Pickup Truck Thoughts

[Zeldman]

My 2005 GMC pickup has not a trace of rust.

High desert and no salt on roads is a good thing.

Beet juice is used to de-ice the roads.... advantages of beet juice are it is nontoxic and non-corrosive to wheels. It is freeze resistant down to minus 35 F. And yes, it will stain the slush a brownish red color...

 

[Daleandee]

I don’t know where you’re looking, but here in Kansas I see them every day.

I was gonna reply that my 1999 GMC Safari (a van built on a truck chassis) is still on the road at 175K. Got the reliable 4.3 V-6 and rated to tow up to 5500 lbs. Been a good truck so far but I still likes my Ford better ...

 

[EdFred]

I was gonna reply that my 1999 GMC Safari (a van built on a truck chassis) is still on the road at 175K. Got the reliable 4.3 V-6 and rated to tow up to 5500 lbs. Been a good truck so far but I still likes my Ford better ...

We finally retired one of those at work 5,000 miles short of half a million.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Used to be a die hard Dodge fan with three trucks since 1998 but they have progressively gotten crappier and cheaper build quality over the years. Earlier Dodges were solid and the bar to meet, later trucks are crap with rear end and transmissions failing left and right. Last truck was a Silverado 2500 and ran that thing into the ground. Now in a Silverado 1500 Traill Boss and love that thing as the interior is super nice and drives like a sports car but if I needed a true work truck with solid tow capabilities I would likely be in a Ford even though I have never driven one that was comfortable interior wise to me.

I bought an aftermarket hack that disables that stupid auto stop feature that you can't disengage full time otherwise.

Toyotas are solid daily driver/weekend warrior trucks but not a true towing work truck if you need that power IMO

I had the aftermarket OBD2 plug that disabled the AFM on the wife's 2007 GMC Sierra and our 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP. Both had the 5.3L LS-v8, both drank almost 2 qts of oil in between 5K-mile oil changes. The AFM used to cause a transmission shudder in the Pontiac which was eliminated with the OBD2 plug.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Do those of you that like your diesels take fuel price into consideration. Sure, 30 mpg is good, but if diesel costs twice as much as gasoline you are looking at 15 mpg equivalent.

But then again, that is nothing compared to Avgas!

It was at least even-money prior to a year ago when diesel prices went crazy. In my vehicle (Ford Excursion) the diesel was the most powerful and most fuel efficient engine option. The v10 is the other pppular engine option which is a good engine, but barely gets 14mpg highway in an SUV with 8K lbs curb weight. My 6.0L Powerstroke will get 15-16mpg around town and 18-20mpg highway. There are only a handful of options for a full-size SUV that sometimes needs to tow 9-10K lbs, so the diesel Excursion is it for me. We have smaller sports sedans to drive for when we want to be more economical.

 

[PilotRPI]

Took my truck in for some maint and asked them to take a good look at the frame. They said it is actually in really good shape with just some surface rust in spots, so will keep this one going for awhile longer. Would rather put $2k a year into maintenance than need to spend $50k plus on a new one that doesn't run as well.

 

[Flymy47]

My dad's got a 2019 F150 3.5L Ecoboost. It's the first Ford he's ever had after being GM/Chevy. He only got it because Ford were the only ones that offered the 150/1500 extended cab long bed. . With 60k miles on it the thing sounds like an old Cummins on start up. Helluva rattle. Lately it's developed a knock when it idles.

The diesel sound and knocking is interesting. I have a 2018 XLT with the 5.0L V8, and have been having issues with it doing the same. It died on me at a stoplight the other day multiple times. The codes I pulled with the reader indicate a timing problem. It's going in to the shop in a couple weeks, so I can't wait to hear what they find out (I'm thinking it's related to cam phasing).

Other than that, I love the truck. Super comfortable during the drive to Oshkosh a few years ago. My only other complaint is that it has the turning radius of the U.S.S. Missouri, but I expected that when I bought it. I've used it to tow a lightweight car carrier trailer with a Sonerai on it from OK back to TN, and it was no issue.

 

[Morgan3820]

My dad's got a 2019 F150 3.5L Ecoboost. It's the first Ford he's ever had after being GM/Chevy. He only got it because Ford were the only ones that offered the 150/1500 extended cab long bed. . With 60k miles on it the thing sounds like an old Cummins on start up. Helluva rattle. Lately it's developed a knock when it idles. Towing an enclosed trailer with a UTV from Northern Illinois to New Mexico, we get a whopping 6.7mpg round trip, and with a 23 gallon tank you need to stop every 2 hours to fill up. Tows great, but there's no replacement for displacement. Personally, I think Ford's sync is hot garbage. It acts up in his truck and in my 2017 F550.

