Ok, so I'm not looking for a Ford vs. Dodge battle, however, I'm considering either one to fit my needs. Here is my scenario. Looking for a 1 truck does all... decent family vehicle, quad cab, 9ft. deck. It's primary work purpose will be to tow my equipment around, on a 19+5' 24K gooseneck. (I already have 3 F series dump trucks so not looking to add another truck/ dedicated tow rig. The truck will tow maybe 50-60 days a year. Most of it will be 4 ton or smaller, but looking to get one larger excavator such as Kobelco SK70 or similar. Consequently, my platforms will be either Ford F450/550 or the Dodge Ram 4500/5500. They're both rated to two about 24.5k out of the factory, and the 550's are a bit more. Would prefer the 450 to get a more decent ride empty. I'm pretty familiar with the dodge family and know what to expect. I'm looking for constructive feedback/reliability/issues with 2011 and up F /cab/chassis family. Again, PLEASE not looking for a Ford vx. Chevy battle, just real life experiences in TOWING pretty heavy loads with the brands/models mentioned above. Reliability is my no. 1 concern. Thanks
I have a slightly different example but I'll share. I currently have a 2011 F-350 with the 6.2 gas. Typical one ton ride while empty. I've pulled a 40' 24,000#gvw trailer with a good sized load. It did fine. I was wishing that I had a little more spring in the rear but it did the job. My mileage wasn't good but there wasn't any lack of power. I really love the 6spd auto. I mean I LOVE it and I'm a manual lover. My previous truck was a '06 Dodge 2500 with the 5.9 Cummins and auto. That truck would pull the azz out of a goat but I HATED the auto transmission. That was the reason I sold it. Mileage was good to great. It always started good for an oil burner even at -25*F. Long story short, I wanted a gas engine because I do short trips. I don't pull heavy loads everyday and was looking for a puller/driver combo. I really like the 6.2 and auto combo for daily use. This is the first auto tranny I enjoyed driving. I would have stayed with the Dodge diesel for long hauls but it would have to be a manual. My junk is a little different than what are looking at but I hope it helps. Good luck with your purchase.
I believe Ford has the most problems at the present time. Regen system causes exhaust valves to stick open. Proper fix seems to be new heads, valve guides reamed for a bit more clearance. You might lurk around the various Forums to see which brand is ahead in customer anguish, probably Ford now but the lead could change at any time.
Why 2011 and up for a few thousand miles per year?? Just sayin.....
I towed a 25K triple axle beaver tail gooseneck with my '97 Dodge 3500 4X4 extended cab with Cummins 5.9 and five speed, only things I ever wished for was a gearvendor splitter and the exhaust retarder. Common loads were six to ten ton with a slight overload condition now and then, though I didn't know it until I scaled it one day, lol. Newer rigs seem to have more stuff to go haywire, but still good. I have always had excellent service from Dodge trucks, and while I am not religious about it, I have just never liked the way Fords are put together and drive. YMMV.
I haven't seen a lot of issues with ford's new 6.7s. They are better then and thing ford has have since the 7.3. Test drive all of them and pick the one you like best for the price you want to pay. They all have there pros and cons. Dodge trucks have been crap IMO in the past, but I guess the newer one are better. I buddies always joke they bought a Cummins and got a free truck with it.
I have a 2011 6.7 F-250 and did a bit of research before I bought it (used). Some of the 2011 trucks had issues with glow plug tips, and the early cab/chassis 450/550 had serious issues with turbos going out. At this point its all been fixed. If i remember right, the 450/550s used a different turbo than the 250/350. Alot of posts on the ford forum about it. 2011/2012 also have a rep for hard shifts, especially when cold. Protocol is to replace shift solenoids ($400) and re-progam (~$75). Otherwise great transmissions, tons of power from these trucks.
I ran both Ford and Ram with my commercial RV logistics business. Just my experience: Ford....better truck/chassis/auto trans. Best fuel mileage. Way better towing mirrors. Crappy engines. Ram...reliable Cummins engine, front suspension would fall out of it every 50,000 km's and burn all six tires off. Both did the job. But $1400 Ram front suspension every 50,000 was cheaper than constant $6000 Ford engine rebuilds.
