Tough luck with the truck. But there is really no reason to expect the next one to be as bad. It doesn't look like you needed the extra power of a diesel so consider a gasser next. That cuts your expense. You should be able to get a new 2500/250 for $40K, financed for 6 years your payment will be something like $500/month. When you pay it off, just do it again. Sadly, that is the reality of reliability. But you are right you can buy a lot of fun with that money. Really just depends on the fun and the where and how much you actually use that setup. You can easily rent something for less than owning a rig if you use it only periodically.