cowtowner
01-20-2010, 05:59 PM
In the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to drive all three of our four wheel drive trucks for extended periods of time. They are as follows:
2005 Ford F-250 Powerstroke
2007.5 Chevy 2500 Duramax
2008 Dodge 2500 Cummins
In the last few weeks I used all of the above for their intended purpose, work trucks. All of the trucks are fully loaded four door four wheel drive automatic transmissions with leather interiors and short beds. All have been in our fleet since new. The trucks were used to “commute” back and forth from Ft. Worth to Kansas City, usually pulling a 20′ bumper pull trailer both loaded and unloaded. In the past 5 weeks, all the trucks had over 3,000 miles put on them in some very nasty conditions from blowing snow and temperatures as low as -10, to mud and high speed highway use.
In all fairness, I will say that the 2007 Chevy is my work truck and I love it. But driving the other two has pointed out some flaws as well in my daily driver.
We will start out with cosmetics. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I must say that the Ford wins this category hands down. I am very partial to the looks of this body style Ford as well as the new models. I would have bought one this last go round but the reliability of the 2005 over the first couple years of life scared me into buying a Chevy. Second place goes to the Chevy and the Dodge comes in last.
Ride Quality: Again, the Ford wins this one hands down. The ride is more like a half ton than a ¾ ton that it is. Air pressure on all three trucks are jacked up to the 60 front, 75-80psi rear, and you can really tell it on the Chevy and Dodge. The Dodge is the worst offender in this category; it rides like it has 150psi in the rear tires. Put a load on any of the trucks and the ride smoothes out considerably.
Interior: The Chevy has this category won hands down. A lot of thought went into the layout of the controls, the functions and how they function. All three trucks are fully loaded, with the Dodge having a factory nav system where the others don’t. The leather seats in the Chevy are nicer and seem to have thicker leather than the other two (the Ford showing it’s age with the leather separating on the drivers side seat). The heated seats in the Chevy seem to work better than the Ford or Dodge. The sound system on the Chevrolet sounds better and the steering wheel controls are second nature compared to the Dodge or Ford. Legroom is by far best in the Chevy’s backseat. You have to overlook some deficiencies in the Ford as it’s showing it’s age, but since it’s been in the fleet since new I’ve had the opportunity to drive it before it aged. The electric sliding rear window in the Ford quit working within the first year and has been replaced three times. It still doesn’t work. I would put the Ford second and the Dodge last in this category. The Dodge seems to have not progressed much from the last one I owned (a 2002 model) while the Ford and Chevy are much more refined.
Now on to the important stuff, power. None of the trucks are chipped (yet). The Ford at one time had a programmer but after a couple of blown head gaskets we took it off. So all comparisons are factory power plants. The Chevy and the Dodge are neck and neck. The Chevy seems to get off the line better while the Dodge continues to pull longer and harder. The Ford is overmatched here and doesn’t even compare. If all I was doing was pulling loads every day, it would be hard to pass on the Cummins and the standard exhaust brake, but all it would take is a couple of really long days sitting in the Dodge and I would trade it in for the Chevy. The loads pulled were not real heavy, 10-15,000 pounds. The Dodge pulled the trailer like it wasn’t back there while the Ford struggled to figure out what gear it wanted to pull in. The Chevrolet struggled a little bit in the Arbuckles but on flat ground could pull the load as fast as you wanted to go. The Ford tended to squat the rear more than the others, with the Chevy sitting the most level. We averaged from 75-80mph on our multiple trips up I-35 and one early morning trip we were hitting 90mph in the desolate plains of Kansas. On a bad note for the Chevy, the factory brake controller didn’t work worth a damn.
Fuel Mileage: Dodge wins this one hands down, both pulling and empty. The Dodge averaged 18 mpg empty while the Chevrolet barely got 15 and the Ford was lucky to get 13.5mpg. Granted, we weren’t going the speed limit and the winds were a factor, but long gone are the days of 21mpg I got in my old Cummins. Pulling a trailer, all three suffered and all got well under 10mpg.
Four Wheel Drive: As a guy that’s done plenty of offroading in a Jeep over the past 15 years, let me say none of these trucks are a Jeep. With that said, the Dodge is by far the best at extricating itself or others in the snow. The Chevy is second and the Ford an abysmal third. In this day and age, who would still put lock out hubs on a pickup? Well, the Ford has them as I found out as I had to get out to engage the hubs during a blizzard in -30 degree weather. I managed to only get one truck stuck where I had to be pulled out, and that was the Chevrolet in a 3′ snow drift.
On one final note, the only truck to give us problems during the last month and a half was the Dodge. It had to go to the Dealership for a leaking axle seal.
