Time for a New Truck

[Martian]

I can not see Cummins lasting much longer in the Dodge trucks. I live only 40 miles from Cummins headquarters and have a few friends that work for them. They feel they are on borrowed time also.

Like you said, nothing wrong with the Fiat based motors but it will surely take a heck of a sales campaign to keep the customers coming in. That motor is legendary.

Chris

I have no experience with the Fiat engine but I know that the Cummins is the biggest selling point for a Dodge IMO. I assumed the time was limited when Fiat bought them but I hadn't heard the rumors till now. I'm sure their engines will work just as well but I guess only time will tell.

 

[deerefan]

This "rumor" goes around a lot...
The only diesel that Dodge will not have built by Cummins is the small 1/2 ton diesel engine. They will be using a Fiat based diesel instead. I wouldn't mind the larger Fiat diesels either, they are more popular in Europe than the Cummins is here.

I believe cummins' relationship with dodge really thrust them to the top tier of the diesel market. In my area, which is very rural and is strictly ag, 7/10 trucks is a 1 ton dodge with a cummins. Several of these trucks have eclipsed the 300k mile mark with nary a whimper. The local diesel shop rarely sees a dodge for an engine issue. He is over loaded with fords, especially the 6.0 and 6.4, which come in with a myriad of issues. He currently has one 6.4 ford with only 18k miles and the motor is shot. Ford refuses to fix it because they say the only way it could be is if it was abused. This truck has been serviced regularly by this mechanic with records to prove it but Ford won't budge. He was pulling a trailer with 12 round bales when he heard a clank, a bang and a pile of smoke. Towed it in and the #6 connecting rod was visible thru the side of the block. He also has had a few duramax with the limp mode issue, but the number is low mainly due to the fact that there aren't that many in my area. Dodge rules the roost, especially for the farmers and hot shot guys.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I believe cummins' relationship with dodge really thrust them to the top tier of the diesel market. In my area, which is very rural and is strictly ag, 7/10 trucks is a 1 ton dodge with a cummins. Several of these trucks have eclipsed the 300k mile mark with nary a whimper. The local diesel shop rarely sees a dodge for an engine issue. He is over loaded with fords, especially the 6.0 and 6.4, which come in with a myriad of issues. He currently has one 6.4 ford with only 18k miles and the motor is shot. Ford refuses to fix it because they say the only way it could be is if it was abused. This truck has been serviced regularly by this mechanic with records to prove it but Ford won't budge. He was pulling a trailer with 12 round bales when he heard a clank, a bang and a pile of smoke. Towed it in and the #6 connecting rod was visible thru the side of the block. He also has had a few duramax with the limp mode issue, but the number is low mainly due to the fact that there aren't that many in my area. Dodge rules the roost, especially for the farmers and hot shot guys.

In my area I would say the Fords have a 60% share. Dodge maybe 25% and GM 15%.

Fords are what farmers, landscapers, snow plowers,and construction works use. Dodges are what young kids have and show truck are made of. They do so pulling duties on the weekend but mainly a show piece with stacks out the bed and 8" lifts. GM is what old guys/retirees pulling 5th wheel campers have.

In the 1/2 ton market Ford, GM, and Toyota. Yes, Toyota. Many many farmers and construction workers drive them here. They are built in Indiana and Texas so I guess that is a big part of it and also the JD dealer owns the Toyota dealership so there are some interesting tractor/truck packages are put together. Not many 1/2 ton Dodges.

Just the way it pans out here, not trying to start an argument.

Chris

 

[deerefan]

In my area I would say the Fords have a 60% share. Dodge maybe 25% and GM 15%.

Fords are what farmers, landscapers, snow plowers,and construction works use. Dodges are what young kids have and show truck are made of. They do so pulling duties on the weekend but mainly a show piece with stacks out the bed and 8" lifts. GM is what old guys/retirees pulling 5th wheel campers have.

In the 1/2 ton market Ford, GM, and Toyota. Yes, Toyota. Many many farmers and construction workers drive them here. They are built in Indiana and Texas so I guess that is a big part of it and also the JD dealer owns the Toyota dealership so there are some interesting tractor/truck packages are put together. Not many 1/2 ton Dodges.

Just the way it pans out here, not trying to start an argument.

