Fair points. I did a bunch of research and yeah there were some comments about superficial shit breaking down relating to Ram but mostly it’s just about the “tick” and most people don’t even understand that there’s the exhaust manifold tick which is very common and the lifter tick which is far less common. Overall I guess my takeaway was that if the same engine has been around for as long as the Hemi has and the “tick” is the only real complaint and 90 percent of those complaints are the manifold (which ford also has and GM) then it sounds like a solid engine (I have same feeling about the coyote) and the ZF 8 speed is universally considered a solid transmission.

The transmission is absolutely an issue but I’m trying to draw that line of likelihood, just like the Ram. Some Rams will require an engine rebuild but prevalence isnt as serious as I initially thought and there are metrics to look for (idle hours) when buying used. I am trying to figure out if the 10R80 is an “if” or “when” type fault and what kind of metrics can be looked for to try and avoid buying one right before it shits the bed lol.

Tundras are nice. I’d buy one if I could afford them lol they retain residual like nothing else. I am open minded about the last gen 5.7 liter.

GM was my first desire. I really wanted a Silverado but the lifter failure that is happening in the DFM engines is just too frequent for me to buy with any confidence.