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SO. FRIED-INSPIRED DODGE RAM TRUCK OPINION THREAD

CDA 455 II

CDA 455 II

ANFAQUE2
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
25
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4,053
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No Country For Old Men
Southernfriedcj8 made a claim of Dodge Ram trucks being good trucks.
Rather than derail that thread I figured I'd start a new dedicated thread on the subject.
I'm not a Ram truck fan at all/don't know anything about them.

In a few years I will be in the market for a 4X4 chassis cab truck.
I've been a Ford fan since '99 when I ordered an F-350 4X4 crewcab PS diesel, and looking at eventually ordering an F-550/600 PS.

With So. Fried's claim; I want to explore/examine the Ram trucks with the Cummins motor, the good/the bad/the ugly.
I'm not above ordering a Ram truck if in fact the truck turning out to be a good rig.

I would like to hear-read opinions/experiences/suggestions/and advice etc.

Here's So. Fried initial reply to my inquiry:
Southernfriedcj8 said:
The Ram in my pic was my 2016 the day I traded it in 2.5 weeks ago. That was the best built and highest quality truck I've ever owned (I've owned 10 or so F250s-F350s from 1997 to 2023). That Ram was perfect.

The Ford just keeps irritating the shit out of me. Basically, death by 1,000 cuts.

Some petty shit:
No owner's manual in book form. I can go through it on the indash screen or on a computer.
No front license plate holder for states that do not require a front plate. A guy on the Yenko forum is mailing me his.
No push button start on the XLT (I thought everything had push button start these days, WTF?).
No SXM on the XLT (I thought everything had SXM these days WTF?). I could have sworn my 2013 F150 XLT had SXM.
Ford still bolts their beds through the top of the bed floor. Ram bolts their beds from below, so the fasteners are not visible. Fucks with the Linex.
Ford doesn't come with a 2.5" to 2" reducer sleeve for the receiver (Ram did and I left mine in the truck when I traded it). The one I bought at Lowes has the hitch making all kinds of noise (I've never had that issue before). I actually pulled over because I thought the trailer may be coming off. I'll have to address that when I'm in the mood.
The sliding read window has a few inches of glass above and below the slider. I like to haul small quantities of 16' material through the slider. Give me a fucking top to bottom hole.
It looks like they employed a rabid beaver to gnaw the openings in the carpet under the seats The seats fold up exposing it and I ride with the seats up.

Other issues:
The steering sucks. The Ram had a lot quicker ratio. The F250 is like a boat and require two hands at times.
The steering wheel is slicker than the tires. The fucker needs pine tar.
The console in the center front seat back is tiny. The Ram front center seat back console was huge and had two compartments.
There is a rattle on the right side that I can't figure out. It's loud. It sounds like a door is not closed all the way.
There is a wind rush noise like a window is barely open.
The interior fit is less than desirable. As an example, the left side of the center console lid sits flush on the console and the right side has a 3/8" gap. I hate shit like that.
There is a chime every time you shit the truck off to alert you to check for back seat passengers New Rams may have this, I don't know. It might be defeat able. I'll have to sit in the truck and scroll through the owner's manual.
The DRL turn on automatically, but they don't turn off automatically and there is a chime that sounds until you turn them off. New Rams may have this, I don't know. It might be defeat able. I'll have to sit in the truck and scroll through the owner's manual. If you are going to turn the lights on automatically, turn them off automatically.
The truck goes down the road like it's extra light (hard to describe, it does not feel "planted"). That may be because I'm used to the 3500 dually.
The truck rides rough. The Ram Dually was like riding in a car (to my uncultured ass). The F250 will beat you to death on the main (rough) road I drive daily. The Ram glided down that road like queer sashaying into the bedroom.

I've gone from a F250 Lariat to an F150 XLT in the past, so I don't think the fact I'm going from a Ram 3500 Laramie to an F250 XLT has that much to do with my disappointment. Hopefully I'll get used to the truck.

