Dodge ram

[Turbys_1700]

I just read through this and would have gotten to the end a lot faster without all the wasted space by the two folks I have on ignore. For the rest of you who know who I'm talking about, just put them on ignore. Don't ever respond to anything they say. Ignore them totally. Maybe like a roach looking for food they will go elsewhere.

Ok, back on topic. I own a 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie, hemi, with the one feature I didn't see anyone mention here.
I bought this truck specifically to get the full airbag suspension; a suspension that I still believe makes this truck unique.
Ride is really excellent, like a big SUV, very little crashing and banging. Air bag suspensions are everywhere now, and I'm sure twenty years from now
replacing them will give the owners a heart attack. It cost me 850 bucks each to replace them on one car I own...
But they are there for a reason.

Before anyone pipes up saying you can't tow with that air bag suspension, oh yes you can. I pull a 7400 pound Jayco conventional rv trailer and the truck is a beast.
That 5.7 motor is seriously strong, even pulling the trailer I don't hold up anyone at the stoplights. Gas mileage? Not so good. Started off getting 16, now I'm in the low
15's with 23k miles on the truck. Yes, the dealership wants to replace all 16 spark plugs at 30k miles. Am wondering if new plugs would help my mileage, but geez weren't these plugs designed to go 100k miles? Didn't they have to because of emissions??? That's a lot of money for routine servicing at relatively low miles on a truck. And that engine is not easy to get to....up high and way back tucked in. You could do your own plugs, but you'd better be limber.

Hemi Tick. Big problem. I complained and complained. And finally they did something, after the tick would not go away for ten minutes. They replaced two roller tappets and totally solved the hemi tick problem. Either they have a batch of bad tappets or? So don't ignore your tick and be demanding. I would not want an out of warranty bill on that valve gear. Btw, my local dealer is amazingly good, and I credit there being a really competent female service manager. New dealership, very professional. None of the old let's see how much we can rip them off for attitude. An exception to the rule perhaps; I've had awful experiences with service dept bandits.

Twenty years ago I think Dodge had problems with their trannies not being heavy duty enough for the tough jobs, like snow plowing. I had a friend who finally sold his Dodge after three transmissions. And while he plowed snow he was slow and careful, not a machinery abuser at all. He had no problems with the Chevy he then drove. Today if the trans is an Aisin that's probably top drawer, like the trans I used to have in a 3500 Cummins dually. I find the trans in my truck just perfect, tow/haul works fine, though with an empty trailer I don't need it; the engine has so much torque it holds higher gears fine.

Best part of my truck? Listening to the motor when it hits 5000 rpm...what a glorious noise. Right up there with a Chevy small block. But a little lower, bassier.
I even got pulled over by a LEO once (for a chat only) who heard me take it through its first two gears, since even stock this truck puts out serious sound when revving out, almost like they have a cutout
in it. Which they don't of course.

Lastly, the Ram has a full width old style steel bumper up front. Came in very, very handy when I hit a full grown black bear last Fall at 50mph in the dark. Bent the bumper back but body shop guy said Ford and Chevy would have had a lot more damage up front due to plastic grills. And something about full length frame rails.

My truck was the fairly rare black forest green, which I find very attractive, though of course it shows dirt. What I wish is if you could get that color in a solid, they force you into two toning which with the fairly garish chrome/plastic coated rims, makes the truck a lot more stylish than I wanted. If they made the Ram in that solid color and offered adaptive cruise, I'd buy a new one. Otherwise I expect to keep this truck a long time.

Don't forget to ignore the haters. And Merry Christmas to all of you, no matter what you drive...

Thanks for the detailed review. I really appreciate it.

I am looking at a retirement truck in the future when my wife and I hang it up. The Ram is on my short list for the air suspension. I predict Ford and GM will follow suit fairly quickly with this option. As us baby boomers retire high entry steps forgo purchasing trucks as daily drivers. Having the option to lower the entry step is very appealing to me. I just paid $250 to a really good fabricator to lower my Nerf bars on my 2500 HD. Well worth it IMHO.

