I was always a Dodge fan, but I don't know about these 5000,000 mile rams. My 98 engine tanked at 150,000. Head gasket blowed. Required full valve job, head shaved, complete engine flush radiator,hoses heater core. ($7Krepair job) Before that I put 3 injector pumps in,two lift pumps, then a FASS system. Clutch ,pressure plate, two turbos reworked. I probably put $12K in repairs in that truck. After the engine job,I sold it and then it lost 5thgear I heard.
When I was looking for another truck, I found Dodge shortened their short box to 6'-3' instead of 6-'6'.I did not want an 8ft bed.Looking around, the Duramax had better ride and more capacity. Dealers were a heck of a lot better too.
I bought the Duramax but with an extended warranty. Before the Dodge, I had a Ford that was piece o fcrap.I would not touch another one. We will see how this Duramax works out.
I'm in a similar situation right now. I have an '06 Dodge/Cummins at 173k miles - it's been a good truck but I feel like I've had to do more repairs than what I hear most others report. Until last year, repairs were pretty minor and usually a once a year event to the tune of +/- $1k. Last fall, I had to replace injectors along with several other things and was in the $4-5k range for repairs. This fall, it's been in and out of the shop with one thing after another and I haven't been able to get out hunting due to not having reliable transportation. I'm looking at another $4-5k in repairs this fall by the time I'm done. The engine is awesome, but I feel like the rest of the truck is starting to fall apart.
I'm currently in the process of buying a '16 Duramax short box crew cab. My Dodge is a long box quad cab and I prefer the long box over a short box, but I don't want the length of a long box crew cab. I'm willing to trade some bed length for the crew cab and do prefer GM's short box to the other makes. I have been researching the whole CP4 fuel pump debacle and will likely do a fuel pump upgrade for piece of mind.
