I'm seriously thinking about getting one of these newer Ram diesel trucks, probably in the 2500 model. I'm thinking about the 5.9 over the 6.7 but would like to hear the pros and cons of both.

I've got several buddies that have either the 2500 or the 3500 and the mileage they get on those rigs is astounding, even when towing heavy loads. Biggest thing I plan on towing might be an enclosed trailer loaded with 4 sleds and fuel.

How much newer? They quit the 5.9 in early '07.
At least from late '07 on, the only difference between the 2500 and 3500 is the springs. All the bearings, hubs, brakes, etc are the same.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/9711322/all/2012_Ram_Cummins_deletes

Anything newer than 2007.5 will need to have this done to make them run right,and be reliable.
Mike

The 5.9 pre emissions engine ('03-'04.5) was I think, the most economical when pulling. The current 6.7's, 2013 and on are really good on fuel when running light, but use more when towing. My '03 would consistently get 2-3mpg better (hand calculated) with a load behind it than my '14, but the new one will do low 20's without a load on the highway if I stay below 70. In terms of simplicity, the 5.9 is better, but getting harder to find in good shape or with low miles.

Seriously leaning towards the 5.9 in a 2500. There are some on the Alaska CL but damn are they spendy.

My friend that I rode to Arctic Man with has a 3500 with the 5.9, was pulling an 8k lb. camper with 2 sleds on a sledbed on his truck plus fuel and he was passing people like they were standing still.

I'd have to say he was getting somewhere around 12 mpg and he had a heavy foot.

There are pluses and minuses to both. The 68RFE auto in the 6.7's is a lot better transmission than the 47/48RE in the 5.9's. If you want a manual the later 5.9's and 6.7's have the G56 with the dual mass flywheel, the older NV4500's and NV5600's were superior. Then there's the rest of the truck, later is better in almost all regards.

I think the best overall setup is one built in the last couple of years with a DPF delete.

I can't think of a reason to buy a 2500, get a SRW 3500 if you don't want duals. Pre-2003 the 2500 could be had with the camper special package which gave heavier springs, in 2003 they started calling it the 3500 SRW. The diesel engine is heavy so that comes off the max weight rating. If you've got a 4 door 4x4 2500 then you'll have a surprisingly small payload capacity because of it, at least on paper.

I have an '08 with a manual. That flywheel failed at 80k. I had it replaced with an upgrade that the manufacturer says will last the life of the truck.

Used truck prices are rediculous, but new truck prices are even worse. The key is finding a 5.9 that doesn't have a ton of miles and that hasn't been chipped and the tranny abused.

The one thing to be aware of on the rams is once you hit 100k +/- the front end joints will need a rebuild and that's $2k+, the front diff will probably need new bearings $1.5k and if/when a front hub goes out that's over $500 per side. A round about way of saying in the past year I've dropped ~$5k into the front end of my '06 2500. And when one of the front hubs goes out, it can be a hairy experience.



From mild vibration to being an rch away from loosing my wheel in less than 5 miles. Not a big deal when it happens in town during the summer, would more than suck if it happened in the middle of winter in the middle of nowhere.

If you could get a new base model truck for $40k or under I'd give that serious consideration vs. a used truck for $20k given the potential to have to drop some serious coin in the front end on a high mileage vehicle.

So if I found a used truck with all that front end work done already, what kind of mileage should I be looking for when it comes to used diesels?

The engine will outlast the truck. If you find a clean one with 120-130k at the right price I wouldn't balk. Personally I'd be shy of something approaching 200k as you'd be looking at that front end work again and likely small things here and there would start crapping out.

Definitely don't want to go much over 100k and have found a few in that ballpark. Does the 3500 have the same issues at 100k miles with the front end like the 2500 does?

Yes.

To be fair, if you can turn a wrench, the front wheel bearing/hub is $132 (plus $45 shipping). Ball joints will run you $200 total. Steering components can get more expensive, because they'll kill you on shipping. There aint no magic to it, just a lot of cussing.

After having replaced front cv joints and bearings in my wifes wagon, I'd had my share of busted knuckles and colorful language so chose to throw money at the problem. That and I was in the middle of moving so didn't have the space, time or inclination to mess with it.

Wasn't meaning to insult your mechanical skills (as I'm sure you know)

I've been known to send the wife's car (Rav4) to the dealership, or at least wish I had. It was clearly built by midgets.

I'm smart enough to run a hammer and am half-qualified with a wrench. Ratchets baffle me, but I'm taking an online course and expect to be certified on those and SAE sockets by the end of this semester. If I can do it, anybody can.

I've been turning wrench's for close to 35 years and I'm not afraid of getting dirty.

