Used 3/4 Ton Diesels Dodge vs. GM - Your thoughts

[Jim 5]

I’m looking for a little advice here, I have been back and forth over vehicles for a while now. I bought a 5.3L avalanche with 4.10 gears for towing my 25’ 6000lb trailer. It does fine until there is any kind of headwind, and then it is difficult to maintain 60mph. It just doesn’t have enough power. I have considered repowering it with a 6.0L High Output engine, but that is going to cost around $6k (transmission included). For this price, I can get a different tow vehicle on a trade.

I had considered trading it in on a 2004-2006 Nissan Titan, which has dramatically more HP/TQ, but about the same fuel economy (bad). So now I am considering a ¾ ton diesel truck (same year range…around 60k miles) due to the pulling power and better fuel economy. Here are my requirements:

- around 60k miles;
- 4 full doors
- Comfortable ride (I think this rules out the ford SD)
- As short as possible (while still having 4 doors)
- 4wd (this will also get me to work in blizzards)

It seems like it is between the Dodge and the GM. I have always preferred GM trucks and so I am leaning towards a ¾ ton Duramax around 2004-2005. I have heard the earlier Duramax’s give better fuel economy (marginally), however I keep reading about injector failures. There is a warranty on them to 100k miles, but it costs at least $4k to fix an injector failure afterwards. The Allison transmission is considered the best light truck diesel offering. The GM is considered to have the best ride. To my own taste, I think this is the most attractive looking truck as well.

I don’t know much about the dodge, but apparently it has the best engine, but the transmission is the weak link. The dodge appeals to me because of the engine, and I consider the transmission not to be an issue (hopefully) because I would never abuse the vehicle or use any power adders. Plus, the vehicle won’t do that much towing and the trailer is light. This truck seems like would be the most durable and I think it is the shortest truck with 4 doors.

As for the Ford, I find the ride too stiff and the styling just not to my liking for whatever reason. As for the titan/tundra I have kind of ruled them out due to fuel economy and comfort. I think I would like driving them too much (like I do with the avalanche) and would end up driving too much in them and using too much gas. A diesel ¾ ton is too big and bulky for my daily use and will likely be used less often for driving (it will truly be used as a towing/snow day vehicle).

Can anyone give me their thoughts as to:

- the merits of the Dodge vs. GM diesels,
- and if you come down on one side, which are the most desirable years of either;
- how bad is the injector issue on the GM and/or the transmission issue on the dodge;
- other things to consider when buying a diesel with 60k miles (eg. I wouldn’t buy one with power adders).

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[Mannix]

Dodge's get better fuel economy

 

[exranger06]

Even though diesel's might get better mileage, diesel is about $1 more per gallon. You may still be better off with a gas engine that gets worse mileage. Did you actually calculate the fuel savings?

 

[daman]

Find a Chevy 8.1L(496)gasser with 4.10's or steeper,,she'll pull for ya.

 

[Jim 5]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Even though diesel's might get better mileage, diesel is about $1 more per gallon. You may still be better off with a gas engine that gets worse mileage. Did you actually calculate the fuel savings?


While this is true in the US, it is not true in Canada. Gas prices are overly inflated in Canada, and diesel not so much. Right now from searching gas prices on line gas/diesel are pretty much on par price wise in my area. It used to be not so long ago that diesel cost less than gas. At most, diesel is around 5% higher in Canada than gas (as early as a year ago I think it was around 5% lower).

I'll take the 5% increase in per unit fuel cost in trade for what I expect to be a 20-30% increase in fuel economy.

.....not to mention something like twice the towing ability.

 

[Jim 5]

In doing some research, the Duramax injector problems seem to have been fixed by mid year 2004.

 

[Compman1988]

Quote:
Find a Chevy 8.1L(496)gasser with 4.10's or steeper,,she'll pull for ya.


And run you broke while doing it

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Compman1988
Quote:
Find a Chevy 8.1L(496)gasser with 4.10's or steeper,,she'll pull for ya.


And run you broke while doing it

no faster then $4.25-4.30 a gal Diesel, Ouch

 

[1sttruck]

I bought a Dodge 3/4 ton diesel in 2003. After taking people to lunch a coworker bought one like it later that year for towing. He was able to upgrade his trailer and sold the old one to a relative. His relative bought a Dodge diesel to tow it after seeing how well it handled it. The next year I helped a friend who had several old GM trucks find one, and he ended up with a 1 ton Dodge diesel. He and friends do long trips towing big trailers, Ford and GM fans among them, and this last year one of them bought a new Dodge diesel.

When we moved up here in the Pacific NW in the early 90s it seemed to be pretty much Ford country while traveling around, but now one also sees lots of Dodges, especially lots of diesels. I don't see nearly as many GM diesels but it seems to vary a lot by region as others report seeing mainly GM where they live.

A brother in Alaska notes that Dodge diesels are popular there, and they also seem to be popular in Canada, so they aren't cold blooded.

 

[Jim 5]

Seems like GM and Dodge diesels are most common around here, though there are plenty of fords as well. The complaint I keep hearing about the 6.0L ford diesel is that it has to rev so high to get the power that the fuel economy is severely hurt.

The dodges get the best fuel economy followed by the d-max. Ford falls significantly behind in this area, and that together with its stiff ride is why I kind of ruled out the ford. Of course if ford started offering the 7.3L diesel again I might consider that. But if I was going to wait for that, I'd likely wait for the new 4.5L duramax with 500LbFt of torque that's coming in 2010....and mid-high 20's fuel economy. Plus, its going to be in a half ton, which appeals to me.