First and most important thing I will say is this, do not buy a Chevy! Regardless of how nice the interior is, putting a car suspension (IFS) under a truck is dumbest fucking thing you can do.

With that said, I'm a bit of Ram fanboy. I drive an 06 3/4 ton. Tow a travel trailer with it. From the sounds of it, it will really jjst be a towing rig right? Not a grocery getter? Than stick with diesel. You wont regret it. A 3/4 is probably sufficient for your needs. As it has been said, buy a 1 ton and have extra truck, nothing wrong wkth that if you can afford it. Keep in mind, if you're going to lift it or anything, lifting the 3/4 essentially makes it a 1 ton.

Here is my 3/4. Had airbags on it when I bought it in 2010, so that is a nice bonus for my towing.

I remember seeing your rig...

so far lots of helpful ideas... and too many choices... but at least I have a better idea of what I need to look at... thanks

from the guy nicknamed "Sissyboy"


sorry it had to be done.

I drive a 2010 Ram 1500 with the hemi, and have a '98 ram 2500 for hauling rocks/gravel/etc.

the old Rams are workhorses, and the new ones are workhorses with Posh interiors. go RAM.

I have a Titan and tow an 8k travel trailer with it. Don't feel the need for a diesel. Pulls the hills just fine with decent speed. In fact it's kind of neat to pass the diesel powered pickups with the same sized trailers when pulling the Siskiou Summit Grade out of Ashland, Or. 45 mph in third gear (first reduction gear in the transmission) and the truck just feels like it's loafing along. The diesels often are smoking like they were coal fired.

Get fairly good mileage with it while towing too. Up to 11.5 mpg through Oregon on I-5. Maybe not as great as a diesel but I didn't have to fork out an $8k to $10k "surcharge" for the diesel.

The back seat also has a lot more room in it than the Ford/Chev models.

Here's a quick rundown on a diesel.
Long diesel trucks absolutely suck when out " playing" runaround in the woods or to so called 4 wheeling.
If you can't afford to do the proper maintenance, or pay a dealership, get a gas rig.
Will your wife mind grabbing ahold of a stinky fuel nozzle to fill it up?
Can you behave and watch gauges and the foot?
While its fun to launch off the line with all that torque, drivetrain takes a beating doing so.
Are you able to warm it up on those cold mornings before sliding it in drive?
It is hard to equate a diesel to gas as far as repairing, but figue almost twice the cost.

Now, getting into epa crap. Newer diesels use urea, the emission systems are fucking expensive. While there is a Fed mandated warranty period, there are a few items that are not covered AND can cause expensive damage. I fight with the Chev/GMC emission work non stop, it's a daily punishment really. I would not own a Chevy/GMC powertrain(engine) if I was paid to do so, but, there are the quietest and smoothest diesel.

As stated before, I would avoid the Ford 6.4 with great abandon.

Now I'm not trying to steer you away from a diesel just some insight.
I will drive a diesel until I'm old. I tow alot, I use mine hard and having a racing background, drive at all throttle or all brake. But with that background I also watch gauges religiously.

In a perfect world, I'd have a Fummins, F350 with a Cummins.
Regardless what you read on line, the Ford 7.3 and 6.0 engines are out of the box outstanding mtrs, not without inherent issues but damn near a perfect mtr in relation to wallet and power, at least my wallet.
Cummins are a good mtr but, imo, lack somewhat and the sound isn't my piece of cake, add on my disdain for the plastic unit carrying that engine and weak trans, I've never been able to cross that threshold to buy one and the ride is something to get over and learn to love. Plus, it still comes down to what you like. They're all the same. They all have unique issues that's a pain in the wallet to mitigate.

Someone else mentioned Chev suspension, while they do ride smooth and can get the steer tires to follow better, maintenance and adjustment are constant.
Freeway towing with occasional offroad excursions are better suited for straight axle, whether sprung be leaf or spring.

I can't give much on Dodge as I avoid them due to personal preference. Toyota or Nissan stuff I just don't follow or work on.
All others, if you've got a question I'll give an honest answer without being overly biased towards Ford's.

And engines are the least of your worries. If you get a newer ride and something as simple as your turn signals fail due to a failed body control module, there's a quick $500...... And least not go into diagnostic times...
Warranties, you can buy them all day long, for any manufacturer. Factory warranty only last so long. Predominantly, you will see less work on a diesel as opposed to a gas mtr.

My company would destroy a gas mtr before it hit 80k miles. 300k on our diesels are the get rid of point.

