Thiers one thing I hate with GM trucks, They ride like a kite, too lite, even the Z71 package off road in the 1500 feel's like a flaoter.

I do like the 5.3 and I like the 08 styling and I have driven a duramax, don't like the torson bar suspension on the H/D, best to drive a few chevys and dodges and let the $$$$ be the deal braker.

I'm surprised Gm dosent put on Star on the turn signal, every thing else is on thier, A GM pet peave since I first drove a GM ..

 

I've never been much of a chevy fan, but my grandparents both have Subrubans and they're tanks, great fuel mileage from a V-8, grandpa's 97 gets 19/21, grandma 19/23; smooth ride and durable engines. The extra cost will eventually pay itsself back in $ saved by mpg's saved, but the warrenty falls way short of the dodge, and theres another thing, I've heard mixed reviews aboutthe dodge powertrain form mechanics, but my good buddy's 94 dodge 1500 4x4 can still run with the best of them; no bad ticks knocks major repairs; so it will really come down to a prefence on $ you want to spend, and likes in look. IMO the new GM trucks, especially the HD's, look ridiculous from the front & side. In the end it all comes down to the the right deal, find it and take it weather its Ford, Dodge, or Chevrolet.

 

the older generation of Chevy trucks were designed by GM engineers

this new Chevy truck is the first one designed under the leadership of
Bob Lutz, who used to be vice-president of Chrysler before the Germans bought it in 1998
and then sent Bob Lutz into retirement with a $27 million 'golden parachute'
because they thought he was both too old and too out-spoken.

Bob Lutz was not content not to be working somewhere
and he accepted a job from GM as their vice president about 4 years ago.

He was totally in charge of designing the new GM pickups.

Even if you don't like the new GMT900 pickups
you can't say the leader of the GM design team
did not know about Dodge pickup details
since it was he who ok'ed the Hemi 5.7 V8 concept and
totalled supervised the 1994-2001 design of 2nd Gen Ram
and probably set the specs back in 1998 for the 2002 design as well.

 

In personal experience i have had to rams... noo problems... my dad got a brand new chevy in 2003 went through multiple throttle bodies, and power steering pumps.... he is always complaining about something with that truck and now hes lookin at dodge... I'm not saying all chevy's are like that I'm just saying his is...

 

I just bought my truck this year and I was looking at both. The decision was between a chevy or a dodge. The things that pushed me away from the chevy was that I thought it was to much of a car. I wanted a truck. The cloth interior (I hate leather), was real bad. I looked at some used ones for reference and the cloth seemed to have a crushed velvet look on all the trucks with 20k miles on it. I am a big guy and I still felt a little cramped in the drivers seat (like a car). There were just to many little things that I did not like. I did like the engine, power, and efficiency, but I was not looking for that. I was looking to be comfortable as I live in my truck for work. Plus, to get the power, and options that I wanted, the price fell almost to the $40k mark. It is the little things that count to me, I can make do with everything else.

 

I drive a QCab personally, and a 1500 XCABfor work. The dodge handles better, especially in the rain. I think it is quite a bit wider than the Chevy/GMC... I am a big guy too, and the Ram is definately more comfortable than the Chevy. Bed is wider too.... if you haul stuff.

I am not going to talk trash about the Chevy, because mecanically it is a strong vehicle, but you get a lot more bang for your buck with the dodge. And you can always look at your friends (after you put the flows on it)and say "mmmmm.....hemi..."

 

the primary argument against the currently available Chevy
is that the factory that is a joint venture
between Ford and GM
to build 6 speed automatics is not building enough yet
and the Silverado can't yet be bought with that 6 speed,
plus maybe the 6 speed needs a year to get the bugs out

 

My last3 trucks have been:
'98 Dodge 1500 RCSB 360CI 4x4 w/ 3" body lift and 35" tires.
'02 Chevy Z71 ECSB 5.3L 4x4 w/ level kit & 3" body lift and 35" tires.
'04 Dodge 1500 RCSB Hemi 4x4 w/ 4" suspension lift and 35" tires.

All nice trucks. The '98 had great torque, decent HP with a few mods and other than the fact that it was atrocious on gas (< 10 mpg with the lift & tires) I was pleased with it. I wish I'd have kept it because it would have been a great off road / weekend truck with that solid front axle. It woulda made a great project truck to try a stroker kit, huge liftand REALLY big tires.
The chevy haddecent power off the lot, when I added enough lift for 35's it downright sucked. Could not get out of it's own way and the very good mileage it got stock went to hell. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice truck and made a great daily driver, but if lifting and tires are in the cards then you'd need to opt for the 3/4 ton and a 6.0L minimum.
The Hemi has been a dream! Great power with tons more that have been unleashed with some very easy to install bolt on mods. Very minimal mpg loss after adding the lift and 35's. Only small complaint I have is that despite it has damn near 100 hp more than my 360CI, the Magnum 5.9 felt more torquey down low. Although I have a custom ground KRC210 cam in my future that will more than fix that flaw. The only thing on the market today that I would give this truck up for is a CTD!!!

 

Amen to that! I can't stand the look of the new chevy/gms or fords. I'd take a new Ram over them any day, even if I had to live with those ugly tail lights...until I got them replaced.

 

Mechanically speaking, I don't think there is anything to worry about with a new Chevy OR a Dodge truck. Personally, I really prefer the exterior look of my Dodge and especially prefer the ride of a Dodge to the Chevy. The Chevy feels much more soft and definitly lower to the ground. The interior is kindof a tossup ... I really like the Delphi designed HVAC system, although I hate the new OnStart integrated radios and whatnot. I definitly don't regret buying a Dodge and peronsally I would definitly make the same decision today. The Chevys do get a bit better gas milage, but I think thats because of their aerodynamics and the fact that they are lower to the ground.

Also, for what its worth my Dad has a Chevy Avalanche (he's on his second one now). He loved both of them, although he had major mechanical problems with the first one (I think it was an 04 or 05). He had a tranny go, the a/c and it drove like crap. The new one is much better so far. He has only had it a few months but so far so good.