HAMMERZ71, thank you for all the great information. I wish I had your knowledge of all these trucks. I just think these Dodge RAMS are friggin amazing badas* rigs but I want one but I dont wanta f*#k myself by buying a rig with known tierod and rearend issues, ya know? Does that make sense at all?
Sh#t, I dont know. I ought to just step up and do it, I know but im trying to make a good decision for me and my family.
Any other information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance guys

 

You asked about an Express or Sport. An Express is a watered down version of a SLT, or an upgrade from an ST. A friend of mine is a Dodge salesman and I was looking at an Express on the lot and they are sharp. I put a post in your thread a while back but I can help more. If you take time and do alot of online work you will find a Ram for the money will provide the most options. I posted somewhere in here I have a $35,000 Ram and a comparable Ford has 1/2 less options than my truck has, with a lousy V-6, it's pathetic. GMC/Chevy provides you a few more options for your money but still falls way short compareable to a Ram. I cannot comment on foreign trucks as I know nothing except Toyota has reliability issues. I just posted also if you take an Express and take the sticker and compare it to a Ford the same price, Ford gives you a V-6 with a anti slip diff. that is it, very sad. Look at the Express for $29,000 and look at what you get for your money, a 390 hp truck, dual exhaust and power options and nice wheels, not bad if you ask me. You mentioned a Sport, I took one home overnight (I bought my TRX4 instead) and they are a beautifull rig. I did not buy it because I did not need nav., a $900.00 sport hood etc. I viewed the Sport basically a Viper with a truck bed on it. I did have a recall by the way on the tie rods, I cannot remember the reason but is was not a big deal and last I knew the rear end issue was a recall. Most vehicles have recalls at some point. Let us know how you make out.

 

Guy in my hunting club bought a brand spankin' new Ford with the eco-boost. He just had to be on the cutting edge of technology. Well, Mr. Technology now has his truck with 8k miles on it sitting on the back lot at the dealer waiting for a transmission which is on national back-order - estimate day of delivery - Jan 9!!!

 

I love to see cutting edge technology fail...especially when they put it into a Ford! HAHA!

 

For the most part I have always resisted that 1st model year urge. It's the reason I waited until the '04s hit to get a Hemi.

I can only recall twice where I went against my better judgement on vehicles and jumped on one when they first came out. First time was I just HAD to have an Avalanche when they hit the market, so I traded my 2nd Gen Ram in on one. Bad move! The 5.3 leaked oil, I had rear driveshaft issues, the bed covers leaked like a sieve when it rained and the gray cladding turned to milky, sun-bleached white after about 3 months in the south Georgia sun.

Other one I lucked out on. I HAD to have a new Bombardier (CanAm) ATV when they hit the market. SO many technological innovations in that thing I couldn't resist. A good 25% more HP & torque than any other engine of comparable size (at that time), a cutting-edge 4 WD system that could put 100% of the engine's power to just one wheel, inboard brakes (this I thought was an awesome idea, getting the brakes off the wheels where they get totally caked with mud and are easily damaged to the inside of the shafts). To date this thing still rides like a charm after what will be six years in January. The only issue I had with it was the plugs wanted to foul pretty easily, but the dealer had a "fix" for it already by the time it hit mine. Pull the stock paper air filter off and replace with a K&N, it got the mix leaner and I haven't had a plug foul since...

 

They say in all these new car buyer online articles to try and resist first year models so they can work out the bugs, but I have bought new generation Ram's (02', 07' if I remember) and never had an issue. I quess that proves Dodge reliability. This eco-boost from what I have read is supposed to be the cats meow, sales #'s regarding the eco-boost is pretty good from news reports. I will take my classy 390 hp TRX4 thank you. I am not bashing Ford, but I firmly believe they are an over rated, way over priced truck. Why the F-150 supposedly is the best selling truck year to year is something I will never get.

 

Hammer, I googled the Ford trans. issue. Looks like the 2011, all engines (if not more model years) with the automatic 6R80 have severe leaks upon first driving shortly after delivery or the first couple hundred miles. Thousands have reported massive amounts of trans. fluid leaking while vehicle sitting and/or driving vehicle. Many have to be towed back to dealer because trans. blew up while driving. Trans. pump is the issue and the NHTSB made Ford do a TSB on this issue. Also, according to the few F-150 online forums I have read, thousands of people have their trucks at the dealers and the national backorder is now months wait. Ford is repairing the transmissions under warranty but the customers have to pay for their own rental vehicles, oviously some for many months, because vehicles are undriveable. The F-150 owners according to some of the online posts want Ford to buy back their vehicles but Ford has refused. Well, thanks Ford, I will keep my rock solid, blizzard proven 545RFE trans. Thanks for the heads up hammer, you probably saved some poor soul from buying a seriously defective truck.

 

You mean the long used term of Dodge trucks having the BEST V8 engines mated to the WORST transmissions might have swung over to the Furd side??? LOL...

 

I have never experienced any trans. issues. I grew up around MOPAR trucks and cars and never, that I recall, was there an issue. Heck, my first car was a 70' Duster w/ slant six, even that thing ran fine. This Ford trans. issue is bigger than life, I have done more online searching. I actually feel bad for the couple who bought a 11' F-150 w/ 5.0 engine, the next day headed out towing a modest camper (honeymoon), the guy looked in the rear view mirror about 100 miles out of town, smoke pouring out from under his $40,000 supercab, kaboom!!! that was all she wrote (man stated no trans. warning on dash went off). He has been renting (Ford refuses to pay) a Liberty (Jeep) for the last 3 months due to national recall, he is refusing to take truck back, man stated aroud 100 plus F-150's parked at this dealership awaiting repairs. I may be wrong, but I cannot remember a MOPAR product blowing up in the tens of thousands with only a few miles on them. If anybody wants entertainment, read the F-150 posts on this issue.

 

The sad thing is - 90% of those guys will buy Ford again next time...