I'm getting tired of my '13 F150 w/ Roushcharged 6.2L. Nothing too bad, but I've had it 27 months now which is long for me. It needs shocks and the squeaking leaf springs are driving me crazy. Almost time for new tires as well.

I tried a 1/2 ton after driving diesel pickups for 10 years. I like that the 1/2 ton is easy to park and I don't have to wash my hands after filling up with fuel. I prefer the diesel for towing and highway driving though which is 95% of my driving if going further than 5 miles.

Right now, I'm planning on buying a Ram 2500, Megacab, 4x4, diesel, auto. Will probably upgrade to Carli or Lorenz suspension system shortly after buying. I've driven mostly GMC and Ford diesels. I don't care for the new GM body style, and I think the Ram looks better than the Ford.

Tell me why this is a bad idea.

Any negative experience with the current Ram 2500? They actually dropped the Dodge name a while back and made Ram its own brand. Not that it makes much difference. I currently have 5 Ram 2500s in the field but all have the 6.4L Hemi. So far, so good, but they're all less than a year old and under 40,000 miles.

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but I've had it 27 months now which is long for me

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1ags, I've found your twin...

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but I've had it 27 months now which is long for me

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1ags, I've found your twin...

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27 months? Thats like 10 cars.

OP, TV has a DOdge store.

Lets talk about that 6.2L...

Buying a 3/4 ton diesel pickup truck to use as a commuter car makes total sense. Something something cummins mopar best ever fall apart around engine sh\tty transmission miles per gallon

TV is great, but a long way from home. Service sucks out here in the Permian Basin, so I started buying from the Dodge dealer in Clyde (~2 hours from home). They deliver new trucks for free and pick up my trade-ins. They claim they will pick up any of our trucks for service and bring me a loaner for $1 per mile one way. I haven't had to test that service yet, but the local Ford, GM, and Dodge dealers are always a week or two behind and no loaners. They also suck in general at fixing stuff.

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At Least They'll Buy It Back!

Hopefully you don't die a fiery death first though!

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Buying a 3/4 ton diesel pickup truck to use as a commuter car makes total sense. Something something cummins mopar best ever fall apart around engine sh\tty transmission miles per gallon

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I didn't think it was pertinent to this conversation, but I plan to buy a "sports sedan" as a DD. The new S63 is what I really want, but it is more than I want to spend. Trying to wait until the new CTS-V comes out before deciding between the Caddy or a Kraut car. Thinking maybe there will be some affordable, used S63s by then as well. Looking like I'm going to have to order a Ram so I'll have my F150 another 6-8 weeks anyway.

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More important question...

What do you do and is your company hiring?

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Oil and gas. Not right now, but planning to increase drilling in September if you have Hz drilling experience.

How much you looking to get for that beat up old F150 and how many miles? 4x4?

If you are doing O&G work, you DONT want the new powerstroke. Both of ours have been awful. Its not just our branch either. It is company wide. Our company is no longer buying them.

I have some friends that have been using Dodge trucks (gas and diesel) on their farms and haven't experienced the quality issues that everyone who hasn't owned one seems to have. It's not 1998 anymore. Fast forward 17 years and the trucks hold together much better.

I would buy another duramax if I were in your shoes but thats only because I'm familiar with ih and mine has treated me well. I wouldn't rule out a Dodge though.

Let us know next year when the Ram's dash cracks.

I love my 14 dodge 2500 cummins. Have put only 15k miles in its first year but it has been wonderful. As soon as the tires are worn out I will put a little lift and bigger tires on it/

What issues have you experienced with your powerstrokes?

All the current power stroke drivers I know are pretty happy. Would be interested to hear as well.

I have the very truck you're looking for in a 13 longhorn. Had an 07 with the 6.7l before this one. Best trucks I've ever owned, although I've never owned a gm diesel. Before the switch to Dodge, I had 99, 00, 02, 03 and 04 ford diesels. The 07 needed 2 ujoints, ac compressor and carrier bearing replaced in 220,000 miles. I have 36k on the 13 without a single issue. FWIW

1st power stroke blew the motor at 30k miles. It blew the turbo 3k miles later.

Second power stroke blew the turbo at 85k miles.

Both trucks have been an endless pit for EGT sensors which are constantly on back order. These are DOT regulated trucks so we can't run with the check engine light on. We bought a code scanner just to shut it off so we can keep running. The piss poor EGT sensors will cause the truck to randomly shut it self off. Really fun having employees stranded on the side of the road out in b.f.e and work not getting done.

Both trucks needed ball joints by 75k miles. I'm talking death wobble here.

Both trucks are now on their second set of lockout hubs. Both of them needing replaced by 85k miles.

One of them needed front bearings at 95k miles.

One of them broke all but 2 the lug bolts off the dual. Luckily the guy running it noticed it when he was stopped.

The plastic tube they use in the charge air system between the motor and turbo is crap and will blow out at random times. Luckily the dealer keeps a shelf of those things stocked. Seems to be common but still adds to downtime.

We have averaged a trip to the shop every other week this year.

Oh and 9.1 mpg on a good day.

This is just the stuff that comes to mind off the top of my head. There is another company we deal with that has had a similar experience with their 6.7L power stroke, right down to blowing the motor.

