Switching brands

pioneer 1 · July 20, 2023

Coming from aF450. I actually have another 450 on order but it's been 9 months. Started doing research because it looks like Ford may never make my truck. Still a little up in the air but 90% leaning towards gm. Have a3500 GMC ultimate Denali on order and lookslike 60 days out. What will I like or dislike?

Some cons:

Smaller tank

Bigger turn radius

Lighter tow ratings

Lower hp and torque

Some pros:

Hopefully nicer ride

Better interior

Nicer tech

asilverblazer · July 21, 2023

On 7/19/2023 at 7:58 PM, pioneer 1 said:

Coming from aF450. I actually have another 450 on order but it's been 9 months. Started doing research because it looks like Ford may never make my truck. Still a little up in the air but 90% leaning towards gm. Have a3500 GMC ultimate Denali on order and lookslike 60 days out. What will I like or dislike?

Some cons:

Smaller tank

Bigger turn radius

Lighter tow ratings

Lower hp and torque

Some pros:

Hopefully nicer ride

Better interior

Nicer tech

3500 to 350 they'd be more comparable. Generally speaking they are very competitive to each other the notable differences are going to come down to preference items. The comparisons I've seen don't show the power advantage of the Ford making it to the ground in a meaningful way.

Smaller tank - yes.

Bigger turn radius - will you notice?

Lighter tow ratings - enough to matter?

Lower hp and torque - see comment above.

Some pros:

Hopefully nicer ride - probably compared to the 450.

Better interior - preference, but I think the refreshed models of GM are nicer than Fords latest.

Nicer tech - Super Cruise might be the only major thing to sway someone.

Cost should be lower in the GM too, I can't justify how a Ford Platinum is so much compared to the plain Denali... not sure where the Denali Ultimate is pricing wise, but if memory serves the plain Denali was a considerable amount below 100k and the Platinum is a similar amount over - a 20k delta and nothing tangible to show for it.

I never looked to closely at the costs though the above is the impression I built in my head and never went any further with it.

KARNUT · July 21, 2023

All the fleet buyers I know the most buy Ford 3/4 and 1 tons then Rams. I know only one who uses GM. He’s related to the owner of the Chevy dealership. In 1988 my father bought a Ford one ton. In 94 I picked him up a Texas stagecoach Chevy. In 98 he got a Ram Cummins diesel. It’s still parked next to my mother’s 2000 Ford Diesel 1 ton. She alternates between the two as my father passed in 2020. I personally liked the GM stagecoach the best. I’m in the minority.

newdude · July 21, 2023

IMO, having been in a new AT4 which has the Denali (non Ulitmate) interior, and then a 2023 Platinum F-150, the AT4 interior had a way more premium feel and look vs. the Ford. I found lots of the materials to be of XLT grade in areas where they should be a lot nicer.

As for the power and tow ratings, is a 1/2 second or 1 second from 0-60mph really going to make a difference? Not really. Both are going to have strong torque management out of the hole and I'd bet the 6.7 HO has quite a bit more of it with the 1200 ft.lbs it makes.

pioneer 1 · July 21, 2023

Thanks for the responses. Some reasons for the switch, in addition to not making the truck, are options disappearing from my truck. Massage seats, heated steering wheel, etc. I call it a platinum light. Turn radius is very nice and I will miss it. Makes a difference sometime. i can get the GMC for fleet pricing, which is $8000 off msrp. I also ordered a Chevy high country and that is 60 days away. I said I would never order multiple trucks, I just need one, but that went out the window after 9 months of waiting.

nitro882 · July 23, 2023

On 7/19/2023 at 8:58 PM, pioneer 1 said:

Coming from aF450. I actually have another 450 on order but it's been 9 months. Started doing research because it looks like Ford may never make my truck. Still a little up in the air but 90% leaning towards gm. Have a3500 GMC ultimate Denali on order and lookslike 60 days out. What will I like or dislike?

