Ford, Dodge, Chevy.... they all have thier lemons. and I suppose they all have their good ones. some get good ones, like me and some dont. Friend bought a 75 Dodge powerwagon. and less than a year later the front wheel bearings were shot and he almost lost a wheel driving it home. But thats not the only reason he changed to ford...even though they also have some of their own idiosyncracies.. One of Fords biggest failures to me is when they got rid of their bulletproof 9 inch rear ends and replaced them with the same stinking thing that Chevy has... a rear drop out carrier assembly. Hardly bulletproof. Even stock car racers , chevy, dodge, ford all use the old 9 inch because they are just nearly impossible to destroy. I will never understand it, even though I know it was a financial thing or something some college boy at Ford pointed out that was a way to make more money... put certain junk parts in with a short life expectancy. I think they all do that though.... ya cant make money if ya sell something that dont wear out.
egad I hope Ive stayed within this threads guidelines... Im gonna kill myself if i get nailed by another room monitor.

 

Dodge was never a work truck they fall apart way too fast the local Forestry companies tried Dodge they didn't last and went back to tried and true Fords. You don't see many Dodges used in gravel mines or heavy construction sites where the trucks see alot of off roading.

Lets put it this way Dodge was never interested in buiding P/U trucks for the Vocational/Heavy industry market where Ford is and one of the reasons why you see more Fords being used as work trucks.

I have seen old Ford crewcabs that have been used for bush service in logging camps for 90% of their life and still running strong. Some of the trucks were bought off the dealers lot brandnew and maybe used for highway service for a year then they went into the bush and never see a paved road since except for when they go to the shop to get serviced.

Chevys used tobe used for bush trucks until they went to the IFS on their 4x4 trucks so now Chevys are used for trucks that see the odd bit of off road but spend most of the time on pavement.

 

"we decided to try dodge's for oil field work on the north slope in alaska and the dodge's fall apart!!!!!! we got 6(count om 6 truck's) 3500 4x4 auto cummins and by 6,000-10,000 miles we had to give them back to the dealer cause we could not use them any more we had MANY problem's with them"

im just tellin the truth (im am a die hard ford fan tho) we had these truck's for a VERY short time.... an i can tell you our 350 PSD crew cab's have never let us down in all of 25 year's not one guy has been stranded cause his pickup died (and that happend in the middel of the winter to a poor guy that got one of these junk dodge's the altranator shorted out at 4k and he lost all power and it died at -60 now how would you liked to have been him? in a brand new truck and it dies on you? he would have died if a another guy hadent happend apon him (sense he lost power no CB)
im just tellin you what happend with these>>>6<<< truck's that we had when we gave them back to the dealer only 1 of them where running correcly and all of them had MANY brokein part's

BTW we tested these dodge's in 2001 and gave them back in about 5-6 mounths

p.s. i have a 91 250 with 58 original mile's and it hads no rust and run's like brand new

 

Not only are the newer Dodges drivetrains built like a paper house, their suspension systems are too. They don't beef the frame up at all, the rear leaf springs are way too long and not thick enough. 94 and up models' front suspension arms are stamped out of tin. I used to work for Alcoa Automotive, a major manufacturer of cast aluminum parts for the big 3. The steering knuckles on the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks are the exact same. So the 3/4 ton models are not much stronger than the 1/2 ton pickups, stupid huh? Ford's TTB system is actually a quite durable suspension set up, if it is properly cared for. I redid my 84 F150 4wd 3 years ago, I wheel it pretty hard and I still have no problems. I like the TTB system, it rides smooth and has tons of suspension travel.

 

Dman I think we all have had that perverbial junk chevy. I know I did. Anyway how much on-road use is where rust becomes a factor, the SALT/SAND mixture here in ohio is awful. My van which had ZERO rust when I move back over here in december is now showing signs of starting a little around the doors. You said your truck sees mostly off road use that is why you don;t have much rust on it. Mud and water don't eat the paint like road salt.

