Test drove a Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Today

[Diamondpilot]

I suppose it varies with the area. Dealers in my area generally don't even stock any SRW 1 ton pickups. Where I live a guy generally has too much weight on the back of the truck for only 2 rear wheels when they are in use. And with the duallys, they are almost all 4X4. The dual rear wheels provide a lot better resistance to sinking when off in a field and loaded, but they sure don't do worth a hoot without 4X4. It's rather rare to find any aggressive off road tires for a dually. I would have been stuck about half the times I've pulled off road if not for 4X4; especially trying to back up a loaded trailer around a turn.

My experience with the dually I drove was it was no good in the mud. The tires loaded up in between them and due to the extra flotation it just did not get a good bite on the rear end.

I guess what the dealer stocks is what sells in a particular area. Just for example there are about 12 houses on my street. There is 1 Ford Dually, 4 Ford SRW 1 tons, 2 Dodge SRW 1 tons, 1 Dodge 3/4 ton, 1 Ford 3/4 ton, and the rest are 1/2 tons. As you can see the 3/4 tons are the odd man out. Twice as many 1 ton SRW trucks. I would say that is about the same ratio throughout my town.

All the dealers stock 1 ton SRW truck except for the GM dealer. He still only wants to sell 3/4 and duallys. He just does not understand what people really want. I had to drive all the way to Ft Wayne to get my GM 1 ton SRW I had in 05 and my neighbors GM 1 ton SRW truck came from Vincennes.

Chris

 

[Willl]

"GVWR List"

 

[Diamondpilot]

"GVWR List"

That list is worthless. I checked it against all 3 of my trucks and it was only right on one. It was off by 1,400# on one and 800# on the other.

Chris

 

[Lt CHEG]

I've seen that this thread has been resurrected and I figure that I may as well add a little epilogue to the story if you will. Since this test drive I've also test driven the 2011 Chevy and GMC 3/4 and 1 ton respectively trucks equipped with the Duramax diesel. I still haven't test driven the the 2011 Ford Power Stroke. An additional friend has also bought a used but mint condition Ford SD crew cab with the 7.3 PSD. All of this has led me to the following conclusion.

It is very unlikely that I'll be buying a new heavy duty pickup. For the distances that I need to tow my tractor as well as the rarity of doing so my truck will do the job. Heck even if I threw a backhoe attachment on my tractor and went a few hundred pounds over loaded on my truck, it will get the job done. The diesel engines, even the new 2011 Duramax and Power Stroke, don't offer the fuel economy that I would require. At least they don't do so without a programmer or some other warranty voiding modifications. Since I buy new and trade fairly quickly I like the warranty and would not do something to void it. These trucks may advertise much better highway mileage and they do in fact get respectable fuel economy in strictly highway situations. However, in mixed driving conditions (10 miles on the highway in between 2 or 3 miles of 40 mile per hour roads at both ends of the highway) they just don't deliver good fuel mileage. The increase certainly isn't enough to overcome the increased cost of diesel fuel and I'm not even considering the additional maintenance costs and tire wear. Unless circumstances change or one of the major companies puts out a diesel engine with power levels similar to my current truck but with 35% to 40% more fuel economy I won't be putting the money into a diesel truck.

So that leaves the gas engine equipped heavy duty pickups. As far as I'm concerned you can scratch them off the list too. First off, even though the power numbers of today's newer engines are better on paper than the likes of the old 454's and 460's of yesteryear, they sure don't feel like they deliver the power where it's needed any better than the old school big blocks. Add to the unimpressive performance of the biggest gas engines available in the current heavy duty pickups the fact that the engine choices are so limited further eliminates a gas heavy duty pickup from my consideration. Frankly my 5.3 liter towed my load everywhere without any issues, easily allowing me to exceed the speed limits on every road I traveled even up hills (with the exception of one very steep grade in the high peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains where I had to stick to right around the speed limit). If I was going to go with a heavy duty pickup it would be for the beefed up frame and axles not for any need of increased power. Making me buy a truck that guzzles more gas than I want it to guzzle really turns me off. People got the job done for years with 1 ton SRW trucks with 350 small blocks which put out about as much power as today's V6's, so don't tell me that my 5.3 Liter V8 or the Ford 5.4 Liter V8 can't get the job that I need done, when my 5.3 already does get the job done. If I could get a 3/4 or one ton GM Crew Cab Z71 with a 5.3 Liter V8 and 3.42 gears, just like my current truck, I'd probably buy one, but the current crop of offerings offers too little fuel economy without delivering truly superior power.

Lastly, although the ride quality of these trucks has improved significantly over previous generations they still aren't quite what I'm used to, or perhaps more importantly what my wife is used to with my half ton. I could get past the diminished ride quality if I was picking up enough in other areas to justify it. Since I would have been forced to give up fuel economy with any engine (including the diesels) as well as fork over a bundle more money all for a truck that would perform certain functions better than my current truck, but wouldn't actually do anything that I need it to do that my current truck won't do, a new heavy duty pickup is just not in the cards right now or anywhere in the future. I may keep my eyes open for a used Ford Super Duty regular cab 4x4 pickup with a V10 for a good price or possibly even with a 7.3 but for now I'm sticking with what I've got. If I need a little extra oomph for some jobs I've got not only my uncle's Ram CTD that I can use, but also my friend's Super Duty now as well, as I do any brush hogging/ loader work that he needs for free and he offers me the use of his truck too if I occasionally need it.

