5500 Ram or 550 Ford?
 

A little off topic for boat pulling but I need some info. Since Chevy stopped building medium trucks soon after their govt. bailout I've dreaded this day. It's time to purchase a new rig for one of my crews and a 1 ton won't do it so I'll have to mix breeds within the fleet. I'm sure some of you have some good and bad input on both, I'm partial to the cummins but I've heard the trannys. still aren't up to par, heard about lots of trouble w/ the newer P/strokes, but you always hear the bad stuff first. I've owned many D/maxes and had problems too. Any and all input will be appreciated, Thanks in advance, Charlie

I have a 2011 F350 and a 2012 F550 both with 6.7 powerstroke and they have been bulletproof. Only issue was a a/c compressor at 160k on the 550. The both plow snow and pull heavy trailers extremely well. Bought a Ram 5500 last year because it was on the lot set up how I needed it and the Cummins was great. Unfortunately anything on it not made by Cummins fell apart or broke. Hope this helps.

^^^^^^^ i call bs..my buddy has 14 tow trucks..10 550s and 4 5500 dodges..he is converting his fleet iver to all dodges..way better on fuel and much better brakes..

Local landscapie company fleet of 20+ small dump trucks were all 450 & 550 Ford. Bought two 4500 Dodge couple years back, now half the fleet 4500 & 5500 Dodge and will soon be all Dodge.

Maybe I got a lemon but really had bad luck with it. Cummins part was fine but transmission and electrical issues were a constant issue. All I can say is we have had all 3 brands and fords have held up the best.

There is a reason most large companies run ford. Our government runs mostly ford also.

I had a 99 Dodge dually with a Cummins. Put 220K miles on it. Other than normal wear items biggest Issue was front suspension. Bought a 2year old 2004 F350 dually in 2007 with the famous 6.0 ( didn't do my homework). need I say more.

I was assuming he was buying a new truck. I was lucky with a couple 6.0 fords but they were 07 models. Still not great engines but they got me by. I have many friends with dodges and for the most part they love them. I tried them in 97 and in 2013 and just didn't have good luck.

Thanks for the input, I went with the Dodge/Cummins. To me it wasn't a Ford or Dodge thing since I'm a Chevy guy. More warranty on the Cummins v/s p/stroke and the dealer close to me had one set up to fit my needs. Thanks again for your input.[ATTACH=CONFIG]530498[/ATTACH]

Have had 4 new Ram trucks in the last 2 years, would never have anything but a Ram. I have to say they where all 1500's but I will never own anything else till something better comes alone.

I'm a Finance & Lease manager and currently the "go to" platform for the shop trucks and Hiab trucks in the Alberta oil patch are the Dodge 5500.

I've always ran and loved the Fords until about 10 years ago when they changed.
On the second week of ownership it puked from built up heat idling in the driveway in less than an hour.
Went to 5.9s. They'll idle for hours with the ac on in a hot Texas summer just like the 7.3
But to me the Dodge's feel like tin cans compared to the Ford's
Congrats on your purchase, work trucks rule!!! LOL
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See ya
Kelly

Owned around 25 or so ford trucks (tow and plow) in the last 10 years. They have the usual problems, nothing that couldnt be fixed in a couple days or maybe a week if catastrophic failure. Bought new 12 Dodge 4500 diesel as a favor to a friend. Truck has been to dealer 8 times (2 months total) for def system alone, not to mention blown turbo, power steering hose, new computer etc. The 8th time the def system failed I took it to a different dealer. 28 days in that shop and over 20k in warranty repairs, on the drive back to the shop guess what light came on? You guessed it. Service def system see dealer truck will not restart in 50 miles. You can keep your Dodge. Im sure there are many ford and chevy horror stories, but this has been my experience with Dodge.

i know this is a old thread and these are not 5500 series but its a eye opener.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f3CAnH7WIM#t=186