if only you knew how much of your ford was made in mexico

 

15%?

 

I know parts come from all over the world, but my truck was assembled here in my home town.

I was pissed before the bailout that Dodge being owned by a German company could assemble trucks in Mexico and yet they were considered a domestic vehicle.

 

Im a Ford tech by trade and I can tell you i see ALOT of "made in mexico" on the parts im installing. I cant give you an exact percent but its more then most people would think.

 

Dodge was good back in the late 60's. My roadrunner was one fast tank, couldn't break it.

Too bad "Mopar" didn't have the same cred it did 40 yrs ago.

I drove three 2009 Dodges (not HD obviously) and they were decent, a huge improvement over the previous generation but she aint no Ford. Plus the dodge's folded like bud light cans when hit from the side, watch the vids on IIHS to see for yourself. It's a weak truck under the skin. The GMC's did the same.

Toyota's "C channel" frame...weak


Ford trucks rule, it's not arguable.

 

Their coil spring rear end is weak in the towing dept. Reminds me of the SRT10 trucks that couldn't tow anything without voiding the warranty. The Ford has the nicest interior, best rear cab, strongest chassis. GM has the fastest most powerful engine 6.2L, Dodge has the smoothest riding glitzy truck with factory duals... Someone has to make the cheapest truck

 

+1


To the others asking about why it was pitted against those vehicles:
The TOTY competition only includes trucks that are new for the year (the F150 was new in 2009). I subscribe to the magazine and the way they explained how they come to a conclusion is they ask the question "which truck does what it is designed for best?" And they concluded that the Ram Heavy Duty answered that question. The Ram 1500 lost last year to the F150, mainly due to its lack of towing abilities compared to the F150 because of its rear coil spring suspension.
The Ram HD, however (for obvious reasons), uses leaf springs out back. I have no doubt those trucks will do any towing job any of us can throw at it. And with the cummins, they'll last longer than us lol. Ford makes good trucks, but they messed up when they threw out the 7.3l. Sure they got more powerful engines to replace it, but they came along with alot of problems too. Hopefully this new 6.7l will be more reliable.

 

you can pretty much bet money that the 2011 superduty will be truck of the year next year as well.

 

yep...lol. Last year was one of the better TOTM competitions because it had both the Ram and F150 in the competition. It usually seems like they never have trucks that match up against each other competing for the TOTY trophy.

 

true. usually there is not 2 new models in the same year. and usually its the new model that gets the award regardless.

 

i have driven new dodges and they are crap, i have driven older dodges and they were crap, i worked for dodge in the early 90's and quit because they were a crap company then.

and i don't have to pick up dog poop to know its going to smell bad.

and one final note, the new Ford transit connect utility van has the payload as the dodge 1500 so what does that tell you.

dodge will be near bankruptcy again this time next year.

 

I have to agree with you Deano. I see far less older dodge vehicles on the road than any other brand, The Dodge Durango we own is the biggest pile of cr** i have ever driven and the same goes for the Ram half ton we have at work. They always seem to be behind on tech. safety seems a major concern with them also and build quality is questionable. The 09 Ram i used last year for the weekend was better than previous rams but still no where near as nice as the F150. It was noisy, brakes were awful, Trans locked up in freezing conditions which wernt good as i was at a ski resort with it. Interior looked and felt like a cheap copy of the 09's and so on. Don't even get me started on the so called hemi beast

They went in to bankruptcy for a reason and it's because they dont make good quality vehicles people want.

But back to the test. why wouldnt they just test the half tons each year and rate them. They always have different things added and taken away each year and gives them a chance to earn it back. Semms like such a stupid way to test the vehicles. A van is not even a truck for one.

 

My sister has a Durango with the Hemi engine and she is always complaining about that thing being in the shop. I'd never own a Dodge.

 

In the shop. Im not joking it's as if it lives at that shop. They may as well just keep it full time as it's never running more than a few weeks before something else goes wrong. It's in the body shop next week for the rear bumper to be put back on after it fell off.

 

I've driven the mid-90's Dodge trucks and they were terrible. I've driven the early-mid 00's Dodge's and they were better, but definitely not on par with Ford. I actually like the styling from the cab to the front bumper on the 09+ Dodge's (1500's, not HD's). The bed and tailgate are boring in styling, but the interiors have *almost* gotten on par with Fords. There is still a lot of cheaper-looking material used on the dash/doors.

That being said, I'd have a tough time buying a Dodge just based on past history. They have a lot of serious recalls and major defects with workmanship. At least the GM's usually only suffer from electrical glitch's most of the time, albeit a much more boring-looking truck. The F150 still wins it for me, and I'm not really a "brand loyal" kinda guy. If the Titan had the same interior that the F150 had, I'd be in a CrewCab Titan right now.