Oh I'm sorry. I just love Dodge. I cant wait to get into my butt ugly Ram. I cant wait to get it out on the road and show off my powerfull hemi. I cant wait to get outrun by a Honda Civic in my hemi. I really love the cheap and plastic like interior. Oh and my seats, how comfortable and what superior cloth they use. I'm glad I got the 4x4 model. I can really use this offroad!!! its got great ground clearence!!! I could almost run over a curb!!! Awsome. Im just sad I will have to baby it so I dont ruin the transmission in 20,000 miles. But hey I am glad Dodge is superior to Ford.

 

Ignorance is Bliss ain't it?

 

I hate post 97 Ford 1/2 tons. I HATE them. They are cheap, plasticy, ovepriced pices of itshey. As all ALL of the newer trucks I have looked at, from all of the Big 3. They all have jacked up the price, and severely cut fit and finish, build quality, and the general strenght of the vehciles components. I like Superduties. But for a 1/2 ton, I'll buy a used 96 or earlier. Those were well built, solid trucks, with a real 4x4 front end. Non of this CV shaft crap that has been forced on us by the big 3 now. As for the new "Hemi," it has a pent roof combustion chamber. So does a honda 4. Shall I call them Hemis?

 

i call gm quad 4's hemi's, same pentroof and 4 valves, the 3.4 in my gtp is a hemi 4v quad cam

 

Not being an idiot here, but even though the 3.4 may be of a simplar design, it isn't a hemi. The HEMI is a trademark of chrysler.

 

I don't know about you, but around here the Hemi has a bad track record.
There have been numerous trucks with Hemis dropping valves as well as blowing trannies. Even had first hand experience with a Dodge tranny blowing. My father bought a brand new Ram a while back, and the transmission burned up the first time he hooked up to a load of hay on the farm, less than a month after it was bought new. He swore he'd never buy a Dodge truck again. Ask him today, and he'll say Dodge trucks are toys for people with more money than sense.

 

The thing about Hemi is, it's a marketing ploy. Just as the names Powerstroke & Duramax are, also. Hemi is not that big of a deal. It's just there to sell trucks to the general public, who knows no better.

 

Well said

 

I'm new to the forum (2nd post) but hang out in these circles often. I'm a little surprised at what I'm reading in this thread unless it's just cheap shots to keep the Dodge boys away.

I'm ASE certified and work on cars from time to time and even build the occasional engine. Most of my friends are heavy into building power (speed shops or personal projects) or side jobs doing lift kits etc. I've got a degree (BS & MSE) in Mechanical Engineering, not that it matters here. OK, enough with the boring crap.

First, I've seen the new hemi heads in person (Norm Brandes - WestTech Automotive) next to many others and marveled at their design. While the combustion chamber isn't a hemisphere like some think it should be, it is two partial spheres surrounding the valves with a very important squish zone on both sides essential in a modern engine (to be emissions compliant). The new 5.7L hemi isn't a pent-roof as suggested, far from it. If you feel better calling it a semi-hemi so be it. The pistons have a very slight dome.

The real design feat that makes the hemi so impressive is the valvetrain layout. They've canted the valves to an extreme angle and placed the valves perpendicular to the crank/cam centerlines. You have to see it to appreciate it, this allows for shortest and most direct path to get air in and spent gases out. The ports are huge. One thing Dodge improved with the new hemi is on spark with two plugs sandwiched near the center.

Everyone focuses on the combustion chamber itself when that is only a small part of the story. It's the valvetrain that is a direct descendant of the original (426 and older) that remains optimized and responsible for impressive volumetric efficiency (measure of how much of the swept volume is filled with atmospheric air). In fact, the new 5.7L hemi makes more power / displacement than the old 426 hemi (even more so when both are rated net vs the old gross rating on the 426).

Why are people talking smack about the new hemi? Ford has some catching up to do, they fail to match it's performance with a 3 valve layout (5.4L).

I see a lot of all three makes here in Michigan, in fact more of my friends drive Dodges than Fords or GMs (closer to Auburn Hills than Dearborn or Warren). Several have the new hemi and love them. I must say I don't mind riding shotgun when we go out on Gratiot and take it to all the ricers etc. The 1/2 ton trucks are 14 second terrors right out of the box (standard cab 2WD).

Also, the hemi does have low-end torque. I'd say it's equal to better than the 5.4L 3 valve at all speeds (I've seen these two engines discussed at length here). Please prove me wrong if not, I'll gladly relay the information. For the life of me, I cannot understand why Ford aired a commercial showing them pulling on the Dodge. Does anyone who actually understands the two vehicles doubt Dodge's version of the commercial (independant test where they are both pulling cars)? I've been there, done that, the Dodge will pull on our 5.4L hard right out of the gate.

Come on Ford, give us a little more, we are following the pack.

In terms of reliability, I'd say it's been pretty even between all three. Some people seem to get lemons and swear off the product for good while the next guy loves his ride until the sheetmetal falls off. Time will tell with the hemis, so far they've been out for a year longer than the 5.4L with no recalls or major durability scares. I don't know what to make of the "valves dropping like flies" rumor, I haven't seen it.

