Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Dodge Ram 1500

Are the newer Dodge Ram 1500s any good? Ifound a 2014 I like but am not a Dodge man (previously Ford) so Im not familiar with them at all.

What do you like /dislike about yours ?

My boy has a 2011. It’s been a great truck.
I have a couple 2500’s. They have been great too.

We bought a couple as work trucks for the crews. Seems like there is always a recall on them. We went back to Chevy.

I've got a 2014 1500. Switched from a 2011 Chevy Z71. Nothing I don't like about the Ram- no issues, haven't had to do much of anything to it. Handles the boat and firewood/logging roads without issue.

I have a 2011 Ram SLT 4x4 with the Outdoorsmans package (skid plates, etc), 5.7 liter, auto transmission it has just turned over 102,000 miles with about 30,000 of them towing a 27 ft camper. Great vehicle, best riding pickup on the road IMO. I recently had the front end shop give it a look over and the tech said it was just like new, it has been absolutely the most trouble free vehicle I have owned and I have owned a lot of Chevs and Fords. I will be buying another one when I decide to give this one up.

drover

Dad’s 2010 Dodge 1500 has 180k on it. We’ve done front wheel bearings once, brakes, serpentine belt and charged the AC once.

I have a 2006 Ram 1500, great truck

Mine is a 2015. I have been driving pickup trucks for 30 years. It has been my favorite to date.

My wife had a 2011, at 75k the AC condenser crapped out, a real bugger to replace. Other than that is was a great truck that was wrecked in 2015, now she has a 2015 ram 1500. The newer one gets better mpg, both had great rides.

I had a 14 Ram 1500, big horn. I loved it. I’ll have another mostl likely this time next year.

Wasnt there a design change beginning 2013 ? If so that could explain the better mpg.

My 04 1500 runs around 1,000-1,500 miles a week in several states. It's getting close to 200K miles with only routine maintenance. I change the oil once a month and it doesn't use much, if any between changes.
Jerry

.....................I own a bought new 2015 std cab; w/6"4" bed; 5.7 Hemi; 8 spd trans; 2WD; 3:21 diff; rear coil suspension: tow rating of 10.500 lbs..............

Cons............Recently replaced 3 exhaust manifold bolts on the right side at 67+K miles. Exhaust ticking on cold starts which would cease after about a minute or two. Completely under warranty at no charge which included a free bee rental truck. From what I understand, this is somewhat of a problem with the 5.7 Hemi......There were some other recall software issues which were taken care of at no charge all under warranty.

Pros...........In 2015 I did a little tricking out for some added HP and torque. An AFE cold air intake, Full free flow dual exhaust w/two 18" magnaflows; a wonderful exhaust tone. A Stage 3 performance chip from chipyourcar.com installed last year which plugs right in to the OBD2 port below the steering wheel. A 60 second installation. (I remove it before any dealer work and re-install it after I leave the dealership). LOL>>>LOL..... I mention these mods in case you do get a Ram, because the Hemi can be easily mod 'd up from the OE factory 395 HP/410 lbs torque without going to an expensive supercharger which voids the factory warranty anyway.......0 to 60, I can out run a factory Ford Raptor, any factory Chevy or Toyota Tundra without any mods.

Other than those three exhaust bolts, my truck runs great and always has. Just turned over 70K miles. Converted over to Amsoil Signature Series in the engine @ 38K miles as well as Amsoil Signature Series fluids for the trans and rear diff at 55K miles. Performance and mileage wise, there was a difference for the better and the engine became a little more quiet too.

Vs Fords and Chevys, I like the looks of Ram body style (not boxy at all). Imo, more sculpted or rounded off lines. Vs Ram, Fords and Chevys (especially Chevys) imo also have too much fender well space over the front and rear tires. The tires look too small for the space they occupy in the fender wells.

If I were you, get a carfax report on the 2014 Ram you are considering and all of the service records if possible.

Good luck!

