2016 1500 EcoDiesel not cutting it, Best replacement?

[cwf]

"Drive defensively, drive a tank"

"The law of "bigger than" is more often followed when properly applied"

🙄

Traveling around our Texas town in a truck is not unusual.. But in the "urban" areas you have a definite advantage against the silly little "cars"..

So there are other "benefits".. 😁😄😳

[Ed Brownfield]

I have not read all of the answers to your question but I imagine that they cover the spectrum. I can share with you that I own a 2015 FC 28 Ft rear twin beds and went through a similar experience. I bought the trailer and thought that I was going to be fine towing it with my SUV. I owned an Infinity QX 56 with a tow capacity of 8,900 lbs. To make a long story short I was not comfortable towing with the SUV and began looking at trucks. Never having owned a truck every thing was new to me. My wife was adamant that we buy a 1500 because it was easy for her to get in and out of. I read everything that I could find about towing and finally decided on a 2500 GMC diesel with a tow package. I am sure that the RAM is just as good but our local GMC dealer had done business with me so I wanted to do business with him. I debated about whether to spend the extra $'s on the diesel and I am glad that I decided to do it. Pulling the trailer is great but what I really like is going down steep grades especially out west with the exhaust brake you barely have to use the brakes. My advice is to buy a 3/4 ton pickup whether you diesel or not. I hope that this helps. Save travels!

[eawotr]

Hi - for our 2017 Classic we upgraded from the Ram 1500 to a 2016 Ram 2500 Limited with a turbo diesel. It came with the factory airbags which are really nice to have once we hook up. They level out TV to AS beautifully. We traveled across WA this summer and drove all the passes you described. The 2500 did wonderfully. You didn't feel the AS and the engine brake was nice to have on the descents.

I looked at GMC and Ford 3/4 diesels when making the decision and just found the Cummings engine and the asethics of the Ram hard to pass up.

safe travels,

Beth

[TinTikiHut]

Well - Back in 2014 we went from a 2005 Toyota Tundra V/8, crewcab 4x4 to a 2014 Ford F250 Diesel, crewcab ,short bed, 4X4 and am very happy. Better mileage, more payload, more power, engine braking, integrated brake controller, tow/haul mode, etc...

In hind sight I would have bought the long bed vs short bed because of the larger tank and better fuel range, I'll probably be going to an aftermarket 50 gal. fuel tank in the future.

Ricky

[SMLJeep]

Have a 2015 Ram 2500 Laramie and tow our 2017 FC 27FB around the Blue Ridge Mountain. The Cummins doesn't brake a sweat and I get 16 MPG. Love everything about the Ram. Although I don't commute anymore I do use the Ram as my everyday ride. Mostly country roads and highways and I get 18.5 MPG. Much better than I expected. Here in SW Virginia diesel is only a few pennies more than regular so the Cummins is better than a big V8 gas hog. I never owned a 3/4 ton truck before this one so before buying I looked at what all the farmers in my neck of the woods used to hall their big trailers and the Ram/Cummins was buy far the winner.

[BAB]

FYI. My '14 2500 w/Cummins has rear coil springs. This was the first year they went to coils vs. leaf springs. I have just under 50,000 miles on my RAM pulling a '15 30' Classic. All but about 4,000 of those miles have been towing an Airstream. Don't have enough good things to say about the Cummins. Zero issues since I took delivery. Yes, a bunch of recalls. As one of my buddies said, "you buy the Cummins, it just happens to be in a Ram." True.

[palerider]

Last figures I've seen, you have to drive a minimum of 50,000 miles a year to break even compared to a large enough gas engine doing the same job. This is comparing the cost of needed upkeep. My 08, 6.8 v10 with 4:30 gears has pulled all Ive put behind
It and averaged 9-11 mpg at normal maintaince costs

[VernDiesel]

Our out control government killed the V10. Don't think OP will be buying a new replacement with a V10. Configured & set up the right the EcoDiesel is an outstanding AS TV but OP likes big power and sounds like RAM has treated him well so why not get the 2500 & Cummins. It rides and handles better than other 3/4 tons with the air or coil suspension. But like the 1500 if you get the coil and load the bed or tongue heavy you will benefit from airbags to assist.

[Sodbust1]

We pull our 72 Overlander and a Yamaha Rhino in the bed of our 2012 1500 Ram Tradesman all over Colo.. It has the little hemi and without a turbo,, once its above 8000 feet ASL,,, it lacks the ground shaking power of the 98 3/4 ton Cummins I had before. I get about the same MPG empty or loaded as with the 24 valve diesel and miss it at times..

But you have to factor that by doing the math,, that little diesel ,, and I stress,, LITTLE,,, is what it is.. You said you got 31 mpg on the high way and still able to pull your A$ up passes at 60mph! My goodness,, sounds ok to me. Matter of fact I cant help but wonder if your repair issues is you should have backed off to 48mph and been darn happy...