Suppose it was the start of the newest power plant.... Not a fan of the the 03-2010 motors. Have 3 other trucks with 7.3's. Take a lickin and keep on tickin
I realize just about any one ton dually/diesel will "do it". I kinda want it to be designed to do it. The trucks that will "do it" tend to blow up parts as a result at some point in time. Also, from a legal perspective I'd rather have my rear covered. I live near a "big city" and some of the drivers around here just don't seem to get it. The pulling part isn't what I'm concerned about the most, it's the stopping part......
Is that the new B20 power plants that blew up or the 6.0 and 6.4's? Appreciate the feedback.....
I have a 2013 F550 4x4, 6.7L, crew, 9' bed, 19.5k GVW, 4.88 gears, ~64-66k miles, that I use primarily for towing goosenecks. Up until Monday I had a gooseneck dump trailer that hauled all of my tree debris. I also have a 28' flatbed that I haul equipment with. The truck is tagged for 40klbs and I have exceeded that on more than a few occasions by 10% or so. The truck does great for that application. MPG is not its strong suit, but I can't really complain about that. I vacillate daily driving it or an 06 F250. The F250 rides better and gets a bit better mileage empty, but that's it. I'm leaning towards selling the 250. FWIW, the truck that the 2013 replaced was a 2006 F550 that I sold at 216k miles in July 2014. It's still working in Hawaii for a friend, still on the original transmission. The 2006 replaced a 2000 F550 that was totaled in a wreck with 176k miles on it.
I have 200,000 miles on a 6.0 powerstroke that has never had an issue or been apart. I did have to replace a few injectors and glow plugs, but nothing internal. IMO, the problem with the 6.0 was that everyone had to have a chip and tuner and turn them up to 600 horsepower. The bottom end can take it, but not the head gaskets.
I have a 2015 Ram 5500 with a 6 Sdp Aisin and a 6.7 cummins. I love the Aisin and how it locks the converter at about 20 mph and then feels as close to a standard trans as I've ever had in a truck. The engine runs and starts good but feels pretty sluggish with all the emissions controls choking it. I hope to get a delete kit soon but I'm told there isn't one for a 5500 cab and chassis yet. My other auto trans trucks all seemed to suck at pulling at low speeds because the converter wouldn't lock until at least 40 mph.
I forgot about the Dodge Death Wobble, but if your not racking up the miles hot shotting it can be put in the shop.
The ambulance people positively hated them after the 7.3, and they weren't doing anything other than driving them. Sometimes kind of fast but not a real heavy vehicle. Also I know a street striping contractor that I don't know if he has any that are still in original form. And replacing injectors is a Big Deal! We should not have to be doing that in this modern time. They are so big and expensive and involved to change they should have been engineered more carefully or a different injection system used. I realize the 7.3 is in the same boat and my opinion is the same there. But they seemed to be much less troublesome.
Death Wobble, now that there is funny stuff, lol... as I recall it was a factory alignment screwup they finally fessed up to, correcting the caster and camber specs took care of it, unless my brain cells are thinking of another instance of front end problems.
6.0 and the new 6.7. Never owned a 6.4. As for only tuned 6.0's blowing head gaskets, mine was completely stock. It is believed the Morocraft Gold coolant is partly to blame as the silicates drop out of it and plug the oil or egr coolers which causes flash boils and blows head gasket. They are a crap shoot. Mine was the latest model, a 2007 which supposedly had all the updates and like many others couldn't keep them running. Then I know a few guys with the first year 03's, and they are bulletproof despite them doing no maintenance at all. Seems that the rule of thumb with a Powerstroke is roll the dice and hope for the best. You might get lucky or go bankrupt, LOL.
Apparently there is some aftermarket front frame brace guys were saying that really helped and made the front ends last a lot longer? I can't back that up as I never tried it. But many have said a lot of the problems was because there was too much frame flex in the front? It's really cool when the tie rod falls off doing 65 MPH on the highway, LOL. Yet we had the front of the truck lifted right off the ground trying to pop the tie rod back on to get it off the road. Sometimes the ball end will wear just enough in one spot to allow it come off. But it will be tight in every other spot.
My buddy has a new Superduty and yesterday it had to go back to dealer. Six modules in the transmission and they all went. Ford has none in the parts supply at all. Told him his truck will be down for a month. So they gave him a shiny new Focus to use, LOL. Wonder how well that will carry class 8 truck tires on the roof??
I'd get a lawyer and a new Dodge, but then I wouldn't have bought a Ford to start with. Don't care what you drive, not trying to convince anybody of anything, I just like Dodges, always have. Six modules failed and none in the pipeline, too new.... nuh uh.
