Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Dodge Ram 1500 with eco diesel

Anyone drive one of these things? Dealer around the corner has 5 of them for sale and they are priced pretty darn well. I might have to look at one seriously. Thoughts ?

It depends on wether you want to use it for any kind of load. If it is just a daily driver and very light duty hauler than maybe it will work. I think some folks think because it is diesel it is a tow pig.

Take the CC Laramie longhorn 4x4. It has a payload capacity of only 1,007 pounds, and that assumes 150 pound driver weight and nothing else in the truck. Heck, 4 250 pound guys going to the range with guns and ammo would MAX that truck out. In other words, put a camper shell on it, load an average family of four in the truck and you are at maximum GVWR on a wal-mart run. Not my idea of a hauler.

Ram claims that truck will tow over 7,000 pounds. I guess it will with a lightweight chick driving and 10% on the tongue. It won't tow anything loaded for a family camping trip. Remember, GVWR, GAWR, and GCWR ALL need to be within spec to be ok per the manufacturer.

Other configurations hold a bit more. For me, the added expense of a diesel with lower GVWR and higher fuel costs would put me off of one. But some guys just really want a diesel.

You can get a 2500 6.7 cc that tows 18000 pounds and gets close to 20 hwy mpg for less than a Eco diesel

K1500, you are right-

If you take a look at a 1500, 4WD, crew cab eco diesel, Ram lists it with the following specs:

GCWR: 13,750#
GVWR: 6,950#
Payload: 1,260#
Truck weight: 5700#

If you enter this data into RV Tow Check, with 300# of gear on board and 400# of passengers, and a 10% tongue weight estimate, you get a maximum trailer weight of 5500# tow capacity.

That ain't much.
But, if you just want a diesel and don't really plan on doing any real towing with it, I say go for it!!

Towing a small boat 20' or a little construction trailer would be it. Looking at a full size truck with 27 MPG

40K new?

Probably not much more. My 2014 4X4 Laramie Crew Cab stickered for $61k, paid $54k out the door with taxes etc. I'm guessing a 2X4 Tradesman or similar low option 2500 would go for low to mid 40's after negotiating a little.

Just looking on line now at a local dealer in Boise shows the 3/4 ton Cummins diesels are about $10k more than the 1/2 ton eco diesels. This comparison was for crew cab 4X4 trucks.

roughly $42k for the 2500, $33k for the 1500

FYI only.

My 2015 tradesman CC LB 4x4 6.7 with backup cameras, and Bedliner was 41k out the door with tax at a local Boise dealer.

As an owner (past) of a 95 Cummins 2x4 2500 and (current) of a 4x4 01 Cummins 2500, this little diesel dodge is a mystery to me. Were I to buy and Ram it would be a 4x4 Hemi with a CNG conversion (dual fuel). It would cost no more than the mini diesel, tow more, be more rugged, more economical and since CNG is so clean the engine would last as long as any diesel.

Diesel fleets are converting to CNG/propane for the same reasons.

In Dec in WY CNG was $1.75/gal, diesel $2.59 .... no brainer

Here's what Ram has now:

Standard Factory/OEM-installed Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) system for dual-fuel capability. Recalibrated and hardened 5.7L HEMI® V8: 383 hp( and 400 lb-ft( of torque. Automatic fuel delivery; requires no driver control with dual high-strength, high-capacity 18-gallon (gas equivalent) CNG tanks. Single 8-gallon unleaded gasoline tank with total estimated dual-fuel driving range of 367 miles. Optional 32-gallon gas tank providing estimated 703 mile dual-fuel driving range.

Just one more payload observation. A Chevy traverse has a payload (including driver) of 1,503 pounds. Subtract the 'standard' 150 pound driver and a stinking traverse can carry 391 pounds MORE than the Laramie cc 4x4 ecodiesel. Trailer rating is 5,200 pounds so it is likely that a Traverse tows more as well once you factor in tongue weight. Do you want a 'truck' that can be out hauled and likely out trailered by a traverse? Me neither.

So I would gain 7 mpg Highway and lose 1000 lbs of towing capacity but have a bigger truck then my current 4dr Tacoma 4x4.

Bigger truck than your Tacoma but roughly the same payload capacity, maybe a little less. If all you're after is a people mover/daily driver then I could see where it makes sense. The Chevy Colorado diesel has a payload in the 1500# range and will get even better mileage than the Ram