I just sold an '03 Dodge 3500 Cummins 4x4 and let me tell you the ONLY thing good about that truck was the Cummins motor. with only 149,000 miles on it I had completley rebuilt the front end From tie rods to ball joints and everything in between. The cab lights started leaking, the front drive shaft I had to have ujoints replaced twice within a three year time span and maybe had it in four wheel drive a dozen times out in the field or in the snow, nothing extreme. replaced rear ujoints as well. Oh and in the three years I owned the truck front brake pads replaced average of once a year. it was by far and away the worst truck I have ever owned. and I have owned at least one from all the big three. Back in a Ford and that is where I'll stay.

 

i agree with staying in a ford for the rest of my life

 

I had a Dodge before this Ford, and it was a fair truck. I paid $200 for it, drove it for 3 years, and sold it for $250, and never put a dime into it. I did work on it constantly though. Wiring was a big problem.

With this Ford, I really like it, It pulls anything I hook it too, but it's been a pain tryin to get it to quit leaking oil (And I was finaly sucsecfull at that)

So for me, I liked my Dodge ( 87 Dakota - 2.2L 5 speed), but I do like the Ford (1980 4.9L 4 speed).

As for me, I won't have a Chevy, cuzz it's too hard to find one with a manual tranny, and I don't like Auto's. I had one (Auto tranny - Ford), and if I can help it, I'l never have another.

 

I've got a 91 F-Super Duty with the good old 7.3L IDI. They don't get much simpler then the IDI.

 

I love my 1980 truck. Aint nothin on it I can't fix.

 

I would like to see another version of the 300, but only for the cool factor. I have a thing for I6 engines. However, with todays modern tech, the V8's (and some V6 engines like the Ecoboost) are not only making great low end pulling power like the 300, but fantastic passing power as well. And topping all of that off with fuel mileage in the high teens, low 20's.

 

Dodge actually make a "Truck"...... that would be a suprise.

 

I have not found a V-6 Or many V-8's, that put the power to the ground like my 300...

Mine gets about 22 MPG (I made a few mods), and you really can't beat that, and I've never managed to get the thing stuck, and you can bet I've tried.

And as for pull, I pulled a 16' trailer with a dead car stuffed full of trash, and two dead chest freezers in the bed full of stuff we plowed out of our burn pile (A lot of dirt), and went up over tenderfoot, and never shifted it out of forth.

 

The Ecoboost V6 makes over 400 ft lbs by 2,000 RPM and is claimed to get 25 mpg! The Cummins I6 can make 800 ft lbs in a blink of the eye.

What mods have you done to your 300 to get 22 mpg? I would love to gain several miles to the gallon more.

 

I will completely agree with this. I had an 03 2500 dodge ram 5.9l cummins (got it off my dad). bone stock. the window motor shat out, the tranny relay shat out, fuel pump went, ball joints were ****ed, rear pinion leaked. No complaints about the motor but all that happened within like a year of me owning it and i didn't pull, tear it up or wheel it. ****ty trucks, great motor.

 

Power and the 300 don't go hand in hand with out spending a boat load of $$$. The 300 is far from a power house. What it does do is make good low end torque. The torque is what gets loads moving. But the 300 isn't even in the same class as the new engines. They make much more power, more torque and get better mileage. The problem with the new engines is the technology that makes them so great will eventually start to fail. So the longevity of the engines is kind of an unknown factor. That is where the 300 is better. It's dead simple and almost bullet proof. The only other engines that live as long or longer are the old Ford FE big blocks and the 6.9L/7.3L IDI diesels.

I've owned quite a few 300's and never got over 15 mpg with any of them. But what was funny is one of them I owned actually got better mileage pulling a heavy load then it did running empty.


You can pull heavy loads with just about anything as long as the gearing is right. I towed my 20 foot car trailer with a light duty F250 that had a 302 for 4-5 years and never had a problem pulling heavy loads. I've hauled many loads of scrap metal with it and hauled vehicles from a VW rabbit to an old grain truck. But mostly fullsize Ford trucks and Vans.

Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of the 240/300's. But if someone offers me a choice between a free 300 or a free 400+ HP 5.0L Coyote I'm going to take the 5.0L and run! Too bad they aren't free!!

 

Right on, Ted.

Thing is, the 300 really was something when it first came out. It made more torque than most V8's of the time. It really was like a gasoline fired diesel.

Time simply left the 300 in the dust. Ford just never messed with the engine much.

 

I put a new carb on it (big 1 barrel), and I put new exhaust in it. (manifolds, and strait with a single Chery bomb)

I only drive it at 55 MPH too.

 

The big 6 had a long run. I think the only other engine family Ford built for longer was the small block Windsors. The SBF was built like 2 years more then the 240/300. 65-96/97 is pretty impressive.

Ford could have modernized the 300 with a new DOHC cylinder head but the 300 just didn't fit in the newer trucks. That's why they went with the V6 instead.

 

Whatever. I don't worship at the altar of Ford exclusively. If you want to argue about it we can go down that road, but I'd really rather not. I've had a pretty good day here today and really don't feel like ruining it arguing with a close minded disciple of all things blue oval. I've known too many people with kick *** Dodge trucks to be convinced on a Ford forum that a Dodge isn't worth having.