The dodge death wobble is usually a loose track bar and other wore out stuff. I've never been a fan of those front ends, way too many moving parts. The newer ones use a trailing arm setup like the 06+ fords.
I guess I can't argue much,my avatar pic gives it away....yah,I like Cat too.I have had two Dodges in 35 years.Ron G
Mhhhh, so seems like no matter what you buy it'll be a crap shoot.? Looks like less of a crap shoot with a dodge. Sure wish some of the older stuff put out 600 ft.lbs of torque.
It doesn't take much of a tuner to get that and they'll usually pick some mileage up too
Yup... the Cummins engines will put out WAY more than they do stock, with little work and usually very little trouble as long as you use some sense. Throw in an exhaust retarder or jake brake (depending on model) and you'll be way ahead on braking too, whichever way you go. Some form of splitter is really nice when towing heavy too.
I hope this is not true. There is no reason a truck should he down for a month. Get another transmission, or another truck. I got a tour of the Komatsu factory a couple years ago and the guide pointed to a new 450 excavator and said 'well we can't ignore the elephant in the room, we had to remove the final drive on this new machine to send to a dealer to get a customer up and running asap.' I guess the point is, no matter the problem, get the guy back on the road, and now.
Yes, our class 8 truck dealers do that for us. They will take parts off a new unit on the lot to get you going. But our Ford dealers don't offer that kind of support.
If you need a bigger truck, buy a bigger truck. Sticking feathers up your butt doesn't make you a chicken.
I have always been a fan of the Cummins engines, the newest dodge I have had is a '95, can't really speak for anything newer than that, it honestly sounds like to me you should get a bigger truck if you are planning on getting a larger excavator you might be better off looking into a 2 ton size truck, would be much safer pulling a 8 ton hoe. Did you see the thread about the guy who lost control of his 1 ton and overloaded trailer? :my2c
I ran a gear vendors behind 1100 rear wheel HP drag car and never ever had a problem . They are tough azz overdrives
Boy and I think he is getting to much truck since a 3/4ton and a HD 20 foot trailer would be more than enough for what he normally hauls.
I was thinking the same thing, though he did mention a 9 foot deck, so hauling solo may be a payload issue. A 3500 diesel will quite easily handle ten ton on the trailer, but like any combination the trailer brakes have to be in good condition and work every time. My gooseneck had three single axles, all with brakes and with the gooseneck ball ahead of the drive axle the duals had plenty of bite as long as the trailer was loaded properly. 4X4 was a must for me though btw as with an empty trailer it was pretty helpless on anything remotely soft or slick, had 245/70R-19.5 motor home tires on it.
True
Mhhh, I'm a little lost. The topic is re a Ford 450/550 or Dodge 4500/5500. That's excatly what I'm trying to do, is not get a 1 ton truck that'll "do it" but looking for a reliable truck that's designed to do it.????
I'll add my $.02 and it doesn't even cost 2 pennies. Bought a 2013 F350 6.7, 4x4 crew, single rear wheel in 2013. Currently have just shy of 60K miles on it and it's been one helluva truck. The only thing I've taken it to the dealer for is the drivers side seatbelt wouldn't retract. It's the strongest stock truck I've ever owned, can't imagine what it would be if I let it breath a bit and got rid of the emissions BS but it does everything I need it to and it's still under warranty.:cool2 The truck pulls a 14K pan trailer and 14K gooseneck on a regular basis fully loaded. At one time I had at least 18K behind it on the gooseneck, it was too much for a single axle truck with that much weight on the trailer but it did it's job. I have nothing but praises for the 6.7 Super Duty's and will buy another one.
I hear both sides with the 6.7 ford, some guys have had great luck and some have had nothing but problems. I know a guy with around 250,000 mi on one with zero issues whatsoever, but a buddy of mine is a road mechanic for Halliburton and he just drops his off at the Ford dealer at the end of his 2 week shift almost every time. The 450/550 use a regular turbo and not the staged compressor like the 250/350 too.
And that's your choice, which I applaud. I guess what we're saying is, either will probably be overkill but we don't have direct experience so we can't be any real help? There must be some owners/drivers out there of those models, but a lot less than the 3500 crowd. Cheers
Unless I am mistaken a sk 70 is close to if not more than 8 tons, if you are digging with this size machine wouldn't you be better off with a larger dump truck anyway? Just my 2¢ I prefer to be as safe as possible when I am pulling a load with any truck, anything from a 3/4 tons to semi's. I have had brakes fail on skid loader trailers with 4-5 tons on them, that can get hairy pretty quickly. Just my own person opinion but I wouldn't pull that machine with anything short of a air brake truck and trailer. Sorry for getting off topic...
