Just thought I would follow up with some info on the Ford. It is a leftover 2010-not the new 2011 with the 6.7.
COMFORT: (VERY SUBJECTIONAL)
WOW-I cannot believe the comfort. I look for excuses to use the heated seats. I like the dash layout. Maybe not better than the GM, just different.
Rear seat has to be better because of the extra couple of inches in leg room.
POWER:
We have pulled the BC twice in the last two weeks. Even with the 3:55 rearend, I can not tell the difference between the Ford 6.4 and the Duramax. The trans does seem to work well with braking. We have not had it in the mountains so that might be where the Duramax with the 3:73 rear beats the 6.4. It was a leftover lot truck. I would rather have 3:73 rears but that might be why this truck sat on the lot for almost a year.
4WD:
Well it does work. Nothing special about it. I do not like the shift on the fly option. I would have perferred the floor shifter. I am just glad I will not get stuck at the dump anymore. That was getting really old with the GMC. I will never buy another 2 wd truck-I have no idea what possessed me to do it the first time with the GMC. Random dumb I guess.
PAYLOAD:
This is apples to oranges. The 2500HD had no problem with 2800lb pin weight. Only thing I did not like is the long concrete bridges-it would start the "rocking horse" effect by th end of them. I did put Timbrens on the truck just before we got rid of it and they cured that problem.
The 350 Ford again-no problem with pin weight. There is almost 1200lbs differnece in rated payload so you would expect no problems. The dips in the road and the long bridges are not an issue either. The truck is definately in control in this case.
MILEAGE:
This is where I was really shocked. The Duramax was finally getting ok mileage in town but it took it about 20k miles. SOLO: It was getting almost 14.5 when we traded it. On the interstate almost 19. Not too bad. Towing was between 9.5 and 10.5 just depending on the topography.
The Ford got almost 18 coming home from the dealer, about 250 miles away. Now that it has about 1500 miles Solo town driving is at 15. hard to believe but I have checked it several times by hand. Interstate- like I said-about 18 although we took it to the beach last Saturday. Drove two lane roads at 55 (really 60), the DIC was saying 19. Did not verify that though. I am hoping it will do like the the GM and all of a sudden start getting better mileage. Still I am very pleased with this.
STORAGE:
Interior storage is about the same. GM did have better under the seat storage in the rear. This truck has a steel foldout floor which takes up almost all of the space under the rear seat. I never even saw that when we were looking at it. I would have perferred the storage bin under the seat even it is plastic.
There was lots of room to mount my compressor and pressure switch behind the rear seat.
OVERALL:
Maybe it is just the "new" but I really think this truck overall is much better than the GMC. Our business typically buys a new truck every other year or less, this is the first one in a long time that I am very impressed with. One thing I really like is the fact the front end does not dive on you in corners. The torsion bar suspension on the GMC rode very well, but in corners it did dive or roll in the corners. The Old School coil spring technology with a straight front axle (Dana 60) does corner better in my opinion. No roll at all. It gives you the sense of a more stable platform.
The steering is also Old school. It has a box, pitman arm , draglink, tierod ends etc. vs. the rack and pinion sterring that GM usues. I will say the GM was quicker and more responsive in the steering.
Braking seems to be about the same. The GM integrated controller was set at 4 out of 10 when towing. I never used the trailer brakes with the dump trailers. I had to drop down to 3.5 on the Ford. Difference in amps going to the trailer.
Oh yeah, I love the little keyless entry keyboard on the drivers door. I am going to wear that thing out.
