Dodge or GMC 1 ton

[aspen2008]

Hello all,

I just picked up our new 2008 CPFW 32SLRK & weighted it Saturday. My front axle (4,080), rear axle (5,810), trailer axle (10,550) and I have a 2002 Ext Cab F250 7.3L. I am within 270 lbs of max weight for my 3/4 ton truck rear axle. my fuel tank was at 1/4 and I only had one person in the truck. My new trailer from the factory was 12,550 and it is rated at 14,600.

I need a new truck and wanted some information from anyone that has a 2008 Dodge or GMC 1 ton truck.

I appreciate any information you can provide.

[aspen2008]

Hello all,

I just picked up our new 2008 CPFW 32SLRK & weighted it Saturday. My front axle (4,080), rear axle (5,810), trailer axle (10,550) and I have a 2002 Ext Cab F250 7.3L. I am within 270 lbs of max weight for my 3/4 ton truck rear axle. my fuel tank was at 1/4 and I only had one person in the truck. My new trailer from the factory was 12,550 and it is rated at 14,600.

I need a new truck and wanted some information from anyone that has a 2008 Dodge or GMC 1 ton truck.

I appreciate any information you can provide.

[Randy the sly old fox]

Just looked at the Dodge site - not much real info. As for the Chevy the 3500DRW only comes with an 8'bed and with the DMax drivetrain has a 23,500lb GCWR and a tow rating of 16,000 lbs.
Because the 3500SRW is not much better than the 2500 I would not recommend going that route.

Most people swear by either the CTD in the Dodge and the Allison tranny in the Chevy - however most DMax drivers have had no problems with them - most reports say they feel that GM has actually under rated their towing ability. -I mean 600+ lb-ft of torque is a lot to work with.

I tow a 6000lb TT with a 2500HD 6.0L gasser with a 6sp auto and 4.10 rear end. I love the tranny as it has a very broad range of gears - from 4:1 in first to .65:1 sixth (the allison also has a similar spread) I can actually tow on the flat in 6th - it drops to 5th on small grades and only to 4th on a 6% grade - BTW I maintain 55-60 in 4th turning between 3000 and 4000 RPM (the "peak" of the torque band). Actually the torque curve on this engine is very broad - which makes for great towing from 2000 - 4400 RPM. The Dmax has a sharper torque curve. Here is a link to the GM Powertrain site. Take a look at the curves and data sheets on both engine and transmission.
http://media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en/product_services/2...AMAXDIESEL66LV8TURBO

BTW it is hard to beat the grade brake feature of this transmission.

[Rick A]

Why are you lookig to get away from Ford? The 7.3 was a great motor, I would consider another used F-350 with a 7.3. As for experiance with Dodge or GMC, I never had one with a diesel. I have had them both with gas motors years ago and less issues with the GMC, but they are both totally diffrerent trucks now. I personally would be comfortable with any of the big 3.

[450Donn]

Since you asked, here goes.
Bought new a 2004 Chevrolet LLY/Allison 2500HD. Loved it until it started having problems and we got a trailer that was too much for the truck. Ride was good, but when hitched to the fiver it felt like I was always being pushed around by the trailer. HAd to add larger tires, air bags just to get it level for towing. After less than 12K miles and 3 years I knew it was not going to work for us long term. So after looking around for a dually and not finding any GM products on the market except a couple 57,000 dollars ones, we stopped at a Dodge dealer. Now, let me say up front that I have never been a fan of Dodges looks, but after driving a couple and seeing how powerful they are I was impressed enough to buy one. Of course it did not hurt to have then 10 grand off the MSRP either! I guess what I am trying to say here is to go out and drive all of them and pick which one will get you the most bang for the buck, rides and drives best in your mind, and enjoy it. All will do the job if correctly matched to the load. My Chevy was not, it was having problems with the transmission, and engine, so I guess it was time to go.

[Jeff_in_The_Dalles]

Both the new Dodge and the Chevy are impressive, but both come with a bunch of emission stuff...

If you are looking at an auto, Dodge's new 6 speed 68RFE is really nice, with push to shift buttons, and factory exhaust brake.

[Larry]

I should have an '08 Ram by the end of the week, what I have heard about the new 6 speed auto has been good, even though I always did sticks I decided to give the auto a try. A couple friends already have new Dodges and are happy soo far.

Larry

[Jeff_in_The_Dalles]

With it's double overdrive, the truck I tested with the 68RFE and 4.10's turned lower RPM than my NV5600 stick truck and 3.73's on the highway...

On the downside, the new emission equipment on the 6.7 seems to reduce fuel economy compared to the 5.9...

[Randy the sly old fox]

FYI you might want to check out the DEC issue of Popular Mechanics where they tow test the big three 1T trucks - it is online at http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...s/4230317.html

[450Donn]

Just read the article. Another piece of biased "journalism". This was another test biased toward who they wanted as a winner.

[xc-mark]

any one of the the three will tow what ever you want and do it very nicely compared to a 5~8 year old truck. the biggest thing is how do you wnat it to drive and ride empty and full ? with out a question the GM trucks ride MUCH nicer loaded and empty. They all have there issues if you look at history so its hard to say one is going to be better . I can say My duramax 6 speed auto runs , starts and drives like a car over every bump in the road and smoother then my Dads F-350 SRW truck . I can out pull him in the hills with 4000 more # of trailer on my back and the fuel economy is with in 1/2 MPG at fuel stops . the allison grade brakeing feature works very good , it really takes a HUGE hill with 10000# behind you to use the brakes on the truck and the tap shift feature makes short work of down hill stops.