F250 pros:
The side steps in the bed are a nice addition.
The rear of the truck is a lot lower (easier to get in and out of.

I bought the F250 because I wanted to switch to a gasser 3/4 ton. I wish I would have either kept the dually (I'm an old man) or bought a new Ram 2500.
Click to expand...
 
Personally I think the new rams look good and I would consider buying one over a ford any day. I've always had bad luck with ford. My personal f350 and bronco were shit slow gas guzzling turds. Our shop truck super duty was a turd. The 6.0/6.4 are POS and the new 6.7 leaks. My old boss bought a 21 or 22 350 tremor with the 6.7 and has had a few problems. He tows a lot of boats (dealer) so, it gets used daily. It was in the shop the first month and he went back to towing with the old duramax.

I'm not huge on the space ship interiors and electronic bullshit from any manufacturer. We have a grand cherokee and the newer dodge interiors are the same fiat garbage. My buddy had an 18 then a 21 and it's all screen and fancy buttons. Its tech that you dont need but, have to pay for. All generations of Uconnect fucking suck ass. All the lighting in the dash does is fuck with your night vision.

The cummins is a good engine minus their rear main seals. I've seen a couple egr coolers kill the head gaskets. Injectors can fail. Dpf/scr trucks all kinda suck. I would delete and run a cummins without a second thought if I wanted a diesel. The belt squeak is annoying at shutdown but better then fords stupid fucking door chime...boo dee doo.

The defining characteristic of dodge is their "durable" transmissions. Something i would be concerned with. The cummins trucks that I have driven all felt pretty nice steering, shifting, and stopping. I definitely prefer the manual trans. The torque is nice.

The mirrors piss me off a bit when they fold in because of the awkward split between the tow and main mirror. I know why dodge guys are tow mirrors out for harambe 100% of the time. Ford and gm mirrors are better for sure.

All that said, I would probably buy a power wagon before a Cummins truck because I dont need to haul that far very often, diesel costs more and, DEF is stupid. I can say with 100% certainty, I would pick the ram over the super duty. I only buy used though so if youre going to order a new truck with a warranty, I would just test drive them both and make your choice on which feels better.
 
The problem is that just when one manufacturer seems to have the best truck, they go and change something turning it into a pos.

My experience with around 2011-2018 Ford seemed to hold up much better. Last company I worked for that bought a few of all 3 in 2015-16, 150/0 to 550/0 and both fuel types, went all Ford with their next batch. Granted they get treated like shit, but the Fords just took it better. To me it's crazy when you hop in a 3 year old truck, no heater and a terrible exhaust leak ......ram. The one cummins/aisin Trans I drove shifted comically bad towing. Like pulling up a decent hill at 40 mph, about 2200 rpm, pulling great, oh let's upshift, bog to 1500, loose speed, then downshift back to the gear I should have been in :homer:

Also, fwiw, both the poverty package and whatever black leather package 16 Rams were by far the most uncomfortable seats I've ever sat in, of any vehicle. Like cardboard with fabric draped over it.

That being said. A good buddy of mine runs a smaller excavation company just bought their 3 "5th gen" Ram, well I think, they have a 2016 3500 drw, 2019 4500 and a 2022 3500 srw. All Cummins aisin and said they have had basically no issues.

Imo, any brand 2020+ is a gamble. Covid fucked up quality control across the board.
 
The dude prides himself on having way too much truck for whatever he's doing and he's never had a truck long enough or old enough to run it into the ground. He couldn't find the weak link in a paper bag.

I trust a lot of other people's opinions on the subject a lot more.

JR4X needs to convince his boss to buy some Rams so he can compare them for us. :flipoff2:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
The problem is that just when one manufacturer seems to have the best truck, they go and change something turning it into a pos.