Good info. I appreciate it

My oldest son drives my old 2009 Ram 1500. So far it's been a pretty good truck and he has 135K miles on it. I had to replace a front diff seal that was under warranty, and then last year the wiring harness to the transfer case had to rebuilt. That only cost about $700 which surprised the hell out of me. An engineer from Dodge was brought in to figure the thing out, or so the dealership claims. Back in the early spring, the truck started running rough and over heated on my son. He took it to the closest shop from his college dorms which was the Dodge dealership in Anchorage. They tried to rake me over the coals, and the service guy and I had a talk over the phone and he got the point. They had to replace all plugs again, along with some other part that was spraying coolant all over the place. The problem was, they told my son all the fluids needed changed, which was bull crap. My son had just changed the rear diff 7 months prior and transmission fluid was less than a year old, for that they wanted nearly $1000. They did not change so the total repair bill was $1500. So far less than $3000 in maintenance for a 10 year old truck with 135K on it, I'm happy. It sure had more get up and go than my 5.3L Chevy Silverado.

Also, I have done all preventive maintenance by the book, minus coil packs and spark plugs. They have 16 spark plugs in them and a mechanic friend said not to follow the owners manual which is change 8 plugs at 30K, all 16 at 60K and then the 8 top ends ones again at 90K. He said they are 100K platinum plugs and to change them all at one time, which is what I did at 90K. It was not easy for the back four, but the dealerships in AK wants $700 just for plug changeover. I did them myself, in about 3 hours time. Don't know what went wrong with them in the spring, but they were fouled to hell with 40K miles in two years on them.

Years ago I had a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 that had the 4.7 (piece of crap motor) in it, these things were known for getting sludge build up in the valve train but I didn't do my homework. I had a lifter fall off on the drivers side of the motor and had it towed to the Lithia dealerhip. 2 days later they tell me I need a new motor, $7k for a motor and that doesn't include labor. I had it towed to a repair shop on Dowling and the dude called me up the next day and tells me what's up and can get it fixed for about $2k. He fixed it and I drove for it for another 2-3 years then eventually sold it. Anytime I need work done on my truck that is diffcult I take it to them and they always take care of me, i'll never take a vehicle I own to a dealership unless it's warranty work. If you ever need anything done to your vehicles I highly suggest Superior Automotive, they've done right by me every time I've used them.

The two biggest items I know of is the TIPM and the roller lifters.

The TIPM is the fuse/relay box under the hood, and what is the most common issue with it is the fuel pump relay. A good test for this is to hook the aux fuse up to the fuel pump side of the relay. If it starts/runs, then the relay needs to be replaced (one guy on the internet will do it for a few hundred, but he needs yours to do it) or the TIPM needs to be replaced and programmed ($1200-$1500, depending on what the dealer charges).

The roller lifter issue shows up around 80k to 120k miles. It will start throwing codes. What is happening is the roller lifter bearings wear out and start to wear away at the cam lobes. The valves can't open correctly, causing issues, especially at higher RPMs. These issues are the exception, and not the rule. The TIPM should never cost more than $1500 while the lifter can cost up to $4000-$5000 for a new engine. I had 80k on mine when I traded it in a few months ago. It was a 2011 and that was one of the years that had more issues than average. I think a 2014 should be a safe bet, as long as the previous owner didn't hot rod it and did the maintenance. I thought well enough about the 5.7L, that I got a 19 Durango with it.

Also the increase in HP and maybe MPG was most likely when they went to electric power steering and got away from the power steering pump.

Yes & Yes, we've seen multiple cases of both through my shop.

Our experience is that the cause of the lifter problem/s, stems from the 4-8 cylinder solenoids clogging with sludge residue, therefore slowing / reducing oil to top end at start up !

2 of the vehicles (2008 & 2009) that "died this death" were regularly maintained with 5000km (3125mile) lube, oil & filter services.

No truck rides better, on the road, than the Ram 1500.

Do you have any idea why that is? IMO no modern motor oil is going to sludge up in 3,000 miles even if you short trip it. Change the oil every 3k in a small block chevy and you could eat off the valve train.

I have an old 2001 "second generation" Dodge truck with 140k miles. Runs good but looking under the oil fill cap.....its ugly. And the previous owner changed oil every 5k or so he said.

Must be a Dodge thing.

May as well add my good friend has a 2013 or 2014 w/5.7 Hemi that he bought new that he has had no problems with. Its super nice.......the newer ones do ride like Cadillacs.

I have a 2016 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 hemi that has been problem free so far with 43,000 miles on the OD.