Thanx guys i found a 2000 F-250 extended cab with 99,000miles for $13,000, a 2004 F-250 crew cab with 120,000miles for $15,000, and a 2003 Dodge 2500 quad cab with 88,000miles for $18,000.  I test drove all of them and my favorite was the 03 Cummins.  That thing was a beast.  It felt faster and stronger stock than my 99 does with an intake and exhaust.  However the cummins was also the most expensive.  I might be able to swing it, but id probly hafta pick up a few more hours at work.  The 00 F-250 felt pretty strong once it got above 40mph or so but from a stop I wasnt very impressd with it.  The 04 F-250 felt stronger than the 00, but it still wasnt up to the level of the cummins.  I dont know if the 04 F-250 would be a very smart choice anyway, considering how many people I hear about having problems with the 6.0.  The 04 F-250 had by far the biggest cab cuz it was a crew cab but it also had the most miles on it.  I might wait a little while longer and see if I can talk them down a couple grand on the cummins.  If I can talk them down to $15 or $16,000 Il definitly get the cummins  

Does anybody elses girlfriend freak out if you even mention the word motorcycle?  

IM also still lookin at this 98 12 valve cummins a friend of my dads has.  It would be nice only payin 7,500 for a new truck but its pretty rough on the inside an the transmission feels like its going out.  Does anybody know how much it would cost to swap out the automatic and put in a 6-speed manual?  

personally im a fan of the 7.3 powerstroke and the 5.9 cummins. if i were you id go for that 03 dodge, granted the price is the highest im sure ya can talk them down.  

Here's the low down my best friend's a drywall contractor he runs all Chevys has had really good luck with em. Most of his company trucks have 200,000 miles plus. Granted these aren’t the born and bred heavy puller dodges there a combo something you work all week then when the weekend comes around you can take the boat out with the whole family. You can’t pull 80K pounds all day but as far as simple stuff 10K and the odd heavy load around 15K its great. This would be my first choice along with a majority of the contractors here. If Duramax is definitely out of the question the next best thing would be a 7.3 mine still runs like a champ not too much power but it’s a great work truck. I've ridden around in my cousins ram quad cab and has about the same room my 88 super cab does lol. Sure the engines better but at the end of the day it's cramped and if you get one with the auto might as well just tack on a few extra thousand when it goes bad. Again I'm tryin to be as unbiased as best I can. If you work in a hot dry place AZ for example where I am today it's around 100 and prolly crest 105 in the afternoon I'd prolly go for the Ford or Chevy. Dodges don’t last long out here but if you have to have that Cummins brand name just be sure there not sellin you a piece of junk. My cousin's a prime example just sold a Cummins not to long ago that really should of gone to the scrap yard but the guy paid lots cause it was a Cummins. So be careful there bettin on that name to smooth over any faults the truck might have. Don’t get fooled so basically get the Ford if you want a good all rounder if comforts not a big deal I'm sure that dodge will serve you well.  

Thanx for the input cowboyjack.  The reason I dont want to go with the duramax is that Im not a big fan of the body styles of the gm trucks.  Iv heard pretty good things about the duramax itself but I dont want to drive around in a truck that I dont like the way it looks.  Plus duramaxes seem to sell for alot higher than powerstrokes or cummins, so it puts them out of my price range.  I really liked the 7.3 I test drove on the inside and the power was decent, but it wasnt as fast as my 99 cummins.  I didnt get to tow anything with the 7.3 though so I dont know if it feels better pullin or not.  Like I said before I definitly dont want to hot rod whatever I get.  Probly just the basic mods like an intake, exhaust, an a programmer.  If I got the 7.3 would I have to beef up the transmission with those mods?  Keep in mind that this will be my daily driver an I cant afford to not have it for a few days while my transmission is being fixed.  Im not going to go too crazy with the programmer, probly a hypertech max energy cuz Iv heard good things about them with powerstrokes.  Thanx for the help guys.  Id be lost tryin to figure out all this stuff by myself  

id do a shift kit and maybe a new tc for it just cause if you aint gonna go crazy. my truck yeah i started with the small things and did a shift kit added more power and blew that tranny so i bought a performance one.  

Umm, why not get another Dodge?  You have over 320,000 miles, and you would go with something different?  That doesn't make sense.  EVERYBODY that has a diesel in my family has a Dodge.  The FORD with the 6.0 is CRAP!  The lawsuits between FORD and Navistar prove that.  The 7.3 was good, but not a Cummins.  The GM/Isuzu Duramax is a piece of *** I've known too many that have blown.  Same for the Allison trans (I know I'll catch flak for that one).  There are seven Dodge's with the Cummins in my immediate family.  They don't know what a repair shop is.  My '91 had over 400,000 miles on it when it was totaled.  I replaced an alternator and a  belt tensioner.  Thats it.  But I also only buy manual transmissions.  My brother's '97 had 230,000 miles on it before he rebuilt the auto in it.  And the Cummins was hotted up to.  Sorry to everybody else, but most ranchers run a Dodge with a Cummins or a FORD with a 7.3 for a reason.  RELIABILITY!!!  

