Thinking of buying a Diesel Truck

[dmcummins]

I'm thinking of replacing my 2005 Chevy Avalanche with Diesel truck. The Avalanche has been a good vehicle, I bought it new and now have 130,000 miles on it. But I bought a 26' travel trailer and plan on going on some trips. I have only pulled the travel trailer about 100miles, and I can tell the truck, as it is now, is not going to be happy going up any grade. I can change the rear end from the 3.42 that is there now to a 4.10, but the truck still has alot of miles on it.

I'm thinking a 3/4 ton diesel may be the thing to have. So does anyone have any experience with the current crop from ford, chevy, or dodge? Anything to look for or stay away from?

[gprsh924]

I can't tell you about any type of reliability stats, but I can tell you that I drove an 08 F250 all during the fall towing around a 20' foot ski boat for my waterski team and it was an awesome tow vehicle. It never felt like I had a pound out behind me. The mirrors on the truck are amazing. Inside, it wasn't too noisy, fairly comfortable, and even had an iPod hookup. It handled well for a truck. We averaged something like 12-14mpg towing the boat and driving it without the boat on the highway to tournaments, but w/o the boat we would be cruising at 80mph. Overall, I loved the truck and would love to have one in the garage. It was a crew cab, and was absolutely massive inside. You had just as much rear-seat leg room as the front.

[widgeon13]

My son has a Chev Silverado Crew Cab 2500 Duramax and it's been very reliable. I have driven it both w/ and w/o trailer and it's pulls like a bulldozer. I'd get one myself just don't like the premium you have to pay for the diesel. Great acceleration but does ride like a 3/4 ton truck might be expected to ride.

[Dan J]

I have an 07 Chevy 2500HD with Duramax/Allison It has 75k on it most of that with a trailer. It has not had one thing break. I would buy another one today. The Duramax is much quieter then the other two and it also comes with the allison trans which is reason enough to buy it on it's own. It's a great truck

[Moses]

With a name like Cummins you don't really have much choice, do you?

[porsche4life]

Ya... All the trucks are pretty decent. But the Cummins is the superior motor. Or at least it was until the 6.7l. The old 5.9l runs forever. Dad has one with 203k on it now. Pulls harder than the day it was new. If I was buying right now it would have a rams head on it IMHO....

[regency]

I have had a few diesels, I loved my F250 power stroke, was a stone bulldog. However, if you're not pulling heavy trailers a-lot of the time, I question weather or not it is cost effective.

Now, here in California, there's a-lot more SMOG type restrictions, oil changes are twice the $, Mechanics are much more expensive & the fuel savings isn't really there anymore, at least out here. The last two work trucks I purchased have been F250's with the 5.4 gas engines. Gone are the super expensive diesel problems. My trailers are not real heavy so I don't need the diesels.

BTW, I have two Chevy 2500 trucks and they are, far and away the most "unreliable" trucks I've ever had........

Steve

[speeder]

Do a search. Lots of diesel PU truck threads here.

[cbush]

Think that Ford is coming out with a diesel powered F150 for 2011. That should be a great tow vehicle. As stated above, the F250s and F350s are awesome trucks.

[porsche4life]

I heard rumor of a Diesel in the Tundra... But they haven't showed up with one yet... That would be a great truck too...

[HardDrive]

Dad has an F-350 with over 100,000k. 99% of that time it has had a 2500lbs Lance camper on the back. Drives like it's new. Reasonably sure it could pull the moon from the sky given the right gearing.

Excellent truck.

[VINMAN]

Ram it!

[Joe Ricard]

I have a 2000 F250 with 7.3L Power stroke 237,000 miles. One hell of a truck. yep if you can hook a chain around it I can pull across the state.
Maintenance is not that big of a deal. (fuel filter 25.00) oil change with filter (4 gal of oil). is more but I can go 5000 miles between em. Fuel is a few cents more than regular and quite a bit less than premium unleaded. I make 21 MPG empty and 16 towing my race car @ 70 MPH. 4 door 8 ft bed ( this truck is 6800 pounds of whoop Azz). my 99 F150 could not hold a candle to this truck and in the end was more expensive to run.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My father-in-law has a 2000 F250 with the V10. Obviously I can't comment on the engine, but the rest of the truck has been dead reliable. He has around 180k on it and hasn't really done any maintenance (fluids, spark plugs, etc) and it just keeps going. Original everything, except I think he replaced the shocks at 100k. Except for a few of the power locks everything still works. It's reasonably comfortable to ride in, and HUGE inside. For years they took it on trips because of the spacious interior. Damn shame he didn't get the diesel, the V10 gets 10 MPG on a good day.

[Dwhite]

I have a 2000 7.3 F-250 with 220,000 miles on it and the only maintenance I have had to do is change the water pump. I do all of the routine maintenance myself and it is not that much more expensive than my wifes SUV.

For a company truck I drive a 2009 Dodge with a 6.7. It has alot of good features like a automatic transmission with gears that can be lock in manually and a factory exhaust brake. But with only 26,000 on it the computer went out and took a week to fix.

[schamp]

I am just wondering whats in the 26 foot trailer. Your existing truck should pull it ok. What you don't want is an old chevy with a 6.5 L diesel in it. Lots of problems with that engine. With that said, if it was me I would look for a dodge ram with a manual tranny. I think some of the dodge automatics has some problems. Not sure what year or years.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by speeder

Do a search. Lots of diesel PU truck threads here.

+1

I've owned all three. They all have their plusses.
Buy a 2007-or-older non-regen diesel and you'll be happier

[white85carrera]

Had a F250 and now a 06 GMC 2500HD crewcab with a 6.6L.....best truck I have ever had. Smooth, quiet and will pull a house off the foundation. IMHO the Ford was too rough/loud for the family but better looking. The dodge may be a decent ride but I could not bring myself to own a Chrsyler product, at the track I see Fords and GM trucks as tow vehicles....

[dmcummins]

Originally Posted by schamp

I am just wondering whats in the 26 foot trailer. Your existing truck should pull it ok. What you don't want is an old chevy with a 6.5 L diesel in it. Lots of problems with that engine. With that said, if it was me I would look for a dodge ram with a manual tranny. I think some of the dodge automatics has some problems. Not sure what year or years.

It will pull it OK, but you can definatly feel it back there. I am afraid it would be a strain going up a steep grade. I'm just thinking that with 130,000 miles on it that it might be nice to buy something new, or at least with fewer miles. I have only had one problem with the Avalanche, the trans went out at 75,000 miles, so I'm a little concerned about going on a long trip pulling a trailer.

The trailer probably weighs around 5000-6000 lbs, I havn't had a chance to run it over a scale yet. Its a 1964 streamline, kind of like a airstream. I'll get it weighed in the spring when it's ready to go. Hopefully it wont weigh more than that.

I'm not in a hurry, but want to do a little research before I buy my next truck. I'll probably go on some short trips this spring first, I'll add a transmission cooler but wait on a gear change.

[dmcummins]

Originally Posted by kaisen

+1

I've owned all three. They all have their plusses.
Buy a 2007-or-older non-regen diesel and you'll be happier

Is non-regen have to do with new emission requirements? Are all the 2007 truck's non-regen or what do I need to look for to check.