The only problem I've had with my 2012 GMC Sierra 1500 was I shelled the rear end gear a couple years ago. That one was self inflicted and I'd rather not talk about it.

The rattles sounds like the cam phasors need replacement..There are several YT videos on this issue.

 

[Racerx]

Why don't we spray corrosion x in our trucks rocker panels like we do our planes?

 

[MauleSkinner]

I don’t know where you’re looking, but here in Kansas I see them every day.

I sold my ‘97 Silverado 4x4 about 5 years ago…235,000 miles, but had some rust from living in Minnesota for most of its life. I was still comfortable with driving it, but my wife was nervous about it, so… I did have to overhaul the transmission at about 150,000 miles, but considering how badly I overheated it hauling a Staggerwing project from California, I figure that wasn’t too bad.

I still see it around occasionally…it’s easy to identify with the lift gate on it.

 

[Jim K]

Why don't we spray corrosion x in our trucks rocker panels like we do our planes?

I actually coated the bottom side of my new one with "fluid film", including in every body plug I could find. I'll let you know how it works in 20 years.

 

[Southpaw]

I sold my ‘97 Silverado 4x4 about 5 years ago…235,000 miles, but had some rust from living in Minnesota for most of its life. I was still comfortable with driving it, but my wide was nervous about it, so… I did have to overhaul the transmission at about 150,000 miles, but considering how badly I overheated it hauling a Staggerwing project from California, I figure that wasn’t too bad.

I still see it around occasionally…it’s easy to identify with the lift gate on it.

Does your wife know you are calling her a "wide"?

 

[MauleSkinner]

Does your wife know you are calling her a "wide"?

Ouch…that was close!

 

[Skymac]

No one has really talked about to 3.0L diesel from GM. I absolutely love my crew cab, standard bed Silverado. So much more truck than a normal 1500.

 

[Wagondriver]

I drive a 96 Toyota 4Runner, same as a tacoma essentially. 310k miles on it. I put the last 70k on it. I replaced one coil pack that had a corroded spark plug connection, one radiator hose, and one heater hose. Thats it!

I’ve always been a ford guy, but I wouldn’t take a 90’s vintage ford if it were free! You see 90’s Toyotas all the time, can’t recall the last time I saw a 90’s ford or Chevy.
My new tacoma was supposed to be here yesterday, it’s now scheduled for deliver Wednesday. They sell for almost as much used as new.

 

[Zeldman]

I actually coated the bottom side of my new one with "fluid film", including in every body plug I could find. I'll let you know how it works in 20 years.

I used to have a truck that ''self coated'' the underside.

I just changed the oil filter every now and then...

 

[Ted]

I used to have a truck that ''self coated'' the underside.

I just changed the oil filter every now and then...

That’s how my 91 Town Car was. Needed valve seals and ate a quart every 400 miles.

Changed the filter every so often. Good mosquito repellent.

 

[Jeff Oslick]

Why don't we spray corrosion x in our trucks rocker panels like we do our planes?

Corrosion X is both relatively thin and a dirt magnet, so normal road water washoff combined with the abrasion of the dirt it attracts would probably result in Corrosion X not being that durable for this application. Except in areas with the worst road salt areas, you're better off just doing frequent, thorough, underbody rinses.

It's been awhile since I've read up on these products, but I recall Boeshield being a thicker product that might be more durable for this application.

 

[R.L.Mauzy]

I have been in and around trucks my entire life, including owning and operating a trucking company. I can say with a great deal of authority and expertise that both Ford and GM have been letting us down and that's a shame. I went from being a firm Ford/GM guy to a very firm Ram guy. My reasoning is simple and I'll explain.

First lets talk Ford, it's what I grew up with and was my first love. I've driven and owned everything from a Ranger up to a LTL9000. They used to be great but lately they just seem to be on a slow decline of either bad/lazy engineering or bad quality control or both. They have the right ideas but I think they are executing poorly and agree that auto stop/start feature is the worst, especially on the new turbo motors. That's a shame because those new turbo motors should be brilliant, but they fall short. It's those little shortcomings all over that hurt Ford the most I think, they really add up.