Not off topic at all. The sk70 is about 7tons/16,600lbs. dry. Probably18K by the time it's all set and done. (extra bucket/thumb/fuel) A 19+5 gooseneck will be about 7k by the time it's all set and done, so 25k total. Looking at the factory specs of the 450/550 trucks, they're rated from the factory to tow anywhere between 24.5k to 30k on a goosneck. I know a few guys that tow 75 hitachi and 88 volvo respectively with a ram 5500 on a gooseneck. Perfectly legal and w/o any issues/liabilities as the truck is designed and rated to tow 30k. It's amazing the difference in tow capacities in the 2010/11 trucks and the 2013 and up. Guys towing loaded toy haulers are pulling about the same if not more, and most of them don't have 450/550 trucks. Yes, brakes can fail, on any truck I think. I've now talked to a few guys that own the 450/550 Ford series with the 6.7 and mainly good news. Also talked first hand to a ford dealer mechanic that's family member of a friend. Pretty much sumed it up as "it's the best truck by far since the 7.3 See hardly any at the shop. Can get a lemon in any brand. Still would prefer a dodge with the aisin I think but if the right truck came up in a ford, don't think I would hesitate.
Ford gets the death wobble also. In 15 Ford put larger injectors and turbo in the 6.7. The cab & chassis trucks don't have the power of the pickups. I have a 99 f350 and purchased a new 15 last April. The 15 is a cadilac and it has spoiled me!
For me it's not how fast it is up hill, but rather it got to the bottom in one piece with out killing anyone. It's hard to beat 16x7 or 12x7 shoes, with a maxi-can and real parking brakes, air. To many toy haulers that are trying to be Samson. IMO Truck Shop
I haven't seen this mentioned yet here so I just want to point out that in the 450/550 truck Ford does not have an exhaust brake from the factory like the Ram 4500/5500. At work we have a 2015 F450 that is constantly hooked to a 25+5 trailer with anywhere between 4-8 tons on it, it has about 40000 miles on it right now and is going in for its third set of brakes next week.
Yep, but they still put those runaway ramps on the long downgrades don't they? You can find a way to get in trouble no matter what you tow with, and yes that is the voice of surviving the experience
You know where Oakridge is, I know about trouble on grades. highway 58. I use to run over Stevens 3 times a week. Truck Shop
Yup.. been there a couple times. In a former life I drove dump truck and transfer for a while, long haul sand truck, lol. 100K gross, used to say a prayer for Saint Jacob coming off Cabbage at 22mph. Seven axles, but still wouldn't want to be counting on just the air brakes.
Your right jakes are nice and now days more reliable. One or two of our trucks are gliding off Cabbage every hour at 100K gross. The series 60's run about 35 to 40 mph on the jakes and lay into the brakes three times. The DD15's have the best jake on the market bar none. Our drivers with the trucks that have DD15's can cruise at 45 to 50 mph going down Cabbage and only brake for two corners. The shoes last way longer with DD's. And for those folks that have not been down Cabbage it's 5 miles of steady 6%. The old road was a dilly, rode down that in a cattle truck in 1966. I was ten years old then.
What trucks are those?
TATE-white with silver/gray fenders. Truck Shop
Cool... I was running a 3406B back then, the other trucks were typically newer 3406's or Series 60. The transfer trailers being double jointed and heavy to the back, they liked to push kinks in the corners so we never really pushed it speedwise. Followed a set of triples off that one night, the rear trailer brake drums were brighter red than his brake lights. He offered to try and straighten it up so I could pass, but I politely declined, explaining that I would prefer to be behind and above him if he lost what was left of his brakes. He made it down to the flat, taking everything from gravel to gravel in the corners, and pulled over to let things cool, one or more of the trailers was locked up solid. Said there was no fire and he was gonna pull the pin and bobtail into town, so I saluted and carried on. The things you see.
Oh, ok. I see them all the time.
A couple months ago a guy made it almost to the top of the bottom run away ramp, I can't believe he made the corner.
Must have had a good head of steam on to make it that far.. was he buried to the axles?
Yeah, deep trenches all the way up.
