First off, hi everyone!

I'll be shipping up to little rock within about 2 weeks for a contract job for about a 12-18months. As you can probably see my DD is a '72 Nova SS with a same year Chevelle SS 454 LS5, and I love the hell out of that car. The downside however, other than its 10mpg city mileage is that it requires a lot of upkeep. I've spent about $18K just in parts on this car in the last year fixing what the previous owner rigged and other various crimes he did to this car....anyhow, I was looking at purchasing a truck in about 2 months, maybe sooner. So far I've basically honed in on 2 different vehicles. A 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7l Quad Cab, and a 2005 Ford F-150 5.4l SuperCrew, both for around $10K with under 100k miles. I'll be honest i'm leaning towards the Ford atm, i'm looking for something with respectable power but that is very reliable....and after doing some research that seems to be what ford is better known for, reliability and longevity. Anyhow I guess i'm just wondering your opinion, whats best for reliability, hows the mileage? Seems like the dodge corners the market on power though? Any typical problematic issues to check, which holds it's value better, and so on?

Thanks a lot guys and sorry for the annoying noob question!

 

You're not going to get better mileage with either truck than the Nova so I'm not really sure why you're looking for a truck unless you need it for work. But you are on a Dodge Forum so answers are going to be bias. I would say you can't really go wrong with either truck. I have an 08 1500 and my room mate has an 05 F150 and neither of us have problems with our truck except MPGs

 

Prior to dodge, I owned nothing but Fords, so heres my take on the F-150 and the Dodge Ram.

THe 5.4 3v is a **** poor engine, real **** box, first generations had cam phasser issues ( dual timming chains go slack, than tighten up when engine is started and than break) A f-150 is heavy truck and it will use more flue than the hemi.

Spark plus are known to break inside the head, even when ford techs work on thease trucks.

Fit and finish, body, paint, interior, on a 150 is the Ace ford offerd on thease trucks, depending on the rear end ratios, the F-150 is geared more for towing, I do find the 3rd gen ram cab has more leg room and and head room, but if your going to a 4 door truck, ford has a edge in in the back seat area.

Relability wise, my 04 was a chroinic case of electrical, charging and starting issues, it was the truck than turned me off Ford, dare I say for good.

Engine wise, the hemi is is three times the engine of any triton ford V8 and V10 but for overall fit and finsh and presentation, the 3rd gen Ram was starting to play catch up with Ford.

Its ofton been said, that if you had a dodge powertrain in a Ford frame, Hemi or CTD, it would be the best truck on the road, thats kinda my opion!!

Aas with any used F-150 or 1500 Ram, the price you want to pay and the level of maintance you want to pay for ofton oustshine a opion of what truck is better.

 

cyclone has a nice synopsis. I think that for used trucks ram's hold up well over time. The trim advantages that you might perceive on 2005 trucks don't seem as major now when you look at what's available in a new truck. Also it's heading towards 10 years old, it's gonna have some wear and tear on it, so to me for a used truck the engine and drivetrain take on more importance. That combined with I like the way the dodge's look more so than fords means I ended up with a dodge. Good luck with your decision.

 

Just don't buy a Chevy!