2006 Heavy-Duty-Truck Comparison Test

[YFZBOB]

Interesting...



2006 Heavy-Duty-Truck Comparison Test



That's Edmund for ya.

 

[JOblenes]

Its kind of funny. I live in Alberta farm land where everybody drives a truck and someone did a similar test for our local county newspaper. Again they were really just testing "towing power" using a bobcat on a trailer and came to pretty much the same conlcusion. Of course these "reviews" do not examine long term reliability or anything like that, but it would seem that based strictly on a towing-power-to-the-ground criteria we are not at the top. Not that I really care.



Jonathan

 

[JRG]

Ala- 6. 7l Cummins, 6sp Asian.



There is always a "next greatest thing" to come from everyone. I say that now. When the "new" Dodge blow the doors off the Chev I'll be saying "take that" like Chevy is saying now.



Bottom line, they all are in pritty close company. I just prefer an inline to a V for durability.



JRG

 

[CFulton]

Find this one interesting. My neighbor has an 05 chevy Duramax auto. Him pulling his 5th at 12000 max and my 5th and boat 14000 and just maybe 14500, he had to add 96 horses to stay with me in the Ozarks and Ft Smith to Mo.

 

[DBoggs]

"They also suck down diesel at furious rates, and they're so loud your neighbors will think you're a UPS truck every time you turn the corner. "



I find this statement comical in reference to the Dodge. My 05 and 06 have always had excellent fuel mileage for what they are. If I only got 18mpg with a Geo Metro then I'd worry but for a truck that weighs 8000lbs I think it's pretty good. As for the noise level I can drive through McDonalds drive-thru without shutting down the engine, you most definitely can't do that with a Ford or Chevy.



Duane

 

[WoodT]

they got 9mpg on the dodge?

 

[mlewis73]

I find these tests laughable at best.



I think the editors are jealous of the Dodge and wanted to do all they could to take advantage of Dodge's obviously lacking transmission and bed length.



I'd have like to have seen a six speed manual vs six speed manual comparison... an automatic isn't for serious towing. How much would a rebuild of that Allison cost?



At $32,000 the Dodge SLT quad cab dually I priced is MUCH LESS than the Chevy or Ford and I can guarantee it does the job better. More room, too, quad cab vs their extended cabs.



This story was, fairly obviously, designed to make the Chevy look good.



Blah. Chevy. I'm gonna puke. I guess every mag has to have its biases... .

 

[amsoilman]

Where I live in Northern Utah, this last Month there was interesting data concerning truck sales between jan & March 2006.



1-Dodge Ram 2500 Quad ST/SLT numbers=1,265 units



2-Ford F-350 Super Duty numbers=448 units



3-Ford F-150 numbers=429 units



4-Chevrolet K2500 HD Silverado=428 units



5-Ford F-150 Supercrew=384 units



I guess the folks around here have not herd or read the above story!



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[dcochran]

Not sure that the Megacab should have been the model chosen for this "test???". Maybe I read it wrong but, I'm not terribly impressed and, after looking long and hard at GM(a very nice truck) - see my sig. So far as Ford is concerned, with the 6. 0, forget it. Also, what rear ends were in play, etc. , because I didn't see any ref to this type of info but may not have read far enough ahead - I was starting to feel ill!

 

[sonorakitch]

Haha... this is the same outfit that values my '94 at around $3200. Oh well.



~Chris

 

[JHardwick]

I'm confused ... ... ... .

Yet when it came time to climb the Jacumba grade, the Ford lost its cool. It was slower, noisier and less refined than either of its competitors.

When it came time to show its hand during the hill climb, the Ford didn't fold, but it didn't exactly lay down a full house. It accelerated smoothly and showed no signs of heating up, but it also had the slowest average speed and took the longest to make it to the top.

Although the Ram's torque rating is higher than the Ford's, with only four gears to work with, it was slower to the top than the F-350 and Silverado.

Oh well, LOL.

 

[mwhals]

Not sure that the Megacab should have been the model chosen for this "test???". Maybe I read it wrong but, I'm not terribly impressed and, after looking long and hard at GM(a very nice truck) - see my sig. So far as Ford is concerned, with the 6. 0, forget it. Also, what rear ends were in play, etc. , because I didn't see any ref to this type of info but may not have read far enough ahead - I was starting to feel ill!

The Ford had 4. 2 or 4. 3 gears. The Chevy and Dodge had 3. 73 gears. A more apples to apples test would be to put 4. 1 gears in the Dodge and Chevy. Then acceleration would have been better. Also, the Dodge has a 4 speed auto and the other guys have 5 and 6 speed autos. That will transmit to the better numbers they received. Fit all of them with 6 speed manuals and see what happens.