My experience with around 2011-2018 Ford seemed to hold up much better. Last company I worked for that bought a few of all 3 in 2015-16, 150/0 to 550/0 and both fuel types, went all Ford with their next batch. Granted they get treated like shit, but the Fords just took it better. To me it's crazy when you hop in a 3 year old truck, no heater and a terrible exhaust leak ......ram. The one cummins/aisin Trans I drove shifted comically bad towing. Like pulling up a decent hill at 40 mph, about 2200 rpm, pulling great, oh let's upshift, bog to 1500, loose speed, then downshift back to the gear I should have been in :homer:

Also, fwiw, both the poverty package and whatever black leather package 16 Rams were by far the most uncomfortable seats I've ever sat in, of any vehicle. Like cardboard with fabric draped over it.

That being said. A good buddy of mine runs a smaller excavation company just bought their 3 "5th gen" Ram, well I think, they have a 2016 3500 drw, 2019 4500 and a 2022 3500 srw. All Cummins aisin and said they have had basically no issues.

Imo, any brand 2020+ is a gamble. Covid fucked up quality control across the board.
Click to expand...
A fucking men. Couldnt have said it better myself.



And side note
My XL came with SXM radio(didnt fucking subcribe)
I like the bed bolts from the top.
Ford Steering has good feel to it and dodge cant keep balljoints tight.
I personally dislike push button start even though the key is just a twist action button.

mine came with 2.5>2" adapter.

I think he got him a covid pile of junk.

Ive had fords and dodges, the fords tend to stay tighter, longer than the fiats.
 
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Just lease em and you get a new one every three years,

Don’t even have to change the oil :flipoff2:
 
DIsclaimer, I hotshot drove a 3500 for a few months and my boss dispatched heavy/bulky loads for me 75% of the time. Deleted but still had the original dpf body, hollowed out guts. 190k mi 6.7l 68rfe 3.73 gears 4x4

Bad:
Off the bat the low coolant light wouldn't light up. Not sure if sensor or not, Overflow tank was already stained and not transparent

The fumes permeate through the cab after sitting idling a while. Sucked to sleep through. The exhaust manifold needs a second bellow to allow for even expansion between heat cycles. Mine warped and it was the third manifold installed, no idea the brand.

My first trip out the egr gasket blew out. Lost boost pressure

Trans temps kept hitting 205*f+ , Replacing the check valve brought temps down to 165-170

Heater core took a shit. This is where the lack of dummy coolant light fucked me good, because I could for sure smell coolant but couldn't trace the leak. Nothing hit the ground and my bed spanned front to back across the passenger side of the cab, blocking my view of the soaking wet floorboard. So my indication was coolant temps skyrocketing past 225 to 250 in less than 10 seconds.

By the time I realized what happened, the damage is done. My poor girl would go on to crack the head and two pistons 2 weeks later due to overheat three hours north of Las Vegas climbing I-15 at 34k lb

This failure shocked the trans, cracking completely around the casing.

Good:

That bitch had power. Torquey gobstopping power. Dear God could she pull some weight!

Stopping felt adequate. Exhaust brakes retarded enough I wouldn't use the brakes much.

Handling felt planted. Not once did I feel like I never had complete control of the loads, even when going down the I-84 mountain towards Pendleton, Oregon.

Working on the truck was a breeze.
 
I don’t know the exact year of the steering changes but I think 2016 up they went true cross over steering so the trucks don’t wander so much.

Hardly encounter warped rotors with these in the aftermarket. I don’t seem to sell that many ball joints either on the newer applications.

Not sure what the better motor is… 5.7 or 6.1. I have read a lot about camshaft failures
 
Tower crew(s) nothing but 🐏!!
Can't admit or deny that the truck we have get driven like Miss Daisy or yes Baja1000!! Either way they are holding up interiors have gotten ni er and more comfortable.. self lo king seatbelt is rear suck .. bumpy roads equal it continually lo king up and getting tighter even.. once again refer to Baja (driver) not Miss Daisy.. fmrear floor heat is so-so... front dual. Climate is kickass... yes they can be shifter into4wd@70mph no issues just left of skinnypedal and slide it into4wd back onthe skinny pedal..
 
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