New truck advice

[CRHardie]

Here's the story. The company I work for has finaly decided the F250 I drive with 508,000 miles on it is ready to retire. This company is 100% Ford and a national company. My boss said they have been haveing so many problems with brand F that they may buy a Dodge. They even bought some Toyotas for the salesman instead of F250's!!! So I need to spec out a truck and need some advice. The base will be a 4500 quad cab with a mechanics service body installed. Auto or stick? Anything anyone can come up with would be great. Also what kind of loaded millage are you guys seeing?

Thanks,

Craig



By the way my current F250 has an all original 7. 3 and still runs good for a Ford. 6 auto's but the engines never been touched

 

[flyby night]

I would check out the Sterling Bullet. For your needs it may be a little better suited. Even though it is pretty much the same as the Dodge. Here is a link:

Sterling Trucks - Sterling Bullet

 

[HBarlow]

Sterling is no longer in business and certainly no longer offering rebadged Dodge cab and chassis trucks. A Sterling in class 3, 4, or 5 was nothing more than a regular Dodge Ram with a Sterling grille and badges. No difference in any other way other than cosmetic badging.

Personally, if my job were even potentially at risk for bad advice to the boss I would confidently recommend a Ram 4500 Cummins with the Aisin six speed automatic which is the standard automatic in cab and chassis trucks. The Aisin seems to be bullet proof, reliable, and can be ordered with a power take off. It also comes with a 180,000 mile factory warranty at no extra charge.

The G-56 six speed manual is fine for those who insist on selecting gears themself but the dual mass flywheel and clutch assembly has proven to be failure prone. Many TDR members who own them are replacing the entire flywheel and clutch assembly with a solid flywheel and clutch set from South Bend Clutch, a TDR advertiser and popular aftermarket supplier to TDR members.

The Dodge Ram commercial website offers a considerable amount of detailed information about the new C&C trucks. If your interested and have the patience to wade through all of it you can answer all your and your boss' questions.

 

[dquaney]

Craig



I now have 73,000 miles on my 4500 with 444 gears. I am getting 17 empty and 9 pulling a GCWR of 27,000 lbs. These figures are driving it like I own it as opposed to driving it like I stole it. Do not expect that immediately. My mileage was pretty poor the first 20,000 miles and then started improving.



This is the very best I can get out of it. I am sure I could get half that if I drove it like I stole it. I never could do that to a vehicle. They cost too much to replace and I need as much resale value as I could get to pay for the next one.



If you go with a 4500, be ready for the ride. The biggest complaint I have is the ride or lack of it. I don't think they had to make the ride that stiff. I have rode in F550's that have a much better ride. I am not worried so much about myself (they still make Preparation H) but it is shaking the cab apart. I probably will have to put on a Kelderman Air Ride before too long.



Other than that I like the pickup.

 

[Grizzly]

I'd go with a 3500 C&C and the 6 speed Aisin auto. The ride's much better then a 4500 C&C.

 

[jelag]

We own a 5500... . It's a nice truck... . but we run it at close to gross gvw most of the time and the ride is no worse than the 3500... .

But if you run this truck empty it want's to jar your teeth out because of the suspension... Harvey is right about the transmission, the auto is great, our first. . the rest of our stuff is 3500's with the NV5600...

 

[CUMMINZ]

I agree with Grizzly. 3500 CC. I have been saying for a long time that the 4500/5500 were very good trucks and would be great when operating in the top percentage of GVW. But for RV use or everyday driving they will beat your load to death. What DC really needs is a super duty 3500 from the factory the way I have outfitted my BFT 3500. Better ride than 5500 but with stability of 19. 5s.