Ram or not?

I have been looking at 3/4 ton TV. I have been a long time Ford owner and most of my family and friends have GM products. I talked to my Ford mechanic yesterday and ask him what I should do for a TV. He said to look at the 2500 Ram with a Cummins diesel. I have never been a Dodge fan, drove on for work an didn't like the way it handled or the ride. That was in the early 70's. I live in a cold climate and not sure how it will work here, diesels not liking the cold and all. Do they ever get warm in the cab like the gas engine? Are the comfortable for driving?

Help this is driving me nuts!

Lots of us have diesels in cold climate and have no problems. If I plug the block heater in the cab will warm up faster then a gasser will.

I suggest you drive the Ram, a Ford and a GM and see which one fits you best. They are all fine trucks and will serve you well. It's your money...so it's your opinion that counts.

John

Do you still have a dodge dealer open in town ?

Admin wrote:Do you still have a dodge dealer open in town ?

If not, we still have our 3 here.........

although the Ford dealer did close.

We have a Ford/Dodge and my nephew is one of the Ford/Dodge diesel repairman.

It's going to take a while to get used to, but Fiat is creating the Ram division just for their trucks. Sooo...technically, Dodge won't be making trucks anymore, Ram will.

John

Does Dodge or Chevy build a real truck???

Ford or Dodge needs to learn from the Chevy folks

Buy a Chevy 2500 Duramax and you will have the BEST

I love mine and on the highway at 70 it rides the best of any vehicle I have owned.

mga60tw wrote:Ford or Dodge needs to learn from the Chevy folks

Buy a Chevy 2500 Duramax and you will have the BEST

I love mine and on the highway at 70 it rides the best of any vehicle I have owned.

What does the oil and filter change cost?
How often do they need to be changed?
How are the 2500's 6.0 engine?
This driving me and the DW nuts. I am glade I started to look before spring.
HELP!

You could get one of these and be done with it.

The Dodge Cummins is the only true intermediate duty engine of the three. Both Ford and GM diesels are light duty diesel engines.

beartoo wrote:

mga60tw wrote:Ford or Dodge needs to learn from the Chevy folks

Buy a Chevy 2500 Duramax and you will have the BEST

I love mine and on the highway at 70 it rides the best of any vehicle I have owned.

What does the oil and filter change cost?
How often do they need to be changed?
How are the 2500's 6.0 engine?
This driving me and the DW nuts. I am glade I started to look before spring.
HELP!

I have the 6.0 chevy gasser and like it but would have rather had the diesel. It pulls my 27 rl without a problem but get used to high rpms. Gas mileage is around 7.5 loaded and 13 empty.

It has been debated for many years.,,, Ford, Dodge, Chevy,,, but I think we can all agree is if they built a pickup where they used the Ford body and frame, Dodge cummins engine and Chevy allison transmission, you would have the perfect pickup. It would be nice for some aftermarket company to do that, and they would sell millions of trucks.

Barry,

You'll note by my signature that I own a 2004 Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel. I picked it up at the dealer in June, 2004 and it's been keeper ever since. As work campers, we do alot of traveling and the Ram just turned 100K on the odometer. Cummins has been making diesel engines for a long long time, and for the medium duty class they can't be touched. The only comparison would be a Caterpillar truck diesel and they don't make a medium duty like the Cummins.

So, in the past 5 years the only maintenance that I've done is the 3,000 mile oil change (or 6,000 depending upon the amount of towing I've been doing), fuel filters, air filters, etc. I just had the shocks replaced and am on my 3rd set of tires.

No matter what diesel you buy, be prepared for very low mileage in the beginning. Diesels are very tight engines and they need a good break in period. It took almost 10,000 miles before my MPG began to get up to where a diesel should be. Diesels are highly efficient engines and produce more power than the equivalent gasser. Right now I average 24 mpg highway/ 18 mpg local and 14 mpg highway/ 10 mpg local towing. I've kept track of every gallon of diesel that's gone into the Ram since I bought it and that's also honest hand measured mileage.

Personally, I wouldn't touch an automatic tranny. Too many things to go wrong for my taste. I'll stick with my 6-speed standard and keep rowing through the gears. I like the combo I have. 5.9L Cummins TD/6-speed NV5600 tranny/4.10 differential. I would have gotten the 3.73 diffy, but couldn't find one when I was buying.

Also, there is a difference between 2WD and 4WD. I think you'll find that your MPG will be a tad higher with a 2WD.

The Dodge/Cummins marriage seems to be pretty solid, and the bugs have pretty much been worked out of the new 6.7L engine. It's still the tried and true in-line 6 and meets the 2010 EPA requirements without the incorporation of the urea filter.

As for comparison of engines, I would go with an in-line 6. The balance is better and pound for pound its more powerful. It takes 8 cylinders in a Power-Stroke or Duramax to do the same work as 6 in the Cummins.

And yes, there are still some very good Dodge dealers out there. I've got one in Manchester, NH that is tops and have visited others around the country for oil changes/maintenance while on the road.

These are MHO and most come from my 5 years of experience driving this great truck.

Whatever you choose though, best of luck with it.

Well said Mike. I am surprised that you get that good mileage with the 4.10 differenitial. You must keep your speed below 60 MPH to get 24 MPG but good for you what ever you are doing. I have the 6 speed manual with 3.73 differential. In addition I added the free spin hubs and the GearVendors auxilliary over drive to reduce RPM's when running solo on the higway. I'm at 1950 RPM's at 75 MPH which is nice. I can get about 24 MPG only if I keep it under 60. At 75 MPH it's down to about 19 MPG. Towing, with a GCW of 19500 lb, I get about the same MPG's as you do. I try to keep my speed at a max 65 MPH when towing. What a great truck.

