotshotters use Cummins powered Rams as well. I have no doubt in my mind that it is for the Cummins engine because of their proven reliability and fuel economy. It makes sense that someone who depends on their truck for a living is going to run the one that is the least expensive to operate, and has the least amount of downtime.

In regards to purchase prices, all 3 trucks are very similarly priced in my area. When I bought my truck I could have bought a fully loaded new Ford F-450 4x4 Lariat crew cab for virtually the same money.

I test drove a ram back in '12 when I was shopping and that thing rode like a bull. Having said that most of the guys coming by our shop preferred their 5.9 truck over the 6.7's. In addition I don't see hardly any of the new style rams running hot shot's especially in the oil fields. A lot of the oil field hot shotters are now running Fords and are making very long runs to west and south Texas.

rexlion wrote:
I have a buddy who drives hotshot deliveries, and he has a trio of F350 SRW pickups with the diesel. He had been happy... until last month, when one of them (with 90K miles on it IIRC) developed an engine problem requiring a $16,000 repair bill. He always kept them serviced meticulously, and he is very, very PO'd.

That is very unfortunate. It sounds like the dreaded CP4 high pressure fuel pump failure where the pump destroys itself and then trashes the entire fuel system from the metal shrapnel that gets distributed through it. Do you know what year of truck it is? Did Ford not offer any warranty coverage for it?

B.O. Plenty wrote:

romore wrote:
Engine failure can happen to anybody regardless of brand. These guys run up a lot of miles in a hurry and turn their trucks over every two to three years. Chrysler is likely offering the best lease terms and then there is the legendary low fuel consumption to consider.:B

Legendary low fuel consumption??? I don't think the Ram I got rid of was any better than the Chevrolet I now have. I doubt that any of these are leased. Nobody would lease out a truck to have a couple hundred thousand miles put on it in a short time...

B.O.

There is a big difference in fuel economy from a 2010 Ram Cummins to a 2013 and up model that uses DEF.

Adam R wrote:
Cummins is a good, durable, simple and fuel efficient engine. Not too crazy about the rest of the truck, but it's not a bad package. The torque management of the newer trucks sucks big time, but sometimes simpler is better when you are working your equipment for a living.

For a pure work truck, I'd probably consider a Ram if I was hauling stuff. For a daily driver, I'd prefer a Ford for the comfort, smoothness, ride and power. It has more bells and whistles, but some of them are really nice.

Now give me a new Ford with a 6.7 Cummins (without the dreaded torque management)? That would be a really nice combo.

Adam

Have you looked at or driven a fully loaded HD Ram in the last 5 years??:h I would agree that the Ford is more refined with more bells and whistles in previous generations but definitely not the current generation. And I owned 3 Fords before my current truck in my signature.

I have noticed that most hotshotters use Cummins powered Rams as well. I have no doubt in my mind that it is for the Cummins engine because of their proven reliability and fuel economy. It makes sense that someone who depends on their truck for a living is going to run the one that is the least expensive to operate, and has the least amount of downtime.

In regards to purchase prices, all 3 trucks are very similarly priced in my area. When I bought my truck I could have bought a fully loaded new Ford F-450 4x4 Lariat crew cab for virtually the same money.

Halmfamily wrote:
Today while driving the interstate here in beautiful Alabama I noticed that all of the for hire drivers were pulling with Ram 3500 DRW...
So, why is it they all seem to use RAM 3500 DRW?.........(and from another) Today while driving the interstate here in beautiful Northwest I noticed that all of the for hire drivers were pulling with a 3500 Duramax DRW.

Maybe they only let each brand run on a given day. :B Ford gets Monday, Ram - Tuesday, GMC - Wed, Chevy - Thurs, Toyota Friday, Sat and Sun are a free for all!:E