True new generation redesign?

[Iron Outlaw]

I’ve got a 2016 6.4 truck that I love for the most part. I love the look, the ride, the way it drives but it’s getting higher in miles and has a few expensive issues.
I have new truck fever. My current truck got a new built transmission at 90,000 miles ($4500) New front hub at 130,000 ($750), new oil pan gasket, rear main seal, rear plate gasket ($1450) last week. So I haven’t had continuous trouble but everything that has broke has been expensive. Currently my ac fan only blows about half speed and it was diagnosed a stopped up condenser ($1200) and my cab is leaking somewhere else besides the third brake light.
I looked at the new Rams today. I want a diesel. They have $10,000 off sticker. The same lot has the new f250s. They aren’t marking them down as much but man I feel like the ford is nicer in the lower end models I’m looking at. The cab just seems so much bigger. The flat floor in the back is way better. They get better mileage (allegedly) with the 10 speed and have way more power stock.
What is ram doing? Are they going to ever retire the 68rfe? Are they going to ever update the cab? I’m leaning hard towards a ford right now but I can get the ram for about $8000 cheaper. I love the Cummins. We had an 09 and it was a beast until we sold it. That new power stroke though is really making power, I just worry about that 10 speed as they seem hit or miss.

 

[tron67j]

You need to buy what you need today, worrying about what might come tomorrow is a waste of time. Choose the one best for you, get your deal, and enjoy the ride.

 

[3TV]

I've owned Ram trucks since 1998. In 2019 I got a wild hare up my ass and decided to buy an F350 with a Powerstroke in it. It was a nice truck, had great power, and towed and hauled really well. It was the Lariat trim level, and the interior had way too much cheap plastic that developed numerous loud rattles, especially in the morning when all the plastic was cold. I took the truck to the dealership 3 times to fix rattles under warranty. Each time they would install a different rattle elimination kit from Ford (basically, padded insulation that was put inside a door panel, etc.). It didn't make any difference because something else would just start rattling. I drive on gravel roads frequently, and on a washboard gravel road that truck sounded like it was literally going to fall apart. It was pretty horrible. I only kept the truck for a year and traded it in on a Ram 3500. One test drive in the Ram and it was like I was home again. It was quiet as a tomb and felt rock solid inside.

I'm sure a 2024 Ford is built better than my 2019 was, but for me owning a Ford was a big letdown as far as build quality goes.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I've owned Ram trucks since 1998. In 2019 I got a wild hare up my ass and decided to by an F350 with a Powerstroke in it.

Is that the new gerbil thing, now?

 

[3TV]

It's just a saying.

 

[GTyankee]

Ford & GMC had a 10 speed trans partnership

GMC has had several issues

all i know about Ford is at one time ..
they made a better rear differential than GMC
&
Their Standard Stick transmissions were famous
their automatics were crap

 

[2003F350]

So coming from a family that has been parking Rams and Fords side by side for the better part of the last decade, this is based off my personal experience, take it for what it's worth...

I can't bring myself to buy a Ford for myself, despite looking HEAVILY at them several times. The biggest reason is I can't stand the front seats - I CANNOT get them comfortable. My wife's 2019 F150 was tolerable but even on our road trip to Florida I was stiff whenever we stopped. I swapped trucks with my FIL for about a month and never was able to get his truck seats comfortable (it was an experiment to see if I could switch back to Ford). With my Rams (both the Wagon and the new truck, which have basically identical seats) I don't have that problem. I personally find the rear seats of my Ram nicer as well but no one else seems to.

The cab of the 2023 Ford SDs (I can't speak for the '24s) IS bigger inside a crew cab than the crew cab Ram HD trucks. There's a tad more leg room and the rear seat doesn't have the weird 'cut out' in the center for the floor-mounted cup holders - it doesn't even have those cup holders, but it DOES have cup holders in the rear door window sill area (holds a phone really well too). I will say this, I hope Ram updates the HD trucks to have something similar to the 1500 crew cabs, it's got a LOT more leg room in the back than the Fords do (or it feels like it), and the rear seat is now straight across, instead of having the cutout. Again, it has lost the floor-mounted cup holders.

The foldable rear seat storage in the Ford is kinda nice until it isn't - if you routinely store big items there, then want to fold the floor flat for something, you've gotta find a place to store all that gear. On my last two rams (cabs are VERY similar other than the dash), you just fold the seats up then fold OUT the flat floor - no need to find somewhere for your gear, AND you end up with small cubbies under the flat area. You do sacrifice headroom for the flat area, though this hasn't been an issue for me as yet. My wife's '23 1500 has a nice flat floor now, but she doesn't store much, if anything under her seat so it's not really an issue for her.

As for the Ram transmissions...My wife's '23 has the 8 speed, it seems to be a pretty solid transmission. I had the 6 speed in my Wagon (it was a '17), and I've now got the 6 speed in my CTD. It never gave me any issues in my '17 for over 100k (I think closer to 110?) before I traded it in. It has seemed solid behind my CTD, and it's been the go-to for the standard output CTD for a long time now and I honestly haven't heard much for issues with it as long as you don't try to make crazy more amounts of power. I can't speak for others, but I just got back from a road trip with the wife and we AVERAGED 23-24 mpg over the whole trip (this is with 3.73's and the 6 speed).

As for the Ford transmissions...well, we traded my wife's F150 2.7 Ecoboost with the 10 speed in at about 50k because it would 'hang' on the skip-shift from 1st to 3rd the first time when it was cold, then SLAM into 3rd hard enough to jerk you around. No shavings or anything in the fluid, no codes, no weird reported line pressures or anything. My FIL traded in his 2022 F250 7.3 with the 10 speed because it had a rear-end clunk since new, and at 25k had started doing the same as my wife's F150. His '23 PSD has a 10 speed as well, he only has about 15k on it so time will tell as to whether it's any better or not behind the diesel. He has 3.55's in that truck and seems to get similar mileage to my CTD.