I agree w/ Maxtor on building the perfect truck. I have owned all three. Mostly gassers though. I drive a 2009 F350 diesel every day at work. Dodge needs a transmission made for towing, and a trade in value. I lost alot when I traded my 04 Dodge. My Ford diesel had no torque at take off, but that was before all the chips and controllers came out. Then I bought a Duramax w/ the Allison transmission as soon as I returned from Iraq. Wow, what a truck. Whatever you trade for, you must at least test drive the Duramax and Allison transmission. I pull a boat, horse trailer, and of course the WC, and it's amazing how the engine and transmission are in tune with each other. Most of the time, you will never know that you are towing anything. I live in the mountains and pull some steep hills, and if I trade again, I will have to go back with what I have now. But whatever you do, take your time, and test drive all of them.

Ford had the 6.0L PSD till 2007, then they came out with the 6.4L PSD, now in 2010, they are coming out with a 6.7L PSD. The first 2 are made by International, the new one will be made by Ford in Mexico. The new one is suppose to have more power and better gas mileage, so Ford says.

So, if you want the new engine in a Ford, wait till the 2010's come out.

Just thought I would throw that in....

I will give chevy props for their trucks ,,,, My dad has a 08' model 2500 chevy with the big gas engine. I throw a cattle trailer full of yearlings back there and you barely know its back there. i'd say it had to weigh a good bit more than the cat, and the chevy will roll like theres no tomorrow. Did i mention his truck has a huge gas tank, and you need every drop of it with the gas engine. i'd really like to try the diesel version

kcnielsen wrote:Well said Mike. I am surprised that you get that good mileage with the 4.10 differenitial. You must keep your speed below 60 MPH to get 24 MPG but good for you what ever you are doing. I have the 6 speed manual with 3.73 differential. In addition I added the free spin hubs and the GearVendors auxilliary over drive to reduce RPM's when running solo on the higway. I'm at 1950 RPM's at 75 MPH which is nice. I can get about 24 MPG only if I keep it under 60. At 75 MPH it's down to about 19 MPG. Towing, with a GCW of 19500 lb, I get about the same MPG's as you do. I try to keep my speed at a max 65 MPH when towing. What a great truck.

You'll most often find me in the granny lane with the cruise control set for 60 mph whether towing or bobtail. I will exceed that, but only to pass someone who is slower than I am. Most often that is a semi on a grade. The DW and I just sit back and watch the world go by, usually it's moving at about 15 mph over the posted speed limit. We listen to XM, or talk. She's my navigator so she's usually fooling around with the maps and the TomTom XL.

We love to travel and we love this life. What could be better?

A Fiat Ram: Not.

schrowang wrote:We love to travel and we love this life. What could be better?

Absolutely nothing could be better!!!

Hey guys,

It may be a Dodge Ram or a Chrsyler Ram, but the Chrysler name is not going away. Chrysler did announce that they are seperating Dodge and it's truck line to create a new Ram brand of pure trucks. However, they have their eyes on the future and are looking at a Ram heavy duty (read that 18-wheeler) which will include a Cummins engine. Now that's something I could drive.

All kidding aside; each of the big three makes a fine product. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages; you must decide which is right for you. I don't think you can make a bad choice.

Cant speak on the new ones, but I love my 96 dodge 2500 so much I put a $4000 built auto trans and a new paint job on it this year.

Steering on the 4x4s are typically sloppy without the help of the aftermarket, but I've found thats the case with all 3 to a certain extent. Some are worse then others depending on the miles/maintainance. I just did a front end job likely for the 1st time in almost 200k miles that are on the truck. I've own it for the last 50k.

Joel

Yep ,,, its just which ever one makes you feel all giggly inside that will be the right one. Don't just dive in the first one thats a good deal either. you'll hate it later if it doesn't feel good to ya.

The typical service at the dealer is $75 for me. I change the oil every 15k and have 188k on the odometer with no engine issues. I have had problems with the steering (wandering), but keep in mind that the first 120k this truck spent most of it's time in the woods since I'm a forester. I had an o-ring go out on the tranny 2 months ago and it started leaking, but had that fixed for $120 and I am good to go.

As far as cold weather, the Cummins automatically shuts off 3 cylinders if it is below 32°F to warm the engine up. I have started mine down to 0°F with no hesitation out of the engine. If you plug it in and make sure you left your defroster on when you parked it the night before, your windshield will not be froze in the morning.

I agree with the others that Ford has the strongest body, but the Cummins can't be beat. I get 22mpg empty and 12-13 towing at 70mph no questions asked. The Allison tranny would be nice, but I dislike Chevy's, they ride like a car and that is not what I like. The new Dodge's have a built-in jake brake which I would really like, but mine is just now breaking in, so I guess I will keep it.

They all have their good points, but for me, it was the engine.

Well I did it, put money down on an 2003, F350 PSD.
New brakes, New Injectors, Ball Joints, New Tires, they will switch my 5'er plate from old truck to new truck. Drives nice and tight, have service record from day one. One owner had it and traded it for a new F350 something but different color. The dealership has done all the work on it.

Congratulations. How many miles on this one?

Ken
91694 miles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr2chrywkW8

Tanks Bear, Thats a beautiful looking truck. I like all the chrome! Your are going to like all that diesel power.