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Your second sentence explains the first. Diesels do get somewhat better mileage than gasoline vehicles.
They get more than somewhat better millage.
I have 2 comparable equipped 2500 4x4 trucks one gas one diesel. And if we want to include the other trucks we have the diesel beats them also.
The gasser gets 9-12mpg the diesel gets 17-20mpg
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But the diesel fuel costs more and erases much of the cost of fuel per mile benefit.
Now that gas is now ultra low sulfur like diesel is, it is now less than gas in my area up to $0.10 cents a gallon less than gas.
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Oh, and the diesel engine probably costs an extra $6000 over a gas engine (guessing that figure from 3/4 ton diesels costing $7-8k more than a gas engine), servicing it costs more, and they are much heavier to boot.
This is a wives tail, it costs less over the life time to service a diesel than a gasser. no plugs. cap, timing belt to replace, they go longer between oil changes, and they will last much longer than a gas engine.
Weight is not a issue as a diesel produces a lot more torque than a gasser does and it makes the vehicle more stable in cross winds.
In my opinion ford f150's are over rated boulevard cruisers.
Way to dressy to be a work truck.
And lets look at the diesel trucks made by ford.
You have to pull the cab just to do maintenance, (ie like adjusting the valves) That was a better idea
When I want a work truck I buy a ford. Saying that I really like the look of the current F150 4 door truck. All of our work trucks are Ford's I even used to own a propane powered F150.
When I want a play truck I buy a Chevy or GMC. My last pickup was a 76 GMC, lowered, shaved, and ready for fun. It had a 292 with the Clifford set up. (If you are not familiar with Clifford they take an inline 6 and make it fast, in many cases much faster than any V8. Earlier toys were the Chevy LUV (Light Utility Vehicle) It was also lowered but had the stock 4 banger in it. Still that truck ran for years.
I like the Nissan Frontier as well. Would love the 4 door with the long bed and the 6 speed manuel transmission. Wish that the Titan had the 6 speed manuel. I don't mind the look of the Titan
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
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The Nissan Frontier has been redesigned and is more of a mid-sized truck. After testing out several trucks (Chevy, Dodge, Ford and Toyota), I went with the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X King cab. My only gripe with it was that I had to install a better Satellite radio in it because the one it came with wasn't fit for a higher end vehicle.
This is sort of a silly poll. All the manufacturers have made both good and bad trucks over the years. If one is confining one's remarks to the 2012's, here is my opinion. I'm basing my rankings on the 4WD models, as I never drive the 2WD trucks--the 2WD's are just not practical for how I use trucks:
The GM and Ford model half-tons are about even, each with good and not-so-good points, with Ram trailing. The GM's engines are good, long-lived engines and the rest of the truck is fairly durable. The Ford is also a solid truck, overall. The Ford Eco-boost 3.5 V6 is an intriguing engine--seemingly combining the best of both worlds--economical and powerful (that turbocharging at high altitude is especially sweet). I'm still apprehensive about its longevity. The "regular" GM and Ford gas engines are easily 200,000 mile engines with decent maintenance--I don't know whether the Eco-boost will make that. The Toyota Tundra is a decent pickup, but not better than the domestics. The Ram still suffers from a less-than-great body, in my opinion, and the Ram engines generally lag the rest in fuel economy. I put the Nissan in about the same category as the Ram--the engine not being very economical being a downer.
In the 3/4 and 1-ton trucks, the 2012 Ford is the champ, in my opinion. Both the new 6.2 gas and 6.7 diesel look to be very reliable engines. The 6.7 offers excellent fuel economy for a large 4WD truck. The solid front axle suspension (SFA) in the 4WD is a big plus for off-road, the body is good, and the truck is comfortable and quiet--even in the lowest trim levels. (A note from shofarmer's post above--having to remove the cab for some engine work in the 6.0 and 6.4 Powerstrokes was true, but I'm told--but have not verified--that removing the cab may not be necessary with the 6.7.)
The GM 3/4 and 1-ton 4WD trucks are good, except for the independent front suspension (IFS) on the 4WD's. I don't like an IFS on any 4WD, but they especially don't work well on a heavy truck. The GM IFS is engineered about as well as one can be, but it still isn't as good as an SFA. If it weren't for that, I rank the GM's equal to the Ford. The Ram lags again because of its not-great body. I love the Cummins diesel engine in the Ram, along with the SFA, but that is not enough to compensate for the Ram's other shortcomings.
As I noted, my ratings here apply to only the 2012's. Earlier model year rankings would be different. For example, I would not recommend that anyone buy a Ford with the 6.0 and 6.4 diesel engine. Those engines were unreliable and expensive to repair.
In my opinion ford f150's are over rated boulevard cruisers.
Way to dressy to be a work truck.
And lets look at the diesel trucks made by ford.
You have to pull the cab just to do maintenance, (ie like adjusting the valves) That was a better idea
You can still buy a basic, regular cab, F-150 XL or XLT for work truck purposes. The one thing Ford does better than any other truck manufacturer is having a lineup of trims that are distinctly different from each other. One can buy a no-frills XL or XLT, a luxurious Lariat or Platinum or a specialty truck like the SVT Raptor or Harley Davidson Edition. It's really at the discretion of your wants/needs as well as your budget.
GM and Dodge just don't offer the level of customization as Ford does, hopefully that changes a bit on the new 2014 Silverado/Sierra models though. For now, I'll stick with the F-150's though.
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Originally Posted by jazzlover
This is sort of a silly poll. All the manufacturers have made both good and bad trucks over the years. .....
Certainly is silly with limited options and without defining 'truck'.
For Light pickup duties (loads / towing under 2,000#... which you can do with any minivan) I do in my 50 mpg VW "TRUCK" (pickup) (not the best truck ever built.)
Hitching up to my trailer w/ dozer, excavator attached (~20,000#) requires a bit more TRUCK....(I use a Cummins w350 dually for this ~light stuff) An F-150 is not gonna cut-it...
When I get serious, I use the MACK or Kenworth. (not an option on the poll, tho I was REALLY hoping to see Autocar on the poll).
I assume Peterbilt or Western Star will end up on top of the 'best' trucks built (in USA), tho Volvo holds benefit in certain sectors of trucks. Unimog / Oshkosh /Tatra can be leader in other sectors. Heavy Tactical Vehicles : Oshkosh Defense
The Tundra is?! How do you figure that especially considering it has either the lowest or second lowest towing/hauling capability of all full-sized trucks.
For Toyota to be fairly new to the full size truck game,and still be #4 on this list in terms of market share is an achievement.
How long have the big 3 been making full sized trucks?
Take in the fact that Toyota has no where near the history of the Big 3 yet they are mentioned
They got a ways to go when in comes to the Hp/Torque dept,but not by much!
Toyota Tundra: 381-hp, 5.7-liter V-8
Chevy 1500:315 hp @ 5200 rpm
Ford 150: 360 hp @ 5500 rpm
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) I do in my 50 mpg VW "TRUCK" (pickup) 
(not the best truck ever built.
)
on the poll).
