Since 2000 I've owned a Ford F250 V10 4x4, Dodge 2500 V10 4x4 w/5 speed and just bought a Chevy 4x4 w/Duramax Allison transmission. The Ford was the biggest POS I've EVER had for towing and it got horrible gas mileage. The Dodge V10 w/5 speed would light up the tires in every gear and was the most fun to drive and it did a great job towing a 10,000 pound trailer. But the Chevy w/Duramax w/Allison transmission is by far the best truck I've ever owned so far. It gets great fuel mileage and tows up long steep hills with a 12,000 pound trailer effortlessly.
All these trucks were shortbeds and had either a crew cab or extended cab. The Ddoge was the easiest to park, both the Ford and Chevy are a little longer and sometimes you have to search for a large space in order to park them due to overall length. None of these trucks had any major problems, just keep up the mainenance and they should all last fairly long.
I've gotten up to 23 1/2 mpg with the Chevy and generally get around 17 combined city and highway. Ford was lousy on fuel and generally got 10 or 11 no matter how you drove it. The Dodge would consistently get me around 16 - 17 mpg when driving on the open road and in the city would consistently get around 12 mpg.
