Ram 1500 EcoDiesel

[TheGoose]

I really didn't want a truck as loaded as this one but their are no 2017 1500 EcoDiesels being made yet. There is some kind of hold up between FCA, Bosch, and the EPA. I wanted to order one but knowing that the earliest the truck would get here would be March I decided to try and find one of the best trucks left. I really wanted the Ram Box option as I feel that it would be very useful. I wanted to find a Lone Star edition (SLT I think). Finding a Crew Cab 4x4 1500 Eco Diesel that wasn't white or blue or black is a tough proposition. We found one in Alabama like I wanted and almost flew there to buy it. Found one in Houston, drove about 90 miles to get it. My wife was prodding me all morning that we needed to get going (dealer didn't open until 9am). As we were buying this one another person/salesman was looking at it, they wanted to buy it. They only had one other EcoDiesel on the lot and it was a red 2WD. Salesman told them "Sorry, sold. Missed it by 15 minutes".

 

[TnWV]

1500 ED. Engine feels very strong, if not quite as "quick" as my 3.5EB. The EB feels more like a race car, the ED feels more like torquey power like a tractor. The engine is very quiet.

The 3.0L ED engine is a $3,000 option over the 5.7L Hemi, which is not far off from what the ecoboost engine costs. I bought this truck (Loaded Laramie with heated cooled leather seats 4x4) for about $43K which is what a few of the XLT F150's were going for. The best deal I could make on a F-150 4x4 XLT was about $38,500 but was low on the options lists. The avg price for a F150 XLT was $42K.

I had the same experience. I paid over 2k less for my Ecodiesel bighorn than the best deal could get on a 3.5 ecoboost XLT with as similar of options as possible. I have always liked Ford vehicles but have never been able to purchase a new one. The local Ford dealers just aren't easy to deal with here. My Ecodiesel replaced a 2009 Ford Fusion that never had a mechanical problem. Most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. I bought it used from a family member.

 

[94BULLITT]

I really didn't want a truck as loaded as this one but their are no 2017 1500 EcoDiesels being made yet. There is some kind of hold up between FCA, Bosch, and the EPA. I wanted to order one but knowing that the earliest the truck would get here would be March I decided to try and find one of the best trucks left. I really wanted the Ram Box option as I feel that it would be very useful. I wanted to find a Lone Star edition (SLT I think). Finding a Crew Cab 4x4 1500 Eco Diesel that wasn't white or blue or black is a tough proposition. We found one in Alabama like I wanted and almost flew there to buy it. Found one in Houston, drove about 90 miles to get it. My wife was prodding me all morning that we needed to get going (dealer didn't open until 9am). As we were buying this one another person/salesman was looking at it, they wanted to buy it. They only had one other EcoDiesel on the lot and it was a red 2WD. Salesman told them "Sorry, sold. Missed it by 15 minutes".

IMO your better off without the Ram Boxes. You loose a lot of bed space with them.

 

[TheGoose]

I don't see it that way. You lose "bed space" that is above the wheel wells that you don't normally use anyways. I usually have a toolbox over my bed rails that chops off 1-2' of space OVHD but still allows things to be slid under it. With the Ram Box I would get rid of my regular toolbox and keep my junk in there (tow straps, hand tools, etc).

Here is a good comparison. 216 Ram 15: Is the RamBox Worth Having or a Waste of Space?

 

[94BULLITT]

Figure up the cubic feet of a bed with ram boxes, Ram does not publish it. Compare it the cubic feet of a regular bed. If you are hauling something like firewood or mulch you use the space around the wheels.

 

[sd455dan]

There is a thread on the Ecodiesel forum with people having lots of problems. Quite a few have been driving down the road and the engine flys to pieces. VM motori makes the engine for it. They also made the engine for the Liberty and Grand Cherokee CRD. When was the last time you saw one of them.

How many miles on your ecodiesel and have you had any problems? | Page 2 | EcoDieselRam.com - EcoDiesel Ram 15 Truck Community

Interesting -after reading the whole thing looks like the fuel filler necks can have a water leakage problem... does not sound as if there is an inherent engine problem.