Hey, I don't know if this will help any. I personally dont own either vehicles you're considering, but I CAN speak up on one of our company trucks. It's a "plain jane" stock 2000, 3/4t dodge, 2wd and a 4spd auto trans. It's been in service since aug. of '00. It's got about 197xxx "fleet" miles (fleet miles would be similar to "rental car" miles)on it and had no major work except for 6 fuel pumps (about $1850 each + labor if you dont do it). It gets about 17 mpg (unloaded, no cargo) and about the same loaded with semi tires and rims on interstate @ 75-80 mph. It pulls 17' flat beds loaded with scrap metal just fine with no real loss of milage. As a mechanic, I talk to "hot shot" drivers and most of them reccomend the cummins if power is your biggest priority and milage second, the 7.3 if milage is you're concern, and duramax if you want milage only and if you want to replace injectors (roughly a 10hr job). The cummins seems to be the pick of the people i've spoken with when the ford dropped the 7.3. Prior to that, it was an even toss up, but most claimed the cummins got better milage under a load than the ford. The only thing I've heard and seen for myself about the duramax, is nothing about it is cheap and it's not very good on power (isuzu 12' dually box trucks, auto and 6spd).
My personal pick would be the dodge (i WOULD buy the ford for the right price tho). The dodge (if 4x4) will have wheel bearing issues if you go with bigger tires, you already know about their auto trannies (i'd reccomend the 6spd man as a mechanic) but they are all hit and miss (our shop truck has never had probs w/ the auto trans in it). The fords that i've personally seen, have probs with the transfer cases holding up and the u-joints/ driveshafts, the trannies i've seen, hold up equally well to the dodge's (maybe that just says something about the drivers), but I've been very impressed with the capabilities of the ford 7.3. Take your pick, one may be better suited for YOU than the other, like comfort over power, power over milage, longetivity over price, etc...  

I am a obvious dodge cummins fan but i also have a 97 ford psd in the family with the 7.3 i really like that truck as well. with a few mods intake exhaust and chip it runs like a raped ape and returns decent fuel mileage dependant on weight of right foot at the time but both are good cummins has stronger parts and less moving parts = reliability.but only had to replace a cam sensor in the ford but it only has 64k on it.  

Was the 2003 Dodge you drove a S.O or an H.O.? Reason I'm asking is only the H.O. engines were available with the stronger 48RE auto trans (or the 6-spd manual). The S.O. engines were only available with the weaker 47RE or 5-spd manual. Just look at the sticker on the driver's side of the valve cover. If the HP rating is 305hp, it's an H.O.

My 2003 has been a damn good truck, but not perfect. It has an appetite for u-joints, at least it did until I replaced them ALL with Federal-Mogual Premium GREASE-ABEL joints. You can't grease the factory style ones and the Dodge Garage wants $100.00 a piece for the ones in the rear drive shaft.

Been told they like ball joints also, but mine are still tight after 82,000 miles (knock on wood).

Both the Dodges and Fords can have an issue with the front hub assemblies as they both use "unit-bearing" style hubs. They are a neat, tidy little package that makes things great for the guys putting them together on the assembly line, but they aren't as strong as the "old style" hubs on trucks of yesterday, especially when larger-than-stock tires are ran, and they can't be serviced or rebuilt. I haven't had any issues with mine yet, but I had one go out on my old '95 Dodge and when they go, they go right NOW, and they can be expensive to replace.

There are a few companies, DynaTrac is the best known, that make hub conversion kits for both the Dodge and Ford trucks. The kits eliminate the unit-bearing hub and convert it into the standard spindle/hub assembly found on old school Dana 60 front ends, all the way down to manual lock-out hubs! If my hubs ever fail, there'll be a DynaTrac kit going on in there place.

Keep in mind, no matter which truck you pick, take it easy on power mods as the stock automatic transmissions in either won't be happy with you if you give 'em too much. MOST people agree you can go 60hp or so over stock and still use them like a truck, including towing at their max GVWR, but much more than that and ANY automatic trans can start to get cranky, even the storied Allison.  

I think the 03 cummins was a H.O., but Im not sure.  And yea I had to replace both my front u-joints a little while ago, but I havnt had a problem with my ball joints or my front hubs yet.  I went to the bank earlier today to see what my payments would be if I got a loan for the 03 and the payments they said were ridiculous.  I dont remember exactly what they were but ther was no way I can afford it.  I think it was like 750 a month or something like that.  It might be because Im not old enough to have a strong credit history, but as of today that 03 is out of the picture.  They said my insurance would go up too if I bought a newer truck, and Im already payin enough insurance for me an my girlfriend.  She drives a 05 Jetta (What teenage girl doesnt?) and shes not a very good driver.  So now Im back to lookin at that 98 cummins and 00 7.3.  I was just talkin with the guy who owns the 98 this afternoon and that now he only wants 7,000 for it.  I think Im guna take that deal and put all that money I save over buyin the 7.3 and get some performance parts for it, a lift, tires, all that good stuff.