Well, with all the rebates I've decided to look at a bigger truck for my upcoming family. A new daily driver. The fiancee and I test drove a Dodge 1500 4x4 crew cab today. And right now we are keeping a F-150 overnight to try it out. The F-150 is also a 4x4 extended cab truck.

I've always been a Ford guy all my life. I'm on my 4th Ford truck right now. But I will be totally honest guys. Right now, my fiancee and I are both in favor of the Dodge.

The F-150 I'm testing has the "shimmy" problem at almost all speeds. The interior is also cheaper by the touch. Too much thin plastic inside with too many sharp edges. The gas tank door is even plastic. There is so much cheap plastic on the interior of this truck that I honestly don't think it would survive daily use very long. There are some neat features inside like the power point in the rear area, the storage area up above, etc. On the outside, the more I look at the F-150 next to the Dodge, the more I like the Dodge. I just can't get used to all the sharp edges and the "boxy" look of the new Ford.

The Dodge drove better. The interior has a much better quality feel to it. The guages are nicer. This one I test drove has nicer tires, four full size doors, and the 5-speed automatic, not to mention a 70,000 mile warranty on the powertrain for the same money as the Ford. It (in our opinion) looks much better inside and out. I can't really explain it other than to say that after driving both we agreed the Dodge was the nicer truck.

I guess the fuel economy is the only down point to this Dodge truck. I'm still going to drive the F-150 and see what I think about it some more. But right now, I'm not impressed with the new F-150 at all. Just my honest $.02.

 

I also believe that the dodge drives better, brakes better, and runs better, but uses more gas to do it. I like the dodge looks too, but the F 150 supercrew has grown on me. The interior in the upper level ford is quite nice.

Problems with the Dodge:

1. gas mileage (but it IS a truck, so I don't complain too much anymore)
2. paint is not the best, scratches easily (silver or white seem to be the best paint quality)
3. dents easily. the curved design of the short bed coupled with the thinner guage metal that they use these days make for some easy dents.
4. seats are uncomfortable for me for longer trips. never the first complaint around town, but I start getting squirmy looking for a comfortable position after a couple of hours or so.

Other than these things, none of which everyone with one complains of, the truck is great. I thought for a while that I should have gotten something else, so I started test driving other makes again. While I do wish that I had gotten the diesel, I remembered after the test drives why I made the decision that I did.

These third gen dodges really are a step forward from the 2nd gen.

 

I also think the Dodge looks better than the Ford but I don't trust Dodge trucks. There are many things I don't like about the new F-150, not sold on the new style and some of the interior stuff I don't like, hate the tilt wheel. I think the Ford is a better built truck but anyone can build a bad one. I wasn't impressed with the power of Ford's new 5.4 and Dodges Hemi.

Even though the '04 feels more solid than my '02 F-150, I like my old one better. For now I will wait and hope Ford fixes some of the things I don't like.

It's your money, get what you like. Good luck on making your pick.

 

It seems its time to get a real truck. Get a fully resotred 60's or 70's Ford F-100 and youll never look back. Best things out there are old.

 

I had a 68 F150CS with a 390, pulled the 360, great truck...wish I still had it.

 

My sister has a 02 Ram...Recently my dad's truck broke down so he had to choose between a 04 Ram and a 04 F-150..He also got the Ram. I was kinda dissapointed cuz i wanted the Ford, but the Ram is real nice looking. From the 20" wheels to the billet grille. He didnt want the F-150 cuz they dont have a long bed crew cab. He said the Ram handles better.

 

Yeah my fiancee and I talked more last night. The Ford has coil suspension up front, which I like a lot better than the torsion bars. But in the rear the suspension on the Ford sucks. I'll bet the "outbound shock mounts" are the reason for the "shimmy" on these trucks. They should have stuck to the traditional design there. We like the torsion assist on the tailgate with the F-150 too. But then on the way to work, I noticed a lot of wind noise hitting the windshield on the Ford. Probably because of how the truck is shaped. And I can't rest my arm on the door with the window down, which is a picky thing I love to do. And I also can't see traffic behind me with the F-150 because the tailgate is so tall. I am 6'4" and I just feel swallowed up by the Ford. Also, the F-150 has the "dummy" oil pressure guages, etc. that tick me off.

So I keep going back and forth in my head. But as of right now, I'm still leaning toward the Dodge. Hopefully after I turn this F-150 in today they'll let me drive the Dodge for a day to make sure. If the fuel economy on the Dodge was better, it would be an easy choice. But my buddy says he's getting 11 mpg with his Dodge 4.7L.

 

A friend at work is getting 9.4, and he drives like a...well, real slow, he has had it back twice...they say that is they way it is.

 

well, the mileage is not great, but mine has not been quite that bad either. specs: 2003 hemi auto 20" wheels, 3.92 rear. 13.4-14.2 all city, 15.5-16.7 all highway, cruise at 75mph. If I drive on county/state roads and have to keep it at 65mph or less, it goes up and can bump 18-19. All empty/no tow of course.

 

Hey Drive the dodge for a year if you dont like it get the 150. Youve drove both trucks your heads up over most people. Hey by that time if the 150 had any bugs in tem theyll be gone by then. Good Luck on whatever you buy.

 

That would be my beef with the Dodge 1/2 tons also - the rotten mileage. Sharp looking ride though. Right now if it was me I'd get the F150 I thought they did a great job of making the inside 'un-cheap' looking. Excellant Fit & Finish - IMO

 

FWIW,

According to the Dodge site and this site, a 4 door 4x4 1500 dodge with a 4.7 has a payload of 1420 lbs, and max trailer of 4100 lbs.

A f-150 Super Crew 4x4 4.6L has a payload of 1360, and a max trailer of 6500 lbs.

This is for 05's , and assuming I was able to read the poorly setup dodge site.

Personally, I'd drive several of each and then decide, but I would go for the F-150, simply because I feel that the dodges are *fugly*, but that's my opinion.

Have you given any thought into getting into rigs fresh off of leases?

I'm also pretty sure that Ford is now offering some pretty good incentives on trucks.

 

Now I can't knock any Ford, regardless of year, but I do believe that the SuperDuty is a much stronger and better built truck than the trucks that were out in the 60s. I have a 67 F-100, and I love it, I'd fight over it, but I don't think there's any comparison between that truck and SuperDuty, or my 97 F-150, for that matter.

 

I had an ole 66 Super Camper with a 390. I too wish I still had it! Talk about a tough truck!!

 

11 mpg with a 4.7l? Wow, I get that at 70 towing a 4,300 lb. boat with a SD v-10.