So I need to get a new truck. I have two horses whose total weight is about 2000 lbs and the empty weight on the trailer is about 4500. Load it down with gear and hay and were looking at a total weight of about 8000 lbs. It’s a 32’ gooseneck trailer. My hauling routes literally include all of North America. Just looking for opinions and see what might work. Thanks!
I’m totally biased, but my Chevy Silverado 3500 HD Duramax diesel long bed, crew cab is pretty freaking awesome! My SIL has the same truck (a bit older) and it pulls her 3 horse gooseneck Merhow living quarters trailer loaded, all over the PNW with no issues.
What brand of truck do you have now and do you like it? The 3 brands have their differences (with the size of trailer you have you only have 3 choices brand wise) and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. If you really like the brand you have now, you might want to stay with same.
I am a Ford girl through and through, as much for the ergonomics as anything else. The longest day of my life was driving my friend’s horse and rig from S Cal to AZ, about a 600 mile day. She has a very nice crew cab dually loaded Duramax (GMC). It’s a very nice truck. I couldn’t wait to get out of it and hope to never drive it again. Chevy/GMCs kill my back. I can and practically have, live in the driver’s seat of my F250. It’s something to keep in mind.
Word of caution. All of the new trucks are much higher off the ground so you may need to put a lowering kit on the truck to accommodate your gooseneck
[QUOTE=Quelah;8404827]
I am a Ford girl through and through, as much for the ergonomics as anything else. The longest day of my life was driving my friend’s horse and rig from S Cal to AZ, about a 600 mile day. She has a very nice crew cab dually loaded Duramax (GMC). It’s a very nice truck. I couldn’t wait to get out of it and hope to never drive it again. Chevy/GMCs kill my back. I can and practically have, live in the driver’s seat of my F250. It’s something to keep in mind.[/QUOTE]
Yes to ergonomics. And I’m a Ford girl, too. Bucket seats and I’m 5’1". I drove across the country/600-800 miles a day and I still had a body left at the end in my F-350. Take the fit of the truck to your fanny seriously, on top of everything else.
I will say that I found GMCs comfortable to drive “on the surface.” I haven’t spent a long time behind the wheel of one, but they are car-like and squishy… like my alcoholic father’s lush Cadillacs. I didn’t dig the visibility of the GMC/Chevy I drove. That might be a short girl thing. And I didn’t like the way that Allison tranny bossed me around. There would be no coasting. Ever.
I don’t think a Dodge would be quite Cadillac enough for me, even though I like the Cummins engine very much.
Get a chevy they run and you don’t have to deal with fords 6.329348120349 L engine chevy stick with what works if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.
I loooooooove my Chevy, and believe the things which were stated are pretty true.
I am 5’1", and can’t get the pedals all the way in for Dodges, no matter how I like them as far as their mechanical aspects go. I much prefer how my Chevy runs to the Fords I have been in, so I would stick with Chevy personally. Of course you look at consumer reports and other sites for reliability, frequency of lemons, etc.
I am amazed at little things like my brakes are at least 2 years old with at least 37k miles on them (that’s how long/far I’ve had my truck) and they are in great shape with no parts needing replacement. The mechanics were raving over how much they love my truck and how they each want one - to me, that tells me a bit about how it is to work on, and how few failures they see. I have the 2500HD, and while it’s plenty powerful enough for your setup I might consider the 3500 in diesel (or equivalent 1 ton if you got with another maker) because for constant driving over all terrain I would appreciate fuel efficiency and engine brakes.
[QUOTE=mvp;8405419]
I don’t think a Dodge would be quite Cadillac enough for me, even though I like the Cummins engine very much.[/QUOTE]
Good thing that Dodge stopped making trucks a few years ago… 
RAM is a separate brand and they seem to be keeping up with the Lux when you want and need it these days. But I agree with an earlier poster…of the three manufacturers (Ford, RAM, Chevy/GMC) that make and sell heavy duty pickups, it’s more of a personal preference thing, especially if buying new.
[QUOTE=Jim_in_PA;8406164]
Good thing that Dodge stopped making trucks a few years ago…
RAM is a separate brand and they seem to be keeping up with the Lux when you want and need it these days. [/QUOTE]
I did not know that.
OP, I will say that I have not driven a Dodge-cum-RAM in a helluva long time. In fact, I don’t think I have been toted around in one, either. My Dodge memories are of older trucks that were either born as work trucks or had descended to that caste over time. But I keep a soft spot in my heart for them (although I can’t buy one) because of the Cummins engine… in the context of Ford’s 6.TheyAllSuck liter engines mentioned above.
Yea, FCA (Fiat Chrysler) has rearranged things with their brands to give them all a focus…Dodge leans to performance including all the SRT models except the Grand Cherokee SRT (which will be renamed in the near future), Chrysler leans to the “nice” passenger vehicles, RAM for trucks including very upscale versions of the 1500 plus the heavy duty stuff, Jeep for what they do better than anyone else and Fiat for, well…whatever Fiat does. Ferrari is being spun off with an IPO. 