Mhhhh did not kow that. Kinda assumed they would, especialy with an auto. I have an exhaust brake (PAC) on my 03 cummins 6spd, and it's absolutely awesome. It would be a must have for me. Thanks for that thought.
I didn't know that either...that's ridiculous! Dodge is the only truck that you can get a manual transmission in anymore. Although these new transmissions, in all makes are pretty awesome, they DO NOT Stop as well as a manual...as soon as the torque converter unlocks the exhaust brake (if equipped) disengages. You mentioned that stopping was important to you. I have an auto in my play truck and love it...but WOULD NOT/do not have one in my work rig. One other thing to consider, you can get an actual jake brake for a dodge, I'm not talking about an exhaust brake, but a compression release like used in big rigs. If you have ever driven a class 8 with a jake vs an exhaust brake, you know there is no comparison. Who is the number one/most desirable class 8 truck??? Peterbilt. Go to the Pete store and order a new Pete and ask them what engines they use...hint, it won't be a Intertrashional/Ford platform!!!!
There's a pac brake setup that holds the exhaust valves open but it doesn't work like a real Jacobs brake, it needs to have a regular pac brake in the exhaust to work. Also, I don't think I'd use the isx as an example of how great cummins engines are, I haven't seen very many make it out of warranty without a piston coming out the side or the crank getting tangled up in the front axle. And International has nothing to do with the 6.7 powerstroke.
Really??? It is the same exact principle. In fact this pac brake system provides more braking HP/CI than the early Jacobs systems... What is your point? Fact is the dodge E-brakes are more effective than Ford. PLUS you can add an additional 150 braking hp on top of the E-brake with the Pacbrake load leash system...I don't believe there is anything available for the Ford is there??? And you are right about the ISX...they are blown up everywhere, Peterbilt is about to go out of business....the interstates are shut down because of oil and engine parts scattered from one end to another. Truth is everything is going to crap with all the new regulations....BUT Cummins is the best option at this time. I've got Cat in all my big trucks and love them, but Cat didn't want to play the emissions game any longer, so now we have to use the next best thing, which currently is Cummins.
It isn't the exact same principle, a Jacobs brake releases compression at near tdc and releases any return energy out of the cylinder. The load leash opens the exhaust valves to let more air hit the pac brake to create more back pressure. You do understand that paccar (peterbilt/kenworth) doesn't own cummins, right? You can get them with the paccar motor as well, which, after some teething problems has been more reliable than cummins. Detroit probably has the most trouble free engine in a class 8 truck right now.
Principle defined as: a general scientific theorem or law that has numerous special applications across a wide field. Same principle. Jake brakes do not open just at tdc...or atleast not any that I have. The isx has a special cam to help jake braking...but that's a whole nother can if worms. Fight it all you want, but the load leash is the same principle as a jake on a 3406 etc. They both release compression by opening the exhaust valve. ...same principle....
Get on an old john deere diesel farm tractor(any of the old 2 cylinder)....go down a grade....pull the compression release. ...JAKE BRAKE....same principle....
Not really but you do get to take advantage of some added friction yes.
I'm not fighting, I'm attempting to explain how they work but apparently I'm failing. Information directly from jacobs: A jake bleeds off compression at the top of the compression stroke to steal the return energy out of the cylinder. The load leash description is much longer but it holds the exhaust valves slightly open during the entire compression stroke to force more air against the closed vgt and create more back pressure. A jake makes the engine do the braking and a load leash assists the vgt in braking, so definitely not the same principle. Just because they both hold the exhaust valves open at some point in the engine cycle doesn't mean they work on the same principle, the cam also holds the exhaust valves open and it's also not an engine brake.
Jeez, you boys are really splitting hairs here. What I'm saying is that you do not have to open the exhaust valves at tdc to get additional braking. It's the same PRINCIPLE as a a shock absorber...take a large diameter piston and try to force air or oil through a small opening and you are going to experience resistance. Close the small hole and the shock will kick back....same as a compressoion engine. There is not a special mechanism in a shock absorber that opens the valving at a precise moment. Same PRINCIPLE. Aparantly you dont know the simple definition of the word principle, so i posted it above. But yet it is still being argued. The PRINCIPLE on both compression brakes is that air is being compressed, and is then released so that it does not push the piston back down in the cylinder...this is what we call a principle.
It is not friction, it's compression. Or the release of.
Back to the subject at hand. OP said stopping was important to him. Hands down, the Dodge with a manual trans and a PAC Brake Load Leash is going to provide far superior braking than any other set up.