As far as ride goes, F250 or 2500 seem to ride roughly the same, even though one has leaf springs and the other coils. We brought home his new fifth wheel last summer with my truck because he hadn't yet gotten a fifth wheel hitch in his (mine came with the pucks so I bought a hitch). With the Snow Chief/plow/camper prep packages, my truck was only squatted 1.5" or so. His truck, with the 'Heavy Haul' package giving him a 3k payload, was squatted about 2.5".

So there's my side-by-side comparisons of roughly similar trucks over the last 7-8 years. They're both pretty well built overall, the Fords definitely have the advantage when it comes to physical space, but for me the Rams take it in ride comfort and (despite what others will claim) reliability. The only issues I had with my '17 were sensors (the parking sensors don't like ice/salt) and the MAP sensor - otherwise it worked flawlessly. We have had mechanical issues with our Fords that apparently were 'normal operating parameters,' since they couldn't find what was causing the issues.

 

[Tulecreeper]

It's just a saying.

I know, it was a joke. You used the wrong "hair".

 

[Dusty]

So coming from a family that has been parking Rams and Fords side by side for the better part of the last decade, this is based off my personal experience, take it for what it's worth...

I can't bring myself to buy a Ford for myself, despite looking HEAVILY at them several times. The biggest reason is I can't stand the front seats - I CANNOT get them comfortable. My wife's 2019 F150 was tolerable but even on our road trip to Florida I was stiff whenever we stopped. I swapped trucks with my FIL for about a month and never was able to get his truck seats comfortable (it was an experiment to see if I could switch back to Ford). With my Rams (both the Wagon and the new truck, which have basically identical seats) I don't have that problem. I personally find the rear seats of my Ram nicer as well but no one else seems to.

The cab of the 2023 Ford SDs (I can't speak for the '24s) IS bigger inside a crew cab than the crew cab Ram HD trucks. There's a tad more leg room and the rear seat doesn't have the weird 'cut out' in the center for the floor-mounted cup holders - it doesn't even have those cup holders, but it DOES have cup holders in the rear door window sill area (holds a phone really well too). I will say this, I hope Ram updates the HD trucks to have something similar to the 1500 crew cabs, it's got a LOT more leg room in the back than the Fords do (or it feels like it), and the rear seat is now straight across, instead of having the cutout. Again, it has lost the floor-mounted cup holders.

The foldable rear seat storage in the Ford is kinda nice until it isn't - if you routinely store big items there, then want to fold the floor flat for something, you've gotta find a place to store all that gear. On my last two rams (cabs are VERY similar other than the dash), you just fold the seats up then fold OUT the flat floor - no need to find somewhere for your gear, AND you end up with small cubbies under the flat area. You do sacrifice headroom for the flat area, though this hasn't been an issue for me as yet. My wife's '23 1500 has a nice flat floor now, but she doesn't store much, if anything under her seat so it's not really an issue for her.

As for the Ram transmissions...My wife's '23 has the 8 speed, it seems to be a pretty solid transmission. I had the 6 speed in my Wagon (it was a '17), and I've now got the 6 speed in my CTD. It never gave me any issues in my '17 for over 100k (I think closer to 110?) before I traded it in. It has seemed solid behind my CTD, and it's been the go-to for the standard output CTD for a long time now and I honestly haven't heard much for issues with it as long as you don't try to make crazy more amounts of power. I can't speak for others, but I just got back from a road trip with the wife and we AVERAGED 23-24 mpg over the whole trip (this is with 3.73's and the 6 speed).

As for the Ford transmissions...well, we traded my wife's F150 2.7 Ecoboost with the 10 speed in at about 50k because it would 'hang' on the skip-shift from 1st to 3rd the first time when it was cold, then SLAM into 3rd hard enough to jerk you around. No shavings or anything in the fluid, no codes, no weird reported line pressures or anything. My FIL traded in his 2022 F250 7.3 with the 10 speed because it had a rear-end clunk since new, and at 25k had started doing the same as my wife's F150. His '23 PSD has a 10 speed as well, he only has about 15k on it so time will tell as to whether it's any better or not behind the diesel. He has 3.55's in that truck and seems to get similar mileage to my CTD.

As far as ride goes, F250 or 2500 seem to ride roughly the same, even though one has leaf springs and the other coils. We brought home his new fifth wheel last summer with my truck because he hadn't yet gotten a fifth wheel hitch in his (mine came with the pucks so I bought a hitch). With the Snow Chief/plow/camper prep packages, my truck was only squatted 1.5" or so. His truck, with the 'Heavy Haul' package giving him a 3k payload, was squatted about 2.5".

So there's my side-by-side comparisons of roughly similar trucks over the last 7-8 years. They're both pretty well built overall, the Fords definitely have the advantage when it comes to physical space, but for me the Rams take it in ride comfort and (despite what others will claim) reliability. The only issues I had with my '17 were sensors (the parking sensors don't like ice/salt) and the MAP sensor - otherwise it worked flawlessly. We have had mechanical issues with our Fords that apparently were 'normal operating parameters,' since they couldn't find what was causing the issues.

Ford will reflash the transmission for these problems, but as Ford Tech Maculuco (sp?) explains the transmission will eventually relearn itself back into the problem.

Although of common design, what I hear is the Ford 10R series is having more issues than the GM version.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 111970 miles.