Talk me out of it!

ShotgunZ71 · February 2

The idea of a RAM with the Cummins/ZF combo intrigues me as well, but only with a dually and 50 gallon tank. Like you, my current truck has been great so far. Granted only a couple years, but no issues to speak of.

I've always been a GM person, but my current Ford has been great. I had issues with 2 of the last 3 GM HD trucks I had. Since, the transmission issues have increased, the oil in coolant issue, and the sliding window frame cracks still make me skeptical on going back right now. Then, some people still go 100s of thousands of miles on any of the HD trucks from any brand and never have an issue. Get what you want, you can always get something else if you don't like it.

Byrds8 · February 2

Isnt the lock cylinder for the door hidden in the handle?

MrChips · February 2

We had a 2016 Ram 3500 for a delivery truck for our shop and it was in the shop a lot. It had a Cummins, which I loved but the Aisin transmission was a problem. We got rid of it and replaced it with a 2020 GMC 3500HD and haven't had any issues at all, it's currently pushing 300,000 miles and the only things we've replaced are tires, brakes and a rear end seal that started leaking at around 200,000 miles. I really like the Cummins but I feel like the rest of the truck is behind GM and Ford. If I was forced to jump to a different brand I would go to Ford...

Chuck FB · February 2

23 minutes ago, MrChips said:

We had a 2016 Ram 3500 for a delivery truck for our shop and it was in the shop a lot. It had a Cummins, which I loved but the Aisin transmission was a problem. We got rid of it and replaced it with a 2020 GMC 3500HD and haven't had any issues at all, it's currently pushing 300,000 miles and the only things we've replaced are tires, brakes and a rear end seal that started leaking at around 200,000 miles. I really like the Cummins but I feel like the rest of the truck is behind GM and Ford. If I was forced to jump to a different brand I would go to Ford...

The 2020 GMC as I just want to ask to make sure, does it have the 10L1000 10 speed transmission and if so nothing has failed on that transmission and not even the valve body that seems to have been this major issue ?. Again if it is that transmission, was the trans oil changed often. Also I find it extremely surprising that there has not been an emissions issue, it must be getting loaded down enough that its not having the dpf clog up, but then there are the sensors in the intake that do get completely clogged in a short period of time because of the egr blowing soot through it.

MrChips · February 2

3 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

The 2020 GMC as I just want to ask to make sure, does it have the 10L1000 10 speed transmission and if so nothing has failed on that transmission and not even the valve body that seems to have been this major issue ?. Again if it is that transmission, was the trans oil changed often. Also I find it extremely surprising that there has not been an emissions issue, it must be getting loaded down enough that its not having the dpf clog up, but then there are the sensors in the intake that do get completely clogged in a short period of time because of the egr blowing soot through it.

Yes it has the 10 speed transmission and we did change fluid around the 100k mark. The majority of miles we put on it is highway so I think that could be the reason for not having any emission issues. My daily driver is 2024 GMC AT4 HD and after 33,000 miles it hasn't had an issue, other than regular oil/filter changes I've done nothing to it.

Chuck FB · February 2

28 minutes ago, MrChips said:

Yes it has the 10 speed transmission and we did change fluid around the 100k mark. The majority of miles we put on it is highway so I think that could be the reason for not having any emission issues. My daily driver is 2024 GMC AT4 HD and after 33,000 miles it hasn't had an issue, other than regular oil/filter changes I've done nothing to it.

That goes to show that some of the 10L1000 transmissions out there and perhaps due to its use type can function without issues although surprises me due to the amount of people having had valve body issues and the various transmission companies coming out with their version of a fix/modifications to the valve body.

Last year I had bought some of the Delco low viscosity trans fluid from the dealer and just prior to that I was getting the idea that it was hit or miss to source the fluid as the Ford dealer was running out of it, same situation with a certain GM dealer and other suppliers ( owner of a transmission shop was telling me of his struggles to find the fluid ). But as it turned out the dealer I bought my truck from seemed to have a supply of it when I asked at the parts counter and the comment was, well we have to have a good supply of it due to all the valve bodies we've been changing .... yeah, he said the quiet part out loud there. Mind you that would have been based on a combination of light duty pickups and suvs and heavy duty trucks.

