I am having a hard time getting a clear direction on this. I only buy a new truck every 10 or 12 years so I want to make a solid choice. I have mostly driven Cevy but the new Rams seem to be very well built and drive solid. Has any of the issues like ball joints, etc been resolved? What kind of milage is the Ram getting in the new version? Thanks.

If you use the passenger area a lot you want to check out the back seat in the dodge, was smaller than the chevy, but may have fixed that. Have not heard of a lot of problems(I drive chevy) but new vehicles seem fairly equal.

I Drive a 6.0 Chevy it is a "Classic" 07 2500 HD and I have driven a 5.7 Dodge. I like the Chevy drive train much better. The 6.0 pulls well for a gas engine and Mileage wise if you keep out of the throttle will actually do about 16-17 on Avg. My best take on flat highway going about 65 was 21MPG, nobody believes me but I did that well. I do run a taller, skinny tire 255/85r16 and that seemed to make a big diffrence on the highway.
The only problems I've had with the truck has been the CD player not working and at 1500 miles the power steering pump came apart. I now have about 65,000 on it and tires, oil and gas and the truck is happy

I currently own a 2003 2500 HD Chevy 4x4 with a 6.0 and my milage at best running empty on the highway is about 14. Not good. The truck does pull pretty good. I have heard the 5.7 hemi with the new 6 spd tranny will run 20-21 on the highway at 390 HP and 400 Fp of torque. I am not very impressed with the new Chevy and I am a lifelong Chevy guy. The 2500 HD 4x4 has only 9 inches of ground clearance??

I drive a Chevrolet 2003 2500 HD. Have just over 100,000 miles and except for a few small issues, has been a pretty good truck.I have the 6.0 engine and tow a 5,500lb boat frequently. No complaints about power but I wish I got cowboys mileage..I get about 11 towing the boat and recently got 16 heading up camping with the truck pretty loaded down. I also run a taller skinnier tire. No major engine or tranny problems so im a pretty happy camper overall.

I had a 2007 GMC 1500 Classic 4WD with the 6.0 liter engine. Bought it new and traded it with 110K miles. Mine had the old 4-speed auto and about the best that I could do running empty was 17 mpg. Pulling my double axle flatbed with my Polaris Ranger on board, it dropped to 12-13 mpg. It looks like the 6.2 in the 1500 still uses the 4-speed auto.

We traded ours primarily because of the cost of feeding it. We put around 30K miles on each of two vehicles each year and the cost of fuel was unacceptable.

I have been a mostly Chev/Gmc guy for most of my life. I just upgraded my 2007 Avelanche with a 2012 Ram crew cab with the Hemi. Only about 2000 miles so far but pretty satisfied. Great ride, good power, acceptable mileage, very quiet and from what I have seen so far good build quality.

This is based on the 1500 not the 2500 but in my opinion Ram has come a long way.

mudhen, just a clarification. I drive a 2011 GMC Sierra 1500 with the 403hp 6.2L and the MAX trailering package. It has a 6L80E transmission (six-speed). This motor is not available in the 2500 series. Those use the 360hp 6.0L, with I believe, a 6L90E transmission. FWIW, I love this '11 pickup. A big step up in power over my previous '08 5.3L, with a barely noticeable decrease in fuel economy. Well worth it, IMHO.

I have a 2010 silverado with the 6.2 and MAX trailering package and the 6 speed tranny with 3.73 gears and i get 18 MPG on the highway if i baby it. I have buddies who have diesel trucks that we camp with ones a Powerstroke and ones a Duramax and i spanked both of them once when they were riding me saying i couldnt keep up so i started to pass them when we hit a decent hill and i seen the black smoke start to come out from them mashing the gas and so i mashed mine and slowly passed and pulled away from them so i wouldnt want a diesel unless i pulled maybe 5 days a week just to save money on fuel other than that i'll take my 6.2 any day of the week.

Well you are the second person I know having the Power steering pump go out. I am the first one. Mine is a 2000 6.0 and I had about 70,000 on it at the time.

For you two with the MAX 6.2, are you having to use higher octane fuel or can you run with the 87? Does this engine run on all 8 cylinders all the time? I think this and the 3.73's would be a big improvement over the standard 5.3 and 3.42's (which I have).

The main problem here is the Chevy is made by GM.

The 6.2 does not require premium fuel. I run 87 octane. The 6.2 does not have the V8/V4 feature found on some 5.3's. It does have VVT, variable valve timing, which is a different thing.

3.73's are standard with the 6.2 with the MAX trailering package.

