Bud, fleet service exposes ALL of the weaknesses.
Truth be told, all of the truck brands stink in some way. No exceptions, except my UDs, which are total "oil and fuel only" trucks.
I see them all of the time. Nobody is making a pickup truck that won't give a fleet operator a swift kick in the lug nuts at different times.
Simple fact of the matter is that you just pick the lesser of many evils and roll with it. Some are more evil than others, but Ford does not wear any crown.
They're doing so much "in house" because they were awful at managing contract engine acquisition. They didn't ask the right questions, were AWFUL at negotiations, testing, involvement, and even their exit strategy completely sucked and cost them hundreds of millions.
GM was smart enough to purchase outright or in part two of the hugest diesel engine manufacturers in the world, and Chrysler got involved with the greatest diesel engine manufacturer known at the time. Ford make a good deal with International/Navistar, but they were eventually not up to the task.
Ford was simply out of options. Their deal was so dirty at that point that nobody really wanted to touch the project.
Ford's engines STILL don't make as much torque down in the bucket as the Cummins 6.7 (inline 6 vs. V8, it's just how physics works), still don't have the rated service life of the Cummins 6.7, and still doesn't power as many different machines as the Cummins 6.7, nor as many in total.
It's not a bad engine. Living up the Cummins ISB line is just a ridiculously hard task to pull off. Not that the PSD ever will.
Ram/Cummins main strength is engine.
Ford/PSD main strength is often price and versatility of chassis and upfitting options.
GM has the most refined chassis of them all, using that IFS they have.
You pick the poison that works best for your app. That's it.
Truth be told, all of the truck brands stink in some way. No exceptions, except my UDs, which are total "oil and fuel only" trucks.
I see them all of the time. Nobody is making a pickup truck that won't give a fleet operator a swift kick in the lug nuts at different times.
Simple fact of the matter is that you just pick the lesser of many evils and roll with it. Some are more evil than others, but Ford does not wear any crown.
They're doing so much "in house" because they were awful at managing contract engine acquisition. They didn't ask the right questions, were AWFUL at negotiations, testing, involvement, and even their exit strategy completely sucked and cost them hundreds of millions.
GM was smart enough to purchase outright or in part two of the hugest diesel engine manufacturers in the world, and Chrysler got involved with the greatest diesel engine manufacturer known at the time. Ford make a good deal with International/Navistar, but they were eventually not up to the task.
Ford was simply out of options. Their deal was so dirty at that point that nobody really wanted to touch the project.
Ford's engines STILL don't make as much torque down in the bucket as the Cummins 6.7 (inline 6 vs. V8, it's just how physics works), still don't have the rated service life of the Cummins 6.7, and still doesn't power as many different machines as the Cummins 6.7, nor as many in total.
It's not a bad engine. Living up the Cummins ISB line is just a ridiculously hard task to pull off. Not that the PSD ever will.
Ram/Cummins main strength is engine.
Ford/PSD main strength is often price and versatility of chassis and upfitting options.
GM has the most refined chassis of them all, using that IFS they have.
You pick the poison that works best for your app. That's it.
