Heavy Duty truck guru's..
 

Hey guys, im pretty new to this so i need some guidance. i had a job/contractor oppurtunity fall into my lap and long story short im gonna be in the market for at least a 3/4 ton but probably a 1 ton truck. its going to be used to haul a flatbed trailer on a 5th wheel setup on a dedicated route from here to ohio and back several times a month. the load is going to be fairly light so i dont need necessarily the most pulling power, im looking more towards fuel efficiency and reliability in general. from your experiences, which of the big 3 should i be turning to when it comes time for me to get my rig?

i have a stock 02' chevy duramax and i just towed a 6,500 pound trailer 2 weeks ago and got 13.5 mpg i dont no what other trucks get when towing now onthe open road this weekend my truck got 21 mpg and my truck is bone stock nothing done to it, just giving you a reference as because i have nothing to compare my truck to

If you want a cheap used truck look for a hand shaker cummins (03+) or a 04-05 Duramax. Both will be good trucks, under load they'll get similar fuel economy (cummins slightly better with the hand shaker). I wouldn't buy a cummins with a slush box behind it as the 4 speed they used was outdated. If you're going auto hands down go Duramax.

manual 03 cummins with a programmer.. mmmmkay?

for reliable power and killer fuel mileage get an older 12 valve cummins. I have an 06 cummins and get about 15mpg. my old 12v gets around 20. not the most powerful truck on the road but the mpg is killer. i would also look at getting a manual tranny. my 12v had about 400k miles on it and when i took it out to put into my f350 i decided to rebuild it. tore it down and crosshatching was perfect and bearings looked awesome. hth.. just my .02...