I had a 78 ford f-250 4x4 that had 320,000 miles before any type of break down and then it was just a battery. I let my brother have it to use on his dairy farm at 380,000 miles. He drove it for two more years and sold i. I don't know how many it had then.
Photog101 wrote: If we are not locked into 3500 and smaller, I have to say, that the best truck I have ever owned was a 1985 IH 9370 Eagle. Over 1,000,000 miles on the original block, trans and diffs. Made my family mucho dinero. Bought it new and finally sold it in 1991, when I retired.
Originally purchased with a 400HP, 3406 Cat, but later turned up to 435HP. Fuller RTOO 12513, 3.5:1 gears on 22.5" rubber. Kinda miss the old girl.
The Professional Tourist's Truck
"Doc"
Nope, any type or size of truck. Those Class 8's kind of put things into perspective with their routine high mileage. But they are the epitome of heavy duty.
The strongest truck I've owned so far was my '03 Cummins powered Ram. The longest lasting but weakest was my '84 Isuzu diesel P'up. The most trouble free so far has been my '05 Hemi powered Ram. At close to 80k miles, it has had no recalls, flashes, issues or visits to the dealer for anything. I had to replace the condenser cooling fan at around 54k miles. Cost $118 and took me about 40 minutes to change with hand tools. It tows the same 5th wheel the same speeds but at 30~% higher rpm and about 30~% higher fuel consumption. Very happy with it.
'05 2500HD Dodge 5.7L Hemi 5spd auto/3.73 SLT. 95k miles
ex '95 Cummins,'98 12v Cummins,'01.5 Cummins,'03 Cummins
'07 KZ Jag 28JFSS.
I'd have to say my current rig is the best I've owned. I loved my 96 Chevy 1/2 ton but it just wasn't truck-enough for my trailer and the tranny gave up the ghost. My present crew cab works great with the family and the big block/Allison combo pulls like a mule.
Glen
2004 Dutchmen 27BG, Rocky Mountain Elk Edition
2002 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 8.1/Ally
2 boys, 12 & 14
a friendly black lab
a couple of decks of cards
a cold beer
I have to say my current truck is my favorite. Even after almost 4 years of ownership I still really enjoy driving it and do not look enviously at a new truck. Before this truck I always overloaded whatever truck I had.
I have to add a couple that come into play also, a 1986 Ford Ranger, standard cab, 2wd, with 5 speed and 2.9 V6. To the best of my knowledge it had 277,000 miles on it when I sold it. The water pump had gone out and I replaced it and from that day on I had problems with it overheating. The guy I sold it to found that the parts house had given me the wrong water pump. This was the second wrong water pump they sold me and I don't buy parts there any more. I overloaded this little truck on a regular basis, 500 lbs cargo capacity with about 450 in passengers and 1200 lbs of load in the bed is one example.
Another good truck was my first one, a 1959 Ford F100, with a 292 V8 I learned how to wrench on this truck. I swapped the stepside bed for a styleside and converted it from a two speed auto to a 3 on the tree. Very dependable once that was done but had a hard time keeping clutches and trannys in it.
I am not what you would call brand loyal as I have owned trucks from both Dodge and Ford but never cared for the looks of GM products. I am just glad we have choices.
Steve and Gayle
2004.5 Dodge 3500 4X4, SRW, QC, SLT, LB, NV-5600, 3.73 AS, 325/600 Cummins
Well I have to add to the "pile", I bought a NEW 2000 Nissan Frontier 4X4 and have only taken it to the Dealer 2 times for repairs. It gets 16 MPG and runs like a top. Couldn't stand it, didn't see a Nissan on your list, so I had to brag a bit. You'all have a good'un, NOW!!! Ozzie
Have owned 2 Chevy's, 2 Ranger's, 2 Toyota's, 1 Dodge, 1 F150, and 1 Honda Ridgeline. All were bought new. Aside 1 Chevy, all gave decent service. The favorite is the '06 Ridgeline we have today. Drives like a big car, plenty of room, tows outstandingly, super traction in snow or mud, and I can store our genset in the lockable trunk. Great gas mileage.
Had a 1983 Ranger 2.3L, manual trans, long bed, 4X4 for 20.5 years. It only let me down once when the camshaft belt broke. When I traded it for 2003 Dakota it still had the original clutch and I never had the valve cover off the engine. The original battery lasted 11 years. It had two fuel tanks for a total of 30 gallons. 214K when I traded. I would have considered another if the tow ratings were higher.
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