The sensor I didn't mention by name before is the MAP sensor and I don't know how far the typical truck goes before its so clogged up that it throws a code but that sure has been talked about along with many videos and photo of nasty looking sensors so choked off with thick black soot, and Banks as one company making a relocating kit to try and slow down the plugging effect but that isn't a cure all either. I have a good feeling though that the trucks use type along with doing things like adding a pedal monster for example or an emissions legal power booster is not helping the situation at all as well as more cold starts and short runs and flogging on the throttle cause the soot flow to rise a lot in the system including going through the egr, only the dpf is preventing the driver from seeing that the engine is actually blowing black smoke so it seems like the engine is running amazingly clean when that's not quite the case and gives a false sense of driver input.

But again, just amazed how trouble free the 2020 truck has been, I wish that was how all vehicles would be.

Jettech1 · February 4

Great conversation here all. I really appreciate it. I've learned quite a bit by reading everything that has been written and truly appreciate the time it took you all to do that. I actually am looking at the 3500 SRW 2026 short bed quad cab. One person said the 3500's have leaf springs instead of coils. To me, that's education because I had no idea of that and that's what I really appreciate is being educated....learning....I'm the guy who researches everything that costs more than 100 bucks, and luckily my wife is the queen of deals as well. Another great reason that I love this site....so much knowledge to be had if you just ask. Please keep the knowledge flowing because I'm taking it all in and it really helps when it comes to making that jump if I do. You all are amazing!!!! Thank you so much!!

My truck has been paid for after the first 3 months of ownership so that's not a factor. I guess the real factor is do I need a diesel and can I justify it??? Hell no....have I always wanted one....YESSSS.....but I've always wanted the Cummins, not the duramax nor the the powerstroke, and with Ram going with ZF just made me drool even more in my old age. I've said this before, my perfect truck would be a chevy HD with the Cummins in it.

Probably a stupid idea knowing that I LOVE my current gasser, but hell, sometimes stupid ideas work out for the best, and sometimes not...lol....I'm still learning and swaying to say the least.

Edited February 4 by Jettech1

Chuck FB · February 4

I checked and it appears 2014 was the first year for the Ram 2500 to have rear coil springs and the 3500 had leaf springs. However and I can't confirm this but possibly some more recent model year high end trim single rear wheel 3500's may have coil springs but I will say this is a surprise to me but again I can't confirm or deny that finding.

I don't know if your aware but for model year 2027 Ram is coming out with the Ram 2500 "Cummins" power wagon version. From the sounds of how its described, it won't share the lift and softer spring rates of the gas version of the power wagon, nor will it be able to fit a factory winch because of the coolers. It will have the same diff gear ratio that the other 25/35 series Cummins trucks have and by the sounds of it the same coil spring rates as the other 2500 Cummins models giving it that 3000 or so pounds of payload. So what is the big deal about a power wagon the way they designed it that doesn't have any better axle articulation or off road ride, it seems to come down to one desirable off road option and that is selectable front and rear diff lockers. If one never plans on doing anything too crazy with a pickup, the lockers are just along for the ride and a very heavy front end truck and heavy truck period is not a hot setup for an off road truck anyway. Never the less this has been on the want list for enough years by Ram fans and now they will finally come out with it, I believe it has the same size tires as a GM AT4/Denali ( or like my High Country ) which is a 34 inch diameter. Oh and a power wagon comes with those stickers plastered on it unless one orders a delete stickers version.

Its been years since I have last sat in a Ram but their rear seat area is somewhat less than the current GM or Ford trucks as the cab isn't as long and yes the standard box is certainly shorter as well. I had sort of tossed around the idea in the past about getting a Ram power wagon simply because of its capabilities off road but the downside was that its a specialty truck that is not designed to carry any more than a half ton if that and tow ratings are so so as well. But I felt in all honesty that ship sailed for me years ago to have a truck like that make sense as much as a standard truck that is more geared around hauling and towing use.

Dunn · February 18

was so close to getting a Ram couple months back but just couldn't pull the trigger, the cab is old and electronics are nightmares....yeah the discounts are tempting but in reality I just dont want to be at the dealership even if it is covered....plus resale on them are horrid

I did have a 1500 Laramie in 2022.....imo it felt really cheap though at a glance it looked nice, shutting the doors didn't have same solid thud the GM's have, just lil things....the bed space as well, IDK I just couldnt do it and seen lots of dudes with 25/26 with problems....they all do but just seems they have more

decided to keep my GMC and so far no issues

Jettech1 · February 18

1 hour ago, Dunn said:

was so close to getting a Ram couple months back but just couldn't pull the trigger, the cab is old and electronics are nightmares....yeah the discounts are tempting but in reality I just dont want to be at the dealership even if it is covered....plus resale on them are horrid

