I had a GMC D/A combo crew-cab for nine years and really liked it. Then, I bought a Ram, not a Laramie model, crew-cab and long bed, with a diesel engine, 3.42 rear end and six-speed manual transmission. Took our new FW on a trip and decided I wanted something else. My wife wouldn't drive it because of the manual transmission and I found that it was getting harder for me to back my boat into the garage having to have both feet on the pedals, making it much harder to look over my shoulder to back in. So, after nine months the wife said we could get a new tow vehicle and we got a 2012 GMC, not loaded, and really like it much better. It has an automatic and a 3.73 rear end and is much easier to use when backing into our garage to put the boat in. Neither of these were high-end models but I felt the ride is much better in the GMC and the interior is pretty much a toss-up. I looked at Fords, but the cost turned me off. A comparable Ford would have set me back about $4,000 to $6,000 over the GMC so I went with the GMC. Now that they all have DEF, I won't even talk about the gas mileage. I think you will get a good truck whichever one you buy, but remember to get comparable packages when you are pricing them and a comparable, as much as possible, power train as well.
John A. Lichty