[UTmike]

I'm researching trucks for a tow rig and daily driver. I'm pretty set on getting a 3/4 ton diesel, possibly a 1 ton. As of now I'm thinking of getting the Dodge but I don't know why exactly, I've just always liked them more I guess. But I'm looking for some facts and first hand opinions on them all. So throw out whatever you got! It'll be predominantly my daily driver with montly Jeep towings and occassional cross country tows.

[MountainMan864]

I would personally go with a 98-2002 Dodge 2500 or 3500 with the 24v Cummin Engine and try to find a 6 speed trans. Slap a leveling kit on their and 35's and your ready to go. If you treak the motor a little bit youll make crazy power, torque converters are crucial as well.

[YJteen]

IMO the cummins diesels cant be beat. Allison transmissions are amazing too.

[Macklin96]

Chevy will ride the best because of IFS- you do give up some strength but as a tow rig/dd it is still plenty strong.

[78treehugger]

Powerstroke and Duramax are rated as light-medium duty and are scheduled for a rebuild at 250,000 miles. Cummins is rated as a medium-heavy duty and scheduled at 350,000 miles. Inline engines last longer when equally maintained because of design. A "V" engine has more vibration, thus faster wear.

Ford has the most cab room.
GM has the best ride.
Dodge has the longest lasting and easiest engine to pull power from.

[Zembonez]

GAS - Chevy or GMC 2500

DIESEL - Dodge

[CaptainSlow001]

My neighbor (A construction worker) got a new Chevy 3500 about 18 months ago. He's constantly towing either a 30-something foot Camper, Boat, or Bobcat. As far as I know its holding up quite well.

[UTmike]

Originally Posted by 78treehugger

Ford has the most cab room.
GM has the best ride.
Dodge has the longest lasting and easiest engine to pull power from.

Nice summary. Thanks! I'm definitely still leaning towards the Dodge

[03blackfx4]

Originally Posted by 78treehugger

Powerstroke and Duramax are rated as light-medium duty and are scheduled for a rebuild at 250,000 miles. Cummins is rated as a medium-heavy duty and scheduled at 350,000 miles. Inline engines last longer when equally maintained because of design. A "V" engine has more vibration, thus faster wear.

Ford has the most cab room.
GM has the best ride.
Dodge has the longest lasting and easiest engine to pull power from.

Kinda true. If I were going to just run a tune and didn't have to go on jobsites I'd go with the GM.

Ford has the best resale hands down. Rides good, cabin is vault like and the drivetrain less the 6.4 is stellar. If your running a stock 6.4 not towing everyday it'll last forever (for under 2 grand you can get a 200k mile 7 year engine warranty). It's when they are running around at 19K lbs all day that kills them.

GM is a close second on resale, nice truck, biggest issue to me with GM is service, they treated me like **** so I'll never do business with GM as long as I live.

Dodge...Ehh I'll pass. Poor resale, dashes crack like a mo fo. Little trim pieces nickel and dime you. Great engine w/ a 6 speed hand shaker, haven't been in but one 6 speed auto, it seemed ok but was no torque shift or allison.

[h2ojeep]

UTMIKE

There is another thread going on in the CJ section, "Tow Vehicle", Some more opinions, and comments (including not just towing, but just as important, stopping)

I am about to start one dealing with some specifics (questions) of towing a CJ.

I towed my jeep a long time and recently went to Colorado (partially inspired by you and your photos) and had so problems towing.

I have towed jeeps, and other equipment and diesels just do better, as noted in the above thread, would love to see a half ton diesel (and had a Chevy 1/2 ton that had the pre-duramax Diesel engine. Most of those GM diesels had bad problems with the electronic fuel injection system, mine an exception,did not 300,000 later...pulled like hell and great mileage)

Now,I am pulling with a F150 300HP 5.4 gasoline and the no problem with passes, flat land, and moderate hills towing, 70-85 MPH but only problem I have is wind resistance in reference to the "brick" aerodynamics of the CJ that I am pulling. I am not considering changing. Last week end I hauled 6000 lbs of fire wood (no wind resistance), hilly country, and was having problem keeping it off 80, pesky DPS.

But if I was gona change.... I would get a Chevy Duramax (as much as it pains me to drive a Government/ Union Motors, I see bad thinks coming).

I also had a F250 powerstorke 7.3 diesel and still would but a fire got in the way. The new powerstrokes have been de-rated, (again thanks to the government) and the newer ones pull less and take more fuel.

Interesting that Ford for some years now, owns Cummings and due to an pre-existing contract the Cummings engine stayed with Chrysler. Here again, government/union control is probably not going to be a good thing. And I am hoping with Chrysler maybe breaking up, the Cummings will go back to Ford.