 

LOL! I see now that you've been proven wrong you've reverted to a sort of "name calling' and bashing the Dodge. How pathetic, and you talk out of pure ignorance, which amuses me. At least some of the Ford owners here would admit the Dodge has it's strengths, but you simply hide in your hole and continue to bash it because your personal opinion is that it sucks, and your comments about it have no merit whatsoever. "Beaten by a Civic?" LOL... please. unless it's a heavily modded Civic even a QC 4x4 would take one, and stock for stock and even models, the Dodge would take the 5.4L maybe not in towing, but it would in acceleration... except the Lightning, for which it is not meant to compete against.

Man, your childishness blows me out of the water. Maybe you're just trying to get under some Dodge owner skin, and at least that would make me understand it's all in good fun, but from what I see, you just keep bashing cause it's not a Ford & I just ROLF at that. I've had a '76 F-150, '86 F-150, and a whole slew of Fords in late 80's early 90's, and now have a '90 Bronco I just bought.

Honestly, I don't think you can talk about reliability and bash the Dodge. Except for the '76 & '86 the other Fords we owned did not last past 80,000 miles, which is why we didn't buy another one for over a decade, so that should tell ya somethin' about how bad they were in our case. I admit, in the past Dodge trannies have sucked, but so far I haven't had any problems with my Dodge that were manuf. related, and the ones that have had problems from what I can tell isn't anymore than what is standard for vehicles... i.e. lemons and 1st year production mistakes. I've seen a couple guys on the net with problems, but nothing major, and certainly don't know anyone around town, and I tear the crud out of my truck on the road & on the farm. We'll see how it holds up in the long run. I admit I don't put it as reliable as the Chevy, but I certainly put it above Ford from what I've seen, unless their quality has improved dramatically over the past few years, which I'm sure it has, but I've just yet to see it personally.

Again, the previous poster is right, Ford has some catching up to do where the 5.4L vs. 5.7L is concerned. Everyone bashes the Hemi to death and keeps on ragging about all a marketing ploy.... yeah it is a big marketing thing, and it may not be all that and a bag of chips, but it's still better "in a lot of ways" than the 5.4L. Doesn't mean the 5.4L is bad, but put your money where your mouth is and go line up next to a identical model Hemi, and I promise you'll be eating that ignorance.

You can argue towing, I agree that the Hemi is not as good for towing as far as low end torque is concerned. I'm not saying it's not capable of just as much, because I believe it is, but you have to rev high which just isn't practical in most towing instances. I would rather have a 5.4L in a 2500, I admit that, but then you went on to bash the Hemi's speed. It is true that the Ford commercial is BS. And actually, I believe some magazine did a truck pull test, and the Hemi still whooped the 5.4L as I recall.

To each their own, I don't hate Fords, they have their strengths & weaknesses like any manuf., but man, sometimes some people really do have blind loyalty.

 

REALM, chill dude.

Just curious, why do you state the 5.4 3 valve is better at towing?, I'd like to know. If you mean a higher tow rating, fine, that's true and has more to do with our chassis than engine. In terms of engines, the hemi has the 5.4L 3 valve beat at all speeds, most of us know this. So whether you are talking part throttle or wide open throttle, the hemi wins.

Hopefully that's enough to keep you from having the big one.

 

geez ..Relm & Rockclimber. i thought this was a ford forum, hey FTE ..... ..F.....O...R....D.....TRUCK.....E...n..t..h..u..s ..i..a..s..t..s..... go look up the last word... then look at the first word .....put 2 & 2 together.

 

Sorry "f=2504by497" but this is the Ford vs. Competition forum and as long as the guys are keeping it clean an on track, they're doing what this forum was set up to do.

If you agree with them or not, this is the place to do it as long as you do it nicely and keep it to tech, not bashing.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by REALM
[B]LOL! I see now that you've been proven wrong you've reverted to a sort of "name calling' and bashing the Dodge. How pathetic, and you talk out of pure ignorance, which amuses me. At least some of the Ford owners here would admit the Dodge has it's strengths, but you simply hide in your hole and continue to bash it because your personal opinion is that it sucks, and your comments about it have no merit whatsoever.




Actually, I would not be so bitter about it except for the fact that I bought a Hemi, traded it in within two months and lost about $5-7 grand doing it. So I dont talk out of pure ignorance. I talk out of first hand experience. The reason I bought the Hemi, is because I bought into the hype, and the fact that the new F-150 is really an inferior and a complete let down. I am not a avid Ford lover, I like many different cars and trucks. However the Hemi was a huge disapointment, and I have to laugh when the Hemi owners try to defend it. Beleive me I tried to defend it too at first thinking it might grow on me......but it just didn't.....I hated it.
I traded it in and got the F-250 beacause the new F-150 just wasnt doing it for me either. I love the 250 its a beast. My 250 takes off like I wish my Hemi would have or should have.
So no, I'm not ignorant, just an extreemly disapointed, former Hemi owner. Been there done that, just thought I could have at least bitched about it

 

What i stated was the reason why the post's are more pro FORD than pro dodge ie.... the strong feelings for FORDS rather than for the compitition and sometimes feelings exceed fact.