Well, don't ever believe Chevy's don't have front end problems,,, Most people that have Chevy's have more than enough other problems to worry about than front-end problems.
My Dad owns a Duramax with the Allison, he has the 3. 73 rear-end, that's the only axle ratio offered.
If you abuse a Dodge, they mess up, put big tires, and go "Four wheeling" or even just spinnin' in mud, usually 4wd's screw up the alignment fast, especially with all the torque being made. No other truck puts out more pounds of torque PER horsepower than our Cummins,, and that's why we can break stuff without even thinking we were pushing that hard.
The Duramax we own has 17K and the inside of the front tires are nearly bald,, atleast illegal tread depth, whenever we turn around in a parking lot, a driveway, or anywhere, if we turn over 3/4 of the turn radius we leave nice black marks, and anybody can see that the front tires are under an extreme load (On a hot day, they squeel)
Want more reasons why we are going to go back to Dodge?
The flimsyness of the new Chevy's,, We drive ranch/dirt roads ALOT, and when we are driving down these roads with our Dually Ext. Cab Chevy, I could swear GM snuck a 1/2 ton frame underneath the truck, the Bed and Cab look like they are connected by rubberbands, and the SQUEEKS are horendous, I wish the motor was louder! It sounds like we are in a giant mouse cage!
Towing our 20' 24K Tandem axle (dually, 8-tires),, the ride is horrible, constantly WOBBLE WOBBLE WOBBLE,, imagine someone taking the flat of their palm (both hands) and hitting on your lower back, and upper back,, it's impossible to carry a normal conversation, your breath keeps getting pushed out of you. Our Dodge(now My Dodge), towed this same trailer smoothly, and with authority. With 78K on the odo we went through two front tires,, the stock ones, and some Cheapo Coopers that didn't go 10K
THE MPG!!!
On a Normal day we get 7. 5MPG traveling 250 miles, towing our trailer between 65-70MPH, cruise control on. The Allison constantly downshifts for the smallest hill, and revs the motor to 3K RPM. On a bad day we get a solid 7MPG and the best MPG we ever got was a 50 mile trip, traveling 50MPH unloaded,,, 14MPG.
The Price!
Priced a Dodge Lately,,? How does 30-35K sounds Good right?
Priced a Chevy?, How'd you like to hear we paid about $43K
The Steering!
Our Ext. Cab has the turning radius of a L-O-N-G Limosine, and is eating tires the whole time it's turning.
The Steering is also very stiff when trying to turn at a near stop, or trying to turn when the engine is idling.
The Shocks!
The front end's tires are all ready starting to let the tires get "Those Bumps" from having bad shocks.
(If you thought Dodge shocks were bad... . They seem like Ranchos, or Edelbrocks compared to Chevy)
The Bed!
If You press your heal/back of your boot, real nice and hard,, as in standing on one foot, if you weigh 200+,, you will leave a nice little impression in the bed, and the tailgate weighs all of 20 pounds, having the dually fenders plastic is nice, it bounces back to say,, but, that means just sitting on the sides of the bed makes the outside of the bed bow outwards.
The Tires!
We had a stick that was 1/4"-1/8" poke out our sidewall on the front with les than 700 miles on the tires,, and did I say the front ones are nearly bald on the inside?
The stupid Way too low Frame!
Who wants a truck you have to jump in and out of, only to then high-center on a hump/hill that any 2wd Dodge could have gotten over. ? This also sets a really wierd feeling in the truck,, somewhat like felling the truck is a UniBody Van.
The Radio!
Even though the reception on the Chevy is about 25% better than the Dodge, the Chevy sounds like a Tin can, and Yes, we bought the top-of-the-line radio
Want reasons to Buy a Chevy?
The Allison transmission, downshift without any input from driver,, and really saves your brakes,, the brakes barely have to be touched at all,, when empty you NEVER have to actually PRESS the brake pedal, unless you are stopping pretty quick, or you are under about 10MPH
The quietness!
This truck is darn quiet on the highway, no wind noise, very little motor noise,, comparable to a gasser with a little bit of knocking.
The "Cool" factor!
Pull up at any truck shop, or truck type carwash, and people flock to you, asking all about the motor, what MPG, what about the Aluminum Heads, How we like it,, etc, etc, etc.
(A little sarcasm that holds to much truth with some, "loud" Chevy Owners)
IT'S A CHEVY!!
Hey, come' on! It's Chevy, Chevy is Cool, Everybody who does anything off-road, or Goes fast has a Chevy!!. (So my friends tell me. . )
Bragging rights. . So to say.
Dodges only have 6 cylinders!
Saying the size is a 6. 6 Litre motor sounds Cool!
"It has an ALLISON transmission!!"
"Yes, This is the New 300HP!! Diesel Duramax"
"I have a Chevy Duramax with Allison transmission"
"My Chevy is better/newer/faster than your (name brand here)"
(End of sarcasm)
I have no good reason to buy a Chevy, if you plan on working it. . Dodge and Chevy do close to the same thing, Just the Dodge makes it look like a stroll through the park,, and show you 10+ MPG for it, The Chevy cries bloody murder and tells you all about it at the pump.
BTW, We did a Test,, At a Certain stoplight, and proceeding hill, the Dodge could get 45MPH at the top of the hill. Our Chevy pulls the same trailer, same hill, about 60MPH at the top of the hill.
Our Dodge, and Chevy, while pulling the trailer are/were completely stock.
These are my opinions, and I have tried to reflect them as accurately as possible, as I do love Chevy's, and to me, Dodge's have always been "slow dogs"
My first truck was a 2000 Chevy 3/4 ton 4-speed auto Ext. Cab Long bed 2wd, I loved that truck, but I only got 10-12MPG
My Dodge, I drive the same way, if not harder, and I get 14-16 MPG.
MerrickNJr
P. S. Long Post? sorry 'bout that, just thought I'd tell yall, since we actually own a Duramax.