Now GM, I can't advise strongly enough to run away from pretty much anything GM builds or has built in the last 15 to 20 years. There build quality is absolute rubbish and there customer support is worse. This is also a shame as I was a GM fanboy and have owned square-bodies (which I love) and even run those old White/GM commercial trucks which were solid. They own/bought/partnered with several great companies and technologies which on paper should be awesome, but the real world story is the opposite. Quality control, build quality, customer support, life expectancy are all bottom of the barrel and not looking like they want out of the bottom either.

Dodge/Ram is what I now buy. No they are not as fancy, plush, or feature rich as Ford, Gm, Toyota, or even Nissan but that's not why I buy a truck. Now, having said that, I really like how comfortable they are and am perfectly happy with my trucks features and plushness. The more important part for me are things like customer service and reliability and longevity etc. Chrysler as a whole has provided by far the best customer service to us for the last 20 odd years now. We've not had a ton of breakdowns or issues, I've always felt we were normal in that respect, the just are there for us every time and regularly go above and beyond, not something I can say for any other manufacturer car or truck. The trucks perform above expectation without fail, also not something I have been able to say about the new offerings from the others. and they have been reliable, very reliable actually, again not something I can say for the others.

Toyota/Nissan are both trucks I have considered but decided for a variety of reasons they just don't fit into real world flexible truck use for me. Toyota's have a good reputation for reliability and acceptable reputation for customer service but they cost more to run/own and are not as capable as my Ram. They don't seem to be bad per say just not right for my real world abuse. The Nissan's reputation isn't terribly good and their customer service isnt great either. The trucks aren't as capable and aren't as long lived, they just seem to fail on every front in my book. They are pretty though and I understand they are very plush and comfy ...

Also, I don't think I'm biased brand wise, I tend to look at the facts of something as opposed to how I feel about it. My current fleet is - 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle, 1983 Ford F100, 2008 Toyota Matrix, 2017 Volkswagen Jetta, 2019 Kia Forte, 2021 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi. So I have a good mix currently and my Ram 2500 is my second Ram in a row, something I have never done before but my first truck was so good and when I comparison shopped the competition was just not up to the task. While the new Ford F250 7.3 "Godzilla" ran a strong second it still fell down on customer service and mechanical reliability ...

Last thoughts, I avoid anything with direct injection or a stop/start feature I can't disable. Both are reliability issues waiting to happen. We could go down a rabbit hole on this one but suffice it to say that it is well understood now that with direct injection soot/carbon build up and issues related to that will happen, not might but will. It's more a matter of when not if on direct injection. And stop/start systems are already show increased wear cycles and parts replacement, starters come to mind immediately.

Ok going to get my flame proof suit on now that I've fired shots LOL

 

[weilke]

Why don't we spray corrosion x in our trucks rocker panels like we do our planes?

It's available. Owners in the salt areas will often do that. Still leaves the bed supports to rust off, but frame and body panels seem to last longer.

 

[SamSES]

Did you go through washes weekly in the winter, as in touch-less with the under spray?

Prevents the rust problem, they even sell “all you can eat” type passes

 

[Grum.Man]

I think the replies kind of answer the question. Either everyone has different things they value or every make will be a gamble. So buy the one you like the most and not worry about the any perceived issues. Better yet, if what you have still works, keep it!

 

[SamSES]

I think the replies kind of answer the question. Either everyone has different things they value or every make will be a gamble. So buy the one you like the most and not worry about the any perceived issues. Better yet, if what you have still works, keep it!

I think some is not knowing what you don’t know

Some people around my area never wash their trucks in the winter, they buy some nice trucks, I know some of them don’t make too much money, guess they just think trucks are sposed to be junkers after a 4-5 years?

 

[SoonerAviator]

I have been in and around trucks my entire life, including owning and operating a trucking company. I can say with a great deal of authority and expertise that both Ford and GM have been letting us down and that's a shame. I went from being a firm Ford/GM guy to a very firm Ram guy. My reasoning is simple and I'll explain.

First lets talk Ford, it's what I grew up with and was my first love. I've driven and owned everything from a Ranger up to a LTL9000. They used to be great but lately they just seem to be on a slow decline of either bad/lazy engineering or bad quality control or both. They have the right ideas but I think they are executing poorly and agree that auto stop/start feature is the worst, especially on the new turbo motors. That's a shame because those new turbo motors should be brilliant, but they fall short. It's those little shortcomings all over that hurt Ford the most I think, they really add up.