The Cummings engine (originally designed in something like 1948) is a long stroke (longer than the other small diesels) and has the best pulling (torque) if you have the time, but with that, it does not accelerate like the shorter stroke V8s (Duramax and Powerstroke), that's important to me, IMO. Trying to get around the loaded motorhome/travel trailer or Farmer Brown, I want to get it done quickly.

The Chevy with the Duramax has probably the best transmission with the Allison. When the small diesel were being developed, the Duramax (from Izizu), was one of the last, and all the problems had already been worked out by Ford (except for the governments intrusion on the Powerstroke) and Chrysler.

As for now, I going to work on wind problems and stay with my F150. If fuel prices were more stable and money was no issue, I wouldn't mind pulling with the Duramax.

[yoda13]

what government intrusion are you speaking of on the PowerStroke?

[ajmorell]

x2, and it's "Cummins" and "Isuzu." Ford does not own Cummins either, I believe they at one point owned or joint owned International/Navistar (which is who used to produce the Ford diesels). I believe it says somewhere on Cummins website that they are NOT owned by Ford. I just spoke with a Cummins engineer a week ago and he said they have been independently owned since their inception.

[h2ojeep]

UTMike
Who owns what and who builds what is not the question, and there seems little since in getting into an information quandary and throw out a bunch of useless information (for the propose of this thread) about the dynamics of stock ownership in publicly traded companies.


You ask about a towing vehicle, more exactly to tow a jeep; you need to see what your criteria are. IMO, Performance, economy are tops.

Performance being the ease in which it “cruses” (at the speeds you want to drive) with a load down different types of road (flat, hilly, mountainous, etc), Its passing ability (acceleration with a load).

Economy being the obvious MPG, and then cost per gallon, frequency of oil changes, amount of oil (diesel engines take a lot), frequency of filter (fuel and oil) changes and how many filters (some have numerous fuel filters). Tire cost and replacement of tires(dual rear=two extra tires). And all that in relation to if you intend to use it for a daily driver.

The proof is in the pudding.
Before you buy, go and drive them and evaluate on the basis of YOUR criteria. If you can, go load it up (rent a trailer if you don’t have one and put your jeep on it) and drive within your criterion. See how it shifts, accelerates, stops, etc. (I have actually done that and the dealers were very accommodating in letting me tow during a test drive)

If your just pulling your jeep (and not a 18000 lb backhoe), IMO, tempered with experience, a good gear ratio is 3.73. Faster and you will be down shifting a lot (using more fuel), slower and you will run higher RPMs most of the time(using more fuel) for what you are doing. I would also stay with automatic transmissions and not go manual. (that’s another discussion).


Side note, Yes it is Sunshine Peak, I liked the color of the mountain and took an almost identical photo. Cross referenced it with my GPS (camera and GPS both give time) to get the location of my photo which was at Cooper creek Trail Head on the Alpine loop.

[Joe Dillard]

Originally Posted by 78treehugger

Ford has the most cab room.

Does Ford offer something larger than a Dodge Mega Cab?

The rear cargo/seating area alone is 4' 3" deep with the front seats slide all the way back.

With the front seats slide forward, there is 5' of rear room, and the rear seats recline as well.

So, as a whole, I'm thinking the Dodge Mega Cab is more roomy than a Ford.

Anyway - I have had a 3/4 ton, 2500 Dodge & now have a 3500. It tows great & handles my camper very well.

[YJSXJ]

Here's my perspective on it. i work for a Construction company. through the years ,we've had all of them. I can honestly say, the interors of the dodges are kind of flimsy compared to ford and chevy. THe comfort of the dodges is ok, But the cummins and the 6 speed manual is untouchable.

The GM's are "ok". They do have the best ride, but in my book, they are far from "work trucks", and this is coming from a chevy fan. When it comes to heavy hauling, yea, the motor can take it, but the rest of the truck can't......We had nothing but problems when they bought a all new GM fleet of 3500's 4 years ago. And what's up with the wheels and tires gm puts on them?? The tires are way too small and look ridicilious???


Hands down the all around best trucks weve had in the past were and still are the blue ovals, fords. They are the most comfortable with the roomiest cabs, BY FAR, and the interior is pretty nice, although the 04-05 model interiors did seem a but dated. Power is kick *** as long as you stay away from the 6.4 diesels. We're always towing something behind, wether ut be just a IR compressor or a 4-5 tom bobcat or whatever.

Ford is a blend of all 3 worlds.

GM is a nice ride, but the handling capability with a load is a bit scary....We also had the most problems with GM service

Dodge with the cummins???? What more can i say, it's a cummins.........awesome, and the one i drove, i had 6" stacks and it was sick sounding


If i were to get one of my own, i'd get a ford, as of right now, i drive a company owned 2007 F450 4x4 dually with the service body. The only truck i would trade it for is another 12v cummins 98-00 dodge.