 

Mr Dodge2003, here is an intersting tidbit the DODGE AND FORD have recieved IDENTICAL crash test ratings for 2003, so where do you get your crash test info? I got mine from http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/NCAP/Cars/2003Pkup.html

 

My truck is a 2x4 no I don't take it off road all the time. has it been yes. But most of the miles are running miles. Going to George town Ohio for tractor parts ar running to Cincinnati for dinner/dance club. This truck has pulled many of 1000lb round bales. This truck never missed a beat in all the years I have had it.
It was even totaled when I got hit by a car two years ago. put a new coat of paint on the right side and some body work. Drivers side still looks as good as the side we just completely repaired.

Even if My 93 diesel had been doing all off road work. By what you guys say the frame should be in 4 pices and tranny should have went out as soon as my wheels left the pavement. In the first 4k miles I would have already need a the whole inside of the cab redone. by 10K would have lost a bed because of all the junk body parts that dodge uses. All I hear is DODGE is junk.

6 Dodge trucks that were junk. I can show you some 2001 that have been put through some hell and they dont look new but the still run like a raped ape. Just drove by my Work place tuesday and saw our 00 Ford king cab auto V10. it has 25k miles on it and it has had a new fuel pump. alt. radiator.rear drums. and it is back at the shop. Can I say Ford is junk because I saw a few at the shop or know about some that have been junk?

 

My dad has had 2 dodges one was a 74 3/4 ton and the other an 89 1/ton, the 74 couldn't tow the race car, and out 89 never ran right. 3.9 v6 with 60k on it.... never gave us much problems, just noisy in the cab and didn;t like a load. The ride was a bit stiff for a 1/2 ton as well. I drove it for a couple of week to put it through it;s paces after we bought it. We just always had better luck wtih fords, not as many little inconvenience problems.

 

Kenworth. You say dodge never built a 4x4 truck worth anything?
Heck I give up its no use I have done this before with you on other DODGE sites Its not worth it you can't get brains from a rock.
What does Power-wagon mean to everyone?

P/S Gonzo sent me

 

hey im JUST tellin in what happend with the dodge's that we tried im not makin stuff up or talkin out my butt im just tellin you COLD HARD FACT"S dodge's are junck for HARD work

we have 20 1993's-1997 250's and 350's that we are about to sell and most of them have 300k miles on them and they don't look real good but the run REAL GOOD and there reliable and have got therew MANY -70 and colder degree winter's and havent skiped a beat

 

Mr. pfogle, the test results were on the "offset crash", which is usually the way the real world crashes happen. I wish you all the luck with your fords I'm sure they are good trucks they all have made good and bad and I hope I have a good one.

 

I have had 3 bad trucks actually, one 79 chevy 4x4, one 87, F150 (my fault for running the you-know-what out of it.) and an 89 Dodge, It just happens that every dodge or chevy that we have ever owned had little problems that either were not repairable or the truck was not worth fixing.

 

The only good 4x4s dodge made were the ooold Power Wagons for the Military. Late 70s 1/2 ton 4x4s were all full time 4wd, not everybody wants that. Besides the front wheel bearings are a bitch to change. And if it's worn bad enough the whole hub is junk and it's like 90 bones for a new one. Not only that but you can't put lockouts on those frontends to convert to part time 4wd. How lame is that?

 

Lock outs who wants lock outs? I', lazy you think for a sec I'm going to get out of my truck walk through mud water and what have ya just to lock the hubs in so that as soon as I get out I have to unlock them. All I have to do now is pull a lever. I don't even spill my drink just reach down give a tug and its in 4x4. so far on this system in the 3 trucks we own we have 260k miles and no problems works like a charm.

 

I'm with you on that one Dman. I've never had problems with a permanently engaged front axle, but I have had problems with locking hubs a couple times. It's damn nice when you're driving down the highway in winter and come to a slippery section to be able to just pull a lever or flip a switch and you're in four wheel drive.