Pick WinterDeere's next truck

[Runner]

My dream truck:

2 door
Manual shift
Crank windows & manual locks.
Bench vinyl seat
No carpet
Radio delete
No cameras...anywhere
Heater
Ash tray with lighter
AC (optional)
Everything knob or lever operated
8 ft bed so I can carry OSB or plywood
Rear view mirrors
Horn
Hitch
Spare & jack
6 or 8 gas I can get to everything

I sent letters to all three. So far no reply.
When I get too decrepid to open a window or turn a knob, I'll quit driving.

Man, even I'm not that hardcore...

 

[deserteagle71]

We were on the road to having high efficiency diesel engines getting close to 40MPG highway, then the regulations and VW scandal hit.

Bureaucrats justifying their jobs.

I can only imagine how much time and research and how many meetings were held to determine that the speed limit on this section of road had to be exactly 22 mph. Not 20 mph, not 25 mph, but 22 mph. There were several of these signs so this was not a mistake or an alteration.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

We have very different dreams, Fuddy!

Fooey!

Actually a great discussion and now I'm leaning towards fixing up my '93 F150.
If I do I'll rip out carpet & cloth bench, going with rubber floormat & vinyl seat.
I can reupholster seat...it's no big deal at all.
Our horse farrier got stuck in snow & pulled him out. He has a Ram 3500 diesel crew cab loaded in cabbed back: forge & equipment...probably 5 tons total.
Granny gear & 300-six pulled him out of the ditch...he couldn't believe it.

 

[Jstpssng]

Look around you, city owned maintenance pickups, or tow trucks, or any other industry that uses and abuses them every single day... what do you see? Nothing but GMs up north anyways. Very resilient and nice looking vehicles

I think you'll find that popularity is price driven. That's what my employer bought for years... until the operating costs offset purchase savings. Then we went to Tundras... they were great trucks until Toyota "improved" them, somewhere around 2022. My boss drove down a grassy road,then had to dig the manual out to figure out how to bypass the safety features so that they could back out. The killer though was when he got stuck. There is noplace to hook onto, and they tore the entire front "valance" below the bumper off.

Now they are buying 3/4 ton GMs... talk about overkill, just to have a usable woods truck!

 

[92blacksunshine]

Look around you, city owned maintenance pickups, or tow trucks, or any other industry that uses and abuses them every single day... what do you see? Nothing but GMs up north anyways. Very resilient and nice looking vehicles.

I don't know where in the north you're speaking of, but the majority of tow trucks and city owned vehicles here in NE Ohio are Superdutys.

 

[92blacksunshine]

I'm still giggling that my '17 F250 6.7L is "slow".

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm still giggling that my '17 F250 6.7L is "slow".

7.1 seconds 0 - 60, and nearly 16 seconds 0 - 90 mph. Yeah... that's pretty slow.

Even my wimpy little 11-year old Ram 1500 with the 5.7L natural-aspirated gasser and 3.92 rear does the former in 5.85 seconds, and the latter in 14.4 seconds... and that's still slow compared to the HO and SHO models out since 2019.

But I guess things have changed a lot since those days, since now Ram offers more powerful diesels. I was just checking the numbers, and their 6.7L HO Cummins turbo diesel with 1085 ft-lb torque is actually quicker than the 6.4L gasser. That said, that 6.7L HO turbo diesel it adds $12k - $13k to the cost of a $50k truck!

 

[Joe1]

Do a search on YouTube. There are comparisons there where they checked all the different makes of trucks in the Northeast rust belt. The conclusion was clear - only the aluminum-bodied Fords were corrosion free. Bodies on all the other makes were rusted badly. Tests were done in 2025, on trucks made in 2015 so all ten years old.

So if your main concern is rust the answer is clear. Also, no one makes a truck that can tow anything that still has a manual transmission. Ram was the last, and I believe they also went all automatic back in 2019.

Also if you have to have a 4wd extended cab - only Ford still makes those. So sounds to me like an F250 or F350 with the 7.3 V8 gas engine should do what you want. (Both my pickups are Ram/Cummins so don't accuse me of being a Ford fan. I chose what works best for me. Rust is not a concern here in the desert.)

Having spent my early years in Rhode Island, I understand the "tin worm" is highly destructive. Some cautions on an Aluminum bed. (1) They are easier to damage than a steel bed, so depending on what and how yo throw in a load, it might be a concern. (2) They are more difficult and most costly to repair than a steel bed. (3) Because of # 2, Insurance premiums can be higher.

If it's just the bed that is shot, a bed replacement might be in order. Shops that replace beds pickup beds with flat beds might have replacements.

It sounds like you do not use as a daily driver and the driveline is probably in good shape, so if the body and below are OK, a bed replacement would be a lot cheaper and you could keep the manual gear box.

