Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Dodge 1500 4x4 Opinions

After getting stuck twice on hunting trips this year in my 2013 Ford F-150 2wd I'm looking to get a 4wd. Carmax gave me a solid offer for my Ford so I'm looking at 4wd options under 25k. I need a largish backseat for 2 car seats and a roomy front, I'm 6'3. I never tow anything so v6 is fine. Anyone have opinions on the 2013-2016 Dodge 1500 4x4 trucks?

Be aware that while 4x4 is a big help, it's far from being a cure-all. It can get you a lot MORE stuck if you aren't careful.

Dodge's Megacab has a huge backseat but a very small bed. If the bed is big enough for what you want to haul, you'll like the cab. I have an '08 with the Quad cab. The driver's seat is very comfortable for me at 6' and there's plenty of leg and head room left over. The gas and brake pedals can be moved forward and backward as needed to fit the driver.
Mine's a 2500 so I don't know if this applies to the 1500: Dodges sit high. You're tall but the rest of the family might need steps or nerf bars to get in comfortably. I strongly suggest wheel to wheel nerfs so you can step up to reach into the front of the bed.

4WD has obviously been a huge improvement over my 2wd's but...about equal in improvement has been moving from trucks with an open rear diff to a locker. I won't buy another truck without a limited slip or locker in the rear. Since I have had GM's I have had no trouble out of the eaton G80 that came in the truck, even though some here like to rag on them. It IS a locker, albeit a locker that locks only under a certain set of circumstances. I don't know what ram uses as a locker or limited slip, but you should look for whatever it is before you buy. You may have to look at the SPID codes in the glove box to confirm it has one. It is definitely worth getting.

Years ago I had a Jeep Wagoneer 4x4. A buddy had an old 1 ton delivery van that he used for a wood hauler and hunting. It was 2x4 but had a limited slip rear axle. He could go everywhere that my Jeep would go and sometime farther. It was great in mud.

I'm in my first Ram but I went with the 2500 Power Wagon so that I had the true full locking front and rear diff's. It also has a limited slip rear end. So far I love the truck and I have always been a GM guy. I like the fact that the truck is heavier duty with the same size diff's as the diesel trucks but with the floor shift boog warner transfer case.

No personal experience, but three of my friends with whom I hunt are dedicated Dodge guys and they all drive 1/2-ton 4x4s. None of them have had any problems that weren't handled under warranty, and all of those were minor. None of them baby their trucks, but they are all pretty meticulous about service intervals and factory service bulletins.

All three trade their trucks for new ones at about three years of age, with around 90K miles on the odometers, though. From what I hear, that is about where problems start to occur with front ends, suspensions, etc.

I bought a 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 crew cab Oudoorsman 4x4 with 5.7 Hemi and love it. Have not done any serious use of the 4x4, but love the truck. Did not look at Chevys. Took a hard look at the F150. Went with the Dodge and very glad I did.

As it was explained to me years ago . . .
4WD just allows one to get stuck further from the "main drag"

If you get stuck in one with limited slip axles, well, you're in to it up to your eyeballs.

I have a 2014 ram with the Hemi V-8, big horn edition. Truthfully, I'd skip the 6cyl. I get an average of 18.5 mpg in the spring-early fall driving. My topper lowered it about 1.5 mpg. It was up near 20 in 2wd, and under 70mph. You're not going to do better than that with the 6-cyl motor. If you're not going to tow anything get the taller 3.31 gears and the 8-speed trans. You'll be surprised how much power you have. I am a fan so far, of the 8-speed trans.

I like the truck a lot so far. It's my first dodge truck. I have 85,450 miles on it as of this morning and zero issues. It has more gadgets than I'd order but they're nice.

The base models have a very "plastic" interior and were clearly cheaply built. I didn't like those at all but SLT and the SLT Big Horn interiors are a lot nicer and seem like not so much plastic.

I have an 08 Ram 1500 MegaCab. It is great for hauling people. Lots of legroom in the backseat. I am 6'4" and with my seat all the way back, my 5'10" daughter has legroom behind me. The only thing I don't like is that it needs a lot of space to do a U-turn. Does not have a tight turning radius. Mine doesn't have the electronics to cut out cylinders that the newer models have so I only get 12 city and 17 highway.

I've been buying trucks and SUV's since the 1970's. All but one were 4X4. Thought I didn't need it and made the mistake of buying one 4X2 truck, worst car buying decision I ever made. Not a lot of downsides to just staying with a 4X4.

Dodge has a reputation for good drive train reliability. The interiors and other small stuff seems to break down sooner than other trucks, but used are often bargains.

I'd skip the V6 as someone else said. Just not enough difference in fuel mileage and they will be underpowered in a bigger truck.

A lot depends on where you live. Around here Fords outsell Dodge and Chevy by a wide margin. Meaning there are a lot more on used lots at better prices for comparable trucks.

We can argue all day about which is better, Ford, Dodge, Chevy, Toyota, or Nissan. At the end of the day they all have issues and strong points. It comes down to which are most important to you and the one you get the best deal on.

Their clutches are the exception but they're only available on the diesel. They tend to fail at about 90 to 100k.

Thanks guys.

Found a 2013 F-150 4wd Ecoboost V6 that I couldn't pass up. I traded a 2013 F-150 with a V8 towards it. Amazing how much more get up the V6 has.

Sorry, but that's BS. Granted, you're not going to get an 8' long bed with a Mega Cab, but it IS the standard 6' bed that comes any other cab configuration. I know, I have one.

Is it 6" or 6'6", like most normal 'short beds'.

I can't remember if it was Dodge or Tundra, but we looked at a megacab that only had a 5.5' bed. They like to keep grocery haulers under 20' so they'll fit in a standard garage.