Some cons:

Smaller tank

Bigger turn radius

Lighter tow ratings

Lower hp and torque

Some pros:

Hopefully nicer ride

Better interior

Nicer tech

You are in a similar place to me. I also have an F450 platinum on order since Oct 2022 that i was originally expecting in the April 2023 timeframe. Latest i have heard from the Ford dealer as of a month ago is i might see the truck in June of 2024. For me it got to the point that i could not wait any longer, our new 5th wheel is coming soon and i will need a DRW to pull it so i started looking elsewhere and GM was really the only company that is actually actually delivering high trim level duallies right now. By the time i started looking in June RAM had closed the order books for 2023 and dealers had no idea when the trucks they had on order would actually come in. Ford cant seem to deliver anything higher than a Lariat and even those have deleted features and the dealers are marking them up like crazy where i am. The only Lariat i found was an F350 and the dealer was asking 112k for it MSRP was ~82. No freaking way i'm paying a dime over MSRP for one let alone 30k.

Big difference for me is this is not at all my first rodeo with GM having owned Silverado's and Sierra 1/2 tons in the past, im not a brand loyal kind of guy being that i was coming out of a 2019 RAM 2500 Limited when i got this truck. This is also my first diesel truck. The Ford would have been the first one i have owned since the 1984 Ranger i had in high school in the early 90's.

I ended up landing on either a High country Chevy or a GMC Denali. I ended up not going with the Denali Ultimate for one big reason and that is the interior color, My wife and I both hate the chocolate milk colored interior, we could not get past it. Its the same reason my 2014 Chevy was an LTZ and not a High country as they only offered the HC with a chocolate brown interior back then. We also did not feel the other features were worth 10k, massage seats would have been the only thing we would have wanted but they were simply not worth 10k to us especially with the interior color being such a non starter. I ended up finding a Denali with a black interior that was on its way from the factory with everything i wanted that was not yet spoken for so i snagged it. It came in about two weeks after i put a deposit on it and i have now had it about a month.

I have not had a chance to pull much with it since our new RV is still awaiting paint but my first impressions of the truck are pretty good. I am most impressed with the ride and the unloaded fuel economy. This truck actually rides better than my RAM 2500 did and by a fair bit which shocks me. The RAM was quite harsh and this truck is not at all over most bumps. Same with the fuel economy at least unloaded, this truck is significantly better on fuel on the freeway than the ram was. i had a 6.4l Hemi and 4.10 gears, it was a pig on the freeway at ~12 unloaded. This Denali will get 18.5 all day which to me is quite a pleasant surprise for such a big, heavy truck. I don't think this truck is much different fuel economy wise than my 2014 1500 was with the 6.2l gas.

I do have some things i don't like about it or i wish GM did better. I think the RAM interior is probably the best in the industry and i like it more than i do the Denali. The console storage is better thought out and i personally like the RAM seats a lot better. I also think GM could have done a lot better job on the gauge cluster, there are just a few items missing like what gear its in, engine oil temp and pressure in numbers, stuff like that. I also wish GM gave options for gearing in these trucks. I would really prefer 4.10's over the 3.42's that come with it. Gearing was the big reason i was going to buy a Ford initially. I know people say with the 10 speed you don't need the lower differential gears but you can still get low gears with a 10 speed in the Ford. I think when towing heavy you cant have enough mechanical leverage... Over all i think we are going to be plenty happy with the truck. If i truly don't like the gearing i will regear it just like i did my 2006 Silvy that came with 3.42's, i'm hopeful i wont have to. Range wise i think i will be fine with the 36 gal tank since we don't like to drive much beyond 300 miles in a day and that should be doable without a refuel with our trailer in tow. If not there are 60 gal aftermarket options available that i will look into.

