Which truck? Toyota, Dodge, Other?

[alienman]

Hey all. I currently have a 1990 dodge d250 cummins that I use to haul my equipment around with but with the recent addition to my family I need something bigger than a regular cab truck.

I want to hear some opinions on trucks from you all. I will be leasing something through the business so it will be brand new whatever it is.

I currently haul an 18 foot car hauler trailer with my excavator on it. Ballpark I figure the trailer weighs in at 2000 pounds and I know the excavator is 3500 pounds. During the spring/summer/fall that trailer and excavator is hooked to the truck most of the time.

My options that I have looked at so far are an 07 tundra double cab 4x4 TRD offroad, 07 Ram 1500 hemi, and the 07 Ram 2500 SLT hemi or diesel. The 1500 is the cheapest however the tow ratings seem like they could be low if I upgrade to a larger trailer or equipment in the next few years. The Tundra and 2500 Hemi are similar in towing and price, and the diesel is about an extra $6000.

What do you all think? I have drove both the Tundra and Hemi and that Toyota is nice, but I kinda want some input from people that have drove/rode/heard from a friend, what these trucks are like in real world situations.

Thank you all in advance.

[85regal]

have a look at the nissan titan

[illeagle]

I really like the new Silverado.. I drove one for a month, Duramax FTW. i liked it alot better than the dodge, The Titan was ok.. that's all i can say about that truck. The Tundra i have yet to drive.

[drtoohotty1]

+1 for the Titan:thumbsup:

[kaput]

.

[street]

i like the dodge mega cab:thumbsup:

[b_t]

The Titan is one of the most unreliable vehicles on the road, absolutely do NOT get a Titan. It has bombed every long term test it has ever been in.

Toyota on the other hand is always tops for reliability, has the most power in a gas truck right now, the most space, the best resale value, and the best stereo. They look kind of funny. But I would go with the Tundra hands down.

[Nav13]

My boss just bought a 07 tundra. and i must say its one of the nicest trucks ive been in. The interior doesnt look cheap like the silverado and the ram. nice looking truck with lots of power. that would be my pick hands down.

[The Cosworth]

Toyota if you want a gas, I am currently looking at a tacoma for a truck, but a tundra would be a good mix for you

I like the chevy/GM diesels but you pay $11,000 for the duramax/allison combo, I like the cummings engine but the interiors are crap (exact copy of my work dakota, and my dakota is a POS) and the exteriors are some of the oldest designs in trucks now

[Fastfuzz]

If you are towing a diesel is you best bet as the fuel economy goes way down in a gas truck as well as resale on a diesel is much better especially if you put on a lot of kilometers. I have driven and towed with both a tundra and a duramax and i must say the tundra gets killed...got basically half the fuel millage in the tundra and not near as much power...as well as the tranny in the toyota didn't act right when pulling where as the allison works awsome mabee thats why both dodge and GM use it. Thats my 2 cents...now keep in mind i am only talking about when towing here and that sounds like what you will be doing mostly with the truck....the toyota imo has the advantage when comparing it to the other gas trucks and if your not towing!
One other cool thing with the diesel truck is all the after market goodies you can get and still be reliable...my boss has a 500hp duramax that gets 22mpg and has 200 000km's on it!

[Supa Dexta]

My cuz got an 07 1500 hemi and hates it, wants his 06 or 05 back (can't remember what it was).. Not sure if he got a lemon, but it's been a hassle for him..

[b_t]

Originally posted by Fastfuzz
If you are towing a diesel is you best bet as the fuel economy goes way down in a gas truck as well as resale on a diesel is much better especially if you put on a lot of kilometers. I have driven and towed with both a tundra and a duramax and i must say the tundra gets killed...got basically half the fuel millage in the tundra and not near as much power...as well as the tranny in the toyota didn't act right when pulling where as the allison works awsome mabee thats why both dodge and GM use it. Thats my 2 cents...now keep in mind i am only talking about when towing here and that sounds like what you will be doing mostly with the truck....the toyota imo has the advantage when comparing it to the other gas trucks and if your not towing!
One other cool thing with the diesel truck is all the after market goodies you can get and still be reliable...my boss has a 500hp duramax that gets 22mpg and has 200 000km's on it!

Toyotas have a good history of holding their value even better than a domestic diesel does. What year Tundra do you have?

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by Nav13
My boss just bought a 07 tundra. and i must say its one of the nicest trucks ive been in. The interior doesnt look cheap like the silverado and the ram. nice looking truck with lots of power. that would be my pick hands down.
thats funny, I found the interior on the new Tundra the cheapest by far:thumbsdow

[roopi]

I bought a GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab this summer and I'm very happy with it. Have you looked at the Duramax?

