Howdy diesel enthusiast!I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance for the length but there I a lot of questions that need answering and a lot of important information that will go into my decision.
So about me, I am a young man in my early twenties and I am currently in college majoring in agriculture to be an ag teacher. I have owned several trucks (not because I'm a a bad driver, I come fom a large family that kinda plays musical chairs with our vehicles until we buy out own "permanent vehicle") and I was a ford man but I finally settled on my Chevy 1500 truck which I love but it is no longer getting the job done. You see I have as I've gotten older I've gotten into hobbies that require a truck that can tow a good sized load with ease. Examples include doing a little rodeo stuff for fun, running a small horse breeding operation,saling stud bulls, and raising a little bit of every type of livestock possible on my families farm (I am a tried and true proud Texan by the book you might say). I have (to my shame) to this point been an all gas man but the constant buzzing in my ears is saying it may be time to switch to diesel which I have avoided because of the extra costs of running a diesel so I need you fine people that live your life in a diesel and love it to shine some light on the saling point of diesels and convince me. And beyond that, I need to know what machine is gonna get the work done the best and look good doing it. I am a very gentle driver that doesn't hardly drive above 60 mph and doesn't do anything but maintenance to my trucks (no mods of any kind). As I said before, I really like Ford and thought if I went diesel I might go with a new F-250 or F-350 dually if I could get a good deal on a new one but I really like my Chevy as well and would certainly consider going that route. But I've noticed that the trend in diesel seems to be a Dodge with their Cummins but my only worry with that is that a lot of the people that I know that runs a Dodge diesel spend as much time with they're truck in the shop as on the road (granted they all chip them and add other mods that are often troublesome) and I also know people with Dodge diesels with far more comparable driving and ownership habits to mine (i.e. no mods, driving slow and occaisionally pulling trailers) that never have an issue with their trucks that are absolute monsters bone stock. So my question would be what truck would you recommend should I go the diesel route?
Bottom line: should I go diesel or just get a bigger gasser?
If I go diesel what truck is the safest bet generally? And what are common issues with the big three brands?
I would prefer a truck that is a smooth ride with the best possible mpgs (if that exist in big trucks) as I drive at least 3 hours a day to and from school.
It needs to be able to tow a good sized load on a gooseneck trailer if needed and be as dependable as can be as I have no time or money to have it spend too much time in the shop now nor will I be able to on my meager future teacher's salary. 4x4 and a crew cab (or mega cab) is mandatory.
Thank you for your time and I appreciate y'all for reading this and look forward to your input!
So about me, I am a young man in my early twenties and I am currently in college majoring in agriculture to be an ag teacher. I have owned several trucks (not because I'm a a bad driver, I come fom a large family that kinda plays musical chairs with our vehicles until we buy out own "permanent vehicle") and I was a ford man but I finally settled on my Chevy 1500 truck which I love but it is no longer getting the job done. You see I have as I've gotten older I've gotten into hobbies that require a truck that can tow a good sized load with ease. Examples include doing a little rodeo stuff for fun, running a small horse breeding operation,saling stud bulls, and raising a little bit of every type of livestock possible on my families farm (I am a tried and true proud Texan by the book you might say). I have (to my shame) to this point been an all gas man but the constant buzzing in my ears is saying it may be time to switch to diesel which I have avoided because of the extra costs of running a diesel so I need you fine people that live your life in a diesel and love it to shine some light on the saling point of diesels and convince me. And beyond that, I need to know what machine is gonna get the work done the best and look good doing it. I am a very gentle driver that doesn't hardly drive above 60 mph and doesn't do anything but maintenance to my trucks (no mods of any kind). As I said before, I really like Ford and thought if I went diesel I might go with a new F-250 or F-350 dually if I could get a good deal on a new one but I really like my Chevy as well and would certainly consider going that route. But I've noticed that the trend in diesel seems to be a Dodge with their Cummins but my only worry with that is that a lot of the people that I know that runs a Dodge diesel spend as much time with they're truck in the shop as on the road (granted they all chip them and add other mods that are often troublesome) and I also know people with Dodge diesels with far more comparable driving and ownership habits to mine (i.e. no mods, driving slow and occaisionally pulling trailers) that never have an issue with their trucks that are absolute monsters bone stock. So my question would be what truck would you recommend should I go the diesel route?
Bottom line: should I go diesel or just get a bigger gasser?
If I go diesel what truck is the safest bet generally? And what are common issues with the big three brands?
I would prefer a truck that is a smooth ride with the best possible mpgs (if that exist in big trucks) as I drive at least 3 hours a day to and from school.
It needs to be able to tow a good sized load on a gooseneck trailer if needed and be as dependable as can be as I have no time or money to have it spend too much time in the shop now nor will I be able to on my meager future teacher's salary. 4x4 and a crew cab (or mega cab) is mandatory.
Thank you for your time and I appreciate y'all for reading this and look forward to your input!