KCJackson1

There were complaints of (too) firm shifting, but the main issue with the Aisin was with torque management prior to 2019. Many people reported a dead-pedal effect when they hit the go pedal hard from a stop or very low speed. For 2019, FCA, Cummins, and Aisin worked to reel that in.

Ram fixed their transmission issues by not using their own transmissions. The bulk of Rams are running ZFs, the Cummins HO has the Aisin behind it. Only the 68RFE behind the standard-output Cummins is still a Mopar unit.

This has been a long-time issue with Dodge/Ram. My 96 Ram was average at best, and my 05 Ram is an HVAC headache. The 03-05 Rams had a cheap blend door design that broke easily - I actually heard mine break as the little metal piece hit the inside of the dash as it fell. There was also a programming issue where the Body Control Module would dump refrigerant thinking it was overfilled and above pressure when that wasn't the case - it was supposedly fixed in a flash for 03 and 04 models, but not 05s. I have to recharge the AC every year. Never had that problem in my earlier F-150s, or in any GM truck I've driven (I've had Silverado 1500 , Suburban, and Tahoe as rentals over the years). The more recent Rams had a notable issue when the rear-seat vents were added to the interior, as the blower was intentionally biased for the rear vents because the duct was longer. This left the front vents too warm when the AC was on or too cool when the heat was on. Poor HVAC is a significant reason why I'm strongly considering Chevy/GMC over Ram for my nest truck.

Leg room as stated by the manufacturers: Ram Mega F/R: 40.9"/43.1" Chevy Crew F/R: 44.5/43.4" The leg room is only the same in the back seat - the front is always more in the front seat for Chevy. And if you move the Chevy's front seat up to the same position as Ram's maximum, you'd then have a significant advantage in the back seat (over 46 inches). The Ram Mega will also give you that huge blind spot from the wide rear pillar.

Pro-Chevy: In a Ram MegaCab, all the extra room is in the back seat - the Chevy has notably more leg room up front (44.5" > 40.9"). The Chevy's bed is 6 inches longer which may come into play if you haul things like bikes/ATVs. The Ram's increased towing capacity is offset by the reduced payload since tongue weight comes out of payload allowance. If you have a family and gear in the cab, you may not have enough remaining payload for tongue weight to tow that heavier trailer.

My point is, for so little sales of the 6.6L gas, there was no advantage of using the 6-speed - especially when Ford dropped both a new gas engine and accompanying transmission against it in their 2020 refresh. If GM had the faith to put the new 10L1000 in an otherwise all-new truck with the far better selling diesel, why bother producing such a small number of 6-speeds and skimp on those who wanted a gasoline engine?

The only reason I would disagree with that is the take-rate of the diesel is significantly higher - true in all the brands of HD trucks, for that matter. GM is installing way more 10L1000s, so if it had teething problems, they would begin to show by now.

That 10-year warranty on the Ford is a dealer/third-party program, something you want to avoid if you're RVing around the country since there's no guarantee it will be honored while you're on the road. Ford's longest factory service plan is 8 years/150,000 miles (which is very good if you drive a lot, almost 20K per year). As others noted, you drove a base F-250 - the STX is equivalent to the Chevy Custom, work-truck class with a few upgrades. To be fair, find a Lariat F-250 to test and see if the interior suits you better. I'd encourage you to test a Ram 2500 Laramie for one particular reason - Rams have the tightest turning radius, which may be a plus when maneuvering your trailer. On the minus side, Rams also have the least legroom and the smallest bed (6'4", Ford and Chevy/GMC are 6'10" for the standard bed). All three diesels will do the job, but with notably taller axle ratios available, Ford and Chevy/GMC have the potential for better mileage. The Cummins in the Ram 2500 is also the least powerful at 370/850 with a 6-speed... Ford (475/1050) and Chevy/GMC (445/910) both have 10-speeds now.

The Ram HDs haven't migrated to the new body yet (new 1500 style). The 2019 refresh was only the new front clip and updated dash, but is otherwise the same cab and box introduced a decade ago, as is the 1500 Classic. The full redesign for the HD to the new 1500's cab is now delayed until the 2023 model year (was previously scheduled for MY22). The new body's crew cab is 4 inches longer and has significantly more rear legroom (but no increase in front legroom).

All the extra room in the Ram Mega is back seat and the area between the back seat and the rear cab wall. You'll get a full-size full-cushion reclining rear seat that also folds into the floor for a very large (relatively) flat load space. As noted previously, the front seat still lacks legroom compared to Chevy, though - it's in the exact same place regardless of cab. The bed is still 6 inches shorter than the Chevy. The Mega also has that huge blind spot over the shoulder because of the wide C-pillar, which means more reliance on electronics to keep you from accidentally crushing a car alongside you.

The Chevy crew cab is significantly bigger in both front and rear leg room: Chevy F/R: 44.5/43.4 Ram F/R: 40.9/40.2 Ram also has the "short" cushion in the center of the rear seat. It may also make a difference where the 60/40 cut is, based on how you use the back seat. Ram has the 40 seat on the driver's side, Chevy has the 40 seat on the passenger side. The Ram is shorter in overall length, wheelbase, and bed length (assuming standard-bed truck): Ram OL/WB/BL: 238.8/149.3/76.3 Chevy OL/WB/BL: 249.9/158.9/82.2 That lesser length gives Ram a tighter turning circle - 48.2 feet to Chevy's 52.7 Haven't driven the gassers, so I won't comment on the engines, but in driving FCA cars with the ZF 8-speed, it's very smooth shifting and you get the two extra low gears over Chevy which will help with launching a load.

Unfortunately, all the brands have decided the best features now also require standard leather seats, and often that coffee table they call a center console.

My sister in the east suburbs of Columbus OH said she had two tornado sirens yesterday... when they come back to back, she says they get taken seriously. Glad you folks were able to walk away clean.

I believe you have to have power-extending mirrors (DZC) for remote features, not just power folding (DBG).

According to the guides, the retail Silverado LT trim is the ONLY way you can not get Safety Essentials or Safety Package 2 (PDJ) with forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking. It's listed as available if you buy a fleet Silverado LT, and on every other retail or fleet trim for both Silverado and Sierra. Would love to know why GM is specifically leaving that one trim level out... Ford and Ram have made forward collision warning and automatic braking available across the board on their HD pickup lines, and Chevy/GMC appear to be following suit for 2021, but with this one exception.