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2009 duramax 2500 short bed
2013 duramax 3500 dually long bed
2015 duramax 3500 dually long bed
stable
reliable
each one quieter than the one before
nice int
I know it's a bit different from what everybody else uses.
Love it.
Pulling 20' Thule V nose, so effectively 24'. I figure I'm about 6000# fully loaded.
Makes a great daily driver with suburban mileage of 24-26 and on the open road 28-30. Pulling I get 14-16. It's comfortable, got a great turning radius and easy to move around parking lots. Got enough covered storage to make trips to Costco easily. Coming up on 100K and it's been very reliable so far.
Towed my open Trailex with a diesel Mercedes GL350 and it was terrific.
Then, Yonker called me a p*ssy and I bought his enclosed trailer and his 2005 F350 Crew Cab, Powerstroke, Long bed, Fx4 Off-road, Lariat. Can't even feel the trailer behind the truck....it's just that powerful.
A couple of months ago, traded Yonk's old truck and bought a 2016 F350 Crew Cab, Powerstroke, Long bed, Fx4 Off-road, Lariat. It's like a limo compared to the 2005. Use it as a DD occasionally and it gets as nearly many thumbs-up as the 991s from other drivers.
01 v10 excursion limited
Tow a 26ft enclosed haulmark.....about 9k lb
Slow as a turd but for the price....was about 9-10k less than a diesel.....made sense for me...runs off 87
Had to upgrade the shocks to bilsteins (were dead when I bought jt anyways) added a trans cooler and rear sway bar.....been pretty good to me otherwise
Jusy have to get used to the slow acceleration and fighting up hills......not that bad once your used to it but I still lust over a diesel till I see repair bills
Excursion is great...I can fit 4 adults and 4 kids with car seats plus ski gear and room to spare....but now that I have a 3rd kid will have to figure that out
Kids call it the party bus
Next is either a diesel excursion....7.3 or 6.0 with egr etc addressed
F150 eco or a slightly older diesel
Or a dodge diesel
2011 Dodge Ram 2500/HD long bed. 800+ pounds of torque. I can burn rubber at 50mph. I can pull a house. I got the base model. Comfortable and durable. large tank that matches my bladder capacity.
I towed my heavily loaded steel 24 foot trailer through Hurricane Sandi and barely noticed. Probably not the ideal daily driver for NYC (!!!), but once on the road its as comfortable and easy as any larger car
2000 Ford F-350 dually. Yup, the "big boy".
I like it so much, it's my daily driver.
Used to tow my 27' enclosed (#7000) like nothing. Put the cruise control at 80, get 12-13mpg.
Noisy when cold. No other complaints at all.
Thanks - are these reliable? I get all the years/models confused when trying to find a good one.
You are going to get a different opinion from anyone you talk to.
I have a 1997 3500 ram and also a 40ft Tollycraft powerboat that also has 2 97 Cummins engines . Nothing stops these engines. As far as todays power standards they are babys but you will not go out to start your truck like my friends newrer Ford and have the dash go out and truck dead, or have the transcooler fail in the radiator and take out the transmission.
I live in Seattle and drive the dually in the city no problem. My 97 has no electronics. I towed from Seattle to Willows over the pass and with 2 cars in 45 ft gooseneck got 16 mpg. I see these all the time for sale .
If I were pulling a stacker or gooseneck then diesel of course but gas is nicer for everything outside of towing and for the small stuff it's not that big of a difference.
'01 F250 7.3L SD Lariat with a cap on the bed to keep my stuff relatively secure.
I've never been a truck guy but this one is 7,000 pounds of macho and reminds me of my childhood school bus running so I'm all over it. 0-60mph = all day. About 19 mpg by itself, 14mpg pulling my 5000# loaded alum. trailer. Tons of room inside. I could rent out the leather back seat as sleeping quarters