[ScottysZ]

Originally posted by b_t
The Titan is one of the most unreliable vehicles on the road, absolutely do NOT get a Titan. It has bombed every long term test it has ever been in.

Toyota on the other hand is always tops for reliability, has the most power in a gas truck right now, the most space, the best resale value, and the best stereo. They look kind of funny. But I would go with the Tundra hands down.

Agreed on the titan.


Im surprised no ones said anythign bad about the tundra yet, they are falling apart left and right. First off, so many camshafts were breaking in the 5.7s that toyota considered doing a recall of ALL of them before they broke and destroyed the engines. A lot of them are having transmission troubles due to shitty torque converters, and the tailgates are bending, breaking, and falling off.

The thing is completely underengineered, toyota cut costs everywhere possible. the leaf springs are smaller than a rangers for cristsake. The frames bend and twist like crazy under load too.

Do not buy a new tundra.



If youre already towing 5500lbs and thinking of upgrading, id really consider a diesel as it wont break a sweat if youre pulling 8 or 9 thousand pouns around when that gas engine will be working pretty damn hard.

Import fanboys... flame away.

[PrezeS_PL]

Originally posted by Fastfuzz
If you are towing a diesel is you best bet as the fuel economy goes way down in a gas truck as well as resale on a diesel is much better especially if you put on a lot of kilometers. I have driven and towed with both a tundra and a duramax and i must say the tundra gets killed...got basically half the fuel millage in the tundra and not near as much power...as well as the tranny in the toyota didn't act right when pulling where as the allison works awsome mabee thats why both dodge and GM use it. Thats my 2 cents...now keep in mind i am only talking about when towing here and that sounds like what you will be doing mostly with the truck....the toyota imo has the advantage when comparing it to the other gas trucks and if your not towing!
One other cool thing with the diesel truck is all the after market goodies you can get and still be reliable...my boss has a 500hp duramax that gets 22mpg and has 200 000km's on it!

The new 6 speed auto in dodge is still dodge not Allison.

Interior in the dodge sucks and new 6.7 has worse fuel mileage than 5.9, there were also reports of frequent ECM reflashes by the dealer to fix drivability issues.

New gm has very nice interior and the vortecmax 6.0 can pull with the tundra (weight wise) but its still only 4 speed vs. 6 speed in the tundra so economy and drivability might be not as good as the tundra.
Duramaxx with Alison pulls the nicest but if I was getting one I would opted for the LBZ (06-07) instead of LMM (2008) - same motor without all the emission crap .

Unless you tow 80% of the time diesel wont pay for it self. It cost on average $10k more for the diesel and in long run it cost more for service and repairs.

I'm looking into new tundra , just got the pricing this morning. Going to ditch my gm diesel since I only tow occasionally and when running empty around the city there is no savings.

[Palmiros]

Take a look at the Nissan Frontier.

[The Cosworth]

Originally posted by Palmiros
Take a look at the Nissan Frontier.

did you even read the post? :D 5500lbs on a Frontier? The Frontier 4.0L V-6 specs were listed as 265HP @ 5600 rpm, 284 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm

Shitty amounts of power for that weight





Originally posted by ScottysZ
A lot of them are having transmission troubles due to shitty torque converters

I drove one and it shifted awful in both auto and manual shifting. I wonder if that is why

[b_t]

Originally posted by ScottysZ


Agreed on the titan.


Im surprised no ones said anythign bad about the tundra yet, they are falling apart left and right. First off, so many camshafts were breaking in the 5.7s that toyota considered doing a recall of ALL of them before they broke and destroyed the engines. A lot of them are having transmission troubles due to shitty torque converters, and the tailgates are bending, breaking, and falling off.

The thing is completely underengineered, toyota cut costs everywhere possible. the leaf springs are smaller than a rangers for cristsake. The frames bend and twist like crazy under load too.

Do not buy a new tundra.


falling apart left and right? The fact of the matter is they did NOT do a full recall like you are talking about and it effected only a very small portion of the earliest Tundras (guess how many? TWENTY), so this is not a legit criticism especially since he would be looking at a new 2008 Tundra and the not the '07.

The tailgate thing only happens if you are driving around with your tailgate half down (45 degrees) which is the same angle you put the gate at to remove it. So its not a design flaw - its operator error.

