Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ram 1500 2014-2017 opinions

Anyone have or had direct experience with a 2014-2017 Ram 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi? My 04 2500 Ram has 200k and I could use the extra cab room of the crew cab with growing boys. Seems these are the best priced of the used 1500 trucks in that age with under 60k miles. I dont recall hearing much bad about them.

I can't comment on 14-17, but I had a 2009, which was the first year for that body style. The truck has the 5.7L Hemi in it, and it has proven to be a great motor. The only issue was a front differential leak, and then the wiring for the 4WD became corroded and had to be replaced back in March. My son has been driving the truck for 2 years now, and it still keeps on going. He has replaced wheel bearings and tie rod ends, but with over 130K miles that's understandable. My only advice is when you replace the plugs, replace the coils at the same time as well. I know my truck still calls for changing one set of plugs at 30K, both at 60K, etc. I have a friend that was a Dodge mechanic, and said to forgo that and change them all around 100K as they are platinum plugs. I changed them all out over a 1.5 years ago, when I had 95K on the truck, I should have done it around 80K, as the truck had it's old pep back once they were changed out.

I own a 2016 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 hemi.Only has 41,000 miles on the OD.No hiccups yet.

Do yourself a big favor and stick with a 2500.

Why would I need to do that? The most I haul is a 4000 lb boat and trailer. The 2500 long bed I have now will barely fit in the garage. Surely the 1500s won't self destruct sue to suspension and lack of frame material?

The 1500s are just a lot less truck. I just threw it out there, sorry.

Understood and I agree, but less truck is what I need. I ended up with this 2500 a few years back because I was tired of looking, it was close and a decent deal. Ive had both, gas and diesel, 2500 and 1500 and for my use if I'm being realistic the 1500 gas is completely adequate. If I could find a cummins with lower miles in my price range I would get it but they are pricey used.

The only diesel I've owned was a VW. 😂

Like you I downsized to a 1500 in 2015
Very good truck, it will pull my trailer with
a Ford 1920 tractor with ease.
Gas mileage on the road is around 20 mpg
Around town is 15.
No issues at all.
Coach

Hudge - I have that same truck in the TRX-4, and it has been a stellar purchase. Aside from the normal wear and tear I haven't had any issues.

I just put it over 160k, and it will be getting its fourth set of new tires this week.

I bought a 2015 1500 Ram new with the 5.7 and have about 45,000 miles on it. The only out of the ordinary problem was that the cruise control switch died at 40,000, and cost me about $250 to have replaced. Other than that I'm complaint free. I'm not sure about your gas mileage priorities, but mine isn't too bad. It's a standard cab 8' bed with the 3.92 axle. At 55mph it can get 22 - 23 mpg.

Have a 2012 1500 with the Hemi. Other than routine maintenance I had to replace a noisy idler pulley on the serpine belt and repair the wire for the backup camera where it enters the tailgate. Been probably the most trouble free truck I have owned.

No it is not a 2500 when it comes to hauling but I have a 2500 diesel for the heavy stuff. It rides and handles quite nicely, gets respectable mileage and pulls up to 8000 pounds more than acceptably.

My wife has a 15 5.7 8 speed, that replaced her 2011 6 speed that was wrecked. The 8 speed is amazing, 15/21 mpg. The only issue we had on 11 in 70k was the heater core which is a PITA on those. The 15 has had zero issues besides a few safety computer flash updates in 30k. Quick little truck with 400 hp. The 3.21 gears get great mpg, but the tow rating is only 7k,

I contrast my 3500/5.7 w/ 4.10 gears averaged about 12 mpg.

I have a 2016 Ram 1500 4WD with the "Eco-diesel". On a Thanksgiving trip to East Texas, I got 25.7 mpg on the way up, 26.9 coming back. My previous truck was a Ram 3500 4WD with the 6.7 L Cummins diesel. Great truck, but really more truck than I needed. The 1500 rides MUCH better, pulls what I need to pull right now, and obviously gets GREAT mileage - I have gotten over 30 mpg on a few trips. Besides the 3500, I have had two 2500 Rams with the Cummins engines, and for my needs, I like this 1500 diesel better than any of them.

