Why you chose the TV you did

I wouldn't let the manufacturer's tow rating sway my decision much. All three trucks are very capable. I've been towing 30,000 lbs around with my 2011 SRW for years (120,000 km) and the only thing I've spent money on is tires, fuel, oil changes every 25,000 km, one new air filter and one new fuel filter.

ib516 wrote:
DB, you certainly have two ends of the spectrum there :)

That old beater is UGLY! The Dually - pretty sweet!

Looks like real flames spread to the bed. Like and old mutt; ugly but reliable.

DB, you certainly have two ends of the spectrum there :)

That old beater is UGLY! The Dually - pretty sweet!

And this one I bought to haul a truck camper and tow a cargo trailer..... first new truck I've ever bought. I bought it because I really like the GM trucks, and the Duramax / Allison combo.

I needed a beater tow rig for the winter, so this is what I ended up with.

it's ugly as sin, noisy, but the heat, lights and wipers work, it vibrates in 4WD though because it needs new front driveshaft ujoints.

I drove it from Spokane to Tacoma and back twice last winter.

We towed our 30ft camper for two seasons with an F150 4x4 STX 4.6L. We camp a lot in the North Carolina mountains and the small V8 wasn't getting the job done. Traded for the one ton duelly which is a much nicer pull. Very stable. Plus we can upgrade the camper at some point in the future.

I finally drove a 15 F350 Platinum daully with the 4.30 gears. Here's my unbiased opinions about the big 3:

All 3 are average $66,000 ($65-$67), and are more than capeable of pulling what I need, which may be a Cedar Creek now (working a deal to get a very clean 2005). The differences:

Ford:
+ most comfortable seats, by far; think air pad v/s memory foam and you get the gist. Litterally, the second I sat in the seat, I sank in slightly and the seat immediatlly coddled every part that it touched. I could go for days in that seat without getting tired.
+ best work features; TFT display, interior controllablility and adjustablility, best mirrors, best brake controller layout.
+ huge back seat
+ quiet
+ still offers a sizeable fuel tank, even with DEF tank in same location
- can't see anything but plastic when looking at the top of the engine; block/heads and ground are not visible. To repair that engine, you need to pull the cab; major $$$
- questionable long term reliability. Issues from first couple of jobs seem to be fixed, but do I want to take that chance, spend nearly $70 large, on a gamble?
+ and - ride; even on smooth roads had most movement/shudder, but still better than my single. Loaded should be much better
- highest potential MSRP
- even top level 450 can't match top dog 3500 Ram hauling/towing capacities

GM twins:
+ best powertrain combo; not so much the engine or trans by themselves (though Allison does get the nod for best trans of the 3) but by the way they work together to control the load.
+ very nice interior update; feels worth the cost
+ quiestest of the bunch; can't hear of feel the engine at idle with door shut
+ good ride quality for a dually
+ tech features; ability to control where you put the heat so you don't burn your butt
+ sizeable fuel tank
+ lowest MSRP
- smallest back seat
- hard, uncomfortable leather and worst padding of the 3
- uplevel trims not really that special; leather is not an improvement for the cash
- lowest towing capacity

Ram:
+ highest capacity; rivals MD trucks
+ most durable diesel (proven by number of industrial applications for, essentially, the same engine)
+ most suspension and powertrain options
+ comfortable, durable interiors with most cab configurations
+ superior dually ride without air assist
+ strongest gas engines
- longevity of transmissions still a question to me
- smallest fuel tanks; saw a regular cab dually with a tank smaller than 30 gallons this weekend
- noisiest cab
- tire brands (Firestone and Nexen; Ford and GM are using Michelins, and Ford also offers Toyo AT on some packages)


Just my opinions and observations.

norfla71 wrote:

mileshuff wrote:
I chose my 2007.5 Ram because of $12,000 in rebates and I could get a supplier discount of $500 below invoice. Allowed me to get it new for under $30K. Not bad for a new 4x4 quad cab diesel. Could not afford to buy one today.

That's one of the issues I'm facing; my 08 just won't be capeable enough for my future needs. I can tow any rig I desire with it, but I can also pull a 3 axle Raptor with a Raptor (saw that one on I10 west bound near the Alabama line); just because it can be done, doesn't mean I'm going to. If I want to pull something larger, I have no choice but to upgrade, and that's going to hurt. So my choice is to either upgrade the rig and buy a (very) used NH or DRV, or keep mine and get a less expensive new snow bird rig (Columbus, Eagle, Landmark, Redwood), which may/may not have serious issues develop. Before anyone jumps all over my choiches, I don't believe either the Landmark or Redwood are up on the same level as either the DRV or NH, and not really a full time rig (at least not by the same definition). Would we be OK using any other brand for our means? Most likely. However, we might also be OK pulling the DRV or NH with our SW; my instincts are telling me to go heavier on the truck and spend a bit more for a real FT rig. Just my opinions.

I just went through the exercise. My previous 10-year old truck was sufficient for my current needs, but we want to go larger and heavier in the future. The vehicles are getting more expensive each year and do not track with my income. I found a truck that I could afford now that gives us room to grow and opens up new options when we are ready to shop within the next five years.

We had a popup and were towing with a non tow package explorer. My popup was 3k loaded. the wife saw a nice tundra crewmax lifted bigger rims , full exhaust and a lot of goodies at a dealer . She brought it. this was also the time I had 2 disc slip and due to this being 6 3 was having trouble bending into my camry. so I took the explorer and she brought this truck.

later we upgraded to an TT , the wife/ DD picked that one. They narrowed down to 2 TT both dry weight where around 9k which the dealer felt was okay as the tundra has a 10k tow capacity. I told her to keep it around 5500 -6k dry. She found the avenger 28bhs we have now then. On the brochure it says 6800 lbs but the actual sticker is 6333 lbs. So we are close to 7k fully loaded.

the tundra is her daily driver, I use the motorcycle during summer and in the winter the explorer. the tundra just went over 100k. she plans to tow and keep it for 200k atleast.

mileshuff wrote:
I chose my 2007.5 Ram because of $12,000 in rebates and I could get a supplier discount of $500 below invoice. Allowed me to get it new for under $30K. Not bad for a new 4x4 quad cab diesel. Could not afford to buy one today.

That's one of the issues I'm facing; my 08 just won't be capeable enough for my future needs. I can tow any rig I desire with it, but I can also pull a 3 axle Raptor with a Raptor (saw that one on I10 west bound near the Alabama line); just because it can be done, doesn't mean I'm going to. If I want to pull something larger, I have no choice but to upgrade, and that's going to hurt. So my choice is to either upgrade the rig and buy a (very) used NH or DRV, or keep mine and get a less expensive new snow bird rig (Columbus, Eagle, Landmark, Redwood), which may/may not have serious issues develop. Before anyone jumps all over my choiches, I don't believe either the Landmark or Redwood are up on the same level as either the DRV or NH, and not really a full time rig (at least not by the same definition). Would we be OK using any other brand for our means? Most likely. However, we might also be OK pulling the DRV or NH with our SW; my instincts are telling me to go heavier on the truck and spend a bit more for a real FT rig. Just my opinions.