The RAM Truck thread – battle it out here

Went from GMC to a Dodge 3500 RAM with the 6.7 Cummins because I ran into the right deal. Truck rides like a brick dropped from an elephants arz. Wire harness sucks donkey balls. Front axel has been plagued with bearing, shaft, U-joint issues. Body panels have rattled loose from basic highway driving.

The Particulate filter system and re-gen process has failed multiple times. The auto-regen never worked and its at 100% full and in limp mode.

I would consider the RAM and GMC duramax to have about equal power for pulling loaded 32′ trailer in the mountains. The jake brake standard in the doge is great.

Most things about the dodge feel cheap. How the panels are put together, interior parts, and the bed is wimpier.

Dodge has not left me stranded on the freeway yet with 250K miles. My 2003 GMC had a front wheel bearing go out at Pine Bluff WY at about 450,000 miles.

So, that’s my dodge experience. Go ahead, put them on a pedestal or bash the hell out of them. Either a dodge lover or hater – Here’s your post!

I think there are clear differences, strengths/weaknesses when you look at the major brands by “category”.

In the half-ton world GM has been completely left in the dust. The aluminum F150 panels in a place that spreads salt for enjoyment is a substantial upgrade. Lots of people want to rip on the 3.5 ecoboost, but my experience is that it is the best towing 1/2 ton setup on the market. The newest Ram generation also seems very deserving for the many awards it has received. I like their higher trim interiors most of any of the half tons on the market today. I have no experience with Toyota full size pickups so won’t pretend to judge them either favorably or not. My Half Ton Scorecard:

1. F150
2. Ram
………
3. Silverado/Sierra in a very distant 3rd

For the 3/4 ton and 1 ton category, I think the field is a bit tighter from top to bottom. I don’t own a current one, just an old beat up F250 that’s a building and land only truck. The Powerstroke owes me nothing and keeps ticking though. With my limited experience in the newer rigs I find the Ram to have the worst “ride” whether towing or not. For pure aesthetics, I find the new GMs to be pretty sharp in this size range. If I was shopping tomorrow:

1. GM
2. Ford
3. Ram

Never had one in the driveway but these threads are always entertaining. Have driven Ford since day one and only stayed with them because they never failed me. Until recently when our business racked up it’s 6th egoboost cam phaser replacement in the last 4 years. Made the switch to a Chevy 3500 6.6 gasser. Went this route because I needed to get away from Ford at least once and knew I did not want anything with a turbo, afm, mds, auto start/stop, etc. A diesel just wasn’t a good fit for me and my driving. I’m of the opinion that it mostly comes down to personal preference. They can all break down.

If it aint a Honda Ridgeline it aint worth talkin bout. Everyone else except Rivian can suck it.

Bucky have you looked at the 2023 or newer GM Half Tons? Im talking the ones with the refreshed interiors not 2019 to 2022 (pre refresh) which is all the same body style, but there are exterior differences along with a completely different interior, dash, etc. Nowhere close to the same vehicle.
Ive been in new Fords and Rams and I certainly wasnt in awe in comparison to my 2022 Sierra (mine is a refresh model late MY build). The one thing I will give Ram credit for, before the new twin turbo v6 they had the best stock sounding exhaust IMO.

^No, I don’t think so. I have been in a fishing buddy’s ’22 multiple times but I don’t think the interior was significantly different. Your post would make sense that way then for sure.

I’m a cash for my vehicles person, so the F150 and older ’10 F250 hopefully won’t go anywhere anytime soon. …Fingers crossed they have a lot of miles left! The Mrs. will upgrade her 24′ Jeep Grand Cherokee L probably 3 more times before I go truck shopping again

My ram 3/4 ton rode like a brick poop house. I installed billstein gas shocks, 2 inch front lift, steering stabilizer and it now rides and handles great. I was a ram hater most my life. But after my 2016 impressed me I bought the new one in 2022. The 16 went to hell and back and loved it.

