Compare Ford F550 to Ram 5500
I'm looking for people that have experience with these chassis cab models. The engines and transmissions have been covered in previous threads, so I am focusing on the chassis, braking, axles, suspens...
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All the tires are 225/70R19.5, but the front are Continental HSR and the rear are Continental HDR. There is an option to also fit HDR's to the front, but I wanted to see how much quieter I could get the tire noise over my open shoulder DynaTrac PD890's I use to run on all four corners of my Ford. I did give up some traction, but I am more hesitant to take this new truck off the beaten track than my last one which was 3000 lbs lighter and 3' shorter. So far the truck has only seen gravel roads, but the tires are definitely quieter.
Overall, the entire truck is quieter than my 2005 Ford Powerstroke. The 2015 Cummins makes the same horsepower as the 6.0 Powerstroke but produces 750 lb-ft of torque over my previous 570 lb-ft. Peak torque and horsepower of the Cummins are at about 500 rpm less than the Powerstroke, so the sound is completely different out of the slower turning I6 than the higher revving V8. I never timed acceleration rates between old and new, but the V8 gives you the perception you are going faster since the RPM's have a wider range. Both engines use the VGT for exhaust braking - I think Ford was the first one to do this in the pickups. The current Ram exhaust braking works better than my old Ford and has additional modes that allow more control. The 5R110 transmission in the Ford always performed well and never hunted for gears. The Aisin performs equally but has more has more manual control of gearing. As I have posted before, GM, Ford and Ram all offer good transmissions in their current offerings.
Overall, the entire truck is quieter than my 2005 Ford Powerstroke. The 2015 Cummins makes the same horsepower as the 6.0 Powerstroke but produces 750 lb-ft of torque over my previous 570 lb-ft. Peak torque and horsepower of the Cummins are at about 500 rpm less than the Powerstroke, so the sound is completely different out of the slower turning I6 than the higher revving V8. I never timed acceleration rates between old and new, but the V8 gives you the perception you are going faster since the RPM's have a wider range. Both engines use the VGT for exhaust braking - I think Ford was the first one to do this in the pickups. The current Ram exhaust braking works better than my old Ford and has additional modes that allow more control. The 5R110 transmission in the Ford always performed well and never hunted for gears. The Aisin performs equally but has more has more manual control of gearing. As I have posted before, GM, Ford and Ram all offer good transmissions in their current offerings.