I did have a 1500 Laramie in 2022.....imo it felt really cheap though at a glance it looked nice, shutting the doors didn't have same solid thud the GM's have, just lil things....the bed space as well, IDK I just couldnt do it and seen lots of dudes with 25/26 with problems....they all do but just seems they have more

decided to keep my GMC and so far no issues

Funny you mention the electronic problems. After doing a ton of research online and asking around to other RAM owners, I decided to keep my truck. Reason is their only love (for the most part) was the engine. Aside from that they all complained of electrical glitches that would come and go. Typically worked fine when they took it to the dealer but when they were on a trip or wherever they would show up again. One other thing they complained about was the clunky drivetrain. That one kind of surprised me a bit thinking the Cummins engine and drivetrain was the ELITE. Well maybe the engine is but the rest of the truck most people complained about to some degree. So I've decided to keep my spot on reliable 22 Custom model that I do absolutely love and just put the idea of the cummins drivetrain back where it should be. Now if GM decided to put that engine and ZF trans in their trucks.....I will be waiting in line for one. 43k miles and smiles so far. I still love it all!!

Edited February 18 by Jettech1

Chuck FB · February 18

14 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

Funny you mention the electronic problems. After doing a ton of research online and asking around to other RAM owners, I decided to keep my truck. Reason is their only love (for the most part) was the engine. Aside from that they all complained of electrical glitches that would come and go. Typically worked fine when they took it to the dealer but when they were on a trip or wherever they would show up again. One other thing they complained about was the clunky drivetrain. That one kind of surprised me a bit thinking the Cummins engine and drivetrain was the ELITE. Well maybe the engine is but the rest of the truck most people complained about to some degree. So I've decided to keep my spot on reliable 22 Custom model that I do absolutely love and just put the idea of the cummins drivetrain back where it should be. Now if GM decided to put that engine and ZF trans in their trucks.....I will be waiting in line for one. 43k miles and smiles so far. I still love it all!!

This comment is a bit after the fact on your thought process but the Ram one ton does have an air assist option on the rear, I have never determined if it changes the capacity of the leaf springs to a lesser value and then adds the air bag and compressor system or if its just an add on to the regular spring pack that a standard one ton would come with. Also no idea if the air bags are an option on the 3/4 ton and still have not heard anything factual about the actual coil spring rate/size and if that was changed as I have only assumed so to boost up the carrying capacity some.

As the other fellow commented on the smaller box, yup that's still where Ram is at there with their heavy duty trucks and the cab dimensions. It can be hard sometimes to sort through the truth and the bs when it comes to youtuber reviewers, certainly some raving about the Cummins/8 speed transmission and yes the engine braking system is the most aggressive of the big three but sometimes its those "other things" that may not get talked about for not wanting to put down a certain product but a person at a distance doesn't know if all the truth is being laid out or not.

Perhaps this is not the right thread for that but since your still liking your truck and you have some miles on it now, how have your brakes been for at least the wear indicator on the dash and if you have visually looked at the back side of the calipers to see how even or not that the pads are wearing on either axle. That seems to be a bit of an issue for some on here, the rear brakes not wearing evenly on the pads and having to replace brakes on the rear quite prematurely from what should have been the outcome from a set of pads.

Jettech1 · February 18

6 minutes ago, Chuck FB said:

Perhaps this is not the right thread for that but since your still liking your truck and you have some miles on it now, how have your brakes been for at least the wear indicator on the dash and if you have visually looked at the back side of the calipers to see how even or not that the pads are wearing on either axle. That seems to be a bit of an issue for some on here, the rear brakes not wearing evenly on the pads and having to replace brakes on the rear quite prematurely from what should have been the outcome from a set of pads.

I will look at them tomorrow but I do know the last time I looked at that brake pad wear screen the rears were showing a less % than the fronts. I'll crawl under it tomorrow and take some pics that might answer your question. Aside from the unknown wear the brakes are amazing!! It took a while though after I first bought it. At first they sucked! Spongy, lots of pressure needed. After about 5k miles they started acting normally with I will say (normal pedal pressure) needed to slow down. One tip that I used was to push them as hard as you can 3 times while idling. And slowly releasing the brake pedal. Believe it or not that makes a huge difference. I only did it twice and they have been good to go ever since.

Jettech1 · February 18

16 minutes ago, Chuck FB said:

This comment is a bit after the fact on your thought process but the Ram one ton does have an air assist option on the rear, I have never determined if it changes the capacity of the leaf springs to a lesser value and then adds the air bag and compressor system or if its just an add on to the regular spring pack that a standard one ton would come with. Also no idea if the air bags are an option on the 3/4 ton and still have not heard anything factual about the actual coil spring rate/size and if that was changed as I have only assumed so to boost up the carrying capacity some.