If you get used, have someone that has a factory scan tool to check it out. I've got a Ford ids but my chev mdi is on the fritz.
I'm more than willing to have you bring it to my shop in fife and put up on the rack for you to inspect and look over. If it's a Ford I can throw it on the factory scan tool and do all sorts of things to it.

Now, with all that said find the vehicle you like without taking into account the engine, THEN do the math and practical use to direct which engine.

I used to be a Ford fan but since the 7.3 is gone I bought a Ram. My brother in law has an 06 Amarillo F350 and had problems and my buddy has a 2010 F350 that had the engine tank at 10k, 16k and 102k. Chevy was never really an option in my opinion so bought a 2011 Ram.

Bought a 1984 Toyota SR5 pick-up back in 1987 with 40,000 miles on it. Drove it until about 295,000 miles then upgraded to a newer vehicle. Loved it. Minimal maintenance. Only thing that ever went wrong with it was the radiator and a gasket on the exhaust. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

Bought a 2002 Ford F150 in 2002, 5.4 Triton V8. Still have it, and it has roughly 240,000 miles on it. I have towed boats and trailers with it well over 1,000 times. When we were building our house I don't think I had more than a day or two when the trailer wasn't hooked up. Truck needed a new transmission at 180,000, but other than that, straightforward oil changes and regular maintenance is all that has been done. I would buy another one if a new one wasn't $50,000.

+1

I have a 2004 Ford F-150 4x4 4.6 triton v-8.
It has been a great truck. I have 200,000 plus miles on it. Great truck. Plus, no government bailout. Get a Ford or a Toyota. My brother has a dodge 2500 v-8. He has had more problems with that damn truck, new Engine, new tranny. And so on. That dodge he has just might be a Lemon. Lol.

Do you need creature comforts or is it just a tow rig?

Daily driver or weekend warrior?

Reliability or ease of maintenance?

Lots of questions..

Older rigs are getting cheaper, which means you can get an early 90s F250 with the bulletproof 7.3l diesel for a couple grand.. Same goes for chevy products of the same year range...

The 7.3 is a better engine than the 6.2, but you can get chevy diesel rigs starting around a grand...

*double tap*

I own three diesels, a VW Jetta TDI (mileage), a Mercedes 300D (mostly sentimental, been in my family since new, plus I like that my wife is surrounded by a couple of tons of good German steel), and an F-250 with the 7.3 (towing).

My sailboat's around 5000lbs or so, probably a bit more with all the crap in it and the outboard on it. My F-250 tows it like it doesn't exist, even going over Mt. Hood I was able to easily hold 70mph (wasn't aware I was going that fast, it just happened, I'd owned the truck for like three days at the time). It'll tow nearly anything. I've added larger intake & exhaust, as well as a chip all in the interests of better mileage. Towing I get about 11mpg, not towing, and with summer fuel, I can squeeze out 18 if I'm very careful, more realistic is 15, and that's after spending $3k on mileage "improvements". However, when I spent that cash (and before I owned the Jetta), diesel was going for nearly $5/gallon, which is also the reason I bought the Jetta (43mpg). I doubt I ever amortized the investment in the intake/exhaust/chip.

Given what I know now, I wouldn't buy the Ford again. As noted several times earlier in this thread, they're expensive to fix if you don't do the work yourself, the interior sucks (compare a F-250 Laredo package to the interior of a regular Tundra, even with the leather & whatever, my Laredo can't compare, especially when it comes to fit & finish). If Toyota made a diesel truck I'd buy that one. Supposedly they're going to import one starting in 2010 (I think?), notice that it's now 2015 and they still don't have one available in the US (apparently they are in other places). I'm not a Nissan fan, but I could probably be talked into one. If I were to choose a different truck, it'd probably be a Ram with a Cummins, although a Nissan with a Cummins is very interesting and I'd want to know more.

Tundra diesel is coming next year as well as titan dis
esel... both with cummings engines

Thanks for all the input

One of the patrol rigs I use is a 2012 Ford F-250. Gas engine. I hate it. Loathe it. Disgust it. The truck has such a stiff suspension I feel like my kidneys are going to rupture, the turning radius blows, and the engine is one of the most gutless engines I've ever seen. The rest of the truck is ok in quality. Usually average 11mpg city. One of our new rigs is a F150 V8 gas and its great. It is so much better than the F250 on power and suspension, although we've never towed anything more than a small Munson landing craft with it. Usually average 12-13mpg city. If I had to buy a 250, I'd make sure it was a Diesel.

Personally I am a chevy fan but my personal truck is a small colorado. So I cant give any big truck advice.