I agree they should print this stuff i know some of its opinionated but there is a lot of us posting that have admitted flaws in our own rigs design and that some other trucks have something that is better about them its all about application and driver preference. face it we are all human and we want are trucks to be the most bada$$ rig but if all the companys were making a truck that road stock on 35's had 1500 ft/lbs and the whole thing was guaranteed for life. we'd be talking bought colors and badges and body lines. what i would love to see is one of these magazines or tv shows build up a diesel a *** diesel granted but using the best parts from all the companys ya so some of the parts wouldn't want to work together but thats why they have fat budgets and guys that are master fab working it. i think that would be really interesting just a thought  

I was thinking the same thing as a matter of fact.  So Diesel Power Mag. what ya say?  

Casper5.9.....love the posts....please throw in a period or comma once in a while.  

srry had no idea we were in english class    thought everyone could figure out were to breathe  

anyways as of this weekend 19-21 i test drove the new 450 ford 6.4 and it does have some perks one thing i was slightly baffled by was that the dealer would not let me tow or load the truck with anything. not sure if thats there policy but are dodge and chevy dealers let us do those things under there supervision and with a form. but anyways truck was quite nice inside seat were a little goofy for me at first but w/e had good acceleration and rode like a caddy (not a plus in my book like a stiff ride) did not like how it handled when passing and running in the rain it seemed skidish plus had a problem with its shear weight sinking in are fields and on the dirt roads.  could see how this would be a great over land truck or a south western work truck as long as theres no clay just dry stuff i would also mess with the shift point kinda odd could have been that particular one i would not by it because it does not meet my needs but id say its not to bad  

I am looking for some information between the Dodge and Ford and you seem to have an unbiased opinion so… Do you find either truck to be better suited for any particular application?  In looking at the fords I’ve noticed the front control arms are slightly bigger, different frame design, and looks to be larger front axel.  I think the weight on the fords is a fair bit higher also.  So which would you prefer to use daily for towing.  I am looking strictly at the manual transmissions, so if you have an opinion, or would just like to spell out the strong point of each it would be much appreciated.  Thanks  

Kazairl:
Does you really think everybody's experience with a truck will be the same? That every PS or Dmax or Cummins will have the same problems?. buying a truck is a lot like playing in the lottery. You don't know how good of a choice you made until after you've bought the ticket. So while Joe over here might have owned a PS that was an absolute peice of junk that everything broke on (Engine AND truck mind you)while Jack might have had one that worked flawlessly. Same thing with the Dodges. Same thing with the Duramaxes. Same thing with any vehicle for that matter.
  So while you can make arguments based on your experiences, so can anybody else because everybody has different experiences.The only thing those arguements are based on is that fact that somehow your experiences and your judgement is better than the other guys.
Using the people that you work with or people in a general area doesn't count either. It is too small of a test group against how many thousands of each truck that is out there.    
  With that being said, my opinion is, buy for looks or buy for upgradeability or buy for whatever reasons you want to. But the fact remains that all Auto makers do some things exceptionally well. And all of them do things that make people scratch their heads and go "What were they thinking?". The fact of the matter is buy the brand that is closest to what you want and then upgrade it to meet exactly that. Thats why there is an aftermarket.

*** Currently in my family we have 2 Dodge diesels and 2 Ford diesels and all of them have been on the whole dependable. I've never owned a Dmax or any GM diesel for that matter so I my experience with them is very limited.

I am looking for some information between the Dodge and Ford and you seem to have an unbiased opinion so… Do you find either truck to be better suited for any particular application?  In looking at the fords I’ve noticed the front control arms are slightly bigger, different frame design, and looks to be larger front axel.  I think the weight on the fords is a fair bit higher also.  So which would you prefer to use daily for towing.  I am looking strictly at the manual transmissions, so if you have an opinion, or would just like to spell out the strong point of each it would be much appreciated.  

WorkHard.PlayHard:
I think each brand has its place.  That being said, I do a lot of interstate driving and began to notice all the transport trucks pulling new RV's (5th wheels/travel trailers) to various location via I-80.  So I started to tally each brand for a six month period.  What I discovered was Dodge accounted for just under 60% of all the tow vehicles, while Ford was 25% and Chevy was 15%.  This is by no means a scientific study, but what it tells me is if I want fuel ecocomy and reliablility I should buy a Dodge to pull my RV.  Just my 2 cents.

