My truck fits in the carport... and by truck I mean just the bed.

 

Well than make it taller

 

I hate to say it but for once I agree with Viper. This forum has a lot of fanboys that swear up and down these trucks are the best or are soo great. However, in reality there isn't that much great about these trucks unless you put a ton of work into them and then they aren't all that much better than other stock vehicles. They put out low hp and torque numbers as well as suck down the gas like no other. Other than the cracking head issue the motors seem decently reliable but that's all they have going for them. The transmissions are crap, the interiors are crap just look at all the cracked dashes, the rear ends are crap if they have the factory limited slip, the motor is decent but has a lack of power and eats gas like crazy along with having the cracking head issue and the pleneum gasket issue, the doors are common to rust, the a/c evap coils hardly ever don't leak, I'm sure I'm missing some but their are just soo many common problems with these trucks it's not funny. I've never come across another vehicle that has this many common problems. The transfer cases seem to be decent and the front axle seems to be decent if you don't count the hubs on them and don't run anything more than a 33" tire and don't beat on it hard. Of course it's made by Dana and the transfer case by NP so neither are Dodge parts. That's basically the only two things I can comment are decent on the truck. The rest of the truck is just one crappy part after another.

Some of you guys seem to think they are the best trucks out there. It's just like guys who grew up with Fords, or Chevy's. They will never admit that their brand has problems.

 

I don't need to "USE IT FOR WORK" because I don't work on land. I work on the water and under the sea. Not exactly a great place for a pickup truck now is it?

You agree with me pretty often actually. It's so annoying when I see posts like "zomg my Dodge is so much better than any Ford because I pulled out a stuck Ford once!!!!111oneoneone" These trucks have problems, as to every other vehicle. As with any other vehicle they have good and bad. Good, the 318 is extremely reliable. Bad, it chews gas like a ****.

Good Lord, people around here are so hostile when their precious little pickup trucks get picked on. It's so fun to watch.

 

I have both. I have a 91 toy pick-up that I bought new and beat on for the last 18 years and I still drive it to work just about everyday. The Toyotas are good vehicles. I bought the Ram due to the looks of the truck, the type of suspension and the fact that the trucks are pretty easy to work on and modify. If you go on any of the other froums of the big three, you will find problems in all of the full sized trucks. I bought my truck cheap enough so I can make it into the vehicle that I want it to be. The newer trucks are impressive, but ours were too at the time they were new.

 

I'd disagree with some of that, but should say up front I don't read every thread so understand if I'm missing something.

I don't see the fanboy thing much. Seems to me most on this forum understand the trucks aren't perfect. I chose a Dodge over Ford/Chevy because I liked the looks the best, but also knew is was probably going to be the least reliable. I've also owned Jeeps, which fall into the same category. Harley Davidson's fit the category too, but those I won't mess with them because I don't work on motorcycles. Then again, I wasn't expecting any vehicle I bought that was 6-7 years old, to be perfect.

Also never seriously considered an import, because at that time, wanted to spend 10k, which put me into a truck around the 2000 model year. My only real requirement was a box that was wide enough to lay a 4x8 sheet of drywall flat in.

There is no perfect vehicle. Up here the knock on the imports is, until recently, an acceptance that the bodies would rot away faster then the big three trucks. I think everyone knows the things will run forever, but most wouldn't try to argue that the bodies were more likely to rust away faster.

My opinion might also be the minority one. As I've said previously, when shopping for a different truck, I was planning on buying a 05 Nissan Titan. It impressed me more then anything comparable. I'm not a Dodge fanatic. Think they make sharp looking vehicles that stand out, but they aren't the best reliability wise.

 

Back in early '98, I had it narrowed down to the Dodge or a Toyota ... um ... I think they were calling them T100 back then ... maybe T150.

Anyway ... I drove into the Toyota dealership and was immediately accosted by a salesman with a copy of Consumer Reports rolled up in his back pocket. When I told him what I was thinking, he whipped out the magazine and showed me the level of repair on each model. Of course, Toyota was at the top, Dodge was at the bottom. He asked me why I would consider buying something that was going to "live" in the shop. I shook his hand, said, "Thank you for making my mind up for me", informed him that I was a member of Consumer's Union and that he was prohibited from using our magazine for sales purposes.

I hopped in my Jeep, drove over to the Dodge house and bought the Ram. In 11 years, it has spent a total of 8 hours in the shop and has NEVER left me stranded ... even after driving the snot out of it. All makes have their problems ... some specific vehicles are lemons ... this forum is only a snapshot of people's experience with their trucks. Most people are here because of a problem ... how many folks would become a member just to say, "Everything's great ... no problems"?

 

What are you basing this on? The only corrosion issues I've ever heard of with foreign trucks was Toyota's older Tacoma's frame issues, and to correct that they were buying the trucks back from owners at something like 125% of their value...

The pair of Hardbodies we had had perfect bodies w/ original paint. Even after 14/16 years of life.

 

The bodies of the 80's Toyota's do seem to rust I will give them that. I think that's what he is talking about but I've never seen that on any of the newer Toyota's.

 

Corrosion is present on ALL older vehicles. My neighbor has a Challenger with rotted out floors, rotted out doors, rotted everything. He also has a Shelby Dakota that has corrosion issues. Must be because they are American. I wish people would realize that most pickup trucks really are created equal. When I buy a vehicle, I don't care who makes it. Instead of looking at the features they all have, I look at the unique problems they WILL have.