I am now on my second Ram 1500. previously I had only owned Chevy trucks and my wife came from a Ford only family. So the first one I bought, I was just hoping for the best.
Well, I must have very good luck with buying used Rams. First was 2011 that I drove until 2021, then bought 2017. Between the 2 trucks I have put just over 200,000 miles on them and outside of routine maintenance, I have had to only to put in 3 front drive axles($90 part and easy to put in) in the 2011, that truck did not like muddy forest roads. And a PCM in the 2011 ($900). 2017 has been issue free for the last 3 years. So, the Ram has cost me $117 each year over trouble free to drive. I will take that as win every time. Love my Rams.

They are all going to have problems as no one makes a truck with its problems. Rams have always been the cheaper truck, Me I am a Ford guy.

They’re all over priced and under built now days. I’m not impressed with anything built in the last decade. They all have problems. Pick your poison.

Oh baby !

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I’ve had 1/2 ton Sierra’s, Silverado’s, Ford XLT’s and Lariat’s. I keep going back to Ford as I feel the interior is more spacious and the clearance is better than Chevy/GMC. I’ve never experienced a Ram and have no interest. For how I use my truck (Highway, ice fishing, boat towing, pheasant hunting) the interior space and clearance are important to me. I do not love the towing gas mileage with the 3.5 but that has been a common theme when towing the 6×12 enclosed trailer I have labeled as the “windsail” with FOrd/GMC/Chevy. Seems you hook anything to these new 1/2 tons and it trips the gas guage to dump fuel as fast as possible. Funny enough, I get better gas mileage pulling my new 2023 Lund Crossover 1875 then I did a 2010 Lund Explorer 1825. The Crossover is heavier, has a full windshield where the Explorer was double bubbles that weren’t on while towing, and both had single axle trailers No idea….

In this truck conversation I’ve always said they are all nice and all have their plusses and minuses, it comes down to what’s important to you and what you like.

bigcrappie wrote:

They are all going to have problems as no one makes a truck with its problems. Rams have always been the cheaper truck, Me I am a Ford guy.

Definitely cheaper, I just spent months trying to decide. My 2013 Ram was still mechanically fine this winter but was getting really rusty in several areas. I convinced myself I was getting an F150 for the aluminum body but, for less than a barebones STX, you can get a nicely equipped RAM. My wife drove both and thought STX was a pos. Said our truck now is rusty and works fine, wouldn’t you rather be comfy and have features instead of exterior cosmetics? Well, there’s logic in that to me so we got another RAM.

I shopped them all extensively when I bought my last Ram in 2022. I found positive and negatives with all of them…it really comes down to personal preference.

I stayed with the Ram because my first one was bulletproof and dollar for dollar the Ram had the best interior at the time.

The second Ram I have now is 40k miles in without a single issue.

grubson wrote:

They’re all over priced and under built now days. I’m not impressed with anything built in the last decade. They all have problems. Pick your poison.

I’ll take the bait. What do you drive?

Am I the only one that thinks they are all pretty solid these days? I’ve been a Ram owner exclusively but that was mainly due to finding solid deals on both of them. And I have come to love the 5.7 Hemi, more power than I’ve needed and again no issues on 160k on my first truck or 120k on my current one. I’m at the point now though, where I start debating trading it in while it still has some value or running the wheels off of it.

BigWerm wrote:

Am I the only one that thinks they are all pretty solid these days? I’ve been a Ram owner exclusively but that was mainly due to finding solid deals on both of them. And I have come to love the 5.7 Hemi, more power than I’ve needed and again no issues on 160k on my first truck or 120k on my current one. I’m at the point now though, where I start debating trading it in while it still has some value or running the wheels off of it.

Nope. I agree with you.

They all break. In my job, I hear customers in the lounge ALL DAY complaining about their old pos truck they had and they switched to RAM and was the best decision ever… I also hear them say I never should have got rid of my Ford/GM for this thing !

This thread was started for one person in particular and they have yet to chime in ???

I also like to tell the story of when I lived on Maui. MOST of my RAM technicians, drove Toyotas… the island is obsessed with Toyota Tacoma’s. Anyways, when they had issues with their trucks (they all did) they complained how long it took to get an appointment at Toyota… evidently, their service department was booked out for months. I told them to call our service dept and see how long the wait was… it was a couple days !! So which was more reliable ?