The frame bending and twisting under load, bullshit... since when do you judge the quality of a vehicle on the size of the leaf springs? Not a valid complaint either.

The Tundra is the only truck with its kind of power I've driven that hauls a trailer so smoothly. It doesn't bump and jerk with a heavy trailer like domestics do, isn't seriously oversprung like domestics are (so it doesn't bounce real bad going over speedbumps) and so on.
The most serious Real issue affecting these trucks seems to be transmission problems, but there are none with the Tundra we've got and it has almost 40,000km on it already and its only a few months old. It'll be covered under warranty anyways, and like any work truck, you should only lease it to get a bigger tax break and also to get rid of it as soon as hard job site use starts to catch up to it (around 2 years 100,000km)

[RUQUIKR]

Originally posted by b_t


The frame bending and twisting under load, bullshit...

Actually it does twist alot, do a search on youtube and see for your self. Its because the Tundra's frame is not a fully boxed frame, the section under the box is a c channel. It actually flexes 5-6 inches were as the domestic trucks were closer to 1-2 inches. Not to mention their tailgate is severly under buit, wont support much more than 200lbs.

[euro_racer]

duramax FTW :thumbsup:
....but im biest ;)

[Aleks]

Originally posted by RUQUIKR

Actually it does twist alot, do a search on youtube and see for your self. Its because the Tundra's frame is not a fully boxed frame, the section under the box is a c channel. It actually flexes 5-6 inches were as the domestic trucks were closer to 1-2 inches. Not to mention their tailgate is severly under buit, wont support much more than 200lbs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8PpZF77tgk

[The Cosworth]

never thought I would say this but.....





I would rather a Chevy over the Tundra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-BKkUUwOTk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH6TuPIipMQ&feature=related

[Destinova403]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JcvP4D81CI&feature=related

[RUQUIKR]

Thanks for adding the link guys, I am at work and blocked from youtube.

[ScottysZ]

Originally posted by b_t


falling apart left and right? The fact of the matter is they did NOT do a full recall like you are talking about and it effected only a very small portion of the earliest Tundras (guess how many? TWENTY), so this is not a legit criticism especially since he would be looking at a new 2008 Tundra and the not the '07.

The tailgate thing only happens if you are driving around with your tailgate half down (45 degrees) which is the same angle you put the gate at to remove it. So its not a design flaw - its operator error.

The frame bending and twisting under load, bullshit... since when do you judge the quality of a vehicle on the size of the leaf springs? Not a valid complaint either.

The Tundra is the only truck with its kind of power I've driven that hauls a trailer so smoothly. It doesn't bump and jerk with a heavy trailer like domestics do, isn't seriously oversprung like domestics are (so it doesn't bounce real bad going over speedbumps) and so on.
The most serious Real issue affecting these trucks seems to be transmission problems, but there are none with the Tundra we've got and it has almost 40,000km on it already and its only a few months old. It'll be covered under warranty anyways, and like any work truck, you should only lease it to get a bigger tax break and also to get rid of it as soon as hard job site use starts to catch up to it (around 2 years 100,000km)

Alright, so throw out the camshaft thing if its an 08 (admittedly a problem related to their supplier and not toyota, and that whole thing aside its a fantastic engine), but the tailgate problems dont only happen half open. Ive heard a number of stories of them breaking having them opne, one guy even just rolling his quad across the thing. And yes, the frame does bend and twist like crazy, but about the tailgate and leafs, theyre not the most important thing in the world, but thats exactly my point. Toyota didnt build EVERY part of the truck heavy like they needed to for their first real foray into the full-sized truck market. And yes, lucky you that your tranny isnt a piece of shit, i know a lot of people arent so lucky.

[pepschnops]

Originally posted by Fastfuzz
If you are towing a diesel is you best bet as the fuel economy goes way down in a gas truck as well as resale on a diesel is much better especially if you put on a lot of kilometers. I have driven and towed with both a tundra and a duramax and i must say the tundra gets killed...got basically half the fuel millage in the tundra and not near as much power...as well as the tranny in the toyota didn't act right when pulling where as the allison works awsome mabee thats why both dodge and GM use it. Thats my 2 cents...now keep in mind i am only talking about when towing here and that sounds like what you will be doing mostly with the truck....the toyota imo has the advantage when comparing it to the other gas trucks and if your not towing!
One other cool thing with the diesel truck is all the after market goodies you can get and still be reliable...my boss has a 500hp duramax that gets 22mpg and has 200 000km's on it!

