Forum Discussion

firefight1981's avatar
May 24, 2015

Best Truck For Mountain Driving

Hello forum,

My wife and I are getting ready for full time RV living.
We will be spending the majority of our time in Colorado, Northern California, Washington and other states with mountainous terrain.

Our fifth wheel will be 38'.
I have not decided if we will get a Chevrolet, Doidge or Ford 3500 years from 2011 to 2013.

I have been told to go with a Dodge for the towing weight advantage. People say stay away from a Dodge because of engine or transmission problems.
They say go with a Chevrolet or GMC with a Duramax diesel and an Allison transmission. But we will lose on towing weight compared to a Dodge.

Conflicting truck recommendations depending on who I am talking to.

Question: Since we will be spending the majority of our time driving in mountains, what truck do you recommend? (has to be automatic transmission)
  • 2013 RAM with Aisin medium duty truck tranny. Dually with 4:10 or 3:73 gears. SRW only get 3:42 gears. You will get the more reliable CP3 injection pump.

    However new one sell for little more than 2 year old used ones.

    Chris
  • Any of the three brands but get a dual rear wheel with that big fifth wheel. Diesel of course.
  • Love our '13 Ford F350 with a 6.7 diesel. But please consider getting a dual rear wheel truck. A 38' FW will have a lot of pin weight, and if you get a diesel truck, your payload will probably not be sufficient with a single rear wheel truck.
  • Dodge with a diesel and asin (sp?) tranny, if not that then second choice is a ford with a diesel.