My father has been a faithful GMC man for over 30 years after Ford stuck him on a warranty issue with a ford car he once owned. With the government ownership/partnership of GM, he has since decided to release his anger from Ford and focus it on GM and Dodge...

His 1996 2500 GMC is running on it's last leg, and he needs a new farm truck. We went looking today, and I just got done trying to build him a truck online with what he wants. Seems simple enough.

He needs a 3/4 or 1 ton single cab pickup with a gas motor, cloth seats, 4x4 with a manual transmission. A very plain jane work truck with no bells and whistles. How hard could it be to find one in a farming community?

Here's a recap of how my day went...

We looked at GM's trucks... Nothing on the lot looked worth a crap. The new cloth seats are ugly (basically, the whole design of the entire truck is ugly IMO), only about 1/2 the bumper is actually metal, and you have to be nearly 7 foot tall to stand on the ground and reach over the side of the bed to get anything out of the back.

We looked at Ford. At least they have metal bumbers... But, what is that vinyl crap on their seats? I will say that they look better than the "leather" seats of my mom's Suburban...

We didn't bother with dodges... He's seen plenty of them up close, and doesn't like what he sees, and frankly, neither do I.

So, I decide to be a good son and go online to build him a truck from the big 3 manufacturers, and see what I find.

First, it was GM. You can get the ugly cloth seats with the 6.0L gas motor in a 2500 4x4 non-loaded-to-the-hilt chassis, but, what?! No manual transmission, and no 4.10 gears?? WTH?

On to Dodge... Wow, the prices automatically go up about $3,000 just on the base price. Money's not that much of an option to him though, as long as he can get what he wants...

You can get a 2500 4x4 with a gas motor, cloth seats, no frills, but as soon as you choose a manual transmission, it sticks you with a cummins? NOOO, he doesn't WANT a diesel engine, give me the option for a gas motor and manual transmission!

On to Ford..

Well, so far so good... I can get a F-250, plain and simple with the V10, 4x4 single cab... 4.10 gears... so far so good... Ok, now to take care of those ugly vinyl seats.. Here's where I being to punch myself in the face... why on God's green earth would changing the seats from vinyl to cloth warrant a change from a manual to an automatic transmission?

So, I have learned today that not only can you not buy a good work truck to use on a farm, but, you can't even order one from factory the way you want?!

What happened to just years ago when you could order what you wanted?

 

I sense your frustration. Yeh it would be nice to order what we want. IMO I think the suerduty is the only real work truck left out there. I have one myself its an XLT model with cloth seats but its been a great truck for me. Use it everyday on the farm either pulling a livestock or flatbed trailer. I have an auto. The days off manual are about over. Hope your Dad can get a truck that serves his purpose an gets the job done.

 

Well, the F-250 is probably what he'll decide on, and he informed me that after some afterthought, he would get the automatic as long as he can get the 4.10's. He said his ankles aren't what they used to be, and would like to spare his left one.

I've been surprised many ways today.. One by the lack of customization of trucks now days, and 2nd, my die-hard GM father who will pull a trailer with nothing but a stick, now is considering a Ford with an automatic tranny...

 

I find it very pathetic for people to have hate and anger toward GM and Chrysler for taking the bailout. To think what they have done for this country to only been turned on the second they need help.

 

I feel your pain about not finding what you want in a truck. I'm looking to get a used gasser for a gooseneck setup and Ford is pretty much my only option simply because of availability. I, like your father, like GM trucks and actually think the GM chassis is better for what I want to do, but I'm looking at pulling 17k of trailer/load, which takes out the 6.0L gasser. I'm left with the 8.1 L which I not only can't find, but believe is not as good as the V10, which leaves me with the still somewhat scarce F250 w/ V10.

If your dad is planning on pulling north of 14k of trailer/load the Ford/V10 is probably a wise decision vs the GM w/ 6.0. If he's pulling less and really wants a GM with a manual there a bunch of used GM 2500's with the old body style on autotrader. Most of them are a plain-jane truck and some have manuals. If I was pulling less I'd jump on one as they are a nice price compared to a new one.

 

Well your old many better hurry the hell up and by a 2010 or earlier new Ford. 2010 is the LAST year for the manual transmission in the SD 250-550 period. The 2010 model year will be a short run too and the 2011 will be probably early next year with a manual tranny only.

Fords build site blows and is full of errors. I've found several errors on the build site option wise for the F150 and SDs.

I suggest you take your dad to a Ford dealer and sit down with a salesman and see if you can come up with a truck. BTW since he wants a gasser I highly recommend the 6.8l its a great motor only $600 extra too. 2010 is the last year for the 6.8l in the F-250 and F-350 too. If he will settle for the auto trans (5R110 torqshift) its a great trans, but I'd get the 6.8l over the 5.4l any day of the week.

 

I strongly encourage your dad to get the Ford V10. I just went from an '08 Ford F-250 4X4 V10 auto to an '08 Chevy 2500 4X4 6.0 auto and I regret it everyday. The only reason I'm not still driving the Ford is because I rolled it 4 times, dumb **** thing to do.

 

Sorryy to hear about your truck and wreck bigdaddy. You didn't even have that truck long.

 

this might sound odd, but if the truck is for farm use and he really wants cloth seats..

why doesnt he get a vinyl seat like u can build and simply install quality cloth seat covers, then when they get stained/torn or whateva he can replace em simply/cheaply ???

p.s. steer him to the Ford, its the right truck for sure.. esp. over that garbage IFS car front end GMC calls heavy duty.. LOL...

YouTube - Why not to buy a Duramax

nice design there, hhahaha

 

No I didn't, had her about 2 1/2 months. Just got her running and looking exactly how I wanted and then *** over tea kettle I went. Heard good things about the GM 6.0/auto combo, I didn't really get what I was expecting. Hell I liked my hemi auto combo in my '07 Dodge 2500 better than I do the 6.0 auto I have now. No worries though, I will be back in a Ford soon.

 

FordFanatic, I'll meet your video with a few from a Duramax that takes names and kicks a$$ all over south-central PA.

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Here's proof that a Chevy actually wins, about 2:40. Sorry for the goofy posting, it's my first attempt at embedding.

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Pulls are for people with too much money. They really don't mean to much to the real world. Take a Ford, Dodge, and GM comparitively equipped, show them off and then I might pay attention. Unfortunately the only thing I have to go on for that is pickup truck mag shootouts.

 

Good to hear you'll be getting another Ford, another 6.8l? Just curious what exactly you don't like about the 6.0l/auto combo. Down on power? It did pretty good in the pickuptruck.com shootout a while back.

 

Yes most definately another 6.8, I will never own another Ford Diesel unless the get the CTD or somehow talk CAT into mass producing a light duty diesel for their trucks. Wait, I take that back, I'd like to get my hands on a '97 (pre transition) F-250 PSD 5 speed but thats another story.

The tranny shifts smoothly and the motor makes decent power but its just doesnt seem like the shift points are right or something. I read the same article as you in pickuptruck.com and the reviews it got there were a big reason I bought it. After driving it though, there must be some sort of configuration different between mine and what was used in the shootout because there is no way in hell that the 6.0 I have now could have even touched my 6.8 in a race or a pull-off.

Its not just the power I dont like. The truck sits too low, cab isn't as big (this wasn't a big deal until I got a crew cab Ford and felt like I was driving a limo), the "manumatic" tranny isn't really a manual at all-its very finicky about letting you manually shift in and out of gears. Overall its just not a Ford.

Very misleading article as far as I'm concerned.