I do all the maintenance on my F250, Rhino, 2 Honda wheelers, 4 sleds and the wife's MGB so I tend to stay busy. As long as I have the right tools on hand I can pretty much fix anything mechanical or electrical (not computerized related stuff unfortunately).

I haven't decided yet if I want to spend the money on something like this since I still have a shop to build at the house and a cabin to build up north. Now should a real good deal present itself then maybe...

Their diesels might get better mileage, but with the higher cost of fuel, they won't save anything. You aren't towing anything heavy enough to warrant a diesel. I think you'd be better off staying with gas.

I do like the 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi but gas mileage is atrocious. I know how expensive it can get to own a diesel, which is why I haven't owned one up to this point. And gas is going back up in price so me wanting a new truck may have just been put on the back burner.

In Alaska the price disparity between diesel in gas is about minimal, currently somewhere between 10-20 cents/gallon. Not sure why it's tightened up as in years past diesel was much more expensive.

As far as using a 3/4 or 1 ton diesel to a tow a load that could be handled by a 1/2 ton gasser, there is something to be said for having more than enough truck than just enough truck. While an enclosed sled trailer might not be a terribly heavy load, you are pushing a lot of air out of the way and have to contend with some serious windage. Not a fun feeling to have the tail wagging the dog and the added weight of a diesel truck and the added torque make for a much more relaxing drive.

I have a 2006 5.9l 4x4 with 54,000 miles. It is the 4 door with 8 foot bed. I get around 19-20 mpg highway and when I tow my 29' toy hauler it drops to 11-12 mpg. The key is staying under 2000 rpm. So far no mechanical issues. Tom

Sorry to hear that, bud. Toyotas are metric.

Even if you were trying to insult me, I generally too dense to pick up things like that.

The nice thing about a full size truck is you actually have some elbow room to work on it and can roll a creeper under it w/o having to jack it up. I did manage to change the engine and diff oil a few weeks back. Something to be said for finally have the garage space to park it inside and work on it. Hopefully I won't have much more of that asside from fluid changes in the future

John,

I have a 2007 2500 with the 5.9 and do love it. I sold my GMC 1500 with the 5.3. Towing a car on a trailer, I was always standing on it with my foot to the floor.

I wouldn't tow what you want to tow with a half-ton, too much chance of just getting pushed around by your payload.

I also put airbags and an on-board compressor on my so I can adjust it for load. Just a few hundred bucks.

You might also consider a 3/4 ton gasser with the mid-sized engine (6.2 or whatever it is). Less MX cost, not much worse mileage, and power when you need it.

Shoot me a PM if you have questions.

i like my 97 12 valve with only 127000 miles on it

pretty much the finest all around pickup ever built , IMO

I like my 96 12 valve with only 65,000 miles on it.

How would you know, if you never drive it?

The ONLY good thing about the cummins is the engine, every single item connected to that engine sucks moose tit, and i mean that.

I searched around and just couldn't find what I was looking for so I ended up buying a 2010 Ram 1500 Laramie with the Hemi. Gas mileage is actually pretty decent and it tows nice too.

Your going to regret that purchase

We all know you don't like them and that's fine but I've owned one before and loved it. No regrets on this purchase.

We had a '96 12 valve with a manual 5sp behind it. If it had been in a better body I'd probably still have it.

Not a fan of Chevy's for hauling anything but groceries.

GM employee?

No, i know dodges.

Obviously not.

How do you come to that conclusion?

Which resident troll under a new user name are you? Your writing style is somewhat familiar. Maybe someone with a little more webfu than I have can nail it down.

Oh so now I'm a troll.
You going to answer my question?
You don't know me or my history.

How many Dodges have you owned and what year/years were they?

Never owned one but the company I work for had company trucks from 2007-2012 various engines depending on what they were needed for, the cumming engines were superb but the truck basically fell apart around the engine.
Blown trannies, front end replacements, rear and front differentials going out.
Air conditioning going, a whole list of crap.
The company owner sold/traded them all off and replaced them with Fords.
A few small issues here and there but nothing major yet.
He said never own a dodge again.
This is over 20 trucks, so yeah I have a little experience.

The least you could do is spell Cummins right.

Spell check on my phone thanks

Ahhh, a Ford employee then........

My bad.

So if we're going with second hand anecdotal reports here, and not personal ownership experience, I'll play.

One of our hunt club members owns 3 F250 Diesels, 2 of which he uses in his business. 2 6.0l, and a 6.4. His personal 6.0l has had ten (10), yes, 10 turbos, a set of head gaskets, and a transmission replaced in 180k miles. The Ford dealership in Florida (can't remember which town) will no longer work on it, as they warrantied 9 of the replacements. He paid for the first replacement after the warranty expired, and the rest failed under the 1 year replacement warranty.
The other 6.0l has been fairly good but has less than 100k miles on it.
The 6.4l has had a set of injectors, a turbo, and one cylinder head replaced after it broke an exhaust valve.

