The purpose of this forum is to make intelligent comparisons of other makes against ford. They don't have to be in favor of Ford but they must be reasonable in any matter or direction.

 

the orig. post (ford vs dodge) all have good and bad points.intelligent no, ill leave that to you. THANKS LARRY

 

Duramaximizer
haha, nah man. it's my initials.

 

Man, I don't know. It really comes down to what you like and want. Just this past week I went through the same choice process. What it came down to for me is cost vs want. I would have loved to have gotten the F350 SRW King Ranch, but price was way too high, even with the X-plan. So I compared similarly equipped (with the exception of manual in Dodge, auto with the Ford) models and ended up buying the Dodge. I liked the Ford truck a little better, actually, but I liked the way that the Dodge drove more. The price was really the deciding factor (that and I am still leary of the 6.0). Good luck, just like whatever you decide on.

 

Couple of things to consider with your decision. The Ford interior seems to have better fit and finish with higher grade materials than the Dodge. The Ford has higher capacities in payload and towing if you build the truck the same way. Even though you may not anticipate utilizing the truck to its maximum potential, I would still like to have the extra capacity for a future "unknown" circumstance. My best friend has an 04 Dodge and I have an 05 SD-both equipt the same, and the only benefit with the Dodge in my opinion is that it has a better radio/speakers, has a navigation system offered, and has a more durable motor (that I believe only will show after 200,000 miles or so). My friend will tell you that if he had to do it all over again, he would have bought the Ford. As to the 6.0 problems of the past, all I can tell you is that I have 6,500 miles on my truck and have had absolutely no problems. I had a 96 Dodge, and at 6,500 miles I was in the service department 5 or 6 times for some heavy repairs. Good luck with your final decision, but I truely believe the Ford is the best heavy duty truck on the market as of right now.

 

Please define "heavy repairs" My guess is recalls were heavy repair but idk.

I am not impressed by your 6500 miles problem free, but I am glad that has made it that far.

To DD1684 ..... LOL I didn't figure it did but ya never know.

 

duramaxamizer, your right, 6,500 miles of trouble free service is not that impressive, but compared to the Dodge it speaks volumes. Within the first six months of ownership of the Dodge, I had the transmission completely replaced, rear end gears replaced, alternator replaced, rear main leak, and two other leaks from the motor (don't remember exactly where they were coming from), two broken lug bolts, front differential leak, heater core went out, and numerous interior squeeks and rattles that the dealer did not address because of all the other issues. From six months to year one, the squeeks and rattles were a constant annoyance and the worst of all the problems was a complete electrical failure of the vehicle while driving 45 mph in the city. No one has ever been able to explain to me what caused this shut down of the vehicle. I lost power steering and brakes and the vehicle was unable to be started and had to be towed. Dodge finally worked with me on the vehicle with rebating a substantial amount of money back to me and I traded the car to the dealer for a Chevy Blazer ZR2. I was not elegible for the lemon law or buy-back because the problems were always repaired and did not cause further problems-just new problems everytime I drove away from the dealer. I was in the shop 33 times in a year and a half. Yes, the truck was a mid-90's model, and the new Dodge's are light years ahead of those models, and I even concidered a Dodge when I bought my 05 SD, but feel that the SD is hands down the best truck out this year. Most people I am associated with (land development/construction businesses) agree and that is why most of them utilize Fords in their businesses.