Truck advise

T

Tips Up

Well-Known Member
Not looking for opinions on what brand is best. Ford vs Chev vs Dodge...

Need some advise on specific models and personal experiance.

Time to buy a new truck but I have a tough delima. With baby number 2 on the way I need to get a quad cab that can tow my 17.5 ft boat and my 17 ft Big Foot trailer but I also drive around town a fair amount for work and commute from Goldstream to Royal Oak everyday.

I have a Toyota T100 now but I need more towing power and more room. The Tundras are out of my price range. I am looking at a 2008 Dodge 1500 with 5.7 Hemi right now but the gas mileage is concerning. Anyone own one of these?

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks
Tips
 
Graham give me a call and ill tell you what i did and what going on.


ill be home late tonight after 9

wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com
 
I have a Ford F150. I don't know about gas mileage and such, I just hand over the credit card and close my eyes. ;)

I'm happy with it. The negative is it is pretty limited on how big a camper it can handle. But it isn't crazy in the gas guzzling for the other 99% of the time I use it.

Good time to be buying a truck. My boat mechanic told me about a buddy of his, brought in his older truck to get work done, figured it would be about $2k in repairs. They gave him $9k trade-in and he walked out of there with a brand new one for $12k.

Apparently they are pretty much giving them away in the US right now, if you're willing to drive it across. Unfortunate exchange isn't at par any more, but it's up to 0.85 at least.

Might be worth keeping an eye on it...
http://seattle.craigslist.org/cta/
 
Here is the truck we just bought.

P4260007.jpg


It is a 2005 Chev Crew Cab 4x4, 5.3, 3.73 gears. It has averaged 23 on the highway and 17 around town. We needed it to pull our 18 Hewescraft and it does it with no problems. has lots of room and rides nice. I would not look at any of the "mid" size trucks as they get pretty well the same gas milage. but lack the space needed, especially if you have little ones.

Right now is not a great time to be buying a truck, unless it is new, as used truck prices have gone up an avg of $2500 over the last couple of months ago. We paid 18800 for our truck w/64000 k on her and other than leather, dual climate controls and a couple other minor options, she has all the options you would want. The truck is now worth and selling for ~$24000. Aution prices are going up as there is more used truck buyers than trucks in Canada right now.

Good luck in your quest

Cheers

SS

Fishing08018-1.jpg
 
With the price of new trucks going down it is actually driving the price of used trucks down as well.

The low dollar doens't make it quite as appealing going to the states, so it may help the Canadian economy by keeping our money in Canada.......Although that being said the US economy being in the tubes makes it a buyers market as well because people are in need of the all mighty dollar
 
you definitely don't need anything bigger than a half ton for pulling what you have...

I know several people including my uncle who just bought f150's and are extremly happy with them.
That said, i know two people that bought dodge 1500 hemi's, a 2005 and a 2006.
Hemi: great selling "terminology", but more power comes from more gas.
One of my friends just sold there 1500 and bought a ford,
the other does nothing but curse at it and all the problems its giving him... from engine and transmission problems to broken switches and what not on the inside.

I haven't heard anything bad about chevys & gm's, other than very basic interiors. I havnt looked inside the brand new ones though

hope this helps :) dont want to start any arguing... of course every brand has its pros and cons, and every manufacture has some flawless vehicles pushed out, and some buggered up ones
 
Just a thought here, but instead of looking at a pickup, I'd consider a Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel. They have a towing capacity of 7500lbs -- that's a little short of the 9000 that the 1500 can pull, but I'd guess your load is less than half that weight anyhow.

These vehicles have a Mercedes 3.0L Common Rail diesel which is supposed to be the best performing diesel in the market. All the reviews I've seen suggest they are as quiet as a gas engine. Upside is that they get 25Mpg city and 33Mpg highway and have loads of seating capacity. Might do your double duty as a hauler and a kid-mobile at the same time.

TenMile
<'((((><
 
Thanks for all the feedback and PM's.
I need to stick with a pickup for all the other things I do.

Some good information for me to look into. Still would like to hear from anyone who owns a Dodge Ram Hemi.

I may just have to suck it up and pay the gas bill.