Mike Holmes

After a lifetime of being a GM owner I bought my first Ram in 2015. It was the 1500 crew cab with 5.7 Hemi. That truck had the 6 speed transmission with 3.55 gears. It got17-20 mpg in mixed driving conditions. I had zero problems and really liked the truck. I put a ton of miles on a truck, usually 30,000+ a year. I traded it off after a year and a half because I wanted to upgrade to more features.

My 2017 Ram is a Big Horn with more bells and whistles. It is a crew cab also. It has the same 395 hp 5.7 Hemi but this time I have the 8 speed tranny with 3.92 gears. I average 20 mpg in mixed driving conditions and have gotten as high as 23 mpg on longer highway trips.

Between the two I've put on 85,000 miles in three years They are roomy, comfortable and handle well. They will not handle the load of a 2500 but I only pull boats and utility trailers with atv's and small tractors. As background my previous truck was a 2500 GMC duramax that I had for ten years. I realized I didn't need that much truck and went to the 1500.

I've had no repairs or problems and have only had programing upgrades as they've come up when I took the trucks in for service. Based on this limited experience I would say get one.

I bought a 2014 Ram 1500 Express Quad Cab (34k miles) last Sept. from Dave Smith Motors in Kellogg, ID. It has the 5.7, 6-spd., 4x4, trailer tow. pkg., 3.55 axle. While the payload gets used up pretty fast, towing is ok for what I use it for - 19' TT. I bought an extended warranty from my insurance company but haven't used it. It has only needed software upgrades, and have another one to take care of (factory recall). It has been a decent vehicle, comfortable, reliable, economical, plenty of power. Very happy with it. I especially like the gear selector on the shifter, and the fact that there is leg room for the middle passenger - hate the center consoles that extend all the way to the firewall. I chose the Express trim because I did not want all the extra electronic gizmos that cost $$ and I would not use.

forepaw

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like several of you have made the switch from a 2500 to a 1500 and have been satisfied. I will likely be looking at the express trim as well, I just prefer the painted bumpers and seem to have everything I would need. Navigation would be nice but I've done without it in every vehicle I've ever had before so I can manage. There appears to be many to choose from in the $25k range with under 50k miles. This would not be a daily driver as work provides a truck for me to use during the day. My 04 2500 longbed while a good truck is too big for my use and I just don't trust it to go on long trips with 200k although it has never left me stranded or failed to start and run. Most of the ones I have seen have the 3.21 ratio which I wonder how they do having the 8 speed and towing. Likely the most I would be towing any distance is a 18' CC boat with hunting gear, 4000 lb probably.

I had a 14 Ram 1500, Big Horn, 5.7L, 4x4. I traded it on a Ford a few months back. I regret it. I like the Ram quite a bit better. I don't dislike the Ford, but I loved that Ram. It had 130K on it when I traded it. The only reason I went with Ford was the bigger cab. When I get 60K on this truck I'm going back to the Ram. I can't think of anything I didn't like on the Ram.

It was the best truck I've ever had. I will say the Ford has less road noise. The Ram didn't have a lot, but it's noticeably less on the Ford.

I've got a 2010 Ram 1500 Lariat with the 5.7 and it pulls everything I need it too with ease, it's rated to 10k lbs but I would never come close to hauling that much weight. I figure the most weight I've pulled with it was probably around 4500 lbs or so, up some pretty steep hills over the years and it sure is nice to keep it at 65 when doing so. The only issues I've had so far was exhaust manifold bolts breaking off on both sides (aft bolts) and a leaking pinion seal in the rear end, the early version 4th gen Rams were known for breaking those bolts but I was unaware of it until I had already purchased my truck. Even with those issues i'm pretty happy with the rig overall but if I were to do it again, I'd get the crew cab.

When I had the first few free oil changes from the dealer when I bought the truck. They suggested at the 30K mile oil change I do the plugs as well. I thought it was insane to have to do them that fast. So, I talked to one of the techs. He said pretty much the same thing. Wait until 100K or when the performance started to drop off.

I would agree with you, it was around 85K miles when that happened.