Alienman: To echo what has been said in a few of these posts there is no question that these new Toyota's and Nissan's our excellent trucks. One thing that is still a bit of a problem however is their reliability.

When you ask about the best truck to purchase when towing a trailer domestics are the way to go. To tell you the honest truth I haven't had the opportunity to drive the new 6.4L Fords. I know however that the old Ford F350's were great for towing. They had the best fuel economy for towing a trailer a great elevated seat position (makes you feel like your in an 18wheeler) and most of all they will run forever if taken care of.

The new Duramax diesels are great too. 360 BHP is pretty impressive for a 6.6 L engine(this gets even better if you decide to chip or upgrade engine - if you want to check this out go look at bullydog diesel engine upgrades). They are fairly decent on fuel economy when the trailer is on but I would still think that the ford is better in this category.

Some major advantages disadvantages that I have found about these trucks are these: The GMC/Chevrolet brand has a much better turning radius especially when you get up into the 250 - 350 series. The other thing I find is that the Chev/GMC's feel a bit smaller than the Ford. The Ford's feel huge in the city especially when you get into the long box crew cabs.

I assume you will be towing a trailer for the majority of the time so I would most definitely recommend a diesel engine. I didn't include anything on dodges simply because I haven't driven them that much. Diesel trucks make it feel like you aren't even pulling anything whereas the can feel the weight of the trailer behind you even if you are driving a 381BHP tundra.

Best of luck with the purchase

[RUQUIKR]

This is the video is was referimg to, look at the box twist!@!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjTbiYo3x0&feature=related

[Unknown303]

The Dodge transmission is the 68RFE, not the Allison and not the Aisin which is the new 6-speed that Dodge might be using next year for the 2500 and 3500's. Both are solid performers.

I posted a bunch of information in a thread about the Big 3 so feel free to wander over there for some good reading.

[ScottysZ]

Toyotas now recalling 15,600 Tundras for a faulty rear propeller shaft.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071214/bs_nm/toyota_recall_dc;_ylt=AmIEANop.ltl_98DRW6fyD.s0NUE

Please dont buy one of these!:banghead:

[kaput]

.

[Daft99]

Originally posted by Destinova403
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JcvP4D81CI&feature=related

:rofl: :rofl:

I think anyone will predict the outcome of that prior to the pull!

[Destinova403]

Originally posted by Daft99


:rofl: :rofl:

I think anyone will predict the outcome of that prior to the pull!

heres another one... can you tell i dont like toyota trucks? i think both of these would beat my Dakota though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qVQWNd_mGw

[b_t]

Originally posted by RUQUIKR
This is the video is was referimg to, look at the box twist!@!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjTbiYo3x0&feature=related

Curiously the Chev and Toyota are the best riding of the three and the Ford still feels like it was made in the stone age. But I can't deny that was pretty shocking stuff, like holy shit ahaha

[b_t]

Originally posted by Destinova403


heres another one... can you tell i dont like toyota trucks? i think both of these would beat my Dakota though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qVQWNd_mGw

Wow, I didn't know all I had to do to choose one truck over another was hook onto another one and try to pull it. That is a really relevant scenario, shit, I do that on a daily basis! The Dodge is clearly the better truck!

[ashee]

The new Tundras are nice!

[HondaRice]

buy the tundra diesel dulley

[ScottysZ]

Originally posted by HondaRice
buy the tundra diesel dulley

That thing was such a joke... even for a concept.

[Sharpie]

Duramax FTW!!

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by ScottysZ


That thing was such a joke... even for a concept.




:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Thank you:)

[turab16]

toyota has camshaft , tail gate, torque converter, driveshaft problems.........

www.pickuptrucks.com

goto heavy duty shoot out to see the clear winner!

i work at cmp and we have ton of clearance goiing on!!

pm NOW! for the best price n the truck! CHEVY n GMC!!!


for diesel i have two words DURAMAX n ALLISON!!!

enuff said!

[b_t]

The SVT Lightning and Dakota are the two top rated trucks on that site so I wouldn't call it a very accurate source for any kind of buying decision.

