So i've got my truck down to only a few more payments and my camper is half-way paid off along with a few other bill's getting close to paying off. And I've narrowed the Choice's of my next payment down to 3 I'm really looking for a nice daily driver/ocasinaly mower/Boat hauler Yes they are all alittle overkill for a DD/minor tower but my job require's i have a tow vehicile at all time's so a 4banger won't cut it lol.   

 

#1 1989-93 Dodge 350 Reg cab dually (W/WO 4x4 Depend's) Cummins/intercooled Stick Shift with under 300k miles  

I've been keeping a close eye on the old First gen market in hope's of someone coming to there sense's and selling one for a realistic price say 5-7.5k But for some reason people believe these truck's are worth 10-20k beat to piece's with no paint or rusting in half or got a million mile's on them. I'm as Mopar crazy as anyone but i'm not dumb enough to give 14k for a high milage rust bucket dodge or not but a man can wish can't he...

 

#2 2006 Dodge Mega Cab 3500 6spd (W/WO 4x4 Depend's) Cummin's mileage not a biggy

 

I've owned one like this and dearly miss it...it was totaled 2 year's ago and have keep my eye's peeled for one since then... i gave 15k for mine 3 year's ago with 99k mile's on it 300k when totaled drove like new pulled like a train. But same as #1 asking 27-40k for a high mileage truck in decent shape is crazy.

 

#3 2000-2003 Ford Excursion 4x4 7.3 Diesel

So this one is kinda a odd one but i have alway's loved the Ford Excursion's since they released them(Really wished dodge had tried the same with the Ram in some way) The Looks, the size just everything i want plus ton's of room... But, My neighbour has had 3 of them in 2 year's his first a 2000 with the V10 had decent power but got around 6mpg empty or loaded sold it after a few month's Then came the 2001 7.3 which was in his opinion the best but he had constant trouble with the glow plug's and the HPOP replaced both twice in 6 month's then came the 2005 with the 6.0 *Shiver's* Wow what a piece of junk that motor was only 40k mile's on it and replaced nearly every part on the motor twice and the motor it's self once... But the worst part is they seem to have absolutly no rearend strength at all even a 5x8 trailer with a Dixion zero turn caused it to bottom out even broke the bump stops off one day...I assumed they used the 3/4 ton frame as a base or am i wrong is there any way to make these decent for even minor towing of said trailer or a boat not looking for a full on tow monster just to pull my craftsman without the rearend snaping in half... 

 

Thanks for reading and look forward to y'alls help on this

I would go with mega. I miss my mega bad and I will eventually own another. I would never own a 6 point oh no, I have had nightmares about 6 leakers that I have worked on. I am not joking. 7.3s arent bad but like you said, they eat glow plugs. I just worked on one and put all new glow plugs in and it still wont start unless plugged in below 60 degrees. I personally have never seen an excursion pull anything. Usually used by soccer moms. Actually I can only think of one person in my town of 9,000 with one.

Edited April 29, 201411 yr by mopartechnician

I was once told the excursion won't fit into a garage. Too long! I've never like the idea of them.

 

If it was strictly between those 3 choices, the mega cab would be the choice.

 

If it was me, I'd look into the 1/2 ton diesel truck.

Oh ya, get a 1/2er diesel. I cant wait to see what tgose can do

Not sure what you mean about the 7.3's eating glow plugs. My dad has never had to change any. He has a 2000 and that has been an unbelievable truck all around. In over 400k kms repairs have been minimal. He's run an Edge Evolution programmer on it for most of its life. And I sure wasn't easy on it when I was growing up with it!

My cousin just bought a Ram 1500 diesel. I'll try reporting on how that performs for him.

Every 7.3 i know of goes through glow plugs. They are the worst at starting in the cold. Glow plus, valve cover gaskets, and glow plug relays. I see it all the time. That is my personal experience

I miss my 06 mega 6 speed all the time also, so much room inside.  I also will probably own another some day.  You could always try to locate a 12v swapped excursion.  Its been a pretty popular swap over the last few years.

Thanks all for the info and suggestion's I would love to find one of the Fummins Excursion's seen one on ebay sale a few weeks ago for 8,500 had a 93 12 valve with a 2001 NV5600 awesome to a new level.

 

I test drove This great looking truck the other day http://www.anthonysautos.com/index.php/component/ezautos/ezautos/301-1999-f450 and to be honest it was a huge let down compared to my HO 24val 6spd had half the power tranny wouldn't stay in gear (Shifter would just pop out of gear under any load) And the white smoke it belched out for mile's this truck had only 205k same as my 24val atm. This was the 5th Powerstroke i have drove this year I alway's hear what a powerhouse they are and i assume after a crap ton of money they may well be but my truck could walk all over all i've tested this far... and it's stock for the most part...

 

 

And I would love to try the new 1/2 ton diesel's but 46k is a little step for me lol So guess y'all may have talked me back into a Mega Cab they just ruin you with that size inside and those Old School looking Dually bed's just made them Perfect IMHO I will keep y'all posted should i buy something on this list. Here's a pic of mine the day before a Geo totaled her...