Now GM, I can't advise strongly enough to run away from pretty much anything GM builds or has built in the last 15 to 20 years. There build quality is absolute rubbish and there customer support is worse. This is also a shame as I was a GM fanboy and have owned square-bodies (which I love) and even run those old White/GM commercial trucks which were solid. They own/bought/partnered with several great companies and technologies which on paper should be awesome, but the real world story is the opposite. Quality control, build quality, customer support, life expectancy are all bottom of the barrel and not looking like they want out of the bottom either.

Dodge/Ram is what I now buy. No they are not as fancy, plush, or feature rich as Ford, Gm, Toyota, or even Nissan but that's not why I buy a truck. Now, having said that, I really like how comfortable they are and am perfectly happy with my trucks features and plushness. The more important part for me are things like customer service and reliability and longevity etc. Chrysler as a whole has provided by far the best customer service to us for the last 20 odd years now. We've not had a ton of breakdowns or issues, I've always felt we were normal in that respect, the just are there for us every time and regularly go above and beyond, not something I can say for any other manufacturer car or truck. The trucks perform above expectation without fail, also not something I have been able to say about the new offerings from the others. and they have been reliable, very reliable actually, again not something I can say for the others.

Toyota/Nissan are both trucks I have considered but decided for a variety of reasons they just don't fit into real world flexible truck use for me. Toyota's have a good reputation for reliability and acceptable reputation for customer service but they cost more to run/own and are not as capable as my Ram. They don't seem to be bad per say just not right for my real world abuse. The Nissan's reputation isn't terribly good and their customer service isnt great either. The trucks aren't as capable and aren't as long lived, they just seem to fail on every front in my book. They are pretty though and I understand they are very plush and comfy ...

Also, I don't think I'm biased brand wise, I tend to look at the facts of something as opposed to how I feel about it. My current fleet is - 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle, 1983 Ford F100, 2008 Toyota Matrix, 2017 Volkswagen Jetta, 2019 Kia Forte, 2021 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi. So I have a good mix currently and my Ram 2500 is my second Ram in a row, something I have never done before but my first truck was so good and when I comparison shopped the competition was just not up to the task. While the new Ford F250 7.3 "Godzilla" ran a strong second it still fell down on customer service and mechanical reliability ...

Last thoughts, I avoid anything with direct injection or a stop/start feature I can't disable. Both are reliability issues waiting to happen. We could go down a rabbit hole on this one but suffice it to say that it is well understood now that with direct injection soot/carbon build up and issues related to that will happen, not might but will. It's more a matter of when not if on direct injection. And stop/start systems are already show increased wear cycles and parts replacement, starters come to mind immediately.

Ok going to get my flame proof suit on now that I've fired shots LOL

The EcoBoost engines from Ford have both direct injection and port injection to combat the carbon issues. Lots of them routinely make 200K without any issue. You might want to revisit your understanding of the latest revisions to the tech.

 

[SamSES]

The EcoBoost engines from Ford have both direct injection and port injection to combat the carbon issues. Lots of them routinely make 200K without any issue. You might want to revisit your understanding of the latest revisions to the tech.

Laughs in armies of poorly maintained decade and half year old Toyotas


200k was impressive in 1990

Seems like auto tech peaked and now is starting to go back down

 

[weilke]

Seems like auto tech peaked and now is starting to go back down

True. Apex probably in the early 2000s.

Lots of Accords with historic license plates on the road.

 

[Grum.Man]

2007 ish seems to have been peak car. Before emissions started getting crazy, screens hadn't taken over, and gimmicks were minimal. 2000's cars are easy to work on, easy to diagnose, and cheap to repair. No miles of vacuum lines or ecu's for every function.

 

[R.L.Mauzy]

The EcoBoost engines from Ford have both direct injection and port injection to combat the carbon issues. Lots of them routinely make 200K without any issue. You might want to revisit your understanding of the latest revisions to the tech.

