Thinking about buying a "newer" truck - any advice?

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ESP47

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I've been daily driving my Duster for years now and lately I've been getting tired of constantly having to maintain it. It's no fun working on a car when you know it has to be on the road the next day.

I've never owned anything even remotely new so this is a first for me. I really like the look of the 2005-2010 or so Ford 150's. They seem fairly expensive though. 2005 models average a little over $10k.

My second choice would be a Dodge Ram in the same year range 2005-2010. I dont like the look of them nearly as much as the F150's but they aren't hideous looking like the Silverado's are for me. The Ram's don't seem to hold their value as much as the F150's do.

Anything mechanical to watch out for with these trucks or any advice you guys could give me on a purchase? I'm looking to spend $10k or less if possible. I don't need it to pull boats or anything like that. Mainly just Home Depot trips and partial daily driving, so I don't mind sacrificing some power for mileage.
 
What kind of mileage are you looking for? Be prepared and do your homework.
 
The F150s are great trucks from my experiance with the exception of one thing, the spark plugs. Do a little research on the Ford 5.4 sparkplug r&r, not a dealbreaker but something to keep in mind. I would reccomend them to anbody in the 5.4 variant as the 4.6 doesnt have enough oomph. I had several customers at my old job that loved these things and swore by them, with basic maintianence they will go 200k miles very easily.
 
If you are just going to Home Depot. The F150 with a manual and 6 does decent on mileage.

As stated the 5.4 is a strong engine and friend has a expedition with 5.4 and it gets 19 on the road but look at 12-14 in town, but try and find one that has had the plugs changed. Would not recommend it as a DIY project, take it to ford and pay the piper. Have a problem with them breaking off. And then it gets real expensive.

Understand the daily driver old car, not fun if you have to work on it to get to work.

I prefer the looks of the dodge over the ford but resale on the dodge will be less, but it has always been that way. But if you aren't planning on selling for a while, what difference does it make.

Buy the best vehicle you can find
 
the 5.4 plugs are Installed with maybe four threads, so they blow out, break off, etc. Several warranty companies will sell warranties for the ford, but they exclude the plugs and head. I would buy a Hemi dodge. the 5'7 is a very reliable and strong powerplant. My brother-in-law had to pay 2500 for a new head, and labor because his plugs blew out.
 
Just bought this one a couple months ago. 2007 with the 5.4 Triton. I still have a Dodge truck also, but I haven't had too good of luck with the Dodge trucks in the last few years so I thought I would try something different. I hope it works out for me......................
 

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Wow. The spark plugs break so often that Snap On has a special tool to remove them.
 
krazykuda said:
Wow. The spark plugs break so often that Snap On has a special tool to remove them.
Click to expand...
My understanding is the spark plug threads in the cylinder head strip out, and the head needs to be repaired. Not sure which Ford engine has this problem. The local machine shop repairs them on a regular basis. Do research and stay away from that engine.
 
femtnmax said:
My understanding is the spark plug threads in the cylinder head strip out, and the head needs to be repaired. Not sure which Ford engine has this problem. The local machine shop repairs them on a regular basis. Do research and stay away from that engine.
Click to expand...

my 2002 dodge quadcab has 150.000 miles on it, nothing but tires and batteries, and 2 front wheel bearings at 146,000 . the bearings are a piece of cake to replace----the fords are but ugly, almost as bad as the chevys, but they are good trucks for the most part. my son has a 2010 quadcab, and it rides and drives quite a bit better than mine,and gets a little better gas mileage. jfyi-bob
 
I had a 2005 Ram 1500 r/c short bed 2wd with the 4.7. Bought it new, had it 5 years, put 60k on it, and did nothing but change oil, one set of plugs ( at about 40k ), and tires. I occasionally used it to pull a trailer with a car on it. The 4.7 that year only had about 230 hp, so it was no powerhouse but it did the job. The original plan was to drive it 10 years, but I foolishly priced it to someone and they bought it. I got $10k for it in 2010.

My present truck is a 2010 Ram 1500 r/c short bed 4wd with the hemi, towing package and 3.92 gears. I love this truck! I'm planning to keep it 20 years if possible. It now has 47k on it with no problems, just oil changes and an air filter, and tires. Remarkably, the 390 hp hemi with the low gears gets about 1 mpg better year around than the 4.7 did, probably due to the terrain around here. Tows great, too. The pic below shows it earning it's keep. Both truck beds are full of parts, too.

I actually did try out a new 2010 Ford before I bought this truck. It was a r/c short bed 4wd also. It might have had a bit smoother ride, and had a little more upscale trim to it, but it was 3k more. An older friend actually bought it after I test drove it. I'm sure glad I didn't buy it though, he had trans problems with it before it had 50k on it (and he didn't tow with it either). His fuel mileage also dropped to around 12 mpg and the dealer never could make it do any better. So he doesn't own it anymore..
Dallas
 

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I'm gonna get shot,for this:.... A sweet short bed Chev,with a 5.3 & overdrive, wicks 23 miles a gallon.
 
