Pick WinterDeere's next truck

[Snobdds]

Funny how fast things change.

I had a '92 Chevy Silverado Extended Cab, medium bed, cloth seats, automatic, 350 V8 that I bought used in '93. Prior owner was the KY Secretary of Agriculture. At that time, it was considered a "Country Cadillac." Extended cab pickups were a recent thing.

It was a good old truck and served well to haul stuff and pull some boats around, etc. But there's just no comparison to those 35 year old trucks and today's vehicles. We've come a long way, Baby!

I remember vividly. I was 12 in 92 when my dad got a new Ford F250 with the extended cab and 460 V8. That was best of the best in 92.

The funny thing is, we hauled the same loads today as back then and the truck did fine. I don't remember hearing my dad when towing saying it was gutless or weak in any way.

Perception in time is a funny thing. If it's the best at the time, there is no longing for anything more.

 

[Snobdds]

You aren’t washing underneath in winter, I’d guess.


“Dodge”
RAM stupid!!!!

Calling a dodge a dodge in a Ram body is grounds for hanging.

 

[WinterDeere]

You aren’t washing underneath in winter, I’d guess.

I do run thru the car wash when I can manage to catch it without a long line, which is almost never soon enough after a big salt/storm event, and pay the extra $4 or whatever it is for undercarriage wash. But no, I'm not going to turn my own driveway into an ice skating rink or make a mess of my own garage, washing under there myself.

Then again, given the places I see rust, I'm not convinced an undercarriage spray would really make all that much difference. Why do my doors seem to rust from inside to out? Why is the inside wall of my bed rusting in the corners of the bed, an area totally shielded from underspray by wheel well covers. Is hosing off the underside really going to change that?

I suspect that hours of salty water spraying off tires at every odd angle has a way of working salt spray into places that will never be really successfully cleaned by a car wash or hose sprayed under the truck for a minute or three.

“Dodge”
RAM stupid!!!!

Meh... symantics. I still buy it at a Dodge dealer. I still service it at a Dodge dealer. If you need financing, it still comes thru Chrysler Capital Group. I traded my old Dodge Ram for a Ram Truck, and they look and feel the same. Most of the parts list is still the same, and even most of the same controls. Interior controls have a lot in common with my Dodge Charger and Durango, even down to the same infotainment system.

You can change the badge, but it's still a Dodge to everyone but fanboys and Chrysler tax accountants.

 

[Jstpssng]

It makes you think you have to start from step one...What is a truck?

Image stolen from Machinerytrader.com

 

[Jstpssng]

That said, I do try to kick most of the snow off my boots before hopping in, as much as is practical with two quick kicks of the feet.

I do also, but vibram soles hold a lot of snow and mud. One spring I looked at the rocker of my company truck and it was all dented up; I must have been kicking my steel toes against it.
Those soles also tend to put holes in floor mats over time from going from accelerator to brake; another reason to have mats.

I’ve looked and and considered those folding and locking hard tonneau covers on each of my last two trucks

Mine is a rollup which came with the truck.

 

[Eagle1]

Just ask this guy for some tips....

https://twitter.com/x/status/2037620456589533596

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Brand loyalty is amazing. The fellow in back of the building my business was in everything he had was Dodge. You couldn't give him anything else and he had a landscaping business. For whatever reason they did have electrical gremlins, otherwise ok.
When AMC went out I went with Chevy & that's all my in-laws would ever have.
I bought this F150 because it was so inexpensive and my neighbor friend will only have Ford. '96 F350 Powerstroke 7.3 diesel is what he's had since new. Oil change takes like 15-16 quarts!

 

[WinterDeere]

I’ve never been brand-loyal, but I am somewhat dealer-loyal. The local Dodge dealer is fantastic, while the few local GM dealers I’ve dealt with have all been terrible, speaking in terms of after-sale service. I don’t have any recent experience with Ford, to speak of.

One thought that comes to mind relates to a long history of always buying what I needed yesterday, rather than tomorrow. A 3/4 ton truck would’ve been great over the last ten years, as I’ve been harvesting and hauling my own 10+ cords of logs each year, all by myself. I also had the trailer configured in a way that just made the hitch weight a bit too high for 1/2 ton comfort.

But last summer, I reconfigured the trailer to balance it out much better. And the way my new business has really taken off this past winter tells me my days of harvesting all my own wood might be behind me… I just don’t have the time, anymore.

I might transition from a 1/2 ton to 3/4 ton, only to never need the capacity, the way I might have over the last 10 years. Meanwhile, I’ll be kicking myself, every time I can’t get into a garage, due to the greater height.

 

[WM75Guy]

Looks like the Toyota Tacoma is the only 2026 with a manual transmission option.

 

[WinterDeere]

Looks like the Toyota Tacoma is the only 2026 with a manual transmission option.

Great runabouts, and wonderfully reliable and capable in snow, but not a trailering vehicle.

I might not need a 2500 or 3500, but I wouldn’t even think of towing my 88” wide 7k# trailer behind anything as tiny as a Tacoma.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I do run thru the car wash when I can manage to catch it without a long line, which is almost never soon enough after a big salt/storm event, and pay the extra $4 or whatever it is for undercarriage wash. But no, I'm not going to turn my own driveway into an ice skating rink or make a mess of my own garage, washing under there myself.

