Looking to buy a new truck. Which is the safest & most reliable?

They announced a diesel option for the Ram 1500 coming in a couple of years:

"The automaker will debut a new turbodiesel engine in its Dodge light-duty pickups after 2009. The new Cummins "clean diesel" for the Dodge Ram 1500 will provide up to 30 percent better fuel economy and a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared with a conventional gas engine."

Mine is all metric.

My first one was a 99, built in Mexico. Bought in Texas. Second that I still have, bought in California. It was built in St. Louis. I don't think Cummins have parts made in Mexico, but who knows.

If I still had the factory rear-end gears of 3.54 instead of 3.73 that was installed, I would be getting 25 MPG highway.

Actually the Big 3 are doing quite well with their truck sales. It's the automobiles that are being bashed. 80% of Chrysler sales have been trucks.

Ford has also announced a diesel option for the F-150, also due out in 2-3 years. The customer wanted them years ago and after 5-10 years they can finally manage to produce them.

I agree that the big three truck sales are what has kept them out of bankruptcy but the Tundra and Titan are quickly gaining market share. Just look at the Tundra commercials that talk about how much tougher their trucks are by comparing components. And then look at Ford who drives theirs through a cake to show their toughness. It leaves the viewer with the impression the Tundra is a much better truck than any big three product. And Toyota has a reputation for quality that none of the big three have ever come close to. I think it's just a matter of time until the majority of light duty trucks on the road are Japanese branded.

Nope - the block castings are done in South America (Brazil?), and assembly is done in Indiana

My '99 has the Teksid block that was cast in Mexico. Most of them were cast in Brazil by Tupy. I didn't know they assembled them in Indiana. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the assembly was done in India.

Now you bring that up. Cummins recently announced some parts manufacturing will be done in India now. Everything that comes out of India ia garbage. A lot worse than China.

Yep - Columbus, IN. All the 5.9's (and now 6.7's) are assembled there in the CMEP - Cummins Midrange Engine Plant. Two Guys Garage did a tour of the plant last year... pretty cool to watch the engines get assembled. I love the automatic torque wrenches that torque down the head bolts all in one shot. I don't have one of those tools! :)

Not needing to have one of those tools is a *good* thing.

I find that hard to believe.

You are welcome to go buy one yourself.

I have bought quite a few of them, thank you. I still find 25MPG hard to believe.

I just went through that analysis.

While I was quite happy with my '98 Dakota, It is now for sale, replaced with a Toyota Tacoma, double cab 2WD. My criteria was somewhat different than yours. I wanted the best MPG possible for a truck rated to tow 4000 lbs. with a 35% cushion on the rating and a

Tacoma won by far. rated tow capacity is 6500/11,100 GC, with an 18/22 MPG EPA estimate. Dakota(with a V8) could get the tow rating but with terrible fuel economy.

First two tanks averaged 21 MPG with four adults, luggage, mostly highway miles.

If I were limiting my search to a full size truck, I would have gone with the new (not classic) Chevrolet or GMC equivelent, with an iron block 5.3L. 16/22 MPG EPA estimate. Lots of nice features. great warranty. But I didn't want a full size truck. You may.