Best Dually for work

If budget is a big concern go with a 2006 Ram, doesn't matter what transmissions in the dodge as there all weak. The dodge cab especially at that age will fall apart around you but you won't beat the reliability of the Cummins of that year. Also no emmissions crap to deal with, something cummins are now having a huge headache with and I'm sure it will take them a while to get that figured out so their fuel mileage doesn't suffer too bad.

I saw the concept Dodge Ram Hauler, it was awesome! Unfortunately it was only a concept but I believe all truck manufactures could take some notes with the cabin room and air suspension etc.

However when all is said and done this is 2014 and by a longshot I doubt anything can come close to the 2015 F450 on any level be it comfort, fuel mileage, engine & gearbox and resale value.
I can't wait till we can order one ourselves this year.

Happy hunting.

 

I'd vote on the Ram myself, there seems to be a whole lot of hoopla about Fords but would have to agree with 'rollin coal' about the fact that Fords seem more like a luxury vehicle with all the bells & whistles that they seem to have.

 

What is the problem with bells and whistles? You could claim more maintenance, which could be true. But my 08 Ford has been reliable even the bells and whistles part.

My reservation in running my Ford have nothing to do with its luxuries, it is the emissions controls creating poor fuel mileage. The truck will pull down a house and look good doing it, but I need a gas truck standing by to fill the tank back up.

And I decided to leave it legal, I won't be deleting anything. So this changes things for me. I am not willing to invest in a newer, better mileage version.

 

Basically you pointed out the point that I was attempting to make - potential maintenance issues. Unfortunately the vehicle industry is continuing to phase out what a guy and/or gal fix these days. I recently had to replace a switch in my Ford when in fact I had to replace a whole switch assembly (a bell & whistle option).

 

I see the same thing though in all vehicles. You can buy a Dodge, Chevy, or Ford with lots of nice things in it, or, you can order one with virtually nothing.

Edit: You are right about being able to fix your own vehicle now a days. Even if you knew how, the diag equipment is too expensive for the back yard guy.

 

What about the Ram 4500. Everyone seems to compare the Ram 3500 to the F-450. Dodge hasn't released the 2015 year info on their website yet.

2015 F-450:

HP: 440
TQ: 860
Crew Cab
4.3 ratio
GCWR 40,000
Towing 31,200
GVWR 14,000


2014 Ram 4500:

6 Speed manual:
HP: 320
Torque: 660
6 Speed AISIN:
HP: 325
Torque: 750
Crew Cab
4.1 ratio
GCWR 37,500
Towing 24,650
GVWR 16,000

I will be curious to see what the 2015 Ram 4500 specs are. So far, I like the F-450, but I can't find much data on fuel mileage for either model.

 

This may sound odd but I still have the one my dad gave me, '73 B250 sitting in the barn.

 

running a 2013 ram 3500 drw atm, 6.7 ctd, 3.42 gears 6 speed aisin, big horn edition, 30k miles on it atm, love the truck empty, drives like a caddy, quiet gets 17-19mpg if i stay off the skinny pedal, drop a 30-35 ft 5'er on it and mpg drops to 6-7 at 58-62 i blame the grocery getter gears that it has, argued with dealer over the high gear ration for a 1 ton, but they assured me they was great coupled with the aisin 6 speed, they are great empty, with a load to much strain on the engine imo hard to maintain constant rpms for torque, .. cant delete truck due to dodge locking the ecm's on the 13 and up models (to my knowledge ford or chevrolet are not doing this yet). Ive been a mopar man for over 15 years, just out of curiousity i stopped and test drove a 2014 ford 350 6.7 single wheel, 3.55 gears, dont know about the longevity of the trucks but it made my ram look like a sick pup. Dont know how ford customer service is anymore , but the dealings ive had with my dealer ram customer service sucks....my has cut out 4-5 time while pulling a hill under load, not showing a code so dealer says theres no problem. Others running the same truck as mine are saying they are getting 3-4 mpg better with comparable load, ram just tells me my truck is not rated for mpg so tough....this truck goes down or if i could figure out how to get rid of it without losing my ### off pretty sure i would be driving a new ford, not alot known about the new ones yet as far as problems with them, but ram is pretty much just passing off any problems they have now to the customer with the "no code, no problem" answer

 

It's the 3.42 gears that are killing you I have 3.73 and running at max weight I still get over 10 mpg at 61 mph.

 

yeah dealer and i are arguing over that , trying to get them to see the light and make the truck right but they insist that i should be happy, they drive the truck empty and boast about the 17 mpg it gets, told them if i wanted to drive around empty i would have bought a prius and get 40 mpg lol