 

[daugen]

Pressing the button and watching the truck lower itself by about two inches is more than a party trick. I'm older and some older friends find this a real help
getting in the truck. And it was fun to push the button the other way, lifting the truck, when I went out on OBX beaches, not that I went anywhere I needed to.

 

[daugen]

One area Ford and GM have the jump on FCA is safety, mainly the adaptive cruise and autobraking functions.
My understanding is 2019 Rams will have new electronics. ?
Adaptive cruise is a genuine pleasure in long trips and rather surprisingly, heavy traffic. I hate tailgaters so it's perfect for me, keeps you spaced
properly and who cares if folks dart in. The system just stays off the gas until the darter is far enough ahead and then follows the car ahead at the
prescribed three, four or five car/truck lengths. I was a disbeliever until i bought my Subaru Outback with the cameras and radar. Now I won't buy a new car without it.
Still Level One, I'm quite comfortable driving my own vehicle thank you. But smart cruise control is, well, smart.

I once owned a VW Golf TDI, and the VW dealers were masters at deception and stonewalling.
The dealer repeatedly lied to me. And I knew better because I had gone on the forums to do as much research as I could on their diesel intercooler winter water ingestion problems
which they finally admitted was a problem and approved a factory fix. And acted like they had never heard of it before even though I knew others who had complained to the same dealership and posted their experiences online.
So I don't trust oem manufacturers regardless of how nice the local dealer is.
Should we trust Fiat to be straight with us?

 

[coobie]

I just read through this and would have gotten to the end a lot faster without all the wasted space by the two folks I have on ignore. For the rest of you who know who I'm talking about, just put them on ignore. Don't ever respond to anything they say. Ignore them totally. Maybe like a roach looking for food they will go elsewhere.

Ok, back on topic. I own a 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie, hemi, with the one feature I didn't see anyone mention here.
I bought this truck specifically to get the full airbag suspension; a suspension that I still believe makes this truck unique.
Ride is really excellent, like a big SUV, very little crashing and banging. Air bag suspensions are everywhere now, and I'm sure twenty years from now
replacing them will give the owners a heart attack. It cost me 850 bucks each to replace them on one car I own...
But they are there for a reason.

Before anyone pipes up saying you can't tow with that air bag suspension, oh yes you can. I pull a 7400 pound Jayco conventional rv trailer and the truck is a beast.
That 5.7 motor is seriously strong, even pulling the trailer I don't hold up anyone at the stoplights. Gas mileage? Not so good. Started off getting 16, now I'm in the low
15's with 23k miles on the truck. Yes, the dealership wants to replace all 16 spark plugs at 30k miles. Am wondering if new plugs would help my mileage, but geez weren't these plugs designed to go 100k miles? Didn't they have to because of emissions??? That's a lot of money for routine servicing at relatively low miles on a truck. And that engine is not easy to get to....up high and way back tucked in. You could do your own plugs, but you'd better be limber.

Hemi Tick. Big problem. I complained and complained. And finally they did something, after the tick would not go away for ten minutes. They replaced two roller tappets and totally solved the hemi tick problem. Either they have a batch of bad tappets or? So don't ignore your tick and be demanding. I would not want an out of warranty bill on that valve gear. Btw, my local dealer is amazingly good, and I credit there being a really competent female service manager. New dealership, very professional. None of the old let's see how much we can rip them off for attitude. An exception to the rule perhaps; I've had awful experiences with service dept bandits.

Twenty years ago I think Dodge had problems with their trannies not being heavy duty enough for the tough jobs, like snow plowing. I had a friend who finally sold his Dodge after three transmissions. And while he plowed snow he was slow and careful, not a machinery abuser at all. He had no problems with the Chevy he then drove. Today if the trans is an Aisin that's probably top drawer, like the trans I used to have in a 3500 Cummins dually. I find the trans in my truck just perfect, tow/haul works fine, though with an empty trailer I don't need it; the engine has so much torque it holds higher gears fine.

Best part of my truck? Listening to the motor when it hits 5000 rpm...what a glorious noise. Right up there with a Chevy small block. But a little lower, bassier.
I even got pulled over by a LEO once (for a chat only) who heard me take it through its first two gears, since even stock this truck puts out serious sound when revving out, almost like they have a cutout
in it. Which they don't of course.

