Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Ram. Longevity?

I am in need of a new/newer pick-up. My current one is a 2000 GMC 4x4 3/4 ton with the 6.0. The only reason I am looking to get a new one is I need a six seater and this one only holds 5. I am interested in the new Rams, mainly because they have a couple models that will hold 6 without special ordering one and have some capabilities not seen on the GMs that I know of. Mainly the Power Wagon and I believe the Mega Cab.

I have heard good things about new Rams and surprisingly not so good from a few Ram owners. I have yet to personally know one who has kept their Ram/Dodge longer than 5 years although there are older Dodges still on the road. My last pick-up was a 1990 Chevy that I kept for 13 years and now this GMC that I have had for another 13 years.

So, for the Ram/Dodge pick-up owners out there, what has been your experiences with your pick-ups?

I've owned five of them, including my current one, a 2014 2500 Cummins that now has 73k miles on it. Previous one was a 2003, also a 2500 diesel that I sold in early 2014 with 297k miles, and it now has about 350k on it. They have all been pretty good trucks. The only one I didn't particularly care for was my '02 1500, which had the 4.7l V8. No power, and drank fuel like it was free. I did a transmission on the '03 at about 65k miles after doing some tuning mods. Unreasonable to expect a stock transmission to survive twice the torque and almost double the horesepower of stock. No complaints from me.

I've been driving a Ram truck since they became their own brand in 2010. Started out with a 2010 2wd 1500 with the 4.7, then moved to a 2014 4x4 1500 5.9 hemi which consistently got 22-25 mpg on the highway, then moved up to a 2016 4x4 3500 with the cummins. Never had any mechanical issues and the few electrical quirks with the radio were solved under warrantee by the dealer.

Prior to the 2010 lineup, I'd had nothing but problems with dodge trucks and drove other brands.

I have a friend who is a bridge contractor. His 15 has 80k trouble free miles. I liked his so much after a road trip, my 17 has 3500 miles.

I have an '08 2500 with the Cummins. It also has a manual trans which is only available with the Cummins. It turned over 100k this fall.
The clutch went out at about 95k. I've since heard that that's normal for them. I put a heavier duty clutch in that's supposed to last the life of the pickup.
They're famous for the front ends to go bad at 75 to 100k, tie rod ends, damper, and ball joints. My tie rods went at about 95k. A friend with the same pickup needed a damper at about 90k.

Mine is a tad older. I have a 98 that I bought new in 99 as a 98&1/2. So it is pushing 18 years old.About 150K on it.

I have had the brakes done a few times, new tracking bar, valves adjusted, replaced fuel pump with FASS system, and new alternator this year.
Other things like batteries, tires etc. are normal maintenance.

Don't know if newer ones would hold up as well.

No personal experience with them, but a friend here in NM also has an '08 2500 crew cab with Cummins, and likes it very much. He has about 140K miles and recently had an alternator fail, trashing a battery too. I have not heard about any other issues. He is an oil & gas geologist so needs it for very rough off-road work. He thinks it will easily go 300K miles and beyond,

His testimony has sold me on wanting one.

My dad has a 2011 or 2012 (can't remember) Ram 2500hd with the hemi and regular cab. He hates it and complains about ride and build quality. I drove it and didn't like it very much, but the new ones are supposed to be different.

Don't expect a car-like ride from a 2500 or 3500. They're identical except for the springs and the emblem on the door. They're made to carry weight and ride quality is accordingly stiff. When I have 1000lb on my 2500, it smooths out nicely.

That's for sure. My 2500 is hard riding,but my buddies 3500 will make your butt hurt in short order.

Putting a 1500 pound camper on either of them sure helps a lot.

The newer 2500's do ride better. Mines a 2016 and it has coil springs all around. Actually a pretty nice ride especially compared to my work partners 2016 2500 Chev....need a kidney belt when in that truck.

To clarify, he cusses the ride of his Ram after having owned nothing but 3/4 or 1 ton trucks since 1970. He is epecially consumed with buyers remorse about his Ram every time we ride down the dirt road my Chevrolet 2500HD of the same year as his Ram. And yes, he had run down the dirt roads with a truck camper on the bed and said it didn't help much at all. Like I said, I have heard they have made some changes to the newer ones. The hemi does scoot. I hope the new ones are improved over his sample, as I do like the way they look.

I'm getting a few years on me and I certainly notice the bumps more than I used to. According to my butt, a 1/2 ton now rides like yesterday's 3/4.

My 99 has 385K on it & still gets regular use pulling a 14,000 lb gooseneck, but I hear they won't last😜

Yep, another friend has the same year GMC ( same as Chevy)as mine ( 98) and riding down a bumpy road is a joy in that truck . Of course he doesn't even have 40K on it

I bought one of the first in 1988 with the then new Cummins Engine. Went 306,000 miles until I sold it. The only problem happend when I let the battery run dry. Shorted out and the alternator went "full field." That wasn't cheap.... But other then that, it worked as it should. I used it off road in the sand washes and rocks, carried my Lance Camper while towing my Jeep, etc. It still lives. I spot it every once in a while around town.
My current is an '06' with 60,000 miles on it. No problems.
I'm sold on them. E

Thanks for all your commments

I have owned 2 Ram 2500 trucks 4X4.One was a 2004 extended cab with the 5.9 diesel.Drove for 8 years had about 90,000 miles on the OD.Put about $700 in it for repairs.My current Ram is a 2016 2500 crew cab loaded with the 6.4 hemi only 11,000 miles so far been a great truck.I would buy another one.

I had a 2005 2500 with the cummins. Mine had the 4:10's and 4 Spd tranny. Just sold it last fall with 140k on it. Pulled a 5th wheel all over with it.

It lost a water pump at 115k and a door lock actuator at 125k. Sometimes, the intermittent wipers had a mind of their own and would go at random intervals. Those were the only problems I ever had with it.

In fact, I wish I still had it. I replaced it with a 2016 Ram 2500 with the Cummins. Got 10k on the current one with no issues.

Had a 2006 2500 with the Cummins with 150k on it, would still have it if my kid hadn't wrecked it last fall. Mostly a solid truck, water pump went out at 50k, solenoid went out in the auto transmission at 90k and front end needed a rebuild at 100k.

I'll be replacing it with another 2500 ram Cummins.