Thinking about buying a new to me truck

animal-inside

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I have a 2006 duramax 3/4. I either need to dump some money into it or sell and buy another... It needs 2 front wheel hubs and the torque converter done. Other than that, the truck is getting pretty rusty... I won't put a new box or 1/4 pannels on it.. the cost just couldn't make sense. Truck has 300,000km's on the orignal injectors. So part of me is thinking why dump 2grand into it right now just to have to do the injectors in it within a couple years...

So I'm sort of shopping...

I don't buy new... And I don't buy anything that hasn't lost a lot of value through depcriaition. Hope I explain that well. For example, I bought a 2008 duramax back in 2012 for 25,000$.


My requirements for a truck are
- 1 ton single rear wheel preffered, but will do 3/4.
-crew cab
-long box
-not spending more than 25,000$.
-I'd rather a GMC....

From looking around on line, its difficult to get long box crew cab's... Seems that whats out there for long box crew cabs are dodge's.... Fucking hate dodge's... I got screwed over buying a brand new dodge truck once.. So I turned my back on them... But maybe its time to reconsider Dodge.

What's the 5.7 and 6.4 hemi's like?

I keep reading the 6.4L really gets bogged down towing over 7,000lbs.

My memory tells me the 5.7 had lots of lifter failures, which is an expensive repair. 6.4 hemi's have the same issues?

Is there years to avoid dodge trucks all together?

any input would be appriciated
 
Dodges are great, very easy to work on. Any 5.9 without some transmission work I would avoid.

the old second gens had a factory that wasn’t as good of block castings and the blocks cracked frequently around the webbing, these blocks were stamped 53 on the side and are known as a 53 block. I believe it was 98-02 but don’t quote me on that. you only have to keep it in mind when your shopping 2nd gen dodges anyways. 3rd gens didn’t have that problem. 53 blocks no bueno, 55 blocks are good.

I honestly prefer dodge over Chevy for diesel. Chevy wins for gassers though.
 
2017 Ram 1500 here, admittedly it's my first truck and while I do use it like a truck I don't haul or have any crazy needs with it. It's been great 3 years in and I have zero regrets for purchasing. 2018 was the redesign so there's likely some good deals to be had on 2015-2017 etc....good luck.
 
Just got a Tundra. Great truck.

Have a whole fleet of Toyota’s and one Ram. Guess which one has tons of recalls and problems.

Expensive up front but resale is great and yes repairs are expensive but hardly have to do any.
 
Dodges are great, very easy to work on. Any 5.9 without some transmission work I would avoid.

the old second gens had a factory that wasn’t as good of block castings and the blocks cracked frequently around the webbing, these blocks were stamped 53 on the side and are known as a 53 block. I believe it was 98-02 but don’t quote me on that. you only have to keep it in mind when your shopping 2nd gen dodges anyways. 3rd gens didn’t have that problem. 53 blocks no bueno, 55 blocks are good.

I honestly prefer dodge over Chevy for diesel. Chevy wins for gassers though.

I doubt I'll find a 5.9 diesel in any sort of decent shape lol...

The 5.7 and 6.4 I mentioned are both gas.. I agree, GMC makes a much better gas.. What do you think of the GMC 6.2 gas? See a couple of those for sale.
 
2017 Ram 1500 here, admittedly it's my first truck and while I do use it like a truck I don't haul or have any crazy needs with it. It's been great 3 years in and I have zero regrets for purchasing. 2018 was the redesign so there's likely some good deals to be had on 2015-2017 etc....good luck.

Ya, I know lots of ppl with the 1500's, but honestly they aren't a real truck aside from having a bed lol... I owned one before and they seriously are not built to be used as a real truck. That being said, the ppl who own them generally have good luck with them though because they don't use them like a real truck.

I'm not trying to offend anyone, but the 1500's wouldn't last with how I use them. The 2500 and 3500's are an entrieely different machine aside from the shared 5.7 hemi
 
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Just got a Tundra. Great truck.

