Off subject request for assistance

Hi All, this subject doesn't fit here except I have quite a bit of faith in my fellow forum members. So here it goes.

I'm trying to figure out the better of the big three for a one-ton 4-wd crew cab diesel chassis cab. I'm generally a GM guy with three of them setting outside. Here is my current order of preference for what I'm considering.

1. Dodge Ram
2. Chevy/GMC
3. Ford

My BIG hang up with Ford is that the cab must be removed to perform any major engine maintenance.

It's hard to find a GM one ton chassis cab in my surrounding area of west central Arkansas. I've also read of high dollar injector issues with the GM.

Dodge, well I've always heard that the Cummins is hard to beat. Can find Dodge chassis cabs in my area. Is that a sign?

Okay, I realize this is one of the preference subjects that may have their heart set on. Let'r rip!

God Bless!

Philip

We have the new fords and dodges at work 2014 models they both are good trucks but I think the dodges are better. And I have been a ford or gmc guy all my life. They all are crew cab 1 tons with flat beds and they get used and abused seems like the fords are in the shop a lot more we have 7 fords and 7 dodges and a few freightliners and Peterbilts .

I don't remember the website now, but there was recently a test of all three. They gave Ford the nod, but all three were very, very close and they didn't think you could go wrong with any of them.

Fred

pepr said:

It's hard to find a GM one ton chassis cab in my surrounding area of west central Arkansas.

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That's because they're all up here with me!

Up here in PA, we have this natural gas explosion (of drilling and pipeline companies... not actual explosions). There's literally thousands of 3/4 and 1-ton crew-cab trucks up here from your general area (OK, TX, AR, LA & MS). These things can be spotted everywhere, from crawling through the fields for the pipelines to flying down the interstates.

What I see in those trucks:
Ford and GM seem split pretty close to even and I'd say they're 95% of the trucks. A Dodge/Ram... I can't even think of the last time I saw one. So, that's what we've been seeing up here for commercial fleet trucks.

I mentally just went through the neighborhood and my list of friends. Every one of them has at least 1 truck. 2/3's are Chevy, 1/3 are Ford and there's zero Dodge/Ram. With the exception of the lack of seat comfort in the Fords, everyone seems happy with their truck. The older GM's have brake & cooling line rusting issues, the older Fords just have straight out rust issues.

My friend had a fuel leak on his ford diesel.......like you say.....pull the cab. I think it was around $1k just to pull the cab to repair a simple leak. He sold the truck soon after that.

Dodge!
fords are ok and ill never own another POS GM in my life.

I started out looking for a dodge. Ended up with a steal on a 6.0 ford. Yep the scary 6.0. Crazy thing never ever did anything on that truck. Bought it with 230 sold it with 300k. When it came time to replace it I bought the new Ford with the new diesel. Wow quiet and tons of power .

I use it for hauling a 7 ton dump trailer. It is night and day better then the 6.0.

As for cab off for service. Yep the cab comes off but the newer ones they designed it for that. Apparently much smoother then the 99-07 trucks.

The 11-14 6.7L have a turbo problem. There are many upgrades including one ford is working on. The 2015 trucks will have a different turbo.
http://http://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/p-9925-factory-ford-new-garrett-replacement-turbo-2011-2014-67l-ford-powerstroke.aspx

maddog said:

The 11-14 6.7L have a turbo problem. There are many upgrades including one ford is working on. The 2015 trucks will have a different turbo.
http://http://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/p-9925-factory-ford-new-garrett-replacement-turbo-2011-2014-67l-ford-powerstroke.aspx

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I wouldn't steer away from one because of the turbo. I have an 11 which is the model year most prone to issues. Turbo was updated in 12my trucks. When I had my 6.0 power stroke the web was full of horror stories about them. That said I know 5 friends that had them and all of use never had any issues. One day I came across some interesting numbers that showed sales of heavy duty trucks. Ford outsold chev and dodge 3 to 1. Therefore more fords on the road leads to an appearance of more problems with fords. A lot of the issues come from trucks in the work place. Not trucks that you and I drive. Why because we don't idle them all day long at a job site never changing the oils filters etc. honestly my 6.0 was an eye opener. 300k original injectors pumps etc. guy I bought it off had 27 in his fleet. Mine was his personal truck. He preached oil changes in the early fords and obviously was on to something. Every brand has it's issues. Let's not kid ourselves. As for the turbos I wouldn't sweat it. 100000 mile warranty on the engine

If I could toss a little sidebar into this thread, I'm thinking about a 1997 Ford F250 with the 7.3 Powerstroke. It's a low-miles truck but wondering if there's any engine issues I need to worry about related to time (since it's 17 years old).

I had a 1990 7.3 one ton dually. Served me well, it was about that old when I sold it. Blackstone oil analysis showed antifreeze getting into the engine oil. Not good. That's why I sold when I did before it got expensive.