Nice to see that one manufacturer has addressed a single problem/design flaw of one model of engine. I stand on the fact that direct injection alone on modern emissions engines is a problem waiting to happen. I think a lot routinely making 200k without any issue is a bit of a stretch unless we are going to ignore the inherent flaws and known problems with fords water pump system, timing assembly problems, or on the larger trucks (f250 and above) weird things that go wrong with the systems involved with removing the ENTIRE cab and fender assembly to service the engines ... the list goes on really. It's the reason I just can't put a ford in the driveway nowadays. At least with my Ram I know the potential source of problems ... cylinder deactivation on the Hemi is known to cause problems if you don't service the engine religiously. Transmissions have always been suspect and should be treated/service properly. So far in my experience owning multiple Hemi's and Cummins powered cars and trucks I've not had any problems on those fronts. I did eat EGR's regularly on my first Hemi (1st gen 5.7L) until they figured out how to make the EGR assembly live past 40k miles. My Fords have all had major headaches and/or weird failures (except my 98 mustang that thing rocked) and that brings us back to the customer service aspect. Nothing like having the cooling system lines randomly split at the coupling for cab removal and have Ford tell you its your problem and to get bent. Sorry but Ford and GM have been failing the American truck buyer for awhile now, granted with Ford its more a case of bunch's of little things they are either slow to address or just ignore outright. I get that Dodge/Ram used to be considered the bottom but that was decades ago and there is a reason they have surpassed GM and are putting a move on Ford. I honestly never thought I would own a Ram, grew up knowing they were rubbish and you only bought them if you couldn't afford a real truck ie: Ford or GM. Times change and trucks do as well and unfortunately GM appears to have given up and is riding it's reputation for all its worth and Ford seems to just be off track. Maybe they're pushing to many things too hard who knows, but what I can say is I tow a lot ... something like 65-70 percent of the time with my truck and Rams don't let me down but Fords and GM do ...

 

[cowtowner]

I own way too many trucks. 14 of them to be exact All Ford. From a 2022 Platinum F350 Diesel to a 2012 F250 6.7 gasser

They all have issues. We threaten to change brands, only to hear about problems with other brands

I parked the new dually (because of high diesel prices and the fact I'm not pulling much right now) to drive my old truck, which is a 2016 3.5 Ecoboost. Just dropped $5000 putting new exhaust manifolds on it because Ford decided to only use 3 of the 4 bolt holes for actual bolts. Apparently there is a class action lawsuit on this dim witted engineering

The Ecoboost I used like a 3/4 ton and pulled a heavy trailer for about half of its 120,000 miles so far.

We own 6 F350 cab and chasis diesels. They are all turds with the de rated engines and small turbos. Where we used to get 200,000 miles out of one (about 3 years) before they started to fall apart, we now get to about 125,000 miles and we are now trading them in for new ones as the maintenance gets so expensive

We should really go with semi trucks, but DOT makes it impossible to run a small trucking firm. So we stay under 26,000 pulling flatbed trailers and wearing out trucks.

 

[Ethan Hamilton]

I couldn't agree more. We farm in southern Missouri and switched over exclusively to Dodge. The 6.7 Cummins has been very reliable so far, and gets good fuel mileage. Lots more room under the hood compared to a 6.7 Powerstroke as well (easier to work on.)

 

[Tantalum]

There are tons in 90s Ford and GM trucks on the road around here. Granted, many are in a 2nd or 3rd transmission, but the Ford 302/351w and the GM 350 are pretty reliable long term. There are still a number of the layers 90s early 00 models as well, with the Ford Triton v8 (pre-cam phaser) and the GM LS 5.3L (pre AFM).

No one will discount a Taco, but the Tundras aren't exactly plentiful, and the Tundras that remain generally weren't used as "trucks" much of their life.

Thanks, that's a good distinction. Did quality reduce, or "use case" reduce? It seems perhaps before things went from "work truck built to last" and over to "luxury big car" trucks made it longer. A buddy has a 96 Ram and it's still soldiering along..

 

[MSUDavid]

My company provides a work truck for me. I previously had a 2014 F150 with the 3.5. Ran it to 180K before they gave me a 2020 Silverado with the 5.3. The only maintenance the F150 had was regular oil changes, a single set of tires, and spark plugs at 150K.

The Silverado has 70K on it now and no problems yet. I am mostly running them down the highway, so I’m not really tough on them besides not doing all of the scheduled maintenance that my company tries to avoid.
When I purchase a new farm truck (current farm truck is a 2002 impala ) I will probably look for a F150 with the 3.5.

 

[C-1 PILOT]

Finally said goodbye to my 2011 F-250 Lariat crew cab. 145k on the odometer, regular oil changes and tore rotations every 5k miles. Serpentine belt at 140k plugs at 99k, 6 sets of tires or was it 7…I lost track. So, after 11yrs and 8 months it was time to move on, as it was starting to nickel and dime me.