Did anyone notice the Chevy was a full 1,000 pounds less than the Ford or Dodge? I wonder if that was a typo?



Mark H

 

[mlewis73]

The Ford had 4. 2 or 4. 3 gears. The Chevy and Dodge had 3. 73 gears. A more apples to apples test would be to put 4. 1 gears in the Dodge and Chevy. Then acceleration would have been better. Also, the Dodge has a 4 speed auto and the other guys have 5 and 6 speed autos. That will transmit to the better numbers they received. Fit all of them with 6 speed manuals and see what happens.



Did anyone notice the Chevy was a full 1,000 pounds less than the Ford or Dodge? I wonder if that was a typo?



Mark H

Let me tell you about Chevrolet trucks... it may explain why they're lighter.



My wife has a 2000 Silverado 1500. The truck is an ABSOLUTE PILE...



Every plastic part on the body is breaking or has already broken/fallen off. Speaking from experience, a friend's 2002 Chevy Impala has also had lots of problems with plastic body parts--his door handle broke off... easily... when he grabbed it wrong.



My wife's truck has lost the front plastic trim beneath the bumper--held on by CHEAPO plugs. She has lost the insert for her driver's side mirror. We replaced it, but it doesn't fit correctly because the black plastic cover is also broken inside. The door locks on her truck are JUNK. LOTS of play on both sides, driver and passenger, in the lock mechanism. Today, the black plastic trim around the tailgate latch FELL OUT IN MY HAND as I lowered the tailgate.



Hey, if you make junk that falls apart, I guess it figures that your truck would be 1000 pounds lighter than its competition...



This test was just a plug for GM's new six speed auto. Apples to apples I would bet the Dodge still wins.





Mike

 

[JRG]

I thought they said they loaded them to 80% GCWR. That means that a truck rated to carry a smaller load will win a comparo like this but will lose a compacity comparo. Again, they are all so close, just politics and trying to get an edge.



JRG

 

[mlewis73]

I thought they said they loaded them to 80% GCWR. That means that a truck rated to carry a smaller load will win a comparo like this but will lose a compacity comparo. Again, they are all so close, just politics and trying to get an edge.



JRG

Well... I can see how a six speed automatic plus a more powerful and torquey engine would do best... particularly if the engine and trans speak to each other as well as I think the Allison and Isuzu diesel do.



I'm not gonna knock Chevy on their homework on their diesel truck. Dodge has a long way to go to get competitive. Six speeds are truly better than four, and the Cummins/auto combination may very well need some work to keep up with the newest offerings from GM.



These things go in cycles... Dodge will be back on top soon, at least as far as the auto transmissions go... The Cummins is downrated, anyway. We'll see how the 6. 7 does.

 

[NickSullivan]

Not to offend anyone but have you read any of the other articles out there. Like from Diesel Power Mag? I am pretty upset at how well my neighbors truck seems to do towing and his fuel mileage is flat out, hands down better than my CTD. For everyone who claims reliability, I plan on keeping a truck to 100,000 miles after that it's down the road. As far as I have read the D-Max is a pretty reliable motor.



I just don't know what truck I would purchase today if i was in the market.



nick

 

[amsoilman]

Not to offend anyone but have you read any of the other articles out there. Like from Diesel Power Mag? I am pretty upset at how well my neighbors truck seems to do towing and his fuel mileage is flat out, hands down better than my CTD. For everyone who claims reliability, I plan on keeping a truck to 100,000 miles after that it's down the road. As far as I have read the D-Max is a pretty reliable motor.



I just don't know what truck I would purchase today if i was in the market.



nick

My opinion of "Diesel Power" magazine, appears to be Ford oriented. As far as the Diesel pickup market, I will take the Cummins over the other two, simply for the fact the Cummins is an in-line engine. Just open the hood of either of the V-8's and you will see what I mean. Try getting to surpintene belt on one of them! Or better yet, try getting to the turbo!



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[Foil Freak 1211]

I think the numbers they got were interesting. I too would have liked to see the comparison with a 6 speed manual. Last time I checked, output was seriously lower on the Isuzu with that transmission.



I just got back from a trip through the Colorado mountains. I tow about 16k, went over two big passes, one of which is about 7% for over 7 miles. I never went below 40 MPH, most of the time was closer to 45. They list minimum speed as 46. 7. So they are towing considerably less then me, I have a lower output engine, but their speed was only 7 mph faster?