Good for you. Many of us seem to, is that okay with you? Or because we find the asthetics of the '09 Dodge better than the '09 Ford can we not graze the same message board you do?
I'm not on this forum for f-150s very much but i have to make a few comments about some of the things on here. That Dodge is pretty cool. I've owned alot of new vehicles in the last ten years, and a little food for thought, i worked for a GM spin off facility during those times. This is what i've owned new.
1998 F-150 XL LB 4.2 5sp 3:08= 17cty/22hwy Great truck 0 problems
2000 F-150 XLT SCLB 5.4 AT 3:55= 14cty/16 Great truck 0 problems
2000 Pontiac Aztec GT 3.4 AT= 21cty/26hwy Mediocer Intake leak
2002 Chevy Tahoe LT 5.3 3:73= 14cty/16hwy Air conditioning probs, rear wiper motor, speakers falling out of doors
2003 F-250 Lariat CCSB 7.3 AT 3:73= 14cty/17hwy Entire front end rebuilt, Transmission,Brake booster,Auto locking hubs i still own.
2005 Pontiac Aztec= same as above no problems
2006 Jeep Liberty CRD 21cty/ 26hwy several recall issues due to the diesel
2006 Dodge durango 5.7 AT MDS 3:73= 12cty/ 16hwy 0 problems
so i will cut to the chase, the vehicles are built by humans at every phase from parts suppliers to assembly lines, there are always going to be bad vehicles. In my experience it seems the more you pay the more probs you have. If i did'nt truly love my 250 i would have sent it down the road a long time ago because it has been the worst by far. I liked every 150 ive had, but i also love our Durango.Somebody saying they got 22 is just rediculous. Maybe driving 55 and a tail wind. Blind loyalty is not a good thing either because it does'nt force ford or GM to do anything differant. Dodge on the other hand has been fighting the perception that their still making the junk they made in the 70s and 80s and they have really good product. Ford and GM have been relying on loyalty and the Japs are kicking their asses. Hopefully they will wake up soon. Im not a fan of the 09 150 or the preceeding style. I think GM and Ford missed on them. Just my 02cents.
I'm thinking with a history of 2 Pontiac Aztec purchases, your opinion on anything car or truck related shouldn't count.
Also, I see a lot of discussion about HP outputs and fuel economy ratings on the various offerings by the manufacturers. My thoughts on that are as follows.
Toyota Tundra Lots of HP but very little low end torque. Toyota compensates for this with a 4.10 rear end, the idea being that it will have good off-the-line accelleration having the more adventageous gear ratio that causes the RPMs to raise at a faster rate than the other trucks. The 4.10 rear end is then countered by the 6 speed transmission. The extra 2 gears make the final drive ration acceptable for economy, despite the 4.10. The problem with this is that if you load it or pull with it, the top gears really wont come into play. At this time, the shortcomings of the 4.10 rear end are exposed and economy plummets. The Toyota engine is a fine car engine. Not much of a truck engine though.
Chevy and Dodge use the ole displacement on demand system for their large, high output gas-guzzler engines. It's a great system for getting decent EPA ratings, but in the real world, how many miles are you really going to log on cruise control? Unless you do a lot of cross country driving, the system is actually detrimental. Part of the cost of that truck goes to cover the expense of the system, which wont even come in to play very much.
Nissan has a very good truck engine. Too bad about the rest of the truck.
Ford has a simple approach. They do not care one way or the other about winning a horsepower war. They make a fine, fairly efficient 5.4 V-8 that makes loads of low end torque. It is adequate to tow, haul, commute, offroad, whatever you want to do. The last rise in its fuel economy happened when the went to the 3 valve heads. It's time for further improvements. I doubt very seriously if they will go for a displacement on demand system. I also doubt they will go for a bigger engine that makes higher hp numbers so the can brag about having the most horsepower. Ford isnt really much for gimmicks. They will definately offer a 6 speed transmission, though. That would be a system to increase MPG that actually does work, and the transmission has already been in service on the Expedition since the 07 model year.
MDS does not need cruise control on at all, there was a test done with a scanner hooked up to the computer, and for a suprisingly large portion of highway AND city driving, MDS was activated and running.
Anyways, I thought dodge was really fighitng that they made junk in the late 80s and 90s. I thought they had pretty solid engines and transmissions back in the 70s?
Not so much. For a couple years, I drove a patrol car with the "440 magnum". It was great until you got to about 120mph, at which time the belts would fly off. Same problem on our entire fleet of them.
......then again, I guess that was better than the 318 I had in my 89 patrol car. It went 65 mph wide freeking open. I had to drive that heap until 91. After 2 years, the drive shaft fell off while I was going down the road, so I was issued a 91 Chevy. The death of my Dodge was pretty much the highlight of my life.
It was great until you got to about 120mph, at which time the belts would fly off.
So it should be fine in day-to-day driving lol...
And don't complain about the 318 in a patrol car...imagine a 318 in a 3/4 ton van...a buddy of mine picked up one of those for free thinking he could pull the engine out and drop it in a Mitsubishi Eclipse (I didn't say he was mechanically intelligent...). That van couldn't get out of it's own way, I can't imagine it hitting 65 floored going down Mount Saint Helens.
The Dodge looks nice. I do like the rail boxes. I think maybe Ford should add some extra storage places. Mine is a 97 s-cab and storage room is limited. Maybe some rail boxes and you could make the rear bumper a storage area. Maybe a little deeper front to rear and the top could be hinged. We made some for a few utility trucks about 15-20 years ago. There are lots of storage places on trucks thats not being used.
I must say I went to the detroit auto show, and looked both at the new F-150 and the new Ram, and I honestly liked the F-150 better. The Ram doesn't look as aggressive in real life as it does in pictures imho, where the F-150 looks even better in person than in pictures again imo.
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Jake
Mine: 1994 F-150 4x4 Supercab, 351, E4OD, Light Santa Fe Clearcoat/Medium Polomino Accent 157,000 miles
My Project: 1978 F-150 Reg Cab 4x2 302 C4 Brown
Mom's: 2001 Focus SE Sport, 2.0L Zetec Fort Knox Gold 136,000 miles
At least dodge and the whole chrysler corporation for that matter is headed in the right direction.
In my opinion the new ram is a good looking truck. I own an '04 and I love it. I will say that it has much to be desired though when compared to an F-150.
Dodge has always been the "younger" guys truck. More agressive styling, high revving V8 motors, stylish interior.
Where as Ford is the accomplished business mans truck. More sophisticated styling, business first interiors, just more practical.
Thats why there is more than one manufacturer, it makes things interesting.
I'll still Stick with my '06 f350!!
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-1998 Ford P71, THIS CAR IS SCAREY FAST!!!
While I still think that the Super Duty is the best heavy duty truck out there, the Dodge sure looks good as a half ton model. My 93 F150 is starting to get a little rusty, and its soon time for a new one. If I don't go with a Super Duty, and end up looking at a half ton again, I am going to take a hard look at the Dodge. I think its much nicer looking than the F150. The factory dual exhausts are really neat, and I bet they sound good too. More importantly, I see a 6 speed manual transmission option too. Lots going for it.
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