1998 K2500 vs 2013 F150 vs 2005 Dodge 2500 Cummins

[letitsnow]

Over the past 3 years I have owned these 3 trucks. I have used each truck to haul the same camper to the Little Sahara Oklahoma sand dunes, to haul my dirt bike to the same riding areas, and as a bad weather daily driver.

The Dodge was a total POS. Constant electrical problems. No way to take the crappy dodge electronic trans out of OD - Dodge sucks at anything electrical, and with transmissions - what could possibly go wrong? Haha. Jackasses. Those trucks have a cult following. Most cults end up being bad... I had about $10,000 into this POS.

The Dodge got 8-11 mpg pulling the camper / 15-18 mpg with no trailer.

The F150 had the 5l v8 and 6 speed auto trans. The trailer would make the stability control do weird stuff if you used the trailer brakes to help you straighten out on slippery roads. That was my only real complaint, other than it being a 1/2 ton and feeling kinda light as far as tires and suspension while pulling the camper. I paid $28,000 for this new in 2013.

F150 Got 7-8 mpg pulling the camper / 16-17 mpg with no trailer.

The k2500 has the 5.7l and 4l80 trans. The brakes aren't the best, and the extended cab doors don't open. Otherwise it is a really good truck. I paid $3100 for this.

K2500 gets 7-8 mpg pulling the camper / 15 with no trailer.

Spend your hard earned $$$ wisely!

 

[deckeda]

Setup and implementation is what it's all about. I bought a 2004 Tacoma PreRunner DoubleCab "to help us move" out of state. I added helper springs out back and replaced the front springs (Old Man Emu) and all 4 shocks (Old Man Emu) ... the Aussies have funny names for their off-road gear. Oh, and I installed a tranny cooler and such. And swapped in Tundra front brakes.

I pulled a 16ft 4-horse trailer full of house crap with that truck. Twice. Back springs did not like that, but the truck did not complain at all. And a 16ft flatbed twice also. 5 hour trips each way. Sometimes I had trailer brakes, other times not so much ... sane people would have paid a few hundred to rent a moving van and be done in one day.

My step father in law's '94 3/4 ton GMC turbodiesel auto trans (it's 2nd ...) died after pulling the same 4 horse trailer a few times. It is what it is.

It's tough finding something cheap that works (what else is new?) We decided to skip all of the 3/4 trucks and head straight to a C3500 with SM465 trans, for horse transport duty. If the seller can get the damn title straightened out on his end we'll actually give him the cash.

Everything I've read (regarding reliability) about anything north of $10K scares the crap out of me. So much complexity, so little engineering performed. But the SPECS are "awesome." I can buy $4-$5K trucks, throw them away after a few years and be money ahead.

In 2019, Silverados will have a 4cyl twin turbo diesel that makes as much power and torque as yesteryear's turbo diesel V8s. I'm sure that for the first year of ownership it'll be a great truck. Anyone else wanna be a guinea pig?

 

[Supercharged111]

The new new looks good on paper, but can sometimes be annoying. Does that mean I'm getting old? You know, like the old farts who think anything newer than a carburetor is the devil? I'm drawing my line in the sand with what I'm willing to tolerate on a newer vehicle. Sure they quiet, loaded to the gills, and light years more refined than our pigs, but at least when I give my truck an input it responds. There is no middleman. And if I blow a rod through the block and manage to wipe out both heads I'm still not out that much money. Pennies on the dollar compared to some of the things that can and do go wrong on the newer stuff. On the other hand, I do get super sick and tired of constantly needing to fix some piddly ass thing to make my 20 year old truck not feel like a POS.

 

[letitsnow]

The new new looks good on paper, but can sometimes be annoying. Does that mean I'm getting old? You know, like the old farts who think anything newer than a carburetor is the devil? I'm drawing my line in the sand with what I'm willing to tolerate on a newer vehicle. Sure they quiet, loaded to the gills, and light years more refined than our pigs, but at least when I give my truck an input it responds. There is no middleman. And if I blow a rod through the block and manage to wipe out both heads I'm still not out that much money. Pennies on the dollar compared to some of the things that can and do go wrong on the newer stuff. On the other hand, I do get super sick and tired of constantly needing to fix some piddly ass thing to make my 20 year old truck not feel like a POS.

If a guy could buy a brand new truck with no computer restrictions (ex. traction control that you can't really shut off, torque management that you can't really turn down, etc), that would be awesome. They restrict everything to save us from ourselves. A lot of manchildren are dumb, and if they can't discuss every action with 5 of their cubicle friends before acting, they are gonna break chit.

What good is having 900 ft lbs of tq, if they only let you use 350? Might as well just have a truck that has 350 ft lbs of tq... Then modify it a little.

 

[Supercharged111]

They give you "900" so you can brag to all your brochure reading friends who never touch a wrench that you have 900.