last i checked chebby still had'nt learned how to do doors. my brothers S-10 was really bad. im sure ignorant door slamming owners dont help. but still, it seems a lot of chebbies have really bad doors. are the newuns' any better?

 

my '56 chevy sedan doors are probably the best shutting doors I know of I HATE when people slam them!
the '96 gmc 1500 doesn't have the greatest doors and those door handles are notorious for breaking; my parents '02 tahoe is decent but you've got slam them pretty hard, no buffetting at freeway speeds though.
my 93 s10 was horrible.

 

168,000 miles and the ball joints need replacing. Farm truck, rough roads, and hauling trailers on the farm and the highway on an average of 2-4 times a week.

My old dodge would make it 60K miles before a front end overhaul was needed.

So that argument is not valid. Sorry.

 

I have to agree with got juice. When comparing stock front ends regardless of use, the IFS is absolutely as good as the straight axle. Dad has a farm used and abused 94' K3500 with 230k miles and the front end is COMPLETELY original. He has owned it since new. I am even going to venture into saying ball joint replacements on ford and dodges are more common than on chevy trucks.
If people werent so blindly brand loyal we could actually get to the bottom of individual component quality and recommend a certain brand of pickup for an open minded person looking for a second opinion. I really like dad's 02 duramax, but I couldnt touch one for less than 20 grand. I ended up gettin a good deal on a used and abused doodge.

 

The only thing i disliked about the Dodge SFA was the 350.00 trackbar, plus the DSS I had installed in hopes to eke out another 10K miles out of a front end job.

The IFS isn't all that and a bag of chips, but so far, 168,000 and i am just doing baljoints (2 out of 4 are bad) right now. That's pretty good in anyones book for a farmer/hotshot rig.

What finally did them in prematurely I might add was I stuck a trailer (12,000 lbs) in a muddy field.

it took 180' of doubled over 1" Rope, 4x4 low range, Full stacked boxes and Twins singing at 55 PSIG to pull it 1/4 mile to terra firma.

At the end of that brutal pull, my allison temps were 330F and fluid burned, and a slight ball joint problem.

Thanks to DTT for a trans that is 'Juiceproof' A change of fluid and all was well again.

Still miss certain aspects of my dodge though (Proud to say it too) but for now, the DMX is proving itself as a decent alternative to CTD power.

 

No, I have to slam the doors on my 06. My 2000 wasn't bad, but I find myself having to re-shut the door several times on this new one. The door should be lighter since I don't have power windows in this truck, but you really have to put some a$$ into it to close it tight.

 

Every brand has its pros and cons. The GM trucks have the soft ride, tight driving, Allison tranny and they are comfortable. The Dodge has the inline cummins motor, and the tough front and rear ends. Im not sure about Ford anymore. That 7.3 was a great engine. The new 6 uh-ohs are just plain JUNK. Some of my buddies work for a concrete business around here and they have an 05 duramax and an 04 6.0 powerstroke. Both are reg cab 4x4 flatbeds. They both pull form trailers around. Either truck and a trailer full of forms weighs 45k at the concrete plant's scales. The duramax will out pull and out run that ford so bad its ridiculous.
I pretty much agree with everyone else on here. To just plain drive- Duramax/Allison no doubt. To work hard- Cummins/5 or 6-spd no doubt.
Just my $ .02.