Triton 5.4 Engines should be recalled. Local power company Appalachian Electrical Power scraped their whole fleet of them due to head issues. A friend of mine has a new F-250. The tranny went completely at 13,000 miles. His windshield wiper motor failed at 15,000, then he had suspension issues, on a $54,000 truck.
Friends don't let friends drive Fords. If you see one you like, run away from it fast.
 
Thanks guys I had no idea about the spark plug and head problems with the Fords. That sounds like a PIA that I don't want to deal with. I'm not looking to spend thousands on repairs on something that is already expensive to me. The trucks look nice but I'd rather avoid something like that.

What engine would you guys recommend out of the Dodge trucks? I'd like to sit around 20mpg with a V8 if possible. My commute to work is mainly flat highway driving but I can't really just put put along at 60mph without getting ran over.
 
JMO for the years your looking at, its hard to beat the chevy 1500s. My dad's z71 manages 18-20mpg on highway trips.

thought about midsize truck options?? I have a colorado DD. It pulls 23mpg highway and doesn't feel as clumsy as most fullsize trucks.(mind you, i like every vehicle I own to feel like a sports car). Though the toyota/nissan are somewhat nicer and until 07' are a lot faster.
 
You're gonna spend 30K right quick like. I say get an older D100 in great shape to begin with, swap an OD trans in it and go.
 
Stay away from the Ford Eco-boost crap.
I personally know 3 people who have them, and all three have had then back to the dealerships. That's 3 for 3 with issues. One has been at the dealership for 11 days now, and it STILL isn't ready. SO far the word is that they (the dealership) can't find the cause of the problems the truck is having. They are bring in a "factory export". This should be good.

If you're think new Ford, go for the 5.0L.

I personally own 2 Rams, a GMC and a Chevy (call it 2 Chevies). No major issues with any of them.

The Rams are both Diesels. If you're going to by a Ram, buy either a Hemi truck, or a Diesel. Forget about the V6 and the 4.7L V8.
My rams are both Diesels, (a 2007 2500, and a 2010 3500) both have been relatively flawless. The 2500 has 150,000 miles on it, and the 3500 has a little over 80,000 miles.
I also owned an 2005 Hemi Ram 2500 that was also a good strong truck that with regular maintenance was a damned good truck. I gave that truck to my son when I bought the 2010 Diesel.

If you're going to buy GM, the 5.3 and the 4.8 V8's are very good. I have a 2008 5.3L with 120,000 miles on it, and a 2000 4.8L with 255,000 miles on it, and neither has had a major repair. Again, stay away from the V6's and a Friends 6.0L 2500 Chevy has had a lot of little issues. disturbing, but not costly.

Hope this helps a little.
 
Move up as many years as you can because you will trade off "monthly cost of fuel " for monthly loan(or loss of investment income) payments. Anything with extended factory warranty is good.

or...
buy a $5000 truck in nice shape and keep it nice and it will probably always be worth $5K
 
the problem with the ford 5.4 and 4.6 engines are the 3 valve ones. they have "unique" spark plugs. wish I had my cam with me I'd take a pic of some I have at the shop. I've replaced a lot of sparkplugs on these. I had one truck with 80k break 7 of them. it's really easy to get them out if they break. you can get a tool set (lisle pn#65600) and follow the instructions and it's very simple. they have upgraded plugs that will not break as easily as the originals, but I'd still replace them at 40-50k. I've heard of horror stories about the rest of the plug falling into the cylinder and having to pull the heads, but I have never seen or heard of that in my area happening. other than this problem (small problem in my opinion), 98 and up ford trucks are top tier with no competition. nothing comes close to a ford truck. just my opinion
 
I have an 05 Chevy with 5.3 and have worked it hard on the farm without trouble. I have also used it to do a couple 24 hour plus non-stop trips to pick up cars with the car trailer.
 
Seen the cylinder heads on F150's mentioned. Know of a few people who have mega-mile 150's and never had a problem with the plugs/heads so..........
Did not read the entire thread so don't know about how much $$ you are looking at spending. Have always been a Ford truck person....but I bought an 02 2500 Cheby with a Duramax & 5 speed Allison. Best truck I have ever owned. Broke the trans....all diesel trans are pricey but buddy did it for parts alone so it was a tick over 3k. $1400 or so for a real good t/c. Truck runs very well. Has the typical LB7 injector woes so it puffs a bit....Tows with a vengeance. Great truck. And was what I wanted, option wise. Cloth seats, no power windows etc. Good luck on your hunt....
 
I've drove a 97 4.6 F150 around town truck for the last 10 years..no spark plug issues. I would imagine the newer 4.6s would get you 20mpg on the highway...specially with a tonneau cover. I had a 98 F150 with 3.73 gears...it was a fun and pretty good handling truck too. It would get 20mpg on the highway at 70mph. My present truck is a short bed reg cab XLT and I also put on a rear sway bar and upgraded shocks it handles pretty good.

It's a pretty rare one though.
 

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RustyRatRod said:
You're gonna spend 30K right quick like. I say get an older D100 in great shape to begin with, swap an OD trans in it and go.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about this more and more. Even after doing more research today, even the RAM's are expensive as hell. Might just wait for a nice D100 to pop up with a rebuilt motor and paint job. Problem is that with our smog laws I'm stuck between 72 and 75 for a pickup since I don't want a Sweptline so they are fairly few and far between.
 
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