I will have to agree with you on the fact that more dodge trucks are on I-80.  I took my first trip out west this summer and I was shocked at how many dodge trucks there were.  Here in VA the ford supper duty out numbers the dodge and chevy by a long shot in the heavy duty truck market.  I am stuck in the middle as far as which is a better truck, I will say I wont even consider chevy because they don't offer a manual transmission.  The fords are heavier, maybe that make them handle loads better but drops the mpg.  

Well i wont give u my opinion cause its biased and i know it but that comes with driving "That brand" my whole life and only having 2 trucks and the only reason im not still on the first one is getting hit by a dd who was goin 120 down i-75 and proceed to flip twice before hitting the ground was a neat ride but i can still walk and had no long term injuries so must say something about the truck srry that one i experienced first hand as fact. But i would say Drive them all and i mean drive them and Buy the one u enjoy driving the most the one u feel the best when u get into the one ur proud of and would get on this forum and tell people how much better it is mainly the one that your confident in and cant wait till the next time you drive it. i personally cant wipe the stupid ass grin off my face everytime i blow past one of these new mustangs blowing black smoke all over there pretty little car.  

You are so right,I am also a survivor of a head on with a d.d.  

Way to go guys. Now just look at what you've done!!! You have upset the poor little dodge boys...I hope your happy...Cause I sure am!  

first of all all i have to say is every truck has its problems-look at the dealer shops-they always vehicles waiting to be fixed-i wont lie im a die hard cummins fan but thats no the point- my brother in law just bought a new dodge 6.7 and its awesome-when we were looking around we looked at all three brands-ford=over priced for what little u get  chevy and dodge both were great-ford come down to only 50,000 for a f-250 loaded-chevy came down to 43,000 and he got the dodge brand new for 41,000 out the door-as for performance, the ford was actually kinda disappointing-the chevy and the dodge both had great power-it was actually a very hard decission between those 2-and as for comfort-the base chevy was allot for comfortable then the base dodge-but when we went with loaded ones-dodge came out on top-as for checking to towing ability-ford wouldnt let us even hook anything to theres and chevy and dodge had no problem letting us tow something with-i dont know if they were scared or if it was there policy but ford would have nothing to do with it-but once again thats just my opinion.  

Well I'm sure my opinion isn't much difference than anyone else but this goes along with the 5th wheel towers. I used to work in a lube shop where we serviced 50 vehicles on a slow day. Average in the summer time was around 80-100 vehicles. Anyways to get to the point, there is a bunch of people who came thru that towed 5th wheels for a living with dodges,chevys, and fords. I would say that about 70 percent were dodges with cummins that did all the 5th wheel hauling and it was split between chevys and fords for the rest of the percentage. I once talked to a guy who towed 24000lbs of trailer weight with a 5.9liter common rail cummins 6spd manual transmission. I also know a guy who regularly tows 20k with his duramax allison combo, but in his last truck he pushed the axle seals out and blew up the rear end. No matter what your going to do somebody is going to have there idea of what is better. Cummins has the best reputation for motor by far compared to the other diesels. Dodges may have weak tranmissions, but fords automatics aren't that much better either I have seen both fail. My work truck which is a ford f550 has gone through 5 tranmsissions, usually have to get a new one every 30k miles. If your going to do tons and tons of towing everyday day in and day out I would say go with a manual cummins, second in my opinion would be the duramax allison and stay at stock power levels for reliability but if your going to up it i wouldn't do anything more than a tuner,intake, and exhaust. Hope that helps out a little bit.  

Oh yeah forgot to add this in. The only reason fords are the number one work truck for companies is because ford cuts them a great deal. Our gas work trucks cost 12k brand spankin new of course they are 2wd without air conditioning but last time i checked its pretty dang hard to find a truck under 12k let alone a brand new one. I think our 4wd diesel ford F550's are right at around 20k brand new so as the old saying goes money talks and *** walks. And for that price you can't afford to pass it up.