Here's the trade off when it comes to the RAM 2500/3500. So I rode in a 2500 with the coil spring rear suspension. I was impressed big time!! But here's the catch, the 2500's only have around 2100lbs of payload depending on a lot of things but that's about it. Now move up to the 3500 leaf spring rear end and payload moves up to around 4k lbs. I haven't ridden in one of those but owners say it can have a harsh ride. So I'm used to a fairly harsh ride in my 2500 with a 3500lb payload so it's no big deal to me. But if you don't need a lot of payload, the RAM 2500's ride like a 1500 in my opinion. Very nice and giving.

Jettech1 · February 18

41 minutes ago, Chuck FB said:

Also no idea if the air bags are an option on the 3/4 ton and still have not heard anything factual about the actual coil spring rate/size and if that was changed as I have only assumed so to boost up the carrying capacity some.

I'm a numbers guy so I love numbers. When it comes to payload, for some reason a lot of people don't know what that means. The given payload numbers on a truck are rock solid numbers. They can't be changed with Timbrens, air bags or anything else. That is a hard number regardless of how you change anything on your truck suspension wise. And if you start out with say, 2100lbs of payload like the RAM 2500, and your camper has 1k lb of tongue weight, or your 5th wheel has 1500lbs of pin weight, it won't take much to push your truck over payload capacity. What most don't realize say, "my truck has the towing package so it can tow 11k lbs". Ok, maybe it can...but how much is your tongue weight or pin weight....that's where people start to look at you funny like an alien...lol....Payload is the number 1 factor everyone should be aware of for safety reasons and driveability.

Chuck FB · February 18

16 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

I'm a numbers guy so I love numbers. When it comes to payload, for some reason a lot of people don't know what that means. The given payload numbers on a truck are rock solid numbers. They can't be changed with Timbrens, air bags or anything else. That is a hard number regardless of how you change anything on your truck suspension wise. And if you start out with say, 2100lbs of payload like the RAM 2500, and your camper has 1k lb of tongue weight, or your 5th wheel has 1500lbs of pin weight, it won't take much to push your truck over payload capacity. What most don't realize say, "my truck has the towing package so it can tow 11k lbs". Ok, maybe it can...but how much is your tongue weight or pin weight....that's where people start to look at you funny like an alien...lol....Payload is the number 1 factor everyone should be aware of for safety reasons and driveability.

It definitely hurts my head when I see some youtuber RV sales guy flogging his knowledge to make that sales commission by hook or crook and I am sure in some cases they very well know better than to spew the crap they are but if they told the truth and in this instance I am referring to slide in campers as its ALL about the trucks suspension and truck strength then. The problem is the RV manufacture is playing a game as well in many instances with the weight listed on the camper and the sales guy sluffing off the fact that the camper is going to weigh a lot more when its full of water and all the camping supplies and all those options that the base weight sticker doesn't include. So making claims that a certain smaller camper will work in a half ton pickup and the reality is its going to overload a Ram as well 2500. But the comment in a certain video I am thinking of, the sales guy had the gall to claim that one just has to spend on getting the suspension beefed up and then its all good, well no it isn't as far as remaining within a legal GVW but that is the crap that some desperate to sell product will spout off about and make it sound so convincing to those buyers who don't know better. Also the Ram 2500 was running into the issues of like you say, trailer or fifth wheel hitch weight that was too great for its capacity and yet the driveline of the truck was plenty capable of towing it with the Cummins. I've kept hearing this claim that the Ram 2500 had its payload increased in the last couple of years and don't really know what to say one way or the other with that but certainly the higher the trim and more stuff slapped on a vehicle the lower the payload. There's always been that game of basing the payload on the plain jane gas trucks payload as the trick to suck one into a certain brand of truck and then realize after that the upscale truck or one with a diesel did not have that capacity. Having said that GM and not sure on the Ford theme but having a certain spread between the GVW of the gas vs the Diesel version so the diesel isn't being too short changed. Also having the sticker listing the actual payload of that very truck as it rolls off the factory assembly line has helped a lot in making comparisons between models of the same brand as well as the competition.

I don't know how these half tons with a tow package can max out their 13000 lb rating and not be grossly overweight in the process or otherwise unsafe due to handling issues from too soft a suspension or lack of braking ability.