Keeping the peddle to the metal for extended amounts of time will melt down any engine,,, and more so a over boosted small diesel.. Old school truckers use to figure 1/2 hp per cubic inch as a safe long life ratio.. That is to say having a 855 cu. in. Cummins one was in the ball park pushing 400 hp..

Once one goes over that 1/2 hp/ cu. in. places a huge amount of heat,, not only to the cooling system but also the oil cooler... Once the temps slip over that normal range things go down hill real fast.. Mostly engine life. ( if they dont blow up)

I guess,,, my main question is what's the hurry? Since out A$ is only pinned up 1/30 of the time I would exchange 30mpg empty mpg for dropping 15mph pulling a 6% grade any day..

Sodbust.

[Thiss]

If concerned about the emissions system on modern diesels, from what I have read, you are best to drive in such a manner that avoids having to re-gen the emission. Driving short distances and never coming up to temps is the problem. At least that is what I tell myself to justify having my first gen Cummins to drive around.

[griffstream]

Looking at ads for used 2500's how can i tell if they have airbags? is there a switch on the dash or is all through the nav system? Any chance you can take a picture so I could ask a dealer to look for me?

Originally Posted by eawotr

Hi - for our 2017 Classic we upgraded from the Ram 1500 to a 2016 Ram 2500 Limited with a turbo diesel. It came with the factory airbags which are really nice to have once we hook up. They level out TV to AS beautifully. We traveled across WA this summer and drove all the passes you described. The 2500 did wonderfully. You didn't feel the AS and the engine brake was nice to have on the descents.

I looked at GMC and Ford 3/4 diesels when making the decision and just found the Cummings engine and the asethics of the Ram hard to pass up.

safe travels,

Beth

[griffstream]

My issue is not with the speed drop on the passes, I could fix that with a Banks kit and it is only the last couple miles of the passes and it is not that terrible of a drop in speed. The issue is on a normal camping trip the rear axle is overloaded by 400# with all the gear int he bed and the trailer hooked up I end up being at 13650# GCWR about 100# shy of the max. It will only get worse as the kids grow up and get more stuff bigger bikes etc... The equalized cannot be cranked any further to push the weight on the front axle.

In regards to the check engine light it is not because of the passes, I have only 2 out of 5 trips on the passes this year. The light trips with my empty dump trailer 1800# driving 8 miles to the lumber yard. It is definitely a design flaw or bad build causing excessive crank case pressure. And the light trips long after I am done hauling. 2-3x's per day. Engine and transmission temps never deviated from normal maybe bumped up 5-10 degrees at most barely moving the needle on the dash.

Originally Posted by Sodbust1

We pull our 72 Overlander and a Yamaha Rhino in the bed of our 2012 1500 Ram Tradesman all over Colo.. It has the little hemi and without a turbo,, once its above 8000 feet ASL,,, it lacks the ground shaking power of the 98 3/4 ton Cummins I had before. I get about the same MPG empty or loaded as with the 24 valve diesel and miss it at times..

But you have to factor that by doing the math,, that little diesel ,, and I stress,, LITTLE,,, is what it is.. You said you got 31 mpg on the high way and still able to pull your A$ up passes at 60mph! My goodness,, sounds ok to me. Matter of fact I cant help but wonder if your repair issues is you should have backed off to 48mph and been darn happy...

Keeping the peddle to the metal for extended amounts of time will melt down any engine,,, and more so a over boosted small diesel.. Old school truckers use to figure 1/2 hp per cubic inch as a safe long life ratio.. That is to say having a 855 cu. in. Cummins one was in the ball park pushing 400 hp..

Once one goes over that 1/2 hp/ cu. in. places a huge amount of heat,, not only to the cooling system but also the oil cooler... Once the temps slip over that normal range things go down hill real fast.. Mostly engine life. ( if they dont blow up)

I guess,,, my main question is what's the hurry? Since out A$ is only pinned up 1/30 of the time I would exchange 30mpg empty mpg for dropping 15mph pulling a 6% grade any day..

Sodbust.

[griffstream]

How is the drop on the rear axle when hitched up. I am having a hard time finding a used 3500 in my desires. Do you need the WD hitch to bring it back up? Do you feel like it should have airbags to level it out?

Originally Posted by Rgentum

griffstream --- I'm in Woodinville, one town over from you, & like yourself have a 27 FB. I've been pulling it with 2015 Ram 2500 diesel, which I bought to pull a 32 ft 5th wheel, which I traded in on the AS. We've now got 11K miles on the AS, & all I can say about the Ram is "Great." The Coastals, the Cascades, the Rockies, etc. simply don't get in its way.