Tips
 
if you wanna talk to a couple people that own or owned them let me know.....1 guy at work has 1, one guy owned 1 and 2 other people I know have them


PS ....ITS ONLY MONEY THAT GETS SUCKED UP
 
The Hemi is a lackluster performer in a truck, torque curve is a lot higher the the Ford Tritons othe GM 5.3/6.0's. THe inside of the RAM is about as cheap as they come, and with the exception of the CTD Dodges, they devalue very fast. Get a 5.4 F150, you'll be smiling, or better yet, a late 90's DIesel super duty. It will outlive you, get about double the milage of a Hemi (Mine averages 15 in town and 20 highway), and will pull the stink out of a fart!

Last Chance Fishing Adventures

www.lastchancefishingadventures.com
www.swiftsurebank.com
 
quote:Originally posted by LastChance

The Hemi is a lackluster performer in a truck, torque curve is a lot higher the the Ford Tritons othe GM 5.3/6.0's. THe inside of the RAM is about as cheap as they come, and with the exception of the CTD Dodges, they devalue very fast. Get a 5.4 F150, you'll be smiling, or better yet, a late 90's DIesel super duty. It will outlive you, get about double the milage of a Hemi (Mine averages 15 in town and 20 highway), and will pull the stink out of a fart!

Last Chance Fishing Adventures

www.lastchancefishingadventures.com
www.swiftsurebank.com
Click to expand...
 
Had a guy that worked for me that bought one brand new,he hated it,problems with the brakes,and it got crappy gas mileage.He was not at all happy with it.Dan
 
I switched from a 2001 f150, 4.6 to a 2008 ram 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi last August. Mileage is about the same on both, Ram has way more power, and I haven't had a single issue with it yet. Ford has a nicer finish on the inside but the 01 just couldn't tow what I was wanting it to do. The new MDS feature on the hemi really helps it out on gas. I looked at 08 fords as well but the Dodge was way less expensive, had more power and suited all my needs.
 
Thanks for the input.
I ended up buying a 04 Ram 1500 with Hemi. Fully loaded. Low K.
Deal that I could not refuse.:D

I'll be selling the Toyota next week[V]

Tips
 
Good thread--I have been looking at boats in the US but have been hesitating as an upgrade from my current boat ( a 17.5 double eagle) to a 21 ft new boat would mean my 97 F150 (2 wheel drive) would have to be replaced as well. I'm thinking a 4 wheel drive truck with diesel for fuel economy but that's as far as I've got. Has anyone had experience with those propane kits that you put on your diesel engine? They are supposed to increase the power significantly.
T2

No Rigours
 
Hey tom my new truck I got converted it has the 5.4 300 hp motor in it (F 350) 2005 and murrays auto did it and with my boat which is about 7000lbs dry on propane has no problem as this new system is direct propane injected with its own propane injectors for each cylinder so there is NO loss of power at all.
It a pretty cool system it starts on gas then when it reaches a certain temp it automatically switches to prop. Ive had to fill up my gas only once since last nov andd even still I was at half a tank.

I then got a Columbia card lock which made the price even lower for propane.yes the system was pricy about $5500 but in a year and a half it will be paid off and we already know how good prop is on an engine if you want to come by and take a look or take it for a spin let me know.
When my buddy and i went to sask prop was at 47 cents a litre from hope to medicine hat our trip there and back was just under 500 bucks if it was gas or diesel it would have been up to 1200 to 1500 so you see the benifits started already and trust me the truck goes fast enough as we both got speeding tickets LOL LOL.

As that truck rolls along nicelly at 120 km before you know it as it is a quiet truck.I didnt want a diesel as its way too expensive from a gas one as I knew right away I was going to propane my old truck I had 370,000 km on her and she was still going strong all on propane when you save half of what you normally spend on gas its an easy decision.
Then you can say yes I got a big truck but its a "HYBRID" LOL LOL

Good luck Wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com
 
Hey Roy--sounds like a nice truck. Are you out at SS yet?I'm thinking of getting a spot there as of the first of the month for a change of scenery from Cheanuh. If you are back there this summer, I'll see you there and have a look at your ride.
Cheers,
Tom

No Rigours
 
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