The eco diesel made Wards 10 best engines list for both 2015 And 2016



Wife has recently put a couple thousand miles on an elderly friends 2015 eco diesel Ram, driving him to and from medical treatments.
It has rolled up about 30k miles on it so far- and has been trouble free and is averaging just over 26 mpg overall so far.
According to him it is the best truck he has owned to date, his other favorite long term truck he has kept through thick and thin is a 7.3 Ford F 250 4x4.

His only complaint so far has been the dealers $ 68 oil filters, But i ordered the factory Mopar ones from amazon for him for about $38. Seems Mopar has a lock on the filters so far...

Some research i did on the oil filters , showed some filter manufacturers were selling a similar filter saying it fit the new Ram eco-diesels for about $15 but the sealing ring on the (cartridge) filter was located in the wrong place and may have caused problems not sealing... Until this gets thoroughly straightened out by the aftermarket, going to stick with the $$ factory # Mopar oil filter. Not sure whether this caused any engine failures but i wouldn't doubt it.

Also found this interesting concerning a switch to T6 Rotella for the 2016 eco diesels and references to problems caused by the thinner oil (5w-30 vs. 5w-40)...

214-216 Ram EcoDiesel: New Rotella T6 Engine Oil Spec and Oil Filter Updates - YouTube


makes a good point about sticking with the factory filter for warranty protection




ps.

to the Goose- Congrats on the new truck, I hope it serves you well

 

[TheGoose]

Figure up the cubic feet of a bed with ram boxes, Ram does not publish it. Compare it the cubic feet of a regular bed. If you are hauling something like firewood or mulch you use the space around the wheels.

You're right. But very rarely do I load up on mulch or firewood and when I need to I have a much better suited 12' trailer with a built in gate that makes it easy. If I needed the bed space I would have held out for the 6'4" box instead.

For my purposes the ram box would be much more useful on an everyday basis.

 

[Haoleguy]

Congrats on your new truck Goose! Hopefully this truck will meet your durability/serviceability expectations. Have a good friend that sells & services farm equipment from Ontario down to the northeastern US and he switched from a newish RAM 2500 Cummins to RAM 1500 Ecodiesel two years back. When I saw him late last year he was very happy with it's capabilty in comfort and 5k-8k towing. He was especially pleased with the 28mpg he was experiencing. To help on the towing he purchased a newer aluminum trailer to haul equipment. Enjoy your truck.

 

[sdef]

I really didn't want a truck as loaded as this one but their are no 2017 1500 EcoDiesels being made yet. There is some kind of hold up between FCA, Bosch, and the EPA. I wanted to order one but knowing that the earliest the truck would get here would be March I decided to try and find one of the best trucks left. I really wanted the Ram Box option as I feel that it would be very useful. I wanted to find a Lone Star edition (SLT I think). Finding a Crew Cab 4x4 1500 Eco Diesel that wasn't white or blue or black is a tough proposition. We found one in Alabama like I wanted and almost flew there to buy it. Found one in Houston, drove about 90 miles to get it. My wife was prodding me all morning that we needed to get going (dealer didn't open until 9am). As we were buying this one another person/salesman was looking at it, they wanted to buy it. They only had one other EcoDiesel on the lot and it was a red 2WD. Salesman told them "Sorry, sold. Missed it by 15 minutes".

I had a similar experience with my 2015 Ram 2500 Cummins, in that I wanted a 2016 but could not order one yet due to factory options availability that late in the year (June), or something. Had I waited another 6 - 8 weeks or so I could have ordered a 2016 exactly as I wanted but would not have the $2500 rebate and some other discount. My local, small town dealer down the road from me was able to find a near identical truck a few hundred mile away in NC and we locked in the deal by phone with that dealer. Pretty easy process that guaranteed me the truck I wanted with all important options. I did have to pay for the Nav. unit which I did not want and still do not like. But overall a good process. Plus I wanted certain winter type options that were not available in my area for in stock trucks and this truck had.

 

[TheGoose]

Towed the 16' livestock trailer with two full grown horses. I estimate about 7K lbs. Truck did great. I was worried that the rear end would squat but it did not and it towed fine.

Been getting 22 mpg overall and easily 24-26 hwy.