Well right now ive got a 2006 dodge charger R/T all done up. I am looking for a nice diesel truck for my weekend job and it will consist of me getting rid of my charger which I dont want to. The trailer I am pulling is about 7000lbs and will be heavier after winter when we get more stuff. our light trailer is about 3000lbs which isn't much. So basically what I am looking for is a nice diesel truck. Our 1 truck we have right now is a 99 F250 w/ the 7.3 and we have the edge juice with attitude full turbo back exhaust and an AFE intake on it which is nice. I know I will probalby be doing a lot of upgrades to it but I dont want to go to crazy with transmissions or anything like that.

Basically I need a crew cab shortbed and I have about 25K or so to spend on one.

I really like the newer fords but I am hearing to many horror stories about the 6.0 and 6.4s to get one and its really weird cause the price is about the same as the old ones with the 7.3 in this area.

The dodges I really like to I have a customer with a 05 laramine edd that I like

Thing is I want a nicer truck perferably with leather and dont want to worry about trans problems and one that is fast (use to 400+ HP cars) with some upgrades and gets decent MPG

any tips/info would be nice...
I have been looking @ the 99-2000 super dutys and then some dodges around the 2004+ range I think is the newer body style and then the chevys I have been looking at all.

I have been doing a lot of reading but it seams everybody is pouncing on the brands they dont drive would appreciate a straight up answer on whats good and whats problematic with some trucks...

 

i'd go with a 99-00 7.3 Powerstroke. Can you drive stick?

 

Yeah I can drive a stick but I plan on buying an automatic.
I know quite a bit about turbo setups/engines just not diesel engines. I have had a lot of very fast turbo 4 cyl cars 600+ HP AWD cars.

I am sure I will probably be doing upgrades to get the best performance/MPG I can get possible.

prob do turbo swap tune intercooler intake exhaust fuel upgrades etc. whatever it takes.
and my friend has a very nice dyno at his shop w/ eddy current so he can tune it up for me if they sell a standalone tuning system or something that can be modified.

 

If you're going to go as far as turbo and fuel with an automatic i believe it'd be fair for me to assume all the guys with automatics recommending you'd upgrade the auto trans which takes out of what you can spend on other upgrades. just something to consider. dodge's have front end problems but great engines. Fords will have miscellaneous little cheap problems but not much thats a big deal with great engines as well. I'm a ford guy. Always will be

 

Yeah I know our 99 has had some bad leaks we got them all fixed and now it has 1 nasty leak which is getting fixed. it has had new injectors and a new trans/transfercase already and its got 293k miles on it. and we abuse it pretty bad pulling the trailer all the time and racing people with the trailer and its still going . Only thing I dont like about it is the engine is SUPER loud I think there is a oil line or something like that you can add which my friend that owns the shop did on his 7.3 and it got super quiet after that.

and when you say a 99-00 did they change something in 01-03? Cause I thought they were the same.

 

they changed the connecting rods. i wouldnt beat on any truck like that unless you wanna be dumpin money in it

 

We have been for about 100k miles already the last 2 years and its still going strong.
we are planning on replacing it after winter... we dont race non stop just once in a great while.

Thats why I know the 7.3 is a good motor .

 

Basically any of the newer model trucks are a good buy. I hear that ford 6.4 is a great motor if you pull all the emission bs off it. Duramax make good power with a chip but the lly ones are common to overhead if pulling heavy.

 

i would stick with a powerstroke. you know you'll like it. i wouldn't get a 6.0. the 6.4's seem to be hit or miss. if you want a good reliable engine that has withstood the beatings of hard work and hard play buy a 7.3

 

You really cant go wrong with taking a few minutes out to read these:

http://www.genosgarage.com/TDRBuyersGuide2009.pdf

and

Dodge Cummins Diesel Truck Accessories – Geno’s Garage