Here I am

Saw this on the road yesterday--I want one!

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10% OFF Coupon for EEP HURRY EXP. 1/31

F350 Test Drive

Looked at the GMC version about two months ago... $53K "on sale"... wouldn't fit in my garage anyway, so I upgraded from my '99 Dodge/Cummins to an '05 Dodge/Cummins:D
 
The front ends and mirrors just dont look appealing to me, no offense. If I were to do something like that, It would either be an International CXT, F-750 SuperCrewzer. Looks more like a truck. My personal pick would be a conversion from 2L Custom Trucks in Decatur, TX... Talk about decked out!



-Chris-
 
I don't care for the overall look but the 4500-5500's offerings are more than Dodge has to offer at the moment. They are available with 4x4 and take note, a tilt hood and what looks to be a generous crew cab. One GM dealer has been advertising a ccab & chassis 4x4 diesel pretty nicely equipped for around 41 or so claiming they have it marked down 10k.
 
MALIBU said:
You can get a F-650 and F-750 with a Cummins and Allison if you want.



Cummins sounds good, but ALLISON?

Have you ever heard the saying about "cummin in front of Allison will only cause you trouble?" It applies to both trucks and the ol' man's daughter next door.

My buddy has a F-650 wrecker with the cummins and a manual transmission. Loves it, 4wd too. Hated the price though, could have bought a FL-80 for the same money but didn't want to deal with the CDL issues.

Dodge needs to get off their butts and put out a respectable Medium duty truck with brakes to match the engine power. Rebadging a Mercedes/Freightliner as I hear their planning is such a sellout!! Put Dodge back in the game for MDT's!!!!!!!!!!
 
After I started pulling my 15,000 # GN horse trailer with my '01 3500 auto, I decided I wanted more truck, so I took a serious look at the new International 4200. I was able to test drive 2 different trucks, a 7 speed (Eaton/Spicer) and an automatic (Allison). Both trucks had the DT466 inline 6.



The Allison truck felt like I was driving into a headwind. The engine revved, but the truck just didn't go like I thought it should.



The 7 speed truck had very good pick-up and felt much stronger than the Allison, but the transmission was hard to shift. The DT466 torque curve is narrow, and you need to shift often. Downshifting, even when double clutching was difficult. The transmission just didn't want to go into gear.



Neither truck was comfortable or easy enough to drive to be a daily driver. I realized that the medium duty truck route would not work for me, so I decided to try an '04 6 speed HO. After the Internationals, it felt like a sports car. The power level is a nice upgrade from my '01, and shifting the 6 speed is a pleasure.



For those interested in a medium duty truck as an every day ride, make sure you drive several first and can live with the ride, handling and feel. While the new ones are much improved, they are still "trucks". The Dodge just feels so much more refined!
 
For the rest of the story. . . I know someone who has one of those International crew cabs and it cost something like $83K. The electronics are very iffy and primitive for gauges, etc. Less power than my Ram, by far. Not near as comfortable, and its mileage is half what my Ram gets. Thanks, but no thanks.
 
PCarbonaro said:
83K sounds like a discount. I think they were supposed to be going for 95K, which is twice what I would spend for a comparable truck.

The folks dumping that kind of money to haul around their own stuff are not worried about the price, it is directly proportional to the size of the organ in the shorts, (or lack of!!).

Funny how international provided the same engine to Ford and expects to get twice the price out of a butt pimple ugly rig like that. I can't see the love in a truck with the frame sticking out its entire length, looks like Billy bob and cletus put a chevy pickup cab on a semi truck frame. Just plain goofy. Howin the world would one load anything into the bed on that thing? Groceries would even be a struggle, let alone real cargo.



If you want a tow rig for under $15,000 that is a true tow rig, check out my yahoo photos. the folder listed 1192 is my medium/heavy hauler toterhome setup. I get 10 MPG empty and 8 MPG loaded, not bad considering the International gets that with 1/3 the payload capacity.
 
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I saw one of the Kodiaks yesterday at the post office in Cranston, RI. It was nice but I think it was a gasser??? It didn't sound like a diesel.
 
stg2500 said:
I saw one of the Kodiaks yesterday at the post office in Cranston, RI. It was nice but I think it was a gasser??? It didn't sound like a diesel.



Most GM diesels don't. :-laf



Did it have a halliburton company logo on it? I can't imagine anyone buying a truck that big with a gasser in it these days. Probably John Kerry's wife's truck.
 
Picked up the new Truck Trend last night in Borders, there's a big article on the CXT. It goes for somewhere in the $80,000 - $120,000 range, I forget exaclty where the one they tested fell. And the only engine available is the 444...



Somehow, if I was going to go out and spend that kind of money, I'd be buying a REAL Hummer, not one of these newfangled "Fummers" as my family put it last weekend :)
 
I never quite understood the hype with that truck. Now, if they offered that truck with a 565 ISX , THAT would be another story!
 
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