Have a whole fleet of Toyota’s and one Ram. Guess which one has tons of recalls and problems.

Expensive up front but resale is great and yes repairs are expensive but hardly have to do any.


If toyota made a 3/4 ton, that would be my next purchase!! I wish toyota would get into the heavy duty truck market
 
I’ve bought countless trucks
Usually a new one every year. For gas jobs stay away from dodge
For diesel dodge would be my first choice

if you want a gas 3/4 or 1 T gas go for a 2015 Ford with the 6.2l engine
I’ve had one since 2015 been an amazing truck
I’ve had a few since then but always hung onto that ford
I would never sell it
 
I’ve bought countless trucks
Usually a new one every year. For gas jobs stay away from dodge
For diesel dodge would be my first choice

if you want a gas 3/4 or 1 T gas go for a 2015 Ford with the 6.2l engine
I’ve had one since 2015 been an amazing truck
I’ve had a few since then but always hung onto that ford
I would never sell it

I came across one, but it’s not a long box. Correct me if I’m wrong though, the standard size box on a ford crew cab is larger then the standard box of a GMC crew cab?
 
I came across one, but it’s not a long box. Correct me if I’m wrong though, the standard size box on a ford crew cab is larger then the standard box of a GMC crew cab?

I am not sure I think standard size is 6.5’
Long boxes are out there for sure
 
If the 6.4l is the same in the truck as what was in my car, you won’t have power issues.

The best truck I had was a Ford. Now o don’t use them hard, that’s why I have a Jeep Gladiator now.
 
If the 6.4l is the same in the truck as what was in my car, you won’t have power issues.

The best truck I had was a Ford. Now o don’t use them hard, that’s why I have a Jeep Gladiator now.


It is the same 6.4L as your car, but like I said lots of complaints when towing heavy stuff. Some ppl say the issue is in the tranmission program and its not shifting properly. For trucks that tow, torque is performance.. For cars, performance is more in horse power.. This is my underatanding...

My 6.6 duramax doesn't have a lot of horse power, but it literally has twice the torque of the 6.4L hemi..

When I hook up my truck to my big ass camper, without touching the gas the truck will pull it down the road idling..


I might end up calculating how much $$ it would be to get my truck up to speed... It seems the only option I might be happy with is another diesel and I don't want to plunk down the cash for a diesel right now.. I was hoping to be happy with a gas truck..

Another thing I was reading about the GMC/Ford/Dodge gas engines in the trucks in the fuel economy.. For the years I'm looking at, these gas trucks can't even come close to the gas mileage for my old diesel.. I see the newer gas trucks aren't too bad due to the new transmissions out there, but I am not looking at spending the money on a newer truck.
 
They’re literally all pieces of shit, just have to find the piece of shit you like and is worth flushing your money down the toilet for.

I prefer dodge because I am a cummins Diesel engine mechanic (hence the username) so it’s what I’m familiar with and efficient working on. If you talked to a ford technician he’d probably tell you dodges suck and ford is great, because he’s familiar with them and knows them well.

The exception is the ford 6.4 litre power stroke... worst Diesel engine ever made in the world. Anyone who tells you that’s a good truck has no clue lol.

Not a fan of foreign trucks at all. Maybe if I had like a 16 year old daughter I would get her a civic for a first car, but that’s pretty much the only way I’d ever consider getting a foreign automobile. Dodge/ford/Chevy for me for life. Leave the trucks to the Americans who actually need and use them, they know what it takes to make a truck and they don’t complicate things that can be simple. Tundras are kind of an exception, they are American made and have the 5.7 hemi. The whole window rolling down in the back is ultra cool too.
 
2018 Chevy LTZ/Z71 2500. 6.6 litre. Get one that didn’t go for the emissions recall. Black and Chrome. Excellent bang for buck.

Regards
SonOfOdin
 
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