The one that I was in today couldn't hold 70 mph up a hill with only 2500 lbs on it. It would downshift 2 gears and heat the motor up.


The more I talk about them, the more they sound like how you guys describe a dodge.


Has anyone had any first hand experience in the current generation dodge?

I haven't seen a cracked dash in one since they changed body styles in 02. Dad ran them on the farm for years and apart from that stinking dash, they were tough trucks. 500k on the first, and that much on the next and current one combined.

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I haven't seen a cracked dash in one since they changed body styles in 02

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They don't. It's not a later model GM.

I put a motor in my 6.7 at 107k so I cant really defend it. It was a great truck for those first 107k, then it dropped a valve. New motor, turbo deletes now. Theses thread tend to turn to pissing matches, I think it is difficult to compare your avg joe buying and driving his own truck vs a fleet being driving by employees that do not typically give a ****.

I would be talking to my employees if they are all averaging 9mpg. I was 14 before deletes, 17 now and driving it rather hard. 35s and a couple hundred pounds in the bed.

Dodge makes a better truck now. Just go drive it and see if you like it. Doesn't really matter though if you only keep them for 2 years. Cant imagine that.

I don't mean to bash Ford, just relaying some first hand experience with the powerstroke under daily working conditions. It has brought us and our area branches closer together as we help the neighboring branches out when one of their trucks go down. The powerstrokes replaced a fleet of dodges with Cummins motors. We had good luck with them.

On the flip side, we have had pretty good luck with the Ford gas engines. 5 boosts and 9 or so 5.0L trucks and no major problems.

They are getting a great deal on Fords so that is what they are buying now. Previously we ran a mix of the big 3. They all were decent trucks. (Gas engines)

I honestly don't think you can go wrong with any of the current domestic gas trucks as well as the Toyotas. I don't know anyone with the Nissan. Just buy whatever appeals to you and enjoy it.

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I haven't seen a cracked dash in one since they changed body styles in 02

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They don't. It's not a later model GM.

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The 07-14 GMs seem to develop that. It isn't as widespread as the Dodge thing was but still is irritating when it happens.

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If you are doing O&G work, you DONT want the new powerstroke. Both of ours have been awful. Its not just our branch either. It is company wide. Our company is no longer buying them.

I have some friends that have been using Dodge trucks (gas and diesel) on their farms and haven't experienced the quality issues that everyone who hasn't owned one seems to have. It's not 1998 anymore. Fast forward 17 years and the trucks hold together much better.

I would buy another duramax if I were in your shoes but thats only because I'm familiar with ih and mine has treated me well. I wouldn't rule out a Dodge though.

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My company has 2 2014 Powerstrokes. One is an F250 that a production foreman drives. It eats brakes because he carries enough fittings in his bed to build a tank battery and prefers the jab braking method for normal driving, but otherwise has been great at ~80,000 miles. The other is an F550 with a gin pole roustabout bed. The only problem with it has been replacing everything from the axle flange out on the left front after the roustabout crew hit a curb. I think it only has ~40,000 miles on it though.

We run our company trucks to 140,000 miles if they've been reliable. The biggest maintenance problems we've had were 2010 Powerstrokes and 2011 Duramaxes. We had great luck with 2007 and 2008 Duramaxes and 2011+ Powerstrokes.

My truck mostly sits in a parking garage and goes out on fracs 2-4 times a month, so they don't accumulate the miles or wear and tear of the field trucks.

The only thing I'll mention is that FCA has been terrible when it comes to following through on their recall fixes. I have had 2 recalls on my 2013 Wrangler. Both have been minor issues in my opinion. But, their recall process is terrible.

Both fixes have taken 6+ months because "they aren't getting parts from corporate". That's frigging ridiculous. What peaved me even more was that I called multiple stealerships and asked that I be notified when the parts were available. Not one of them ever called me back. I had to find out they were stocked up after I called again.

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I haven't seen a cracked dash in one since they changed body styles in 02

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They don't. It's not a later model GM.

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The 07-14 GMs seem to develop that. It isn't as widespread as the Dodge thing was but still is irritating when it happens.

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My '03 Dodge 1500 dash cracked after 10 years of being parked in the sun.

My '09 Sierra 2500 dash was already cracked when I bought it last fall.

Dodge is trying to kill off Americans apparently. Here's 500,000 reasons why not to get one.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/autos-latest-news/20150726-fiat-chrysler-to-buy-back-500000-ram-pickups-as-part-of-recall-deal.ece

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Dodge is trying to kill off Americans apparently. Here's 500,000 reasons why not to get one.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/autos-latest-news/20150726-fiat-chrysler-to-buy-back-500000-ram-pickups-as-part-of-recall-deal.ece

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Meh Pre-fiat right???

Build wise yes. But they are getting punished for how they handled it under fiat's reign.

TxAg20,

I've had my eye on the new '14 and '15 rams, though my infrequent trailer towing has my practical side questioning the diesel.

Would you mind sharing your observations on your new 6.4 trucks? How does their fuel consumption compare to the diesels they replaced? Do you run premium octane? Why did you switch from diesel?

Thanks

Fuel mileage is around 5 to 6 mpg worse than the trucks they replaced. We didn't switch to gas. The powerstrokes are used for deliveries and some field work. We have other personnel in the half ton trucks.