Lastly, the Ram has a full width old style steel bumper up front. Came in very, very handy when I hit a full grown black bear last Fall at 50mph in the dark. Bent the bumper back but body shop guy said Ford and Chevy would have had a lot more damage up front due to plastic grills. And something about full length frame rails.

My truck was the fairly rare black forest green, which I find very attractive, though of course it shows dirt. What I wish is if you could get that color in a solid, they force you into two toning which with the fairly garish chrome/plastic coated rims, makes the truck a lot more stylish than I wanted. If they made the Ram in that solid color and offered adaptive cruise, I'd buy a new one. Otherwise I expect to keep this truck a long time.

Don't forget to ignore the haters. And Merry Christmas to all of you, no matter what you drive...:thumbsup:

I hit a 7 point buck going 75mph last year in Northern Mi. about 150 miles from home.It had $7,000 worth damage but still made it home with no issues.Added a front grill guard after the fact.

 

[mopardude318]

Thats a real nice truck. ^^

 

[daugen]

I hit a 7 point buck going 75mph last year in Northern Mi. about 150 miles from home.It had $7,000 worth damage but still made it home with no issues.Added a front grill guard after the fact.

Coobie that guard looks so nice I'd be horrified if you dented it, much less your truck. Very nice.
Have dodged deer all my life, never hit a bear before.
Looks like the deer hit high enough to trip your airbag sensor which is right in the middle at the bottom of the grill. Mine did not go off, the bear was lower,
so was about three grand in damage.
What a bang and a bizarre thrum of some kind, a big twang, after that bumper "released" the bear.
I used my tractor to pull out the bumper the next morning. Took a lickin and kept on tickin.
Ram dealership said body shop did such a nice job they couldn't tell it had been fixed. All good.

 

[coobie]

Coobie that guard looks so nice I'd be horrified if you dented it, much less your truck. Very nice.
Have dodged deer all my life, never hit a bear before.
Looks like the deer hit high enough to trip your airbag sensor which is right in the middle at the bottom of the grill. Mine did not go off, the bear was lower,
so was about three grand in damage.
What a bang and a bizarre thrum of some kind, a big twang, after that bumper "released" the bear.
I used my tractor to pull out the bumper the next morning. Took a lickin and kept on tickin.
Ram dealership said body shop did such a nice job they couldn't tell it had been fixed. All good.

Your bumper hit looks like mine,LOL.Been driving 43 years never hit a deer until last year.My new truck only had 8,000 miles on the OD when hit occurred but never got into any paint.Thank god the air bags did not deploy.The little sensors you see in the front bumper are parking sensors.Pic attached from my body shop when they started the repair.Needless to say I was sick at first but they did a great job no issues since the repair.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Thanks for the detailed review. I really appreciate it.

I am looking at a retirement truck in the future when my wife and I hang it up. The Ram is on my short list for the air suspension. I predict Ford and GM will follow suit fairly quickly with this option. As us baby boomers retire high entry steps forgo purchasing trucks as daily drivers. Having the option to lower the entry step is very appealing to me. I just paid $250 to a really good fabricator to lower my Nerf bars on my 2500 HD. Well worth it IMHO.

The F150 Platinum has a fairly low running board when it extends. My wife at 5'3" loves it. She also likes sitting up high in a truck.

 

[Monster diesel]

Used to work in auto body. Best kind of undercoating is kind that never dries out like the old tar type. Amsoil makes a perfect example of a spray on heavy duty metal protector literally called the same. Sprays on like a “WD40” but dries to a tacky heavy waxy film that is almost impossible to wash off when it dries. If you don’t want to diy their are companies that utilize similar type of synthetic oil based coatings now. All can say about dodge is review least reliable trucks before you decide.

 

[daugen]

FCA Recalls 1.48 Million Trucks over Shifter Issue - Motor Trend

but not the rotary shifter model 1500's.
that's a big recall

It's really surprising manufacturers are still having problems with keeping vehicles in Park.
They say the reason these Rams failed was high heat over long periods of time. Metal shouldn't buckle, makes me
wonder if some plastic piece gave up.