Then again, given the places I see rust, I'm not convinced an undercarriage spray would really make all that much difference. Why do my doors seem to rust from inside to out? Why is the inside wall of my bed rusting in the corners of the bed, an area totally shielded from underspray by wheel well covers. Is hosing off the underside really going to change that?

The full service washes around here, even with "The Works" at about $20, don't even get the back window clean on my truck or our cars. Hard to understand how they can do so badly. About the only time I'm satisfied with a car wash is when I have a beer in one hand and wash mit in the other.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I’ve never been brand-loyal, but I am somewhat dealer-loyal. The local Dodge dealer is fantastic, while the few local GM dealers I’ve dealt with have all been terrible, speaking in terms of after-sale service. I don’t have any recent experience with Ford, to speak of.

One thought that comes to mind relates to a long history of always buying what I needed yesterday, rather than tomorrow. A 3/4 ton truck would’ve been great over the last ten years, as I’ve been harvesting and hauling my own 10+ cords of logs each year, all by myself. I also had the trailer configured in a way that just made the hitch weight a bit too high for 1/2 ton comfort.

But last summer, I reconfigured the trailer to balance it out much better. And the way my new business has really taken off this past winter tells me my days of harvesting all my own wood might be behind me… I just don’t have the time, anymore.

I might transition from a 1/2 ton to 3/4 ton, only to never need the capacity, the way I might have over the last 10 years. Meanwhile, I’ll be kicking myself, every time I can’t get into a garage, due to the greater height.

"the greater height"...81.6"

 

[WinterDeere]

The full service washes around here, even with "The Works" at about $20, don't even get the back window clean on my truck or our cars. Hard to understand how they can do so badly. About the only time I'm satisfied with a car wash is when I have a beer in one hand and wash mit in the other.

Agreed, but there are only so many hours of daylight that I can get away from my desk in a week. If I’m washing any of our vehicles by hand, the pickup truck is always going to be last on that list.

 

[WinterDeere]

"the greater height"...81.6"

Others here have called out 84” for 4x4 2500 series.

But whatever the number, I’m already rubbing the weatherstripping on my garage door with the dome antenna on my half ton, and have hit it twice in parking garages in the last 3 years. The 3/4 ton of any series is going to be at least 2 - 4 inches taller.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Agreed, but there are only so many hours of daylight that I can get away from my desk in a week. If I’m washing any of our vehicles by hand, the pickup truck is always going to be last on that list.

I get it. My old Ford Escape dog-hauler hadn't been washed in at least two years. I took it to the local do-it-yourself pressure-washer car wash back in October on a whim when I was passing through town. Turns out the dirt was the only thing sealing the AC condenser -- AC quit working on the way home. Should have left well enough alone.

 

[deserteagle71]

Calling a dodge a dodge in a Ram body is grounds for hanging.

 

[sd455dan]

It's more than a little amusing everyone here goes to diesel, for the usage profile I've outlined. In what way is diesel better, for someone who might drive a truck 5k miles per year for 10 years, and never haul any trailer heavier than 7k pounds?!?

Answer: diesel is worse than gasoline in every possible way, for this customer.

I know some of you guys are pulling 14k pound hay wagons and car haulers, and some are doing 25k miles per year, year after year. But I'm not that guy. I will sell this truck as a rusted out shell 10 years from now, and with only 30k - 50k miles on it, having never hauled anything anywhere near heavy enough to have made the expense of that diesel engine or the hassle in sourcing fuel from local stations, ever worth it.

Buy a creme puff low mile manual equipped earlier Hemi RAM 2500 with a blower from the other coast and have your good dealer do the leg work on finding and delivery.?

 

[Jstpssng]

Great runabouts, and wonderfully reliable and capable in snow, but not a trailering vehicle.

I might not need a 2500 or 3500, but I wouldn’t even think of towing my 88” wide 7k# trailer behind anything as tiny as a Tacoma.

Yet it's comparable in size to a 1500 or F150 of 40 years ago... and those trucks pulled a lot of trailers that size.
I agree though. My Colorado has the same footprint which my '84 F150 had, and weighs a few hundred pounds more. It's rated for 7500#, but I would never consider doing it.

Maybe.

 

[Highlandr]

I’ve looked and and considered those folding and locking hard tonneau covers on each of my last two trucks, but having big cabs that stored all I ever needed, never bothered with the expense and hassle. Open bed has always worked fine for me, even if it is a pain cleaning it out of iced-over snow and getting it dry when I need the bed for moving boxes in winter.

I’ve also thought of switching from pickup to a big SUV, since I use a trailer these days, for so much of the stuff for which I used to need a pickup truck bed. But does anyone even make a 3/4 ton full size SUV, anymore? Another Dodge Durango would NOT cut that mustard.

IF you go with a bed cover...

Had a one-piece ARE on the '04 Tundra. Waterproof. Lockable. Downsides: You're not going to haul a fridge with it on and it makes the truck look hunchback (although not as bad as the "Slimline" covers from back in the day).

Have the hard, foldable Backflip on the '15 Tundra. Not waterproof. Not lockable. Although if the tailgate is locked you can't open it, but you could pop it with a screwdriver. So it's "locked" enough to keep honest people honest.

 

[RayIN]

A friend just sent this he bought, 1929 Chevy wrecker. The first year for the Chevy six.View attachment 5336862

That was a 46HP engine.
I have a 1932 Chevrolet Conferate BA with the stovebolt six engine with 50HP.
What made the felt power difference was the 5:32 ratio diff.