Hello All-

I am in the process of looking for a new truck for towing the boat on long trips. I would like a 4 door, 1ton, 2wd dually, diesel but don't want to spend more than 20K. For this price it looks like I can get a 2004 to 2006 with under 100k miles from any of the three brands (Chevy, Dodge, Ford). I know they all had there problems but which brand in these years was the most reliable, best fuel economy and the most comfortable. Any help would be great!

Thanks.

I would probably go after the cummins... I know the interiors are a little sub-par but I think they built a good looking truck those years, and everyone has confidence in the cummins.

my duramax pulls anything, you'll need to get a manual trans in a dodge if you want it to last,they just on 09 started putting a beefed up unit in them

Im not one to brag on things I have but, I just completed a road trip to Maryland ( im from Kansas City KS) to pick up a boat my friend bought. I own a 06 GMC 3/4 ton, 4WD, duramax, crew cab and I was throughly impressed with the performance of the truck. It almost has 100,000 miles on it and the ride couldnt have been better ( minus the roads in Indiana - they sucked ) Im checking the fuel mileage this week, Ill let you know what it came out to be. Ill prolly drive this truck until the bed falls off, my 2 cents

Duramax for sure.

Thanks for the input what issues does chevy have in those years? How about Ford? I have been a dodge guy most of my life and my current truck is a nissan titan so I don't have any brand lperference. I just want the best truck availible in that price range.

Step back and get one of the last 2003 7.3L PSD Fords. Best used truck out there. They cutover to 6.0L PSD mid-year in 2003, so make sure you find a 7.3L.

Id stay away from the Ford 6.0s. the 7.3s are good. I had an 02 7.3 with over 200k miles and it still ran perfect.

My 06 Dmax is great with the 6spd allison. I know certain year dmax's had overheating problems, but im not sure exactly what years they were.

There is a blue crew cab chevy 4x4 dmax for sale up the street from me for 15k. Im not sure of the year, maybe 04ish? It has cloth interior. Looks like an older gentleman used it, its pretty clean.

Very good point, I had a 2000 Ford w/ the 7.3, great pulling truck. Took a little bit if you were accelerating on the highway but once the engine caught up w/ the turbo, it took off. Only problem with them, 80 % of those trucks have been trashed or have 300,000 miles on them.

I've just turned 100K on my 2000 7.3L PSD F350 CC Dually, and I LOVE my truck.