 

[Willl]

That list is worthless.

Don't know, only had one truck to check it against and it was dead on. Anybody else ?

 

[mjncad]

The tires loaded up in between them and due to the extra flotation it just did not get a good bite on the rear end.

Chris

It sounds like duallies used off-road could use rock-ejectors like they put on off-highway haul trucks used in strip mines.

 

[Diamondpilot]

It sounds like duallies used off-road could use rock-ejectors like they put on off-highway haul trucks used in strip mines.

I am sure it depends on the soil type but I was in clay and it really made a mess. I am sure in something like a sandy soil the extra flotation may be nice. To me a dually is just not worth the hassle. People always say they have a extra tire but I would be more concerned on any vehicle, passenger cars included, with loosing a front wheel over a rear towing or not.

If I were driving the interstate only I would have a F-450 dually but to take to work, the bank, put in my garage, a Walmart parking lot, and down our narrow back roads I will never drive a dually again like I did in the late 90's. Learned my lesson.

Chris

 

[Dmace]

Don't know, only had one truck to check it against and it was dead on. Anybody else ?

That list only has the minimum GVWR and not the max. For instance, it list the Dodge Ram 3500 at 10,100lbs when it has a max of 12,200lbs.

 

[Dargo]

My experience with the dually I drove was it was no good in the mud. The tires loaded up in between them and due to the extra flotation it just did not get a good bite on the rear end.

I guess what the dealer stocks is what sells in a particular area. Just for example there are about 12 houses on my street. There is 1 Ford Dually, 4 Ford SRW 1 tons, 2 Dodge SRW 1 tons, 1 Dodge 3/4 ton, 1 Ford 3/4 ton, and the rest are 1/2 tons. As you can see the 3/4 tons are the odd man out. Twice as many 1 ton SRW trucks. I would say that is about the same ratio throughout my town.

All the dealers stock 1 ton SRW truck except for the GM dealer. He still only wants to sell 3/4 and duallys. He just does not understand what people really want. I had to drive all the way to Ft Wayne to get my GM 1 ton SRW I had in 05 and my neighbors GM 1 ton SRW truck came from Vincennes.

Chris

Nah, I definitely agree that, even though there are 6 tires pulling, a dually is worse off road. However, with heavy pin weights and pintle hitch weights, there's no comparison in hauling heavy trailers. They are literally about twice as stable. Handling the extra weight is the only reason you see any heavier truck having more than one set of rear wheels. I just happen to fall into that category.

It's sort of like when I always ran overloaded in a 1/2 ton pickup. Sure, I got by with it, but it is a whole lot nicer to have a truck properly equipped to handle the load. As I first mentioned, I'd have to have solid rear tires to go with a SRW pickup. At times I get all 4 rears squatting with 80 pounds in each. Clearly, only having 2 of them would not work as well in my particular situation.

 

[transferred]

Nah, I definitely agree that, even though there are 6 tires pulling, a dually is worse off road. However, with heavy pin weights and pintle hitch weights, there's no comparison in hauling heavy trailers. They are literally about twice as stable. Handling the extra weight is the only reason you see any heavier truck having more than one set of rear wheels. I just happen to fall into that category.

It's sort of like when I always ran overloaded in a 1/2 ton pickup. Sure, I got by with it, but it is a whole lot nicer to have a truck properly equipped to handle the load. As I first mentioned, I'd have to have solid rear tires to go with a SRW pickup. At times I get all 4 rears squatting with 80 pounds in each. Clearly, only having 2 of them would not work as well in my particular situation.

What 1-ton SRW did you have squatting? I'm assuming an older one because it's hard to overwhelms the newer ones and I haven't seen the tires bulge run up to max GCWR. I don't bother with airbags as I feel they mask the forces acting upon the vehicle, but on my buddy's ranch he uses them as he within reason he doesn't need top pay attention to the ratings. (To make clear, Dargo, not doubting at just curious given I'm taking in all info before returning to the SRW fold)

Now I totally hear you on a dually being a better fit for you. I've had two duallys before, and was thinking "I can return to a 1 ton now," but low and behold we lost one of our site rigs and we needed something that could get tow interstate and get through light mud with a backhoe so low behold I got another. Now, that responsibility is someone else's so most of the work I'll be doing is hauling and rarely have more than two 2k totes in the bed. For towing we bother said brother's travel trailer which is a scaled 15,000lber so about a 3k pin will give a safety net even loaded up with my family of five. One thing I am looking forward to is, when we get to the ski resort, running empty on the icy roads will be a little more secure rather than floating with the dually, though I always keep my speeds very low in these conditions.

Must say that I cringe whenever I see 1/2 tons hooked up to travel trailers or clearly overloaded. Their size makes people think they're more capable than they are, but the thought just a family on board puts them at the GVWR is something that I wish more people realized.

One final, unrelated point. If any of you get chance it's a hoot (irony) to try and find the specific weight rating's on Dodge's OWN SITE. With GM and Ford you can find out the GVWR/GCWR/Curb/Payload of all configurations of their 3/4 and one-tons but Dodge seem to hide this information. Even in their 2010 launch articles there was only vague references to MAX ratings.

Dodge make a good truck, my brother's 06 3500SRW has taken us on plenty a great journey and filled in when my truck went down at work. But please Chrysler corp, some transparency would be welcome.