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[lari2001]

Originally Posted by 6SPDMANUAL

well Lari, I am not being unreasonable. ford is running themselves into the ground trying to please the speed demons. every ford mechanic i have talked has said the same thing. too many yuppies out there that want to drive a truck and really have no "work" reason for it. its just to look good or cool, and yet still be fast. trucks have also turned to having to be family oriented too, in order to get the compromise needed in many house holds to allow for the kids, etc. so this massive "conversion" to it being a more "all around" vehicle has got it much more sissy-fied. and many of these newer truck buyers can not drive worth a crap, and all they can think about is more power, more power that will get the job done.
we used to have many more individual options, not all these packages and rules and crap like that. no reason on this planet any truck with any trim can not have a garage door opener, or the navsystem, or the folding telescopic mirrors. no reason for it at all. the parts there and it really makes no difference to the machines builoding the trucks. same goes for trannies in trim levels too. i like that ford has increased their options, but not that they have restricted them. they are packaging them mostly to make up for the dealers that really have no idea how to order trucks. the dealer closest to me has about 12 superdutys. all are shortbeds. they have had them for a pretty good while now. they had a gray xlt long bed, it sold pretty quick. another dealer closer to the job, had four long bed f350 so far this year, all sold. and their shorties are just sitting there. so are the black trucks. and the white one with that butter colored tan interior. i see this because instead walking in the park or on the beach i walk the delaer lots, its just more fun for me than the park. i watch these things. ford like so many companies in so many ways IS CATERING TO THE IDIOTS OF THE WORLD. you can disagree if you want and say the dodge won't pull as much, and all that. I had two dodges. they pulled just fine. and got a tad bit better mileage while doing it. infact the two trucks i had that were lacking in the pull dept were my 05 srw auto and my drw auto. i had to get a 450 with more power and 4.30 gears just to get it to pull like the sticks i had. ford or dodge. never had a chevy diesel of my own don't like them.
dodge is the best choice right now under the circumstances, mostly because it does not have any urea crap or the like. the ford can be the greatest truck, but if it breaks down alot, or enough, so it then becomes a bad choice. i do not like it anymore than you do. i am a die hard ford guy, but not going to go down with the ship, if thats where its headed.

I'm still trying to figure out what options ford, or any other manufacturer for that matter, had 10-20 years ago that they don't have today? Besides the transmission issue what else are you talking about? Ford is making these trucks safer to meet regulations, they are also making them cleaner and more fuel efficient and at the same time raising their capacities and power output so I don't understand where you're coming from. I honestly don't understand why Ford is doing away with the standard trans, I think they will bring it back if enough people jump ship but in the meantime they have to build vehicles that sell and if the contractors aren't buying them then they need to cater to the people that are. All the other manufacterers have to live by the same rules too. I just think out of all the trucks out there today, Ford has the most configurations and options not to mention capacities. If you purchase a dodge and try to pull the same loads with it that you are using your F450 for then plan on changing out your brakes and front end hardware quite often and you better hope you don't cause an accident when you're pulling a trailer beyond it's capacities, that'll be a big bill for you to pay because the insurance company won't.