Chris

I really believe here it comes down to price. There are several ford and dodge dealers within an hour or two of my house. The dodges routinely sell for about 3k cheaper. As most guys here know, when you farm every $ counts. I have heard some good reviews on the new 6.7 Ford diesel. One local guy has already cleared 150k miles with his and it has not stepped foot in the shop but for maintenance. If I heard him correctly, he is pulling a cattle trailer 90% of the time, mostly loaded, and his mpg average is around 15. That is awesome. The truck is a CC 4x4 with a flatbed. I have never seen this truck without a trailer behind it.

 

[Martian]

Interesting to hear the different percents in areas. Id say here in the motor city gm hold 50% 30% ford 19.99999% dodge and Toyota and Nissan share the last .00000001%. Every contractor/construction guy owns gm around here. Most of the fords are homeowners and are mainly F150s, rarely see a F350 and above and that's true for Dodge too. Nobody buys a Nissan or Toyota though - never seen one in contractors hands.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Interesting to hear the different percents in areas. Id say here in the motor city gm hold 50% 30% ford 19.99999% dodge and Toyota and Nissan share the last .00000001%. Every contractor/construction guy owns gm around here. Most of the fords are homeowners and are mainly F150s, rarely see a F350 and above and that's true for Dodge too. Nobody buys a Nissan or Toyota though - never seen one in contractors hands.

Go to Dallas TX and F-250's and F-350s are 1/2 the vehicles on the road. All have $3000 wheels and tires and lifts.

Go to Alabama or Louisianan and you see tons of Nissan's on the road. Same for Southern CA. Its very regional.

Would be tough for a guy in a GM town getting a contracting bid if he pulled up in a Toyota. Same was true in my home town. Its about 100,000 and about 1/2 were GM employees until the bleeding started in the late 90's. Now we are 60,000 and 2 of the 3 GM dealers are closed up. Toyota outsells GM 5 to 1 here. So many are scorn they will never touch a GM again after losing everything we had going for us. I could see it coming and left in 97 then came back in 2000. I had a job as a pilot but seen our demand dropping off radically every year when they closed another GM shop and then 10 mom and pops had to close. I got out while the getting was good and property values were high. When I came back in 2000 I bought a house for $162,000 that was valued $224,999 in 1997 when it was built. The values have been coming back slowly but not quick enough. I just refinanced on the 6th of December for 3.5% and it was appraised at $185,000

Chris

 

[Martian]

Go to Dallas TX and F-250's and F-350s are 1/2 the vehicles on the road. All have $3000 wheels and tires and lifts.

Go to Alabama or Louisianan and you see tons of Nissan's on the road. Same for Southern CA. Its very regional.

Would be tough for a guy in a GM town getting a contracting bid if he pulled up in a Toyota. Same was true in my home town. Its about 100,000 and about 1/2 were GM employees until the bleeding started in the late 90's. Now we are 60,000 and 2 of the 3 GM dealers are closed up. Toyota outsells GM 5 to 1 here. So many are scorn they will never touch a GM again after losing everything we had going for us. I could see it coming and left in 97 then came back in 2000. I had a job as a pilot but seen our demand dropping off radically every year when they closed another GM shop and then 10 mom and pops had to close. I got out while the getting was good and property values were high. When I came back in 2000 I bought a house for $162,000 that was valued $224,999 in 1997 when it was built. The values have been coming back slowly but not quick enough. I just refinanced on the 6th of December for 3.5% and it was appraised at $185,000

Chris

I can't agree more with this statement. EVERYONE around here is connected to the big three in some way or another. If I saw a contractor pull up in a Toyota and not one of the big 3 I would be turned off from him. It is a very regional thing.

 

[Dmace]

Just the way it pans out here, not trying to start an argument.

Chris

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:
Yeah, throwing out random numbers that you MADE UP vs actual facts just to make your blind loyalty for Ford look better is certainly not to start an argument.

87.6% of all stats are made up on the spot just the like ones posted above.

 

[Dadof3]

My son want's a new F350 so we went to the dealer. The truck was really impressive and I have a good feeling about the new 6.7. The only problem is, going out on the limb for $60k.

 

[Diamondpilot]

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:
Yeah, throwing out random numbers that you MADE UP vs actual facts just to make your blind loyalty for Ford look better is certainly not to start an argument.

87.6% of all stats are made up on the spot just the like ones posted above.

Nothing made up, just what it is here. We see plenty of Dodges also but they are usually on F-550 Roll Backs.:thumbsup::laughing:

In all seriousness there are towns around that are dominated by different brands. Good dealer or what they make goes a long way. We have a good Dodge dealer here. I have bought two vehicles from them and would do so again, they just do not sell well here. Yes, they sell better than the Titan but the F-150 and the Tundra rule the roost in these parts.

