I'm looking for a mid 90's 3/4 ton for hauling/ towing. I don't want to start a fight but I'd like to know why I should choose a Ford over a Chevy?


Thanks for any info.

 

Well, this is a ford forum, so you're going to get a lot of pro-ford responses. I hope you're ready for that.

In my opinion, Ford has always made better motors if you want to work a truck. Chevy's diesel is not as good as the powerstroke or the cummins, and the 454 doesn't make as much torque as the 460 and I've also heard of quite a few bent 454 cranks. I also think that the straight six 300 is the absolute best light duty truck motor ever made. It runs forever no matter what you ask it to do.

Take a drive by an RV park one day. Look around and see how many Ford, Chevies and Dodges people are pulling with. I would say about 60% of the trucks are Fords, maybe 30% Dodges, and 10% Chevies. I think that speaks for itself. Pulling a 35' 5th wheel is HARD work for a truck and Fords just last longer doing it. That's why they are so popular in the RV world. The only reason so many dodges are pulling RVs is because of the cummins. I have NEVER seen a gas powered dodge pulling anything.

Also take a drive by a construction site and count how many Fords and Chevies are driven by guys who work their trucks hard.

Finally, I can't help but notice whenever I see a beat up old pickup truck on the road hauling six lawnmowers, three weedeaters and a ton of grass clippings, it almost always has a blue oval on the front. I have seen Ford trucks from the 70's where I live hauling and working every day. Rarely do you ever see a Chevy that old and NEVER do you see a Dodge that old.

 

I have driven and used all my Fords hard. I am a carpenter and my trucks have been used hard, read as abused.
Ford has always build their trucks to work hard and look good doing it.
Like all vehicles, maintainence is the key issue to longevity, no matter the make.
Here at FTE, you will get a pro FORD response, if you have problems with your
3/4 ton FORD. I am sure you will get a quick response from the people here at FTE.
F250s and F350s are tough and they will do just about anything you ask them to do.
Plus you go to love the styling.

 

i work oil & gas territory.... The city I work out of doubles, almost triples, in population over the winter. Any time you see a car driving around its either a female, old man, or young punkass kid, but theyre all year round locals. When you drive the roads at 4am on your way to work there are NO cars at all, only trucks. Of those trucks the vast majority are Fords. When you see a chev or dodge cruising around you know its the guys toy to baby. When you see a Ford its the guys toy to slap around a little and make it scream, then take it home at the end of the day...or its a company truck that gets molested more than paris hilton would in San Quentin out in the yard.

Bottom line, moral of the story, when it comes to trucks, you take the ones built Ford tough or you go home without a truck, becuase its at the shop gettin fixed!

 

[QUOTE=loanshark]I'm looking for a mid 90's 3/4 ton for hauling/ towing. I don't want to start a fight but I'd like to know why I should choose a Ford over a Chevy?[QUOTE]


Since you're buying a used truck, you're choices are limited by local availability unless you have the means to buy one across the country, fly out and drive it home.

As much as I am a Ford-Fan, I've owned chevy and dodge trucks before, and as far as I'm concerned a truck is nothing more than a 5000lb box that you sit in ready to haul crap.

What I would do is make a list of "necessities". Air conditioning, power steering/brakes, 6' or 8' bed, extended cab or crewcab, dually/single, etc. Once you have your "list" you can prioritize that list in order of importance.

If you're going to be towing endlessly, dually might move towards the top, over say, power windows.

Then you scour your area for any and all trucks that fit that criteria, evaluating condition/mileage versus what they're asking for it. Then narrow your choices down to two, have both inspected (or do it yourself if you're competent in such things), and you're at the point of buying a used truck .

For a used truck, I'd worry less about brand and more about how the truck you're considering has been used (and abused). I saw one crewcab a couple of years ago I was thinking about purchasing that didn't have a single body panel without a dent. Little dents, medium dents, big dents. Truck ran excellent, drove straight, stopped better than one would expect, yet the body was so beaten up I just didn't want to deal with it. It was priced accordingly too. It was being sold by a masonry contractor, so obviously it's been banged up at job sites. Saw a different truck, extended cab, covered in multi-color paint drippings - being sold by.... you guessed it, a house painter. Apparently the pickup was also used as scaffolding

When looking, you should also consider what kind of aggrevation you're willing to take on if you find something that needs "help" and is priced dirt cheap. A friend of mine just bought a 1990 F350 extended cab dually that the powertrain was completely shot (and I mean shot!) but the body, frame, and suspension was in beautiful shape. One little scratch on the top of the tailgate and a small doornick on the passenger door - other than that he could shave while using the truck's body as a mirror. So he bought that truck for $1000 and got a junkyard late 90's 351W and ZF 5-sp from a junkyard local to me for $1000, spent two weekends putting it in and viola, he's got himself a gorgeous, solid running truck. There are some minor things he needs to do... brakes were okay, wiring was fine, and the PS pump leaks slightly as does the oil pan of the junkyard engine, but it's just little things.

Not bad for $2k investment.