If you want to stop buying trucks every 10 years, spring for the extra cost and buy a diesel. My Ford 350 gets 24 mpg, will out pull any normal gas engine and is broken in with 120 k miles. Lots of people get 500 K miles and some get 1 million miles out of a diesel engine.

Which engine is it? A 350, hand calculated 24mpg? I don't believe that for a second.

And 10 years out of a truck isn't too bad anyway. mtmuley

my 250 ccsb 4x4 manual 7.3 knocks down 17 city. I have not done any highway with my new injectors but I would guess close to 20. I could see 24 if it was a 2wd manual with a standard cab, but that is hypermiling the truck.

Ackman and Micky,
It is a 7.3 liter diesel with about $1200 in modifications. Just an exhaust, intake, and a tuner. That is the highest mileage I have gotten on flat country using cruise control with a cab high canopy, high pressure tires etc. It is a 4WD with an auto. I am a hypermiler and drive sort of a like my grandfather, but with more skill. I measured the mileage by filling the tank, driving 500 miles and filling the tank again. The odometer reading divided by the gallons used came out to 23.8 mpg. You don't have to believe it, but it is a fact.

Anyone that thinks 10 years is the useful life of a pick-up has never owned a diesel. I know 2 guys that have more than 450 k miles with only new injectors. There are plenty of trucks out there with more than 600, 800 and even one million miles on the same engine.

the motor on a good diesel will keep goin forever , but if you are working the pickup , lots of other stuff starts to fall apart.......if you are just street/highway crusing , they will last allotta miles

And a lot of diesels on the road don't pull anything or haul a load heavier than a black lab. I had my last gas truck 14 years, and didn't buy it new. mtmuley

If a diesel doesn't have a DPF, 23 or 24 mpg is possible on the highway. With a DPF equipped diesel, you are unlikely to see mileage that high. That being said, even 17 or 18 mpg is pretty good when pushing an 8,000 pound truck down the road at 65 mph with nearly 400 hp and 800 lb ft of torque at your disposal. I love driving my diesel as a daily driver. The higher price of diesel fuel washes out any gains in mileage over a gasser. Couple that with more expensive maintenance and initial cost, and a diesel is hard to justify from a purely economic perspective unless you tow heavy a BUNCH. Once you get one, it is hard to give up the capability.

Diesels are great till you lose an injector out of warranty. And as K1500 points out, the cost of diesel eats up the mileage benefit. I went back to my 5.3 GMC 1500 and only get 14 mpg average but so far the maintainence has been a lot cheaper.

As to the original question I would think it is a toss up. If you like the dealer of one better than the other I would go that way.

A bit of difference between "My truck gets 24mpg.." and this


My gun has shot a couple groups around .100", but it's not .100" gun.

Since the first '55 I've always had real good luck with Chevys. Of the trucks you mention I'd get definitely get the 6.0 GM has kept refining the smallblock and that LS engine is just excellent. It's very strong.

My old '94 gas truck has been a good one. With 225K miles it's always started if there was enough juice in the battery, always, even after sitting in snow for 6 mos. It's rarely been driven since I got the diesel in '04. It's also done 18mpg on the highway at a careful 60mph with a tailwind.....but it's not an 18mpg truck.

About diesels....upkeep costs more, so what? Power / torque makes them really enjoyable. You don't even feel mountain grades or altitude. And about twice the fuel mileage of a gas truck that's anywhere near the same capability. You don't need to tow heavy or even tow at all to enjoy a diesel truck. I very seldom tow and didn't get it for that anyway. The diesel is just more fun to drive. If you like strong acceleration, tweak it some with bolt-ons and it'll be quicker than most of what you'll ever meet at a stoplight. With a pickup truck diesels are the way to go.

My Cummins gets that, hand calculated. Only upgrades are tubo-back exhaust with a Hogg muffler and Drop-in filter.

ETA, obviously not a DPF. Those things are mileage killers!

I've heard of older 2WD 12V's doing that, they're also slow dogs. I know several guys with CR's and they don't get anywhere near that kind of mileage.

got 23 mpg (hand calculated )on a several hundred mile stretch once with my 97 4x4 12 valve , 5 speed trans and had a cab high topper on , which I think helps out


that was running a steady 65 mph and no wind ; up the speed and or get some headwind/crosswind it drops off fast....under good conditions barely 20 mpg at 75 mph

I drive to Vegas About 2-3x a year from northern Utah. 436 miles, a shade over 18 gal of fuel.