Overall: I would say the Chevrolet is the better truck, again, I’m partial to it as it’s my daily driver. The interior and ride quality put it over the top for me. Only if it wasn’t so damn butt ugly.
http://beyondrightfield.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/011510_1946_battleofthe11.jpg?w=500
http://beyondrightfield.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/011510_1946_battleofthe21.jpg?w=500
http://beyondrightfield.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/011510_1946_battleofthe31.jpg?w=500
2005 Ford F-250 Powerstroke
2007.5 Chevy 2500 Duramax
2008 Dodge 2500 Cummins
In the last few weeks I used all of the above for their intended purpose, work trucks. All of the trucks are fully loaded four door four wheel drive automatic transmissions with leather interiors and short beds. All have been in our fleet since new. The trucks were used to “commute” back and forth from Ft. Worth to Kansas City, usually pulling a 20′ bumper pull trailer both loaded and unloaded. In the past 5 weeks, all the trucks had over 3,000 miles put on them in some very nasty conditions from blowing snow and temperatures as low as -10, to mud and high speed highway use.
In all fairness, I will say that the 2007 Chevy is my work truck and I love it. But driving the other two has pointed out some flaws as well in my daily driver.
We will start out with cosmetics. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I must say that the Ford wins this category hands down. I am very partial to the looks of this body style Ford as well as the new models. I would have bought one this last go round but the reliability of the 2005 over the first couple years of life scared me into buying a Chevy. Second place goes to the Chevy and the Dodge comes in last.
Ride Quality: Again, the Ford wins this one hands down. The ride is more like a half ton than a ¾ ton that it is. Air pressure on all three trucks are jacked up to the 60 front, 75-80psi rear, and you can really tell it on the Chevy and Dodge. The Dodge is the worst offender in this category; it rides like it has 150psi in the rear tires. Put a load on any of the trucks and the ride smoothes out considerably.
Interior: The Chevy has this category won hands down. A lot of thought went into the layout of the controls, the functions and how they function. All three trucks are fully loaded, with the Dodge having a factory nav system where the others don’t. The leather seats in the Chevy are nicer and seem to have thicker leather than the other two (the Ford showing it’s age with the leather separating on the drivers side seat). The heated seats in the Chevy seem to work better than the Ford or Dodge. The sound system on the Chevrolet sounds better and the steering wheel controls are second nature compared to the Dodge or Ford. Legroom is by far best in the Chevy’s backseat. You have to overlook some deficiencies in the Ford as it’s showing it’s age, but since it’s been in the fleet since new I’ve had the opportunity to drive it before it aged. The electric sliding rear window in the Ford quit working within the first year and has been replaced three times. It still doesn’t work. I would put the Ford second and the Dodge last in this category. The Dodge seems to have not progressed much from the last one I owned (a 2002 model) while the Ford and Chevy are much more refined.
Now on to the important stuff, power. None of the trucks are chipped (yet). The Ford at one time had a programmer but after a couple of blown head gaskets we took it off. So all comparisons are factory power plants. The Chevy and the Dodge are neck and neck. The Chevy seems to get off the line better while the Dodge continues to pull longer and harder. The Ford is overmatched here and doesn’t even compare. If all I was doing was pulling loads every day, it would be hard to pass on the Cummins and the standard exhaust brake, but all it would take is a couple of really long days sitting in the Dodge and I would trade it in for the Chevy. The loads pulled were not real heavy, 10-15,000 pounds. The Dodge pulled the trailer like it wasn’t back there while the Ford struggled to figure out what gear it wanted to pull in. The Chevrolet struggled a little bit in the Arbuckles but on flat ground could pull the load as fast as you wanted to go. The Ford tended to squat the rear more than the others, with the Chevy sitting the most level. We averaged from 75-80mph on our multiple trips up I-35 and one early morning trip we were hitting 90mph in the desolate plains of Kansas. On a bad note for the Chevy, the factory brake controller didn’t work worth a damn.
Fuel Mileage: Dodge wins this one hands down, both pulling and empty. The Dodge averaged 18 mpg empty while the Chevrolet barely got 15 and the Ford was lucky to get 13.5mpg. Granted, we weren’t going the speed limit and the winds were a factor, but long gone are the days of 21mpg I got in my old Cummins. Pulling a trailer, all three suffered and all got well under 10mpg.
Four Wheel Drive: As a guy that’s done plenty of offroading in a Jeep over the past 15 years, let me say none of these trucks are a Jeep. With that said, the Dodge is by far the best at extricating itself or others in the snow. The Chevy is second and the Ford an abysmal third. In this day and age, who would still put lock out hubs on a pickup? Well, the Ford has them as I found out as I had to get out to engage the hubs during a blizzard in -30 degree weather. I managed to only get one truck stuck where I had to be pulled out, and that was the Chevrolet in a 3′ snow drift.
On one final note, the only truck to give us problems during the last month and a half was the Dodge. It had to go to the Dealership for a leaking axle seal.
Overall: I would say the Chevrolet is the better truck, again, I’m partial to it as it’s my daily driver. The interior and ride quality put it over the top for me. Only if it wasn’t so damn butt ugly.
http://beyondrightfield.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/011510_1946_battleofthe11.jpg?w=500
http://beyondrightfield.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/011510_1946_battleofthe21.jpg?w=500
http://beyondrightfield.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/011510_1946_battleofthe31.jpg?w=500