I am also disappointed in some of the towing "tech" like the "invisible trailer" and trailer TPMS. Neither will work on my trailer due to its size and since its a 5th wheel and over 35' the "invisible trailer" thing wont work. The TPMS will only go to 100psi from what i have read not the 125 i need for the H rated tires that will be on my trailer, i believe the TPMS also has a max wheel to truck distance of 23' as well which my 46' trailer will exceed. People also mention on a trailer like mine the valve stems for the sensors are too small and will not fit the wheels. Neither of these are a showstopper but its just that they tout all this "pro grade" tech but its really useless on a larger trailer.

Good luck with the new truck. Post up some pics when you get it.

pioneer 1 · July 24, 2023

I also had Chevy trucks from 1995-2008. Obama took over and couldn't find a Chevy so started buying Ford's. Now the situation is reversed. I'm not brand loyal but I was used to how Ford's worked; cameras, turning, towing, etc. I thought about dodge but around here all I see is rusted out trucks from them. Every day with no info from Ford is another mail in their coffin. If I did order another Ford, who's to say that would be built?I just don't see the plan - or I do and they are trying to force electric down our throats

Edited July 24, 2023 by pioneer 1

NaturallyAspirated · July 25, 2023

Just out of curiosity, as a F450 owner (love those trucks by the way), how does a 3500 ride in comparison?

pioneer 1 · July 25, 2023

It rides like a brick. I had a f350 dually before this and it rode somewhat better. The more weight on the truck the better. I'm going into this blind. No one has a3500 dually to test drive. Crazy times

nitro882 · July 25, 2023

On 7/24/2023 at 7:55 AM, pioneer 1 said:

If I did order another Ford, who's to say that would be built?I just don't see the plan - or I do and they are trying to force electric down our throats

I see it that way too. I don't think its a we can't build them thing as much at it is a we don't want to build them thing.... All the press events Ford has done crack me up, its like " hey look at us and our new trucks" yet you cannot order one and customers that did while the books were open are being told to wait over 18 months to get it.....

2 hours ago, pioneer 1 said:

It rides like a brick. I had a f350 dually before this and it rode somewhat better. The more weight on the truck the better. I'm going into this blind. No one has a3500 dually to test drive. Crazy times

It is tough right now and there are just none on the lots. I had to buy mine site unseen since all the ones coming in are spoken for before they ever hit the dealer lots. This is what happens when your competition cant ship trucks, the demand for ones that can be obtained go up.... Where are you located? If your in Florida id be happy to let you check mine out. As i mentioned in my other post im impressed with the ride of mine. Its decent over everything but square edged bumps, around me the worst are the speed bumps in the neighborhood and the rain drainage channels otherwise its fine. I expected it to be a lot harsher than it is.

Edited July 25, 2023 by nitro882

pioneer 1 · July 25, 2023

1 hour ago, nitro882 said:

I see it that way too. I don't think its a we can't build them thing as much at it is a we don't want to build them thing.... All the press events Ford has done crack me up, its like " hey look at us and our new trucks" yet you cannot order one and customers that did while the books were open are being told to wait over 18 months to get it.....

It is tough right now and there are just none on the lots. I had to buy mine site unseen since all the ones coming in are spoken for before they ever hit the dealer lots. This is what happens when your competition cant ship trucks, the demand for ones that can be obtained go up.... Where are you located? If your in Florida id be happy to let you check mine out. As i mentioned in my other post im impressed with the ride of mine. Its decent over everything but square edged bumps, around me the worst are the speed bumps in the neighborhood and the rain drainage channels otherwise its fine. I expected it to be a lot harsher than it is.

Way north of you. Ohio. Thanks for the offer though. I'm actually looking forward to it. Should be able to handle anything I throw at it. Not quite as heavy but closeenough. And the ride has to be smoother!

nitro882 · July 25, 2023

31 minutes ago, pioneer 1 said:

Way north of you. Ohio. Thanks for the offer though. I'm actually looking forward to it. Should be able to handle anything I throw at it. Not quite as heavy but closeenough. And the ride has to be smoother!

I think it will be. Like i mentioned before my new Denali 3500 dually rides smoother than the RAM 2500 it replaced. I am still amazed by how well it rides for such a heavy truck.