 

[WinterDeere]

Having spent my early years in Rhode Island, I understand the "tin worm" is highly destructive. Some cautions on an Aluminum bed. (1) They are easier to damage than a steel bed, so depending on what and how yo throw in a load, it might be a concern. (2) They are more difficult and most costly to repair than a steel bed. (3) Because of # 2, Insurance premiums can be higher.

If it's just the bed that is shot, a bed replacement might be in order. Shops that replace beds pickup beds with flat beds might have replacements.

It sounds like you do not use as a daily driver and the driveline is probably in good shape, so if the body and below are OK, a bed replacement would be a lot cheaper and you could keep the manual gear box.

You're right that only the bed is shot today, and the body still looks great. But when I find rust has eaten through one, it's never long until I discover the same has been silently occurring on the other, just waiting to telegraph thru the paint from inside a door or cab corner. Also, exhaust hangers and welds are badly rusted, I won't be surprised if that needs replacement in the next year or two.

If bed were fine, I'd have no trouble keeping this truck, even several more years. But I'm not going to put time and money into a bed replacement on a truck that's so likely to need more work in the near-term.

And this truck is not manual, hence why I'm not fighting harder to keep it. My 2005 was manual, and I kept that one going through a few years of rust, for the sake of not giving up the manual trans. But this 2015 model is auto, with the stupid rotary knob shifter.

One nice thing, I see Ram have gone back to column shifters in these new trucks. I guess they got the message that everyone hated the rotary knob.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Yeah, the rotary knob is RIDICULOUS !

 

[Hay Dude]

My dream truck:

2 door
Manual shift
Crank windows & manual locks.
Bench vinyl seat
No carpet
Radio delete
No cameras...anywhere
Heater
Ash tray with lighter
AC (optional)
Everything knob or lever operated
8 ft bed so I can carry OSB or plywood
Rear view mirrors
Horn
Hitch
Spare & jack
6 or 8 gas I can get to everything

I sent letters to all three. So far no reply.
When I get too decrepid to open a window or turn a knob, I'll quit driving.

Sounds like a 1976 F-150 custom

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

We have very different dreams, Fuddy!

I've hooked up lots of trailers over the years. Never a problem

 

[Gregster613]

GM uses that stuff on their frames that's like a wax, a couple of undercarriage washes and it's pretty much gone.

Ford coats their frames in EDP, my '17 F250 has gone through 9 Ohio winters and still has the paint markings on the frame.

Had to google the term EDP but it sure sounds like good stuff!!

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Sounds like a 1976 F-150 custom

Pretty close to my '89 custom ... had junkyard vinyl buckets bolted in place (no adjustment!) and a radio that didn't work, did originally have A/C, but after the third compressor I just put the windows down, in AZ ... Only thing remotely "modern" was "delay" wipers!

If I hadn't lost the cam in the 300/6 around 200K I probably would still have it, and not gotten the '18 RAM.

 

[nforktractor]

==>"WinterDeere" One nice thing, I see Ram have gone back to column shifters in these new trucks. I guess they got the message that everyone hated the rotary knob.




The rotary knob is still used on the RAM 1500, on the RAM 2500 and up they use the column shifter. Not hip on the way that column shifter sticks out.

 

[WinterDeere]

I was driving it today, and the position of the shifter is no issue. But I did keep reaching for a knob, out of habit. That is one habit I will be very happy to un-learn.

 

[Highlandr]

That is one habit I will be very happy to un-learn.

'04 Tundra had the shifter on the column. '15 Tundra has the sifter in the console (hate it). I still reach for the column shifter after 11 years.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Thirty+ years ago I was at a dealership looking at trucks when an older salesman hid the window sticker with his notebook asking "guess how much?" Back then more than my house cost. "Guess who buys the most?...Women!".
To me a truck is a G D truck! I don't need a vanity mirror or tampon dispenser.
I want to haul horse manure, logs, gravel, etc.
I don't give a flying carp about 0-60 times or 1000 hp.
New isn't always better to me.

 

[92blacksunshine]

7.1 seconds 0 - 60, and nearly 16 seconds 0 - 90 mph. Yeah... that's pretty slow.

Even my wimpy little 11-year old Ram 1500 with the 5.7L natural-aspirated gasser and 3.92 rear does the former in 5.85 seconds, and the latter in 14.4 seconds... and that's still slow compared to the HO and SHO models out since 2019.

I never said mine is stock...

 

[Jstpssng]

My company Tundra has the shifter on the column, my Colorado it's in the console. It doesn't matter to me, except that weekends in the Colorado I do find myself reaching for the column.
I use the transmission a lot for slowing in snow, and prefer the console for that.