hi, I have been looking into buying a used truck, F-350 or dodge 3500 4*4 mega cab or crew cab

looking into the 2004-2007ish, mostly '05 and '06's to tell the truth,

in fact I cleared my schedule today to try and work a deal on one at a dealer in Bremen, but the salesman turned me off before I left here, again! (it is a long way from me, I went there once already after him telling there was a truck there, then it not being there after I got there!, but foolish me I tried again)

Anyhow , I'm wondering with Dodge, which years are better to look into and why?, I enjoyed driving the 3500, it felt more nimble and I am willing to live with some of it's feature shorts (interior type stuff) I did have fun driving it! I think it was mostly because of the quick steering, anyhow.....

Also, I may be upping the anti and looking at a 2008 , this is still a 4 Door 4*4 3500 Diesel of course!,

any reason to stick with any particular year Dodge? say from '04 -'08? I'm looking at mega cabs as well as the standard Club cab and would prefer to stay in the '06 price range, but if there is a good reason and the right price who knows ??? hope I posted this in the right forum!

BTW My last dodge I bought, we still own, a 1993 4*4 Dakota LE extended cab!, it's been a good truck for the most part out side of little crap like electronics and the typic stuff that breaks, right now we are having a issue with injector code on nuber 7 but that is for a different thread and place

Anyhow thanks, I could use the help,I love a little bit in everyone's lineup, but favor the Dodge and ford over Chevy, so I'm not looking at those now, I am a retired ford tech, not a diesel tech though, but I'll get what your talking about

Thanks a million

Tom

 

I'd stay with a 07 or before 5.9L CTD personally. NOBODY, be it GM, Furd or Cummins has been able to deal with govt. emissions standards well IMO. I see an awful lot of newer diesels flatbedded into my local dealerships and 9 times out of ten, the truck is in limp mode due to emissions problems.

7.3L Powerstroke was the last good engine from Furd, but they are starting to get long in the tooth. The 6.0 PowerJoke is aptly named.

5.9 CTD was the single best diesel engine ever produced IMO...

 

My buddy has an 01 24 valve with a little over 230K on the clock and i tell you it is **** your pants fast. although he is in college and has some mods... those engines are unbreakable, especially if you go with the manual transmission. you will be driving it for many years to come.

 

from what I have been reading the later 6.0 is pretty good, (well that only leaves '06 <g>) unless the repairs mods have already been done

the Cummins in the Dodge is a tough one it seems, how about trans? what years in dodge are holding up good in autos? (hard to find a decent stick I have not even been able to test drive a 6 speed around here), how are the turbos, injector pumps ect holding up?

That 08 is a pretty darn respectable price on it too, I think I have found a real deal on mega cab if I can jump on it now, So really stay away from 08.........? what about any mods to them a later model like -07 or -08 would it help?


Did I mention I really liked driving that Dodge? ! and I really like the comfor of the ford, but that dodge was just fun to drive!

Thanks!

Tom

 

can't get a '01 I really need to stick to years I can finance right now,

 

There isnt anything wrong with the 6.9 cummins. My good friend has an 08 and its sweet. The best thing for these motors is getting them out on the highway once a week or so and give it hell so it cleans itself. Long idling and short trips will eventually clog it up. I love the VGT turbo and the Exhaust brake.

 

yea there is nothing wrong with the 6.7l just the emission stuff can be problematic when in stop and go a majority of the time. but they make the delete kits for a reason.

 

thanks, can I ask what about raising the 08 comapred to earlier?

and I just found out tonight the 08 is not a dually megacab 3500
the plan was buy a dually megacab, next year sometime do the long bed conversion on it here, so now I'm wondering and will start a new thread, seeing how doing the LB conversion, wonder if I could pull off the dually conversion on it

the price is right on this 08

 

I have a ton of seat time in the superduty of those years. The ride quality is terrible every truck in our fleet would go into death shakes everytime u go over washboards, or expansion joints on bridges you would literally have to slow to a crawl for it to stop. Theres was always a vibration in the steering wheel on the highway.

Another thing to look out for on the fords is alot of people just leave the hubs locked and drive around in 2x4 which ****s them up after a while. The ext cab ford with the half doors avoid this model.

The doors rattle going over bumps, gets real annoying on a gravel road. The seats in the ford are terrible. The stock rims are a terrible design and always trap rocks which makes a terrible squealing sound against the rotor. Also those ****ty rims trap mud and throw the wheel out of balance. Those rims are hard to clean. Also some of the f350 had electrical issues and headlights would dimout. I mean the high beams were barely illuminating the road. The powerstrokes from those years really do not tolerate cold weather. The cummins were more reliable in the cold.

 

not to sure on the raising differances but if i had a 2500 or greater i would lift it with a kelderman airlift suspension.

I wouldnt do a conversion from a single wheel to a dually i think you would be better off waiting to find the right truck to begin with. as for the lb conversion i dont think anyone on here has done that. u might want to try the cumminsforum for more info.