Well, here's the story. I work 3rd shift so during the day I have to find stuff to entertain myself while everyone I know is working. I will tell you that when I get a truck it will be GM without a doubt, but I decided to look at the others even though I had my mind made up on the duramax or maybe a 6.5TD. I love the duramax/allison combo more than anything. I'd also like to point out that I'm as big of a diehard Chevy guy as they come. Anyway, I couldn't think of anything better to do today.

First stop, the Chevy dealer.
I like the looks of the chevy truck the best out of all the trucks I looked at. There was one red duramax truck I really liked, LS ext cab, shortbed 4x4, I'm kinda hoping that they still have this truck once I am in a position to buy a truck. They had a decent selection of trucks on the lot, with one exception. The only had two 2500 HD silverados on the lot that didn't have those accordion power extending mirrors. I know they have thier uses but don't look that good. I think they should have came up with something better.

next stop, GMC.
The sierra HD is cool, but not quite as good looking as the chevy, IMO. Couple of nice trucks there, too. Again, not a big fan of the power camper mirrors, but I know they can be useful. I guess I'm in a minority about the power extendo camper mirrors because I've been told by more than one dealer that they have trouble selling HD trucks that have the normal mirrors. I saw one thing about the GMC, the large vent holes in the front bumper on all of them you could see rusty metal right under those vents. You could see it easily without actually looking for it you know, just walking by.

Stop number 3, Ford
I hope I didn't offend anyone when I dogged the CM camper mirrors, cause damn, the ford ones are way worse. Them mirrors are awful heavy duty looking, it makes you wonder, can you lift the entire truck up by those mirrors? I noticed that the ford dealer had way more diesel trucks to choose from than any chevy or GMC dealer I have ever seen, which was kinda cool, except for the fact that every super duty truck there was longbed. They didn't have one shortbed, which brings up another point. Anyone out there like me, that things that the GM longbed trucks are a bit too long looking? I noticed that this was not the case with the ford trucks, or the dodge either. In the GM trucks the longbed looks like "out of place" long. On the ford trucks, you don't really even notice its a longbed. Can anyone offer an explanation for this? Is the ford rear axle in a different spot relative to the front and rear of the axle compared to the GM truck? Or is it just the truck sits up so damn high especially in front, that you just don't really notice its a longbed? Am I nuts or have others noticed this, too? The ford extended cab trucks looked like they had more room up front, looking in from outside. I don't like the way the sheetmetal curves down where the window right before the mirrors from hell. That's just plain stupid looking. I would like to say one thing, I like the way they sit up real high in the front.

4th, Dodge, saving the worst for last
Well, the comparison kinda fell short, because they didn't have a single 2500 truck at the dodge dealer, but I did take a few notes on the actual trucks, though. First, every brand new truck there had a rusty as hell exhaust already. Kinda makes you wonder how long it would last when someone actually starts driving the truck. I wonder if they share the "body falling apart due to rust at 60k" feature common to many late 90s dodge ram and dakota pickups that you will find. The styling, especially the front end, WAY in last place for this outing.

That concludes today's trip. What do you guys think/want to add? I want to hear what other TDP members think of the competition and/or my evaluation.

Later
Jordan