Just like you do not see a Dually around here. You will see 25 SRW F-350's before you see one Dually but in other parts there are no SRW F-350's. And when I say you do not see Duallys, its not just Fords. No Dodges or GM's either. I would say on GM and Dodge you see 25 2500 series for every one Dually. They just dont work with the snow and narrow roads.

Chris

 

[foreman Etexas]

Best can get is mid 15's mpg on new cummins(loaded high 12's)

 

[Dmace]

That sounds about right for a truck like that.

I love hearing the comments like "I can get 18mpg at 65 mph but it goes to 20mpg at 60 and even 22mpg at 58.5 mph." Obviously, they're watching the dream-o-meter on the dash instead of hand calculating like the ones posting the real data.

15 mpg empty on a massive bulletproof truck like that with NO DEF required sounds good to me! :thumbsup:
Funny how even loaded with service bodies, on-board air compressors and hydraulic lifts for the mechanics trucks, our Cummins RAM's always seem to get right around 14-15 mpg.

 

[timswi]

Interesting to hear the different percents in areas. Id say here in the motor city gm hold 50% 30% ford 19.99999% dodge and Toyota and Nissan share the last .00000001%. Every contractor/construction guy owns gm around here. Most of the fords are homeowners and are mainly F150s, rarely see a F350 and above and that's true for Dodge too. Nobody buys a Nissan or Toyota though - never seen one in contractors hands.

I'd say the proportions are similar around here too..GM's seem to be the most popular followed by Ford then Dodge...They're all good though..Demographics I guess..

 

[foreman Etexas]

That sounds about right for a truck like that.

I love hearing the comments like "I can get 18mpg at 65 mph but it goes to 20mpg at 60 and even 22mpg at 58.5 mph." Obviously, they're watching the dream-o-meter on the dash instead of hand calculating like the ones posting the real data.

15 mpg empty on a massive bulletproof truck like that with NO DEF required sounds good to me! :thumbsup:
Funny how even loaded with service bodies, on-board air compressors and hydraulic lifts for the mechanics trucks, our Cummins RAM's always seem to get right around 14-15 mpg.

Yeah I dont even watch the dang mpg meter,it will drive you crazy,those are true numbers but havent done it lately(that was at 3000miles have 6000 now),dont care anymore,gonna get what its gonna get. When it gets on E,I fill her back up....

 

[buck12]

Yeah I dont even watch the dang mpg meter,it will drive you crazy,those are true numbers but havent done it lately(that was at 3000miles have 6000 now),dont care anymore,gonna get what its gonna get. When it gets on E,I fill her back up....

That's the way I think. Once I have bought a vehicle what difference does MPG make. It's mine and I am not going to trade for a small MPG increase. I bought my current truck over two years ago and never bothered to check the mileage.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I hand calculate every drop in my trucks. My Titan did 13.9mpg this last tank which was low due to 4x4 ops in the snow and idling at the stops we made over Christmas while loading and unloading. My last tank in my F-350 was 17.1mpg The BMW 335I did 24.7mpg.

On a pure highway road trip my Titan has done just shy of 18mpg The best in the F-350 has been 23.6mpg. Have not had the BMW on a pure road trip yet but I would guess 28-30mpg.

One other issue that you guys are not considering is the differences in fuel. It varies greatly region to region. I know guys who hot shot. Most have Fords and Dodges and pull massive loads all over the country like 3 car wedges. They say they know the areas that have crappy fuel and will lose 20% or more economy. Diesel especially is not regulated like gas. There is no Cetane rating like there is for Octane.


Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Here are the November 2011 sales numbers and year to date data.

November 2011 Top 10 Pickup Truck Sales - PickupTrucks.com News

Numbers dont lie.

As for gas/diesel argument in Ford GM and Dodge its hard to find but I have a magazine article from 3 years ago that says Ford Superduty line is 79% Diesel. GM is about 45%, and Dodge is around 80% diesel in the 2500 and up series.

Chris

 

[RobertN]

Doesn't winter fuel have a big affect too?

I do not notice so much here, since I am down in the great Sacramento Valley(well, local foothills). I'm guessing we get some winter blend, but not like you guys in the cold climates. I have never noticed much difference here.

One other issue that you guys are not considering is the differences in fuel. It varies greatly region to region. I know guys who hot shot. Most have Fords and Dodges and pull massive loads all over the country like 3 car wedges. They say they know the areas that have crappy fuel and will lose 20% or more economy. Diesel especially is not regulated like gas. There is no Cetane rating like there is for Octane.
Chris