Some comments:

1. I do wish the Ram got better mileage. I drove it dry from Seattle to Portland & got 22, but on our 9K trip to the WV rally, I got only 14.1, & on our more recent trip to the southern OR coast & northern coastal CA redwoods, we got only 13.4, but I should say that coming home from the Redwoods, I was on I-5 North & set the cruise for 65 all the way. On our WV trip, I typically drove around 62.

2. I have heard from others that the Ram 3500's leaf springs work better than the Ram 2500's coil springs for towing, so if I had it to do again, I'd consider a 3500 for a few hundred dollars more.

[SpletKay06]

Originally Posted by griffstream

Looking at ads for used 2500's how can i tell if they have airbags? is there a switch on the dash or is all through the nav system? Any chance you can take a picture so I could ask a dealer to look for me?

Yes there's an alternate ride height button next to the trailer brake controller

[jtwind]

I've a 2015 Ram eco diesel and towing a 19c Airstream and it's about ideal. Super mileage, plenty of power, it's comfortable no complaints. Though if I had to come up with one it would be payload, it's light in that dept. but so far I haven't come up against the issue. I would never think of trying to tow a 27" Airstream, you are over on payload with just 2 passengers! It's obviously the wrong truck. I think you'd do ok with a 23FB but that's about it and that would be tight.

As far as shifting and cruise control the truck does great on cruise in anything but steeper rolling hills or passes. Even then the truck does fine if you pop it out of cruise, it'll up shift and get into the 2000 rpm max torque rpm and does great. In come cases you just slow down a bit. It's important to know your truck's capabilities and limitations and to be willing to get out of cruise if you want it to perform at it's best. I couldn't stand to let it redline and overheat!

[Mrjkq]

As I stated in post # 2 in this thread I'm a happy ecodiesel owner. There is a Nissan dealership that I pass frequently here in Venice, Fl. Sitting out front is a few Titan XD Cummins Diesel trucks. Although not in the market I stopped for a closer look today & learned this truck is a cross between a half & three quarter ton truck, heavier than the first & lighter than the later, it's referred to as a "heavy half". Very impressed I was. Something else, the 2017 models come with a FIVE YEAR, 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, I don't think any other truck has that. Just thought you should know!

[tizeye]

Similar to you but just getting started. Waiting for VW to finalize the buyback details for my Passat TDI which I only intended to keep a couple of years anyway, then retire the upgrade for RV travel. #1 on my list was the 1500 ecodiesel, but upping it to 2500 and only considering Cummings (or if GM, Duramax). Been cruising the internet shopping and taking notes. While I am in Orlando, have discovered can save $4000 or so in the Washington DC are (I know, the other Washington) which is a cheap flight and straight Interstate back..

First and formost, I use to sell cars and considered myself a good negotiator, on the Passat I couldn't get close to TrueCar quote at the same dealership. The VW salesperson was glad I found it as he works flat rate per sale rather than commission but couldn't tell me about it. It was a set price several thousand below what I could negotiate, they honored it, and as I recall, it included dealer fees and everything - just add tag and tax. From what the VW sales manager said, they are legally obligated under their contract with TrueCar. That is what I have been using for my research on the trucks.

Within your upper limit of $45K it may be doable with a 2016 2500 Big Horn Cummings if you don't go overboard on options (around $58K MSRP). At any rate, it is coming back below what the dealers are advertising as 'internet deals'.

Here is my method: Find the truck using the inventory search on Ramtrucks.com (or Chevy or Ford). When you find a truck you like, click on it and then look for 'window sticker' to see exactly how equipped. Ram has the window sticker but Chevy doesn't so have to guess on option they broadly state and try to build to that MSRP as noted below. Now go to TrueCar.com (I use USAA's version on their site as they offer an additional discount if you are a member). Input the truck details but USE THE ZIP CODE OF THE DEALERSHIP where you found the truck in your search. That way it forces it to that dealership (or a nearby dealership they have a contract with if not that specific dealership), rather than the one closest to you. Build the truck up to match the window sticker. Don't use the default options they suggest, decline and individually choose the specific options matching the window sticker. Save and it will give you the price. It will note which incentives are included in the price and you may be able to add additional. Repeat as necessary with other dealers around. Hope that helps.

When you are ready to take the final step and purchase, only then push the "contact Dealer" button. If local, may want to swing by and check it out and see what you can negotiate, having that in your back pocket.

[dasams]

Originally Posted by VernDiesel

Our out control government killed the V10.

Killed a V10 gasser? Please explain (and this isn't a political rebuttal). Dave

[VernDiesel]

Do you see any brand new V10 pick up trucks at your local Ford or Ram dealerships? They quit making them in order to meet federal mandates.

[slowmover]

Cummins.

Clessie Cummins. Invented the Diesel engine brake as well as founding the company that still bears his name.