| True, the head bolts are stretched....they're Torque-to-yield and already stretched enough.
I too prefer to have a manual transer case. That's how my old 95 chevy was, floor shifted and not button or knob operated. I don't mind getting out to unlock my hubs either, so long as they're going to hold up longer than autos. No matter how good the GM duramax engines are, i'll never buy a heavy duty truck with an independent front end....especially with the added weight of a diesel over the top of it. I'm not saying it's not a bad supsension or weak by any means, but come on...it's a truck, and if you want it to ride like a car put a car suspension on it and see how it holds up. My 99 solid axle F250 PSD rides better than my 95 chevy z71 with IFS. And how long will it take GM to beef up the tie rods? I've seen those bend countless times, although they were on trucks with mods. I do like the GM trucks, they are capable. But I still think they should really rework them. My uncles 02 crew still looks and feels a lot smaller than my 99f250 crew. Even the stock tires on it are somewhat puny looking. The duallys look pretty nice with the molded in fender, but what happens if you get a hole in the fender itself, replace the entire bed???
As for the dodge I've never heard that it's built in Mexico, but i'm disputing it. I think the cummins is just as good an engine as the other two. But like I said....it's got a solid front axle so i'd but it before a GM. Only complaints about dodge is they wimped out on a true crew cab when the newer trucks came out a few years back, then completely overdid it with the megacab. Some days I like it, other days I think that extra body behind the back doors looks stupid and they should have just matched or slightly outdid the CC's that Ford offers. Why they didn't just get it right to begin with is beyond my understanding.....And they can't build a good enough tranny to really hold up behind that high powered cummins. Other than that, solid truck, i'd buy one.
Even though I own a PSD I don't entirely favor the Ford. They've all got strong and weak points. In fact my next truck is probably 80% likely to be a cummins. I've had a Chevy that I was very pleased with, and I've been more than pleased with my Ford. Now I think i'm ready to try a Dodge and see what happens.... |