Hi,
My fiancee's father is looking to buy a stake bed pickup truck, with a 9-10' bed and fold under hydraulic lift on the back.
I have always liked dodge cummins trucks, and I suppose even the normal, non HD 3500 can be had without a pickup bed to accept a new stake bed, right?
The thing is, this vehicle will be used in the USVI. While the cummins engine obviously has a lot of benefits, I do not believe there is a dodge dealer down there... so Ford and Chevy need to be considered too, from a parts and maintenance standpoint.
Chevy seems to be the best as far as auto trans (allison) and fuel economy goes (though an AT is not a necessity, and the truck certainly can be bought with MT instead, if it IS a better choice for longevity, especially if maintenance is not 100%), dodge seems the best as far as engine goes, and Ford seems to be the heaviest duty overall... though it seems that its engine might be iffy at this point. Another issue is that the USVI may not have the super clean diesel that we do in the states, so sensitivity may be a problem.
Any suggestions??? comments, opinions (butnot ****in' matches) are appreciated.
Also, how do you go about buying a truck with stake bed and lift all in one. Do some dealers specialize in such trucks, or do you have to buy a truck and deal with a body manufacturer directly to get the rest done? What is the way to get the best deal?
Im totally new to this sort of thing, and though I love diesels and diesel trucks, and know a fari amount about them... buying one like this is an unknown, so any advice or info would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
JMH