Posted by mannyc on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 8:54AM :
In Reply to: An OT question-Repost posted by Jon in Mississippi on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 1:05AM :
i know i know, turbo diesel cummins, yada yada. i love dodges as much as the next guy and have owned several and still do. if you need a severe service truck (like the ffpw was compared to fords and chevies of their day)i agree that the dodge is your best bet.
for an everyday, rock solid driver, id go for a gmc with a 1500 suspension and a 350 - or a 2500 and 454. the engines and trans are reliable and go back to the 50's. if you got into 3500 territory, i would then choose dodge. you would have to pick what suspension actually fit your needs. these engine / chassis combinations last almost forever if spec'ed correctly. we have several 1500s yukons, 2500 suburbans / pickups in our fleet and have regularly attained 250,000 miles without losing engines or tranmissions. mobil 1 oil changes at 3000 miles seem to make a big difference and engines that use mobil 1 seem to lose little power and burn no oil.
in addition, the interiors are better and hold up to more abuse than the dodges.
pick the everyday rig that will handle your needs -everyday. pick the severe service tool for use at that time. its great to have the right rig for the the right job.
a catch all or combination tool is always a comprimise - it is not really good for either. its like having only a 18" plumbers wrench in your tool box. its too big to do the small jobs and it is too large to do the big jobs. you put a cheater bar on it to make it 'bigger' and you break it.
same with trucks.
perfect world would be cummins equipped dodge for working (1st series is my preference) and a gmc yukon xl (which i have) for driving. you have to choose what is right for you.
ps - we can't drive pickup trucks over 3/4 ton on the many parkways on long island. with the traffic, not having parkway access limits the value of a pickup as a daily driver.
im a loyal dodger, but we literally built our business using gmc powered box trucks in the 60's - 90's. we've since moved to international box trucks, but i still see our old trucks in service from time to time.
manditory dodge content
there is no vehicle more pure in its design to do hard work than the FFPW in its orig configuration. The closest you can come today is a dodge diesel pickup.
i hope my above rant at least provides you with something to think about in the purchase decision.
good luck,
mannyc
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