Best Diesel Trucks

[AZDANSX230HO]

A friend of mine and I always go back and forth about Ford, Chevy, Dodge, etc. in a fun manner, he is a Dodge guy and I am a Ford/Chevy guy.

I was thinking what is the best way to find out who actually makes the best and reliable diesel trucks, so I decided to call (3) different Diesel Repair/Specialty Shops in our area. I called with a simple question, I am looking at buying a new diesel truck, what is your recommendation? Here are their answers:

Shop #1: Hands down buy a Duramax.
Shop #2: Well I am a GM guy, but I prefer the Cummins because it's an Inline 6 vs. V-8.
Shop #3: Buy a Duramax, put it to you this way, if we only worked on Duramax's, we would starve to death and go out of business. Then proceeded to say they have two Duramax's of their own, one has 350K and the other has 430K, never had to touch the engines or transmissions other than maintenance.

I wish I would have thought of this before we bought our new trucks, glad we went with the Duramax's after these phone calls. To be fair they all make good diesel trucks these days, two of the three shops felt the Duramax's were the most reliable. We live in an area that could rival most Texas towns with pickup trucks on the road.

So, if you are ever thinking of buying a new car or truck, call around to repair shops and get their opinion on if the vehicle you are looking at is good or bad.

 

[zipper]

I have a 1990 f super duty (450) with a 7.3 liter and a 2006 chev. 6.6 liter duramax. I know they are two totally different classes of diesel truck but the duramax pulls a 12,000 lb hay wagon, up hill, much easier than the ford. I know its apples to oranges in comparison. I do know the exhaust note the straight 6 cummins makes, sounds nice. Buying a new truck is a big investment, do your homework, ask the guys that fix-em as @AZDANSX230HO did.

300k+ miles on ford (odometer broken)
160k on duramax (some say barely broke in)

 

[DCB-270]

283000 on my 08 Cummins. Had to put a trans in it so I went with Revmax 550.

 

[Qhorse572]

I want a Dodge kr a Chevy but I can't get past the 50k price tag!.. I won't touch a Ford 6.0 or 6.4.. the 6.7 seems to be good though..

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

I want a Dodge kr a Chevy but I can't get past the 50k price tag!.. I won't touch a Ford 6.0 or 6.4.. the 6.7 seems to be good though..

Buy once cry once, I dropped over 120k buying our two Duramax's in one week, we are hoping they last us 15 to 20 years.

 

[DCB-270]

That is wy mine has so many miles. New ones cost too much. Just keep to old ram running.

 

[DCB-270]

My old Dodge.

 

[Bruce]

I just want a loaded 10K to 12K tow rated half ton diesel that gets 25+ MPG. Ram's EcoDiesel hits my consumption and size goals but inexplicably misses the two rating by a wide margin. Maybe Ford will come out with an aluminum diesel F150 that will provide the tow capacity.

If not I am likely to get another Sierra Denali in the near future and keep feeding that 6.2.

 

[veedubtek]

I went and specced out a 2500 Denali last week. No keyless access = no bueno for me. Ram it will be.

 

[zipper]

@AZDANSX230HO , Your trucks should last as long as 15 to 20 years in Az, a dry state. Do not drive east in winter months especially Vermont, the state uses alot of salt and salt brine on the roads, so flatlanders can come skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing etc. My chevy is showing signs of rust thru on bed and rockers after 10yrs.

 

[luckie_529]

Nissan came out with a new Cummins for this year. I tried to talk my wife into a new Colorado with a duramax. 6 inch lift and fuel mileage.

 

[zipper]

Turbo Diesels are the best performers when it comes to work. Even my sawmill has a 42hp. turbo diesel Kubota. They handle the heavy loads best.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

I should update the thread after having our 2500 HD Duramax's over 2 months now, these are incredible trucks. We have towed our boat to Lake Powell & Lake Havasu, lot's of hills with steep grades, not once did the truck ever downshift, held the speed we were going. Also I have never seen the transmission temperature get over 150 degrees. Last weekend we towed our 30 Ft Travel Trailer round trip about 120 miles for a camping trip, lot's of hill climbing once again, never downshifted while towing up these hills. The overall handling is much better than my previous F-250 Diesel, the interior is light years more well appointed and comfortable. Towing we get about 14-15 Mpg, living in the mountains we always have hills to go down and come back up, so no real flat land towing yet to report the mileage. Around town I see 17 Mpg, I have not done any sort of long trip on the highway not towing yet, so do not have any real highway numbers to report. My Wife made a couple of trips up to Flagstaff, AZ for work, a lot of hill climbing and she saw 19.5 Mpg out on the highway, again no flat land driving.

I have never owned a Dodge Diesel truck, but I can tell you hands down the 2500 HD Duramax/Allison is a way better truck from my personal experience than my previous 2012 F-250 Diesel.

