just a general question,

with the age old talk of what is better, Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge, what do you alll think in terms of F150 reliability? obviously somewhat of a bias exists considering this is a ford f150 website, but really, when it comes down to it what is the best? i am just curious and would like to know the positive/negative experiences of people with these trucks. do the numbers really back the f150 up? thanks for any feedback.

 

What? Me biased,surly not! Seriously, These Trucks(Fords,Chevy Dodge, ect.) all have their share of problems in terms of reliability. Hell they're mass produced, they're bound to be some manufactured with problems. While I've never owned a Dodge, I've had a few Gm trucks & I really never had any problems with them. I have owned mostly Ford Trucks since the late 70's & have had nothing but good service from them. I'm not saying Dodge & Gm don't make some decient trucks I Just like Fords BETTER! Just my opinion though!

 

While I've never owned a GM or Dodge pick-up I have driven both. I believe that if I could take the good from every truck manufacturer & put it all into one truck certain people still wouldn't be happy.

We've all heard the Found On Road Dead & F*ck%d Over Rebuilt Dodge. We've all received some abuse about our Fords and given the other guy abuse about his GM / Dodge. It's all in fun (I hope).

Honestly, as far as the 1/2 ton truck market goes, I think all of the trucks are pretty close. I haven't driven a new Dodge yet, and haven't seen one in a "work truck" capacity, but I have driven a '99 quad cab 4x4. It was okay. The seats were kinda hard and the full axle front end gave a very choppy ride on bumpy roads. The newer GM 327 cid engine is only good for a really big paper weight. Put some weight behind it and it'll sound and feel like it's working it's a$$ off. The older GM products had integrity problems. Door handles break, mirrors come loose, and all kinds of squeaking noises in the cab while driving down the road. My Ford has a leaking back window, door cracks, and white stuff on the oil cap.

I guess it boils down to a matter of your personal peference.

 

I've owned a few Chevys. Had nothing but problems with them.

The Dodges have been good, but their newer gasoline engines are pretty much gutless in their trucks. I'm hoping that the new Hemi performs well in the 1/2-ton trucks, but it sure is gutless in the 3/4 and 1-tons I've driven.

Fords have been tough and reliable. Mostly nit-picky stuff goes wrong with them. I.e. power mirror stop working, cruise control switches went bad, etc. But nothing major.

Magnum

 

My truck, a '94 F-150 XLT entended cab 5.8, has given nothing but amazing, decent service. Hell, the thing wont quit! When my Grandma owned it before us (for essex county pest control) She never even changed the sparkplugs on it. I just changed them in January, about six years after she sold it to us. It was my Dads daily driver for awhile, and hadn't had an oil change for over a year until i changed it about a month and a half ago. I was expecting sludge, and dripage. came out smooth as water. Black, but smooth as water. And i know that's not the way to drive a truck, but my Dad drives cars until they can't be driven no more. lol...this truck has been dependable, and is a strong sun bitch to boot. Pullin horses and a trailer behind it no problem. We owned a Chevy Silverado and it was Kinda gutless and weird...leather seats...In a truck!?!?! My personal opinion is that Ford has the greatest truck ever manufactured. they've got my vote.

 

Ford First On Race Day ever here that one.

 

Well, when someone starts talking about this. I just generally bring up some facts about the various trucks on the road and the number sold for each. Ford in the U.S. has been the best selling truck for 21 consecutive years. Ford in Canada has been the best selling truck for 37 years, both as of the end of 2002. So I figure that if there are that many people out there that would buy these trucks for that many of years and there is a whole lot of problems or the trucks can't do its job right. Then Ford trucks just can't be that bad now, can they.

I have been driving Ford since the get-go (16 years old), my dad has always had a Ford truck since I can remember. He even had one of those orange coloured trucks with the white strips on it back in the early 80's. Didn't look all that bad but you knew he was coming down the road. Since I have purchased my first truck ('87 Reg cab, Long box, 300 I6, 4 speed) and current truck, I have put on more than 323,000 kms (201,552 miles) on them both. General maintenance and a lot of wear & tear items but they are still going strong. I plan on putting at least 300,000 kms on the current truck if the engine will get me there.

But all in all, two words for ya .... FORD RULES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

As ive posted several times before, I own a 98 4.6 supercab. I drove a '00 Chevy with 10,000 miles and a '01 Dodge with 5,000 miles last summer when i worked for the street dept. here in town:

'00 Chevy-- half ton reg cab 2wd longbed with the 4.8 V-8 auto. This thing was a race truck. It was fast when we didnt have a load on it. But when we would put a 18' trailer with mowers, tools, and load the bed up wtth dry mix concrete, you had to rev the motor like hell to get this thing to go. It was very light duty and cheap. It rode very much like a car--very much. Nothing heavy duty about this truck whatsoever.

'01 Dodge- same size truck as chevy only had the 5.3 (318) It was in between a chevy and a ford. Had decent torque and moderate speed. Pulled better then a chevy but didnt corner as well as the Chevy. It was kinda cheap too but Id perfer it to the chevy. It drove rougher (front end bouncing). nice truck but didnt impress me too much

my 98- (listed in my sig)--i was always glad to hop in my Ford at the end of the day. just driving it off listning to that Triton burble
and the feel of a 'truck' really made me feel good. I even volunteered to hook up the 18' trailer with mowers, dry mix, and tools to see how it would compare. I never broke stride. Yea i couldve pulled better if i had a manual but my auto does just fine.


Basically you want a truck that rides a like a car? get a chevy
you want an inbetween, overpriced truck? get a dodge
you want a real truck? get a FORD!!

thats my .02

 

I owned a 1988 Chevy 4X4 with the 305 motor. It was a good truck, it lasted for 200,000 miles with very few problems. Toward the end, everything started going on it though. This is actually my first Ford truck. It may not be a fair comparison, but the Ford is a much nicer vehicle, comfort, power, etc. Obviously, this has a lot to do with the fact that it is much newer, but I've driven older F-150's and they just have more to offer in terms of comfort and convenience. My uncle has a 2000 Ram (the smaller V8 engine) and he got rid of it after about two months because it broke down on him a few times. I think it was an extreme case though. Basically, I really don't have a problem with any of the big 3 truck makers now. All three have their pros and cons, but it just comes down to personal preference. If you've had good experience with Ford, you'll probably keep buying them or if you've had good luck with Chevy, Dodge, etc., you'll probably stick with them.

 

We had a '96 Chevy that gave us quite a bit of problems (transmisson went out with less then 35k miles on it, never was 'right' after it was rebuilt by GM.) However, in general, all trucks seem to be progressing on a yearly basis torwards being more and more reliable, so it's probably not fair to judge Chevy's product in 1996 with whats available today. About the only way to scientifically compare reliability from one brand to the next is to compare the number of problems reported per 100 trucks produced (these statistic are often used in tests such as those used in Consumer Reports comparing reliablity.) While the results for 2002 have not yet been released, from '99 thru '01 Ford was constantly in second place just behind the Tundra, and Chevy was contanty in last place well behind the Dodge.) However since 2001, they claim Chevrolet's reliability has improved quite a bit, and Dodge has introduced a brand new model. So this year's results very well may change the order around some before Ford comes out with the '04 model later this summer. Personally, I have a '98 F-150 with the 4.6 that is at 97k miles, and I have not have a single problem since it was new almost 5 years ago.

 

I have owned all of the Big 3 in trucks. No big problems with any, but I just prefer the looks and feel of a FORD. You can hear different people swear that a certain brand truck is no good, but if that were true in this day and age of competativeness, there would only be one brand of truck left.

For me, FORD is the one!