Best drivetrain of the big 3?
- Thread starter p nut
- Start date
Bikemobile
Adventurer
All the dodge and jeep dealers around here are pitiful. One of the Big reasons I sold my beloved Jeep Grand Cherokee was the impending doom of half baked recalls that needed to be applied.
Buliwyf
Viking with a Hammer
Ford and GM are only a few years behind Dodge. But they're trying their hardest to catch up for the worst techs. Dodge doesn't pay, which is a shame, they're easy to work on.
Ford pays great for T&M work, but pays very low for warranty work. Working under a Ford truck is a dream cake job, but working under the hood, heck you minus well be working for Audi. Any experienced Ford tech can walk right into a Hyundai, Range Rover, Audi, or even a Merc dealer now. Buh-by. Fords are the simplest under the truck, but by far the most complex under the hood of the big 3.
Have to be real flexible to work for GM, nothing you can actually reach ever fails on those. Except the starters, I wish Ford used GM style starters. The problem is that Mr. Pablo Sanchez likes to leave his rusty lunchbox utensils in your AC vents. Want to see a new $60,000 Duramax customer freak out, walk right past him with his dashboard and a pile of interior stuff in your arms. Took me a while to explain that one. And the look on his face when he looked inside the cab was priceless. Lucky for me, Pablo's utensils had Spanish written on them, absolving the GMC techs from blame, and making it easy to point the finger at the factory.
There is one dealer in my parents area that owns Ford, GMC, Caddy, BMW, Lexus, etc. etc. They seemed to be OK, because they can import techs from their other branches when the going got tough. Wasn't unusual to see a BMW tech helping pull the cab off a Ford 6.0 or Duramax.
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p nut
butter
Good to see you posting again. After looking at a few, I'm leaning GM. Crew cab, 5.3L, 4x4. Although I could be talked into the V6. I don't tow much, but going up some of the canyons here with a 4k lb trailer would be better with a V8, I think--although the V6 is no slouch, either. I like the looks of F150 and Ram better, but well...probably better suited for my mug.
Clutch
<---Pass
Thanks man...moving and all, it has been a crazy!!! past year...finally feeling settled.
Those 5.3's are great engines...if it were me...I would do the V8 over the V6, yeah you don't always need it, but it is there for when you do. The mileage gains of the V6 is marginal at best.
For me it is a tie between the F150 and the Silverado, don't think you could go wrong with either...then a gasser Ram....out of all the 1/2 tons, I put the Tundra last...and that is coming from a long time "Toyota guy"....it isn't a horrible truck, but if I was going to buy a truck that gets 13-14 mpg. It is going to be 3/4 or 1 ton, an F250 6.2 gas will get 14ish mpg empty.
Any of them will have their quirks...it is about about which fits you the best.
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OverlandRockwell
Observer
GM's LS engine series has been around for a while and has A LOT of aftermarket support, and shares the same bell housing pattern with the even older regular SBC. Solid, simple engine.
Bikemobile
Adventurer
I just picked up a 2007 Silverado creampuff. Well taken care of and cheap. It has been awhile since I drove a newer 5.3 GM. Smooth as silk around town. 94k miles and it feels like day one.
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