 

[zipper]

@AZDANSX230HO The Allison transmission is a smooth shifter, not nearly as "clunky" as my wifes 2011 silverado with the 5.3ltr./trans. package. Not too much flat land around here either, but when I manage to keep my speeds below 55 in a 50mph speed zone I have seen 23mpg on trk. computer frequently. Maybe yours is not broken in yet, which does not happen til 80k miles.When others are about done.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

@AZDANSX230HO The Allison transmission is a smooth shifter, not nearly as "clunky" as my wifes 2011 silverado with the 5.3ltr./trans. package. Not too much flat land around here either, but when I manage to keep my speeds below 55 in a 50mph speed zone I have seen 23mpg on trk. computer frequently. Maybe yours is not broken in yet, which does not happen til 80k miles.When others are about done.

My truck has about 4k and my Wifes is almost at 5K, so lot's of breaking in left

 

[su laxplayer21]

From the big American Three, I really don't think you can go wrong. All of the new trucks have more tech than ever before if that is what you are into. They make way more power than they really need to, and propel a 8,000lbs truck down a 1/4 mile as fast as some sports cars on the road. The 2017 F250 6.7 makes 440hp and 925lbs/ft of torque.... that is pure insanity. I'd take any of the three, but I would be considering 2017 F250 if I were in the market. It is one hell of a strong truck. The Chevy's independent front suspension will give you a smoother ride over some of the bumps... but I still prefer a solid front axle. And for the life of me I still don't understand why the DEF tank hangs down so low on the Chevy/GMC?

 

[bronze_10]

The ford's 6.7 seems to be holding together and is a good engine... but when I start looking at trucks to buy (actually just dreaming) I won't even slow down for the ford's 6.0 or 6.4... they were disasters!

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

From the big American Three, I really don't think you can go wrong. All of the new trucks have more tech than ever before if that is what you are into. They make way more power than they really need to, and propel a 8,000lbs truck down a 1/4 mile as fast as some sports cars on the road. The 2017 F250 6.7 makes 440hp and 925lbs/ft of torque.... that is pure insanity. I'd take any of the three, but I would be considering 2017 F250 if I were in the market. It is one hell of a strong truck. The Chevy's independent front suspension will give you a smoother ride over some of the bumps... but I still prefer a solid front axle. And for the life of me I still don't understand why the DEF tank hangs down so low on the Chevy/GMC?

I agree, the horsepower/torque wars are crazy, all these trucks make more power than anyone will ever need. I am not huge into technology even though I work in the technology/telecom field, when comparing the 2016 Ford to my 2012 Ford, there were no substantial differences in the interior which was a bummer to me, pretty much identical. The Chevy interior was overall way nicer in terms of leather, trim, and the bells & whistles - more comfortable. I loved my Ford, but I like the Chevy way better after owning it and driving it for a few months, keep in mind I have always been a Ford Guy and there is a part of me that absolutely despises General Motors, I am part of a pending Class Action Law Suit against them as we speak for the disaster of their LS7 Cylinder Heads eating valve guides prematurely in the C6 Z06 Corvettes. But their trucks are hard to beat, so it was a tough pill to swallow dropping over 120K on two trucks with GM.

I also do not like that the DEF tank hangs low, I do like that the DEF fill area is not next to the Diesel Fuel fill area like the Ford - I met a guy who accidentally poured DEF fluid into the fuel tank, that was an expensive I think he said 10,000.00 mistake.

 

[su laxplayer21]

The ford's 6.7 seems to be holding together and is a good engine... but when I start looking at trucks to buy (actually just dreaming) I won't even slow down for the ford's 6.0 or 6.4... they were disasters!

I don't blame ya. However, if you did an EGR delete and head studs on both of those motors you had yourself reliable engines. Emissions standards were not friendly to those engines.

I agree, the horsepower/torque wars are crazy, all these trucks make more power than anyone will ever need. I am not huge into technology even though I work in the technology/telecom field, when comparing the 2016 Ford to my 2012 Ford, there were no substantial differences in the interior which was a bummer to me, pretty much identical. The Chevy interior was overall way nicer in terms of leather, trim, and the bells & whistles - more comfortable. I loved my Ford, but I like the Chevy way better after owning it and driving it for a few months, keep in mind I have always been a Ford Guy and there is a part of me that absolutely despises General Motors, I am part of a pending Class Action Law Suit against them as we speak for the disaster of their LS7 Cylinder Heads eating valve guides prematurely in the C6 Z06 Corvettes. But their trucks are hard to beat, so it was a tough pill to swallow dropping over 120K on two trucks with GM.

I also do not like that the DEF tank hangs low, I do like that the DEF fill area is not next to the Diesel Fuel fill area like the Ford - I met a guy who accidentally poured DEF fluid into the fuel tank, that was an expensive I think he said 10,000.00 mistake.

I don't think there was much of a difference between the 12' and the 16'. Have you taken a look at the 17'? Obviously you already committed to two trucks which will hopefully treat you great over the years to come! The 17' Ford is a complete redesign, and from the looks of it they improved the interior some. It is the same cab as the F150 and that has been received well.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

The 2017's were not out yet when we bought our new trucks, they sure did a nice job on the interior, 100 times better than before.