If a truck were to be equipped with a load leash only, no vgt, it would still provide engine braking, in the same way that a jake brake does. It does not need the VGT to work. See my example above with the old John Deere....there is no VGT on a 2 cylider deere, I promise you! Yet engine breaking is still achieved, VERY much like a jake brake, might we call it the same principle??? chevota, I'm am sure you know far more about diesels than I do, but you are missing the boat on compression braking.
No, it wont. It's holding the exhaust valves open for the entire compression stroke so no energy is wasted compressing, it's basically like opening the unloader valve on an air compressor. You don't get any gain from the return energy but you don't lose any energy on the compression stroke. There might be some net energy loss over just coasting but it won't be much.
Admittedly I don't know how this particular thing works. However if you hold the exhaust valves open only a crack through the entire compression stroke then you should get a somewhat comparable energy loss as a regular Jake. Then there is the other benefit of having some air returned to the cylinder on the downstroke. If I remember correctly, the Mercedes MBE900 had a 5th small valve that stayed open all the time when braking to accomplish this same thing.
Yair . . . Fellers I know nothing of Jakes but I straight up don't understand the following statement . . . . Any compression release I have used is for the purpose of releasing the compression to make the engine easier to crank. To take that theory a step further . . . . We get our Johnny Popper and pull up on a slope where the compression in the cylinders will just hold the tractor on grade . . . we then release the compression and the tractor runs away. How is that in any way an analogy to an engine brake? I always thought the most braking you could get out of an engine would be for the drive train to turn the engine against compression with no fuel but apparently the Jakes do much better than that. Cheers.
Scrub, diesels are generally of such high compression that when running downhill say, most of the power used to compress the air on the upstroke of the piston gets returned to the piston to push it down once the crank goes over TDC. Not much braking. The original Jake was simple in it's elegance, it simply managed, on demand, to use the mechanical injection rocker to also open the exhaust valves at about the point the injector would usually fire, thus releasing the compressed air to the exhaust so the power is not returned to the piston. A byproduct of that process is the rather unique sound of a truck running downgrade "on the jake". YMMV.
You are absolutely 100% wrong. This system cracks the exhaust valve .020", if it were to open the valve as much as a cam cycle would(.3xx) then you would be on track. But .020 is small enough to require a lot of force to compress the air in the cylinder, but enough of a gap to allow this compressed air to escape and not force the piston back down. This makes CONSIDERABLE braking force. Please explain to me how my example of the old John Deere works....I'm not making this **** up...we live in the mountains....when you take one of these old tractors down a grade and pull the compression release lever the tractor slows down a LOT. We have several old Deeres, and we get a bunch of people together and got on hayrides....we always take a diesel because it is much safer and can hold back going down grades when the compression release is pulled... so Chevota....please explain this weird phenomenon! Your compressor theory does not hold water...the unloader valve opens MUCH more than an exhaust valve on a Load Leash system.
I can't explain it any simpler and it's giving me a headache trying. Read this http://pacbrake.com/mopar-max-magazine-article-on-the-p-67-loadleash-engine-brake/ If you still don't get it, go ahead and tell all your buddies you have a Billy big rigger jake brake in your dodge and be happy about it.
Oh I get it. I get it very well. Simple physics actually. You take a high compression engine and crack the exhaust valves it is going to provided engine braking. Whether it is a 15L+ truck engine, a 6.7 dodge cummins or a a 1958 John Deere 2 cylinder tractor. It is all the same principle, granted each has their own differences. but the principle is undeniably the same. Some people in this world are just too stubborn or proud to admit that they are wrong.
I suppose for your next trick, you are going to argue that a Ford provides better braking than a Dodge???
I think this thread has run it's course, lol.
Yeah, the original poster probably bought a Chevy by now.
So I found my truck! Thought I'd provide some feedback. To combine my business and family needs, got me a 2010 dodge ram 5500 with a cummins/asin. It's a quad cab sitting on the short (and hard to find) wheelbase of 168" I believe, sporting a 9' flat deck with 4 built in under mount toolboxes. 4x4 of course. It's got about 70k miles on it so just broken in. The SLT model is certainly a step down from my laramie, but being on a budget take what I can get. The nice thing about this year truck is it's the last year of pre DEF. The gas milage is awesome. Comes with a factory exhaust brake and came with a flip over gooseneck hitch. Pretty basic truck but certainly plenty of pulling power and versatility...
I'd drive that. Well done :usa