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Had a bad time with GM in the early '80s on the farm and haven't looked at Chevy/GMC trucks since. I only mentioned that to say Ford carried the load through the rest of the '80s and early '90s, then switched over to Dodge in '93 for the Cummins engines. The Ford '84 and '85 F-350, 4x4, regular cab, diesel, manual trucks worked great. I don't recall anything unusual with them. The '85 was replaced by a new '88 F-350, diesel, 5-speed, 4x4, dualie, regular cab chassis. That was dad's first 1-ton dually with a flatbed. It was a great truck. We did lose a transmission, two rear ends and clutch, but that truck pulled a gooseneck trailer to haul bales out of the fields all summer and to the customers and auctions all winter. He always has been a fan of Cummins power, and when the Dodges started showing up in greater numbers at the hay sales, the '88 Ford was dropped for a '93 Dodge, 3500, dualie, Cummins, 5-speed, 4x4, regular cab chassis. He wanted to stick with the flatbed, but decided to spring for a custom aluminum bed on this one. The bed was great, but I didn't like the truck so much. It was the last year for the 'old style' Dodge and it certainly rode and drove like a dated design. Aside from being uncomfortable, it did work hard without any major problems. He sold that one and got a new 2000 Dodge, 3500, Cummins H.O., 4x4, 6-speed, Quad-Cab pickup. We kept the aluminum bed from the previous Dodge (a fire department bought the '93 and didn't want the bed anyway) and had the new bed from the 2000 sold almost overnight. This one is quite a truck. It's very comfortable on long hauls, has tons of power and quick response. There's no comparison between the previous Cummins and the newer H.O. version - the thing will really pull. The Quad-Cab is just right for extra storage and occassionally taking a couple extra people along. I'm not so sure I'd like the newer Quad-Cab that looks like a scaled down Crew-Cab, but this older version is nice. There's been some noise in the transmission from the start (apparently a known and common complaint with this 6-speed), but nothing else major (yet). The steering is starting to get some weave in it, and there may be a design problem causing that. I've heard others talk about front suspension components wearing out prematurely under the weight of the heavy diesel. Time will tell, but we're thrilled with it. We're set on diesels for work, but I've heard good things about the modern gas engines. A guy who does some driving for us has an F-250 with the V-10 and automatic for pulling his camper, and says it's been great. I'd consider one if I were getting into a 3/4 ton truck (the V-10, not the automatic trans.). If you're talking a new or late-model used Dodge, the Hemi is said to be a brute. With 16 spark plugs and all the other unique design features of the Hemi, it could be pretty expensive to maintain in the long run. That'll be something else to keep an eye on in the coming years. Good luck shopping.
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