Fast forward, I was able to order a Silverado, as I wanted it, under MSRP. My SIL has a fleet of Chevys, so the dealer “did the right thing”. Lucky me in these crazy times. Got a good trade in and a nice amount of the sticker. 2023 Silverado 2500HD truck production started July 18th. The truck was built and delivered one day short of a month in August. No constraints! Came with everything that was ordered, which surprised me. The only leap of faith I took was getting the Duramax, keeping my fingers crossed diesel drops by April or May. But hey, ,y Ford got 12 mpg and this truck has been averaging 17-18mpg local and as much as 24mpg on the road.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Thanks, that's a good distinction. Did quality reduce, or "use case" reduce? It seems perhaps before things went from "work truck built to last" and over to "luxury big car" trucks made it longer. A buddy has a 96 Ram and it's still soldiering along..

I've got an uncle with a '93 Dodge Ram 1500 with the "magnum V8". It looks like hell (as does every Dodge from the 90's due to extremely poor paint quality), and has had minor issues over time, but it still runs (has a coolant leak somewhere). Was a basic single-cab work truck and had the bare minimum of maintenance done to it. Trucks generally last longer today, but have a lot more electronics problems as things have gotten so integrated. My '98 F-150 Lariat SuperCab was running perfectly and never had a thing needing "repair" other than a heater core in over 160K miles. That truck looked brand new when I sold it, but it was a daily driver with only occasional towing. My '08 F-150 Lariat SuperCrew went 165K miles before I sold it, and again, not anything other than regular oil changes/spark plugs. Truck was absolutely stellar when I sold it, and I only sold it because I figured I was on borrowed time with the cam phasers despite having no sounds/symptoms of a failure. My '07 GMC 1500 crew cab was a solid, reliable truck for 155K miles. It had a few minor hiccups related to the AFM, but nothing that was particularly difficult or expensive to deal with, although the failed motor mounts (extremely common on LS motors) were a pain to change out although not expensive and usually only last 100-120K miles. It drank 2 qts of oil every 5K miles, but it still ran fine. The truck itself was solid. All of my trucks had original transmissions as well, but I am pretty steadfast on keeping fluids changed.

I don't see any issues with any of the truck makers. Sure, there will be lemons of any make/model, or things that are increasingly difficult to service without a shop with $10K in computer software. Hopefully my Excursion has another 200K in it at a minimum, and I don't see any reason it won't as it's built like a brick ****house.

 

[Grum.Man]

I've got an uncle with a '93 Dodge Ram 1500 with the "magnum V8". It looks like hell (as does every Dodge from the 90's due to extremely poor paint quality), and has had minor issues over time, but it still runs (has a coolant leak somewhere). Was a basic single-cab work truck and had the bare minimum of maintenance done to it. Trucks generally last longer today, but have a lot more electronics problems as things have gotten so integrated. My '98 F-150 Lariat SuperCab was running perfectly and never had a thing needing "repair" other than a heater core in over 160K miles. That truck looked brand new when I sold it, but it was a daily driver with only occasional towing. My '08 F-150 Lariat SuperCrew went 165K miles before I sold it, and again, not anything other than regular oil changes/spark plugs. Truck was absolutely stellar when I sold it, and I only sold it because I figured I was on borrowed time with the cam phasers despite having no sounds/symptoms of a failure. My '07 GMC 1500 crew cab was a solid, reliable truck for 155K miles. It had a few minor hiccups related to the AFM, but nothing that was particularly difficult or expensive to deal with, although the failed motor mounts (extremely common on LS motors) were a pain to change out although not expensive and usually only last 100-120K miles. It drank 2 qts of oil every 5K miles, but it still ran fine. The truck itself was solid. All of my trucks had original transmissions as well, but I am pretty steadfast on keeping fluids changed.

I don't see any issues with any of the truck makers. Sure, there will be lemons of any make/model, or things that are increasingly difficult to service without a shop with $10K in computer software. Hopefully my Excursion has another 200K in it at a minimum, and I don't see any reason it won't as it's built like a brick ****house.

Agreed. They are all decent vehicles, chose which ever one makes you happy when you look at it and drive it. They all have their strengths and weakness. Going to a 3/4 ton gas truck solves pretty much any complaint you could have about modern trucks. The gas mileage is pretty in-significant in the grand scheme to avoid all the fuel economy hacks on the 1/2 ton trucks. As far as trucks go I've always owned GM. I just always liked their simplicity and look and they have all treated my family and I well. We have all kept them past 200k miles. Never had a transmission failure but also never had an AFM truck. Dad and I both still have our 05 Silverado and no reason to upgrade.

 

[jbehler]

I have had many years and miles on Toyotas. From SUVs to Tacoma and now a new Tundra. When I bought my Tundra I also considered an F150 and RAM.