Ram HD Laramie Limited
I took a new Ram Laramie Longhorn Limited for a test drive. I was very impressed. The HD trucks are incredible now so it comes down to little things that separate the manufacturers. When comparing the...
Forum Discussion
Ford makes an excellent heavy duty, quality truck chassis, body, transmission and the rest of the drivetrain after the tranny too. They make good gas engines as well. Their interiors are reasonably nice too. Their front-ends are still stuck in the ugly phase that began in 2008, but they seem to be softening it a bit since 2011. Overall, the quality of their trucks are quite good....
EXCEPT THEIR DIESEL ENGINES, post-7.3-era!! If Ford would put some of the time/$ they spend on designing new foo-foo electronic garbage for the inside of the trucks, on curing some of their very expensive to fix, rediculus design blunders on their diesel engines, I would love to have a new Ford diesel truck! I love Fords!! But I don't love any of their newer diesel engines, the 6.7 included!
If I were buying a new class 2/3 truck today, with a gas engine, it would definitely be a Ford F350 with the 6.2. That's a great engine, and the rest of the truck is great too. In a single rear wheel pickup, it would be my first choice :B !! But in a diesel... no thank you! You can keep it, I don't want it!
GM seems to have got it right with their Duramax diesel and Allison tranny, since 2002. Their bodies have gotten better looking in recent years too. They went through an ugly phase shortly after 2007, as did Ford. Their frames and chassis have improved greatly. I am still not a fan of a-arm cv-axle front ends on 1-ton 4x4's though. I much prefer the solid axle front ends of Ford and Dodge trucks.
Yes, I'm still calling them Dodges! I am old-school! You can call it 'Ram' if you wish! I know what it really is-- it's a Dodge!! :).
And speaking of Dodge trucks... If I were buying a brand new class 2/3/4/5 truck today, with a DIESEL, despite really, really liking Fords, it would be... a DODGE!!... with the Cummins, of course! :B. I feel Dodge makes the best combination of heavy duty truck that is also nice looking, outside and inside, with a great engine, good trannies, solid rest of the drivetrain (even if I do prefer Dana axles to any other brand, of which Dodge and GM both use AAM), at a very good price point too. It's a winner, to me. :)
The above all applies to class 2 through 5 trucks.
For class 1, half-ton pickups, my choice would be the Ford F150HD, with Ecoboost engine, hands down :B. That Ecoboost engine is proving to be all that it was said to be, and the heavier duty HD model is a great improvement over the other trucks in it's class, with payload weights rivaling many 3/4-tons in recent years. I'm not really into half-tons, but the F150HD is just barely still a half-ton, much heavier duty than most, though it still has a stupid semi-float rear axle. Give it a full-float rear and a solid axle front and I'd be going ape-sh1t for it. :D
I am no fan whatsoever of coil spring, trailing-arm rear suspension on a truck. Dodge is out of the running on that one, even though I do like the rest of their 1500 series truck. I am die hard fan of good old leaf springs and solid rear axles, on any class of pickup truck. GM tried coil springs and trailing arms in '67-'69 and I'm not a fan of those either, though they did at least add half of a single leaf spring as a helper spring on the C20's in those years. Yes, I'm old fashioned. I like what I know works, solidly and reliably, for many years, without problems! It's my perogitive to do so! :D
GM 1500's, eh, they're ok, nothin special. The GM's just don't do it for me. Without the attraction of the Duramax diesel and Allison tranny in the 2500/3500 trucks, the GM 1500's just can't interest me. Not that there's anything wrong with them! I'm just not a big fan of 1/2-ton class trucks in general anyways. Not that they don't have their place in society! I just don't have much use for one.
EXCEPT THEIR DIESEL ENGINES, post-7.3-era!! If Ford would put some of the time/$ they spend on designing new foo-foo electronic garbage for the inside of the trucks, on curing some of their very expensive to fix, rediculus design blunders on their diesel engines, I would love to have a new Ford diesel truck! I love Fords!! But I don't love any of their newer diesel engines, the 6.7 included!
If I were buying a new class 2/3 truck today, with a gas engine, it would definitely be a Ford F350 with the 6.2. That's a great engine, and the rest of the truck is great too. In a single rear wheel pickup, it would be my first choice :B !! But in a diesel... no thank you! You can keep it, I don't want it!
GM seems to have got it right with their Duramax diesel and Allison tranny, since 2002. Their bodies have gotten better looking in recent years too. They went through an ugly phase shortly after 2007, as did Ford. Their frames and chassis have improved greatly. I am still not a fan of a-arm cv-axle front ends on 1-ton 4x4's though. I much prefer the solid axle front ends of Ford and Dodge trucks.
Yes, I'm still calling them Dodges! I am old-school! You can call it 'Ram' if you wish! I know what it really is-- it's a Dodge!! :).
And speaking of Dodge trucks... If I were buying a brand new class 2/3/4/5 truck today, with a DIESEL, despite really, really liking Fords, it would be... a DODGE!!... with the Cummins, of course! :B. I feel Dodge makes the best combination of heavy duty truck that is also nice looking, outside and inside, with a great engine, good trannies, solid rest of the drivetrain (even if I do prefer Dana axles to any other brand, of which Dodge and GM both use AAM), at a very good price point too. It's a winner, to me. :)
The above all applies to class 2 through 5 trucks.
For class 1, half-ton pickups, my choice would be the Ford F150HD, with Ecoboost engine, hands down :B. That Ecoboost engine is proving to be all that it was said to be, and the heavier duty HD model is a great improvement over the other trucks in it's class, with payload weights rivaling many 3/4-tons in recent years. I'm not really into half-tons, but the F150HD is just barely still a half-ton, much heavier duty than most, though it still has a stupid semi-float rear axle. Give it a full-float rear and a solid axle front and I'd be going ape-sh1t for it. :D
I am no fan whatsoever of coil spring, trailing-arm rear suspension on a truck. Dodge is out of the running on that one, even though I do like the rest of their 1500 series truck. I am die hard fan of good old leaf springs and solid rear axles, on any class of pickup truck. GM tried coil springs and trailing arms in '67-'69 and I'm not a fan of those either, though they did at least add half of a single leaf spring as a helper spring on the C20's in those years. Yes, I'm old fashioned. I like what I know works, solidly and reliably, for many years, without problems! It's my perogitive to do so! :D
GM 1500's, eh, they're ok, nothin special. The GM's just don't do it for me. Without the attraction of the Duramax diesel and Allison tranny in the 2500/3500 trucks, the GM 1500's just can't interest me. Not that there's anything wrong with them! I'm just not a big fan of 1/2-ton class trucks in general anyways. Not that they don't have their place in society! I just don't have much use for one.
