I've always been a "Chevy" guy so cannot compare how others compare with real world towing or driving.
I'm on my 3rd Chevy dually, long bed, crew cab. First was a used gasser. It was a magnificent towing beast. The previous owner used it tow horse trailers and we could never get the horse poop smell out of the cab. But we adjusted. It was a bit older when we bought it, and within a very few years, my Chevy repair shop guy told me I was in danger of frame failure if I continued towing. It had rusted out that bad.
Thus we bought the second Chevy dually, long bed, crew cab, diesel. Now it was also a towing beast. We loved that truck. It was definitely a nicer machine, more comfortable, and another magnificent work beat. We bought it 2 years old, it was prior leased vehicle and had after market equipped brake controller that yanked us to death or seemed to not work at all. I was constantly adjusting the controller to adjust to the driving speed so we wouldn't get neck whiplash or rear-end someone every time I hit the brakes. Interesting though, the look and feel of the interior was still very much similar to the 1995 Chevy Suburban we owned before all of this.
The reason we traded it, was because it had a fiberglass body, and the fat fenders were spider cracking out. I was afraid someday I'd hit a bump in the road and half the fender wheel wells would fall off. At the tune of $4000 a side to replace them, this was not an option. We traded and still got $18,000 trade in value from the dealer.
Third truck is the one we have now. 2014 Chevy 3500 Dually, long bed Crew, Duramax 6.6 diesel HD. OMG! What a sweet ride! All metal body, integrated brake controller, all the bells and whistles (except heated seats), tows and breaks with the trailer unbelievably smooth at any speed (that integrated brake controller is absolutely magnificent!
It's used for a combination of back-up daily driver and towing the camper and utility trailer. Fuel mileage is 18.5 when not towing and driving 55 mph, and 11.5 when towing my 11,000 pound TT. It tows unbelievable. With the integrated brake controller, exhaust brake, and cruise control, on highways, flats, or mountains, just turn on all 3 and sit and drive. It holds the speed wherever you set it.
It has 4x4 and I use that a lot in the winter as we live in the country and our roads don't always get plowed in the winter as quick as we'd like.
The only problem with this truck, the tail is light compared to the front. But that is true of any pick-up truck. When roads are wet (and especially snowy or icy), I have to brake a little more careful because the rear has a tendency to go into a skid. I've learned how to adjust my driving, but in a crisis moment, it's not always possible. It's just something I noticed a lot more with the newest truck that I didn't experience as much with the 2 previous trucks.
I'm a Chevy guy and I love my truck. The list price on the truck (brand new) was $80,000 3 1/2 years ago. After trade in and a few discounts we ended up financing around $50,000. We have about 1 more year and it will be paid off.
