i am gonna have to disagree that toyota or nissan will outlast domestic. If we were talking about econo cars then absolutely but we are talking about trucks, something that toyota and nissan know little about and dont have a long history in producing. From what i have read the tundras also snap a lot of camshafts. I'm not convinced that toyota can make a reliable, long lasting v8. there is no doubt what they can do with 4 and 6cyl though. I'm just tired of people who automatically assume it will last forever no matter what application just because it says toyota. the jury is still out and up till now no one has used a toyota for real pickup truck work. all i'm sayin is dont write off the new rams. or other domestics for that matter.

 

I'm not saying a Toyota will last forever. However, most everyone I've ever seen with one has had far less problems than the guys I know with domestics.

Infact I've seen several Toyota's take a beating and keep asking for more. They were the 4cyl and 6 cyl versions to be honest though. The sad part is with the 2nd gen Rams they have huge V8 engines but they still make less power than a lot of V6's and drink gas like it's nothing.

 

Yeah, but you have to consider these V8s of ours are over head valve designs.
Alot of those v-6 are dual over head cam designs.

I prefer the pushrod V-8 myself. Maybe just cause I know my way around them better. Easier to work on.

 

I can see your point here...I guess everyone, myself included, thinks of the Nissans and Yotas of the 80's and 90's with their 4 and 6 bangers that last forever. You're right that their history with V8's is somewhat limited, but I was just taking for granted that their full-size market will carry with it the same legacy of their mid-size market. And I agree with you, the jury is still out on that. I am not dissing the Rams or other domestics by any means...I say buy American. If we as a people hadn't sold out so much to foreign cars, boosting other countries' incomes, maybe our economy would be a little better off...just my .02 We all know GM could use the sales right now.

 

lol...when I bought the truck, figured it would end up looking like yours after a couple years. Then I hauled home a load from home depot of 20 sheets of plywood, 20 sheets of drywall, and 30 2x4's. After unloading that, decided against ever putting a lift and tires on anything again. Must be gettin old.

 

some of us never learn... didnt go with a lift on the '05, but added leaf pack to the rear which bumped the '05 up almost an inch, then went with 3" leveling springs from Kore that I got from a buddy of mine. I took a level to the tonneau cover and was surprised to see that it is truely level now. Barely fits in the garage though. I do plan to go to 35's at some point and dont expect it to clear the garage door w/o airing down the tires.

 

Only suspension work I'll ever do is some helper springs to get the payload up closer to a 3/4 ton. The 20 sheets of drywall/plywood and 2x4's squatted the truck down quite a bit, easily had it overloaded. Just want to be able to do that again if needed. Only live a few miles from the Home Depot so it's not worth upgrading to a 3/4 ton for a trip I might only make every other year.

 

Seriously? I had 2 ton of stone in the bed of mine, and it was deffinetly overloaded (It held up, but I only had about 1 a mile and a half to go), but I didn't know 20 sheets of drywall weighed that much.

 

Figured the weight at the time of 20 sheets each of dywall/plywood totaled 2400 lbs.

 

I've had rock in the bed of my 2500 and it was squatting.... definatley put a load on it.