Just saying.........

Not a ford employee, but I agree on the 6.0' a being junk, my boss won't have them either.
We've got 6.4's and 6.7's, no issues.
Remember this is over 20 trucks, your claiming a couple.

And I drive these trucks to job sites every day.

There are probably more million mile plus Cummins powered Rams still on the road than there are million mile Ford and GM diesels combined. (Try to prove me wrong, would you?). Before you dig a deeper hole for yourself, perhaps you should do a little homework.

Actually since you brought that up why don't you school me.
Where do you get these statistics from.
Links please?

The weakness of that Ford diesel is the International engine. The weakness of the Dodge diesel is the Dodge.

have to disagree on the weakness of the Dodge part

I have a 97 12 valve with over 280000 on the clock...it has been run off road near every day I've had it, bouncing around pastures checking cattle...it has pulled loads up to 24000 , routinely 15 to 18K

last five years I'v e been spraying my crops with it and a 300 gallon slide in sprayer...there is no job you can do with a pickup that is harder on it, with 3000 in the bed and bouncing over end rows and rough parts of the field

the cab is still tight , the dash is not cracked , it will still run nicely down the freeway at 75mph if I want it to , 5 speed tranny never touched , never touched transfer case or rear end , no rust to speak of , oh the electric windows all still work

never got into the ball joints or u joints until about 250k ,


neighbor across the road has an 01 24 valve , NO pickup in this country pulls more heavy loads than that one , as he has pasture spread out all over and hes constantly hauling cattle

another guy in the locality has a 94 12 valve , 380000 on that one , and youd swear it was only a couple years old to look at it in passing , although he did have it repainted at one point....its done its fair share of heavy hauling too as the fella raises bulls and delivers them all over the state

then there is the commercial trucker out of Watertown that runs a fleet of nothing but dually Dodges pulling 40 ft goosenecks hauling cattle


I just gotta crack up at wannabees who know how weak Dodge pickups are

I have an '08 with the 6.7 and a manual. I pull a 5k trailer and I hardly know it's back there. This thing has far more power than I really need. We're on a trip right now with the pickup but not pulling the trailer. Yesterday, we needed to pass a truck on a 2 lane road with limited room to pass plus it was uphill. My wife asked me if I had the power to do it. I just looked at her and punched it. It went from 45 to 80 so fast it laid her back in the seat. Yeah, when it's in it's right rpm range, it has some serious power.

It has a DPF delete (had it when I bought it) but the egr is still on it.

Still waiting.
Or are you going to spew guesses out of your mouth?

Got to laugh, your sig line.
Turdlike?
I'm seeing it.

School yourself, Dickbreath. If you're able to get on the campfire and be an ignorant azzhole, then surely you're able to do a little looking for yourself. I don't have time to be your nursemaid. It's obvious you have a hard on for Dodge/Ram, but your blanket statements about a product reveal more about you than you realize.

No, you brought up the imiginary statistics, prove it or STFU
you have no clue as to what your talking about.
just pulling wild hairs out of your ass.

One click on Google, numbnuts.

http://www.cumminshighmileageclub.com/Truck/Search

Didn't see too many pages like this for Ford........

Now GFY

I figured as much, you pulled that phony statistic out of your ass.

laughing all the way to the bank.

Lol

"There are probably more million mile plus Cummins powered Rams still on the road than there are million mile Ford and GM diesels combined. (Try to prove me wrong, would you?)."

Your reading and comprehension skills are lacking too. Try reading this again, and tell me where I made an assertion. (Hint: the word "probably" is skillfully hidden in there somewhere.)

Now GFY again.

Spellcheck can be your friend. Honest.

Proper punctuation too..........

So?
it was a "guess"

You have no realization how dumb you sound.

Perhaps. A shame your comprehension skills are so poor.

I got you pretty worked up over this, do you need to phone a friend?

Need a hug?

Still waiting for that imaginary statistic.

Hey newby. Badger's guesses are better than your facts.

Now, go back inside. Recess is over.

That's funny.
Because I'm new my opinions don't count?
His 'guesses' are just that. Guesses.
If you were smart enough to read what I posted I have experience with over 20 trucks, between 07-12
What about that don't you understand?
Are you that [bleep] stupid?

Naw.

It's just that reasonable minds will gravitate toward the opinions of longstanding members who've proven themselves over many years to be considerate, knowledgeable gentlemen. Bonus points are awarded for being factory-trained auto mechanics who own an auto repair business.

FC

Oh, I see.
I'm so sorry to those long termed members who are proven considerate knowledgable genitalman, my bad.





Bunch of damn fools