Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Newer diesel which one?

Do a little research on those Ecodiesels, which they have had in Europe for quite a while..

they are Italian Made...

They aren't built to have the durability people think of when they say Diesel.

Google up Ecodiesel issues...also on youtube...

if you can't afford constant repairs, pass it by....

I like the ecodiesel. Not a fan of Dodge in general but the little diesel makes a lot of sense. My neighbor has a 2016. He simply loves it. He claims great fuel mileage and it pulls a hunting trailer with ease. He "chipped" it, whatever that entails.

If you google looking for issues, you'll find them, on anything.

Payload on the eco diesel ram's is literally worse than an Impala. Why buy a truck that 4 passengers and a cooler in the back put over the GVWR?

Lol. No clue what the Impala's payload is, but ya, the Dodge 1/2 tons are all rated pretty low.

If you dont tow much and your trailers or boats weigh less than 8k or so, it looks like a good daily driver with great MPG.
Everything is a compromise somewhere. Just a matter of whats important to you.

I looked when they first came out. Yes, they get passenger car mileage with passenger car payloads to match. They are supposed to tow pretty decent, loads, but again, payload may be an issue when you add the 10-15% tongue weight you are supposed to have. I just hate to see someone get a truck that can't do what they want because they didn't read the specs. But truth be told, most trucks are used as glorified cars, so capability doesn't matter much anyway.

All I do know for sure is I have had two buddies that had the 6.0 and both were ready to toss them off a cliff. It was always something breaking or leaking and half the motor had to be dis assembled to fix. Plus neither had gotten to 150 K yet and had to do complete front ends. YMMV

Just sold a 99 F250SD with the 7.3L and 54k miles today. Guy flew out from portland to buy it and drive it back. That was a beast of a truck. Im not towing a horse trailer anymore, so it will probably be the last diesel I own until Im retired. Diesels are a lot of work to maintain properly, much prefer gas.

I have a 2016 crew cab Eco-Diesel and so far love it for my needs. The mileage is what I really like. But it also rides nice, is quiet, and has good power. I get 24-25 mpg with a mix of city and county roads when driving to work. On the open highway its pretty common to get 27-29 mpg when not loaded heavy and just cruising along.

Hell, it gets almost as good of mileage as the wife's Camry and is nicer to ride in. I've pulled up to 10K with it when towing a trailer loaded with gravel, but I think that was pushing it. I currently don't have anything that needs towed so really can't say how mileage or power is when under heavy load. Mostly I'm just hauling the wife and two adult-sized kids with maybe a 4-wheeler on back or a half cord of firewood for most loads. But that is all I really need to haul at this point.

I have 20K on it now and had a sensor go out at about 12K (under warranty) and oddly enough, the cruise switch had to be pushed hard to engage, but that was covered also.

Just keep looking. Sooner or later you will find a "pavement queen" at a good price.

BTW don't buy one from a Chukar hunter;-)=

Wife has a 2015 1/2 ton Ram with the Eco Diesel. At 40k miles the injectors had been replaced, 5 weeks in the shop for a leaking egr cooler. She tows a 215SS Crownline Boat which is less than 5k, the oll temp will climb to 235-240 when towing. She also tows her 2 horse feather lite loaded w the horses and equipment, and that lill truck does not like to tow heavy. Mileage is okay when not towing 23-25. We are looking for a Ram 2500 w the Cummins. The Eco diesel was made to get descent mileage, not to tow heavy loads.

If you're going to tow a trailer with any regularity, even if it's a relatively light trailer, you'll be so much happier with a 3/4 ton diesel. It's nut just about the torque, the brakes are more robust and the stiffer suspension allows the truck to handle the trailer vs. the trailer to handle the truck.

Duramax and Cummins seem to have an edge on the Ford product. I have an '06 Duramax with 140k on it and haven't had any issues with it. As mentioned, the 3/4 trucks are set up for towing with brakes and cooling systems to match.

Mine has averaged 15.1 mpg all in since I've owned it, mixture of city, highway, towing, hunting.

If you haul heavy loads or trailers, a set of air bags is great. You can deflate them for normal driving, then blow them up when you have a load on. It's the best of both light and heavy springs.

I have them on my 3/4 Dodge. With Dodge, the only difference between the 3/4 and the 1 ton is the springs. All other parts are interchangeable. So, with the air bags, I can blow them up and have 1 ton capacity if I need it.

My 1997 Dodge Cummins was paid off in 1999. Done a lot to it since then. Mucho power, hauls anything, solid in the backcountry, but certainly rides like it, too. 250,000 miles and I have no intention of buying another any time. The wife will probably bury it and me together.

Buy the 3/4 ton truck of your choice, then throw a 12 valve six banger in there.

IF it was me & I was looking for a "forever PU", I'd find a 6.0 Ford with a BAD motor & drop a Cummins 4BT or a 12-valve 6BT into it. =====> You'll get sick of looking at it eventually but you won't wear it out in decades.
(A member of our truck club has over 700,000 miles on a "FUMMINS" that he dropped a 4BT into with a 5-speed ZF.)

yours, tex

A GM truck with the Duramax and the Allison transmission of course.

I looked for a used diesel for quite some time. Nicer stuff was $30-$35k, had 75k miles, and most importantly, NO warranty. Found a new Dodge in the low $40's, with a 5 year/100k driveline warranty. Diesel repairs get expensive FAST. Drive it for 5 years, keep mileage below 100k, get a new one. Lose $10k-$15k on old truck trade, or likely lose $10k repairing old truck when warranty runs out, AND you still have an older truck... The new ones have gotten too complicated.

Note: This doesn't work if you drive optioned out $70k Platinums or Laramies, etc.

Just bought a 2016 Platinum on Thursday at $54k. Has 26k miles on it so 10k miles and 2 years left on warranty, so feeling hopeful we are good for mechanical's for a while.
Last year for steel bodies. They had a new 2018 Pt on the floor at $84k...yikes! That's almost what we paid for our house 30 years ago.
Only complaint is single 26 gallon tank and average fuel economy..
Am used to having dual tanks for 37 gal on my 1997 F-250 with 7.3L. It routinely gets 16-18 mpg...the 6.7's looks like they only get 13-14mpg. Not sure I understand why 7.3 would get better miles than 6.7 and doesn't have the extra expense of the DEF to boot? Maybe 7.3's 5 spd manual over 6.7's auto trans is the difference.
Also looked at a new 2017 Lariat at $62k, with Al body. Not sure I wanted to go there...wonder about durability of Al over Fe metal with off road excursions. Had steel bodies crack due to body torquing from rough uneven trails. Been told Al bodies more costly for body work etc. All that made me cautious.
Enjoying it for now. Time always tells.

That is the ONLY reason I would consider a Ram truck. You can still get a Cummins with a stick.