I started with Dodge/Ram 1500s in 1996 and that’s all I drove until July of 2024. I think I had 6 of them with no real issues. I think an alternator pooped out on one during warranty, I remember a PS hose went on another (easy fix) and my last one, a 2017 Limited developed air suspension woes around 140K. That was a nightmare but I really don’t hold it against Ram…it was great till it wasn’t. Long story but I swapped it out for conventional suspension and it was going strong when I got rid of it early September. Great trucks, plenty of power (for 1/2 tons) fantastic ride etc. Why not a new 2025 Ram? I just wasn’t sold on the new Hurricane engine which was the only option. I hope it proves itself but I just didn’t feel “it” when I drove one. I know it’s been in the Jeep lineup a while now but I don’t consider that a great comparison. I have nothing but good to say about my years with Ram and maybe I’ll be back next time. Hopefully I have good luck with my new choice, an F-150 Lariat, 3.5 EcoBoost. My last Ford F-150 was a 1990…now that was NOT a good truck in many ways! I think in the end it’s all a crapshoot on vehicles.

I can agree with overpriced, but IDK about underbuilt. My current truck is built to a much higher standard and more solid than my last one and its not even close. I felt my 19 boat behind my last truck. The only time I remember I am pulling it with my new truck is when I put my blinker on and the camera shines down the side of my truck and displays on my 60 inch screen.

big_g wrote:

Oh baby !

Musta photoshopped all the stickers off!?

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>grubson wrote:</div>
They’re all over priced and under built now days. I’m not impressed with anything built in the last decade. They all have problems. Pick your poison.

I’ll take the bait. What do you drive?

I’m like 05-06 GMC’s 1/2 ton with a 5.3. I have two of them.
One with 300k and one with 250k. They’re getting hard to find that aren’t rusted out. I like them because they’re basic and about as easy to repair as they get. Neither has ever left me stranded.
I also have a 1996 F150 that’s currently in retirement, it’s still solid, just needs to be resurrected and driven. Just haven’t had time for that one recently.

Joe Jarl wrote:

Musta photoshopped all the stickers off!?

I was going to say the same thing!

Riverrat wrote:

If it aint a Honda Ridgeline it aint worth talkin bout. Everyone else except Rivian can suck it.

Every time I’m hauling a case of beer AND groceries home in my ridgeline I am reminded that this “truck” just simply does it all!

Rivian is on my sh*t list with that annoying horizontal bar headlight thing. Every time one comes up behind me I want to break something.

big_g wrote:

They all break. In my job, I hear customers in the lounge ALL DAY complaining about their old pos truck they had and they switched to RAM and was the best decision ever… I also hear them say I never should have got rid of my Ford/GM for this thing !

This thread was started for one person in particular and they have yet to chime in ???

I also like to tell the story of when I lived on Maui. MOST of my RAM technicians, drove Toyotas… the island is obsessed with Toyota Tacoma’s. Anyways, when they had issues with their trucks (they all did) they complained how long it took to get an appointment at Toyota… evidently, their service department was booked out for months. I told them to call our service dept and see how long the wait was… it was a couple days !! So which was more reliable ?

Some of us work for a living and can’t be on our phones or behind a computer all day

Joe Jarl wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
Oh baby !

Musta photoshopped all the stickers off!?

But they still put those stupid hidden compartments in the box. What’s with all the stupid gimicks? Do they still have the cooler under the floor in the back seat?

Riverrat wrote:

If it aint a Honda Ridgeline it aint worth talkin bout. Everyone else except Rivian can suck it.

Best mini van ever made!!
They do have arguably the best V6 engine made in them. I love those Honda V6’s.

I snapped this picture when I got to work this morning. I know we live in Minnesota but that’s just not normal.

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Haha. That’s an old Ram. And that is absolutely normal in mn. I see Ford’s and GM’s like that every day!

Riverrat wrote:

If it aint a Honda Ridgeline it aint worth talkin bout. Everyone else except Rivian can suck it.

My guy