Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives New Ram diesel 3500?

I’m looking at trading off my 2018 F150 on a new Ram 3500 diesel since the f150 is such a POS. Have the new Cummings had many issues? I know the new ones aren’t as good as the older ones but I’m not buying someone else’s issues so I’m hesitant about an old used truck.

Pretty sure the Cummings have been trouble free, but too early to tell on the new Cummins. New block now made of CGI (Compacted Graphite Iron) instead of cast iron, new valvetrain using hydraulic lifters and a scissor gear for the cam, and new CP4 high pressure fuel pump, similar to what Ford and GM are using. Impressive to drive, and the 1000 ft/lb gets it moving along pretty well.

Im looking at updating my 6.4 Ford and if I go diesel I will go with a pre 19 Cummins

the CP3 pump on those seems to be quite a bit more reliable than the CP4 s

What about the Aisin transmission? Worth it or not?

Good bud who is a cattleman, bought a new 3500 Dodge Diesel. Dash lights kept coming on requiring dealer shop visits. One day he said it “ lit up like a Christmas tree”, left him stranded in a field.

He had it towed, repaired, traded it for an F-350 Ford gasser. It gives around 13 mpg, pulls good and has never left him stranded. I see more old time diesel pickup owners going back to gas burners. All this emissions stuff has messed up a good thing, IMO. I wouldn’t buy a new diesel, maybe a good ‘03 or so.

DF

Allison may be the best transmission of the big three.

DF

Steeerike 2.

Not sure I could buy another Ford...not impressed with the huge list of issues the f150 has and they aren’t fixing them, just keep replacing parts

I’d have bought a Chevy. But he bought the Ford.

Bottom line. He’s out of diesel pickups.

The older ones in good shape bring a premium.

DF

I have a 2018 RAM 3500 Cummins. Mine is the mid level diesel motor so I don't have the Aisin transmission. I have 33,000 miles on it and It has pretty much been trouble free as far the engine and transmission goes. I really like this pick-up even though I have been a GM guy my entire life. I did have an update on it computer when the rear view cameras went wonky recently. I am experiencing hard idle at start-up, but it smooth's out pretty quickly. It didn't do that when new so may need to be checked out. It came with a too small fuel tank and doesn't get the mileage a diesel should. 6-8 pulling a 28ft camp trailer and 16-18 empty depending on what tires I have on it.

Good LORD! My Kenworth gets 7-8 grossing 88,000..... That Cummins should hardly notice a little camp trailer behind it.

My '11 Ford F-250 W/6.7L diesel got 7.8MPG for 300Mi pulling my 38' bumper-hitch camper this spring. Had a quartering headwind running 75MPH on the GPS.

EGR and DPF have rendered diesels irrelevant for anyone who makes short trips. I'd never own the one I've got if I had to drive it every day.

worth it if you pull heavy alot , otherwise probably not

as far as the allison being the *best* , they can all break

neighbor had an 06 duramax and the tranny went belly up during a real cold winter...noone of the chebby dealers hereabouts could figure out the problem , and it was off warranty...cost him a small fortune for a new allison

Think I’m going to wait and see what the new 2020 GMC 2500 is like with the gas engine.

That's what I thought too.

I bought a new 2016 Ram 2500 4X4 with the 6.4 hemi 3.73 gears.44,000 trouble free miles so far.Few factory recalls.Liked the 2005 and before diesels.To much emissions bullchit on the newer diesels.The main reason I went back to a gasser this time around.

Between the $250 oil changed, and the dollar a gallon higher fuel price. And the 20K difference in sticker price. There’s no reason to own a new diesel

$250 oil changes are just an internet myth, or dumb asses willing to pay that much. Are the transmissions in the gassers as tough as the diesel ones? I mostly use my ‘13 Duramax for pulling my 31’ toy hauler or other large loads. It’s not a commuter rig. My 09 6.0 liter would get 6 mpg towing the camper. My Duramax gets 10. Where the 6.0 would go 35 mph @ 4500 rpm the Duramax will do 60 @ 2500 rpm and the tranny is not searching for gears.

3 gal of Rotella diesel synthetic oil costs about $60 at Walmart or Amazon. A filter is about $20. Changing the oil on a Cummins is as simple as doing it on any gas engine, remove and reinstall the drain plug, spin on a new filter, pour in the oil. If you pay someone $180 labor for an oil change, you're a real sucker.
For a long time diesel here was about .70 more than gas. Lately, they're about the same and sometimes diesel is a bit cheaper than gas.

My oil changes for my 2018 diesel are $130 with synthetic oil and fuel is ~ 30 cents more per gallon. I get ~5 more miles per gallon than my old 6.0 gas truck and a lot more pulling power. I haven't tried a new gas motor yet for pulling however.