[sxtasy]

If you are going to be towing regularly don't even consider a gasser, they can't even come close to a diesel. I tow a 10,000lbs cat on a 7,000lbs trailer and can do 120km/h up the steepest inclines with my cummins. While getting much better fuel economy than any gasser. I like both the Cummins and the Duramax however I would stay away from the Powerstroke, they have had many reliability issues with their 6.0's. Buy an LBZ or a 5.9 cummins and you won't have to deal with all that new emisions crap

[HondaRice]

Originally posted by turab16
toyota has camshaft , tail gate, torque converter, driveshaft problems.........

www.pickuptrucks.com

goto heavy duty shoot out to see the clear winner!

i work at cmp and we have ton of clearance goiing on!!

pm NOW! for the best price n the truck! CHEVY n GMC!!!


for diesel i have two words DURAMAX n ALLISON!!!

enuff said!



toyota has those problems? and the chevy didnt have no problems? toyota is desiged to last a long time. chevy is a disposable. take a look around you. if that was true GM would have been making money and known as a reliable car maker.

[HondaRice]

http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/autoshows/sema2007/toyota/tundradiesel/intro.jpg

http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/autoshows/sema2007/toyota/tundradiesel/tundradiesel3.jpg


http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/autoshows/sema2007/toyota/tundradiesel/tundradiesel5.jpg

[Ymerej47]

thats funny, I found the interior on the new Tundra the cheapest by far
As an employee at Toyota...I can vouch for this personally. Although it does look nice...Never judge a book by its cover! I personally hate the interior. The power is wicked for a Gas truck and I personally think this truck was more aimed towards the Family Vacationers to the cabin//lake with your boat rather than a FULL on "Work" truck.
Dodge Diesel for towing, hands down. Ive driven and experienced all the pros and cons of these trucks, PLUS Dodge has a jake brake available for that heavy duty pulling! Also forgot to mention, Dodge interiors suck if they are plane jane...Get some options; Leather, Heated seats, Sound System upgrade, power locks and windows. It makes all the difference!
Depending on what your looking for tho....Dodge is your work horse and 60% Family Vacationer.
The tundra is your Family Vacationer and 60% work horse
BTW, The Dually Tundra will be unveiled sometime in late 08 early 09. Possibly sooner.

[ScottysZ]

Originally posted by HondaRice




toyota has those problems? and the chevy didnt have no problems? toyota is desiged to last a long time. chevy is a disposable. take a look around you. if that was true GM would have been making money and known as a reliable car maker.

:rofl: I love people like this who think that a company can do no wrong just because theyre based in japan. Congrats man, youre a true car guy.

And im not sure why you posted pics of that tundra dually. The thing is a piece of shit and shows how seriously toyota is taking their step into the real truck market. With a bigass 8.0L Hino diesel its only making 300hp, which is less than any of the domestics, and in true japanese fashion it still gets rolled in the torque department as well. And shifting thru a 5-speed with a two foot tall shifter? Seriously? If i was a ricer right now id point out that that toyota engine is only making 37.5 hp/L and a Duramax makes 55. But im not so ill just focus on the fact that toyota is making a joke of a segment that is probably harder to crack into than any theyve ever tried before.

[Ymerej47]

"The 8.0-liter diesel engine was sourced from Toyota's affiliate Hino. The JO8E-TB Medium Duty 6 cylinder Turbo Diesel engine normally resides in Hino's 35,000 lb trucks. Power is transferred through an Eaton five-speed manual transmission to a Hino rear end with Meritor axles."
How is that not a good truck? Maybe its just him but my boss tells me its numbers are going to the highest in a production truck and will blow away the domestic competition? Last time I checked Diesel engines (hauling/towing) never had NEARLY the same HP numbers as they did Torque numbers. Diesel trucks are not Sport trucks like the S331 or SRT10.

[ScottysZ]

Its not a good powertrain because its short on the hp numbers and (as i mentioned also), the torque numbers. I never said anything about them having equal hp and torque numbers. But none of the domestics have less than 650lb-ft of torque in their six point something liter engines and this hino isnt making that in an 8.0L.

[ScottysZ]

Yay, even Toyotas ashamed of the Tundra now!

http://www.allworldauto.com/blogs/2007/11/09/toyota-tundra-woes-shame-automaker/

This is just gettin too easy.

[Rockski]

duramax is where its at baby

[cancritter]

l see new fords,,new chevs and new didges on side of the road
chevs not a work truck ..more luxury...fords heard they have issues to...
dodge 6.7...50/50...chance youll get truck with no issues...lots of error messages re dpf and auto tranny issues...
new emmisions suck...what folks dont tell you is the dpf uses diesle to burn off the soot..kinda counter productive
lota folks are ripping the dpf and egr of..belive theres code free setups now for them and gas milage increased with reports up to 25 mpg and as low as 8...most low numbers are from folks with dpf and egr still on
2000 klms and lm lucky to get 12-14
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t181/CanCritter/Picture725b.jpg

so far lve been lucky
6.7 manual 6sp