Maybe you don't want to go the "project" route, as sometimes it can spiral out of control. My buddy wasn't specifically looking for a project, but when he ran across a beautiful (but dead) truck, and the powertrain near me reasonble priced, he decided the effort of a few weekends was worth it.

 

buy what you can afford and makes you happy.

 

Generally speaking, I think one is about as good as the other with each one having its own strong points and weaknesses. My preference is the Ford but wouldn't hesitate to buy the Chevy if I found one I liked. My suggestion is to look around, drive some of both, and buy the one you like.

 

My family has only owned Ford trucks, but both my father and I have put a lot of miles on Chevy fleet trucks. My personal opinion is the earlier Chev trucks were far better than the later ones. The only motor to have in a Chev is the old pushrod 350. The cable Co. I worked at in the early '90s bought a fleet of new Chev trucks.. all of them had problems, and every vehicle was different. One had persistent tranmission problems, my truck lost the complete front suspension at 18000 kms.. all pivot points failed. Others had differentials fail or heater fans die, electrical problems, and so on....
I know Fords have issues too but these vehicles were new and less than a year old when there problems occured. The utility my father worked at had a fleet of well over a hundred trucks at his office with all 3 brands fairly well represented. There too the Chevy's spent more time in the shop than the other 2 brands. I have enjoyed driving Chevy trucks, they work good, but at the same time I'm glad I don't own one.

 

my two cents on this,
when i worked for the railroad we bought a fleet of f350 4x4s (12) due to the abuse
we inflict, oh, and we also got (3) dodges for the forman, and as far as i know, they
where fading out the few chevies they had due to it cost to much for all the maintanence that they needed to stay drivable.

 

here's my opiunion. I was a die hard chevy guy. Started out with a 79 chev 1/2 ton 4x4 with a 400. It was rusty but worked good on the farm. Put a 350 in after the 400 started dieing. the body was getting really bad so i traded for a 1992 1/2 ton 4x4 with a 350 and 5 speed. Beutiful truck custom paint and everything. Unfortunlty to nice for a farm truck. everytime i scratched it i cryed. Then i totaled it out 2 years later. Dad was also a chevy guy but for some reason bought a 88 ford f150 4x4 5.0. Had some problems but figured them out and it has been a good running truck. From what i've owned and drove chevy's always seem to drive and ride and are just a little bit more refined than a ford. But a ford will go out and get the job done too. the seats in chevy's i think are more comfortable in the silverado's. Both trucks have there strong points. All you can do is drive all three and see which one you like better. You can usally pick up fords a little cheaper than you can chevys. that's my 2 cents worth. Whatever you do stay away from 6.5l diesels. I had one for 6 months and it was the worst thing i ever owned.

 

Im a ford guy for a reason. Its not personal preferance, its vehicle ability/performance. I find that alot of chevy people never claim that their trucks are stronger than a Ford or dodge, just more "comfy" and "stylish"...says alot about them.
Of course a chevy rides better than the Fords (pre97), they were designed to be highway friendly, where Fords are designed to not break off road. Theres a reason Ford is the #1 top selling truck for a reason.
My favorite truck thats not a ford is any dodge 1/2 ton post '94, factory solid fron axle...they just lack in the style department.

Of course youre going to get pro ford responses, everyone here was smart enough to realize the bonus' of driving/owning a Ford. Fords fuel injection wasnt an electric carb.
Have you ever been in a chevy lot lookin at trucks and see an F250 Superduty 4x4 parked beside a 1-ton chev/gmc 4x4...the chev looks like a low rider....

I drive Ford because Chev is crap and Dodge is ugly....

 

All three are good trucks. If you take care of it, it will take care of you. My uncle is a Ford man, my grandfather was a Ford man, so it was just natural that I end up a Ford man.

That piece of crap truck that you see is always an old Ford. That other piece of crap truck is a not as old Chevy.

Mike

 

LOL Mikeys.

I think this is regional. Here in NJ I do see a lot of late 80's early 90's trucks and best I can tell it's probably a 50/50 split between Ford and Chevy. A lot of die-hard supporters in both camps. I rarely see old dodge trucks except for fully restored "power wagons" from the late 50's, which of course I can appreciate restoring one of those - they are cool.

Though, my 93 F350 crewcab has been very good to me. While she's had her fits and I've replaced a lot of parts over the years, she does have a little over 400K on her, and she's not a diesel truck.

Sometimes you get lucky. I've owned Ford trucks in the past and had one that was as unreliable as they come. I swear that one just had evil spells cast on it by the prior owner. It wouldn't start, sometimes I couldn't even push it to get it to start, sometimes it would "pop" into 4WD for no reason dispite the lever position, and so on.

I had an older chevy for about 5 years that was "dead nuts reliable" until one day it blew head gaskets, which I replaced, and it never ran right from that point on. Idle sucked, it hesitated, it just wasn't a happy truck. Probably from overheating (bad temp gauge, and I didn't notice it until one of the heads popped, unfortunately).

Like I said, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But you're right, take care of it and it will take care of you for the most part.