Upgrading to a 2013 Dodge Ram 3500 4x4
Yep, this long-time Ford guy is considering a Dodge Ram. It's time for an upgrade to a 4x4 one-ton and I can simply get more truck for the money by going with a Dodge. For the same price, I can get a ...
Forum Discussion
Well hello Mike,
I just did the same switch a little while back. Went from my 2011 F350 4X4 King Ranch 6.2 to a 2013 Laramie DRW 4X4, it is pretty well loaded including the cooled seats that blow cool air up your rear. On real hot day it is kind of nice to have that cool air be blowing in that area. My Ford had the same thing.
With DRW you have a choice of 3.42, 3.73 or 4.10 axle. I have the 3.73 and have found it so far to be a good ratio. When I drove my truck back from Texas after buying it I was getting in the 17MPG range. You can't compare mileage between the pre 2013 and 2013 and later. With using DEF the mileage increases also. I could of had the Aisin trans but for the additional money I just could not spring for it. If I was going to be towing heavy all the time then I would have gotten it. My GCWR is 27,000# and I don't ever see me towing that much. So I stuck with the stock tranny.
The exhaust brake works great, so people say it only works down to about 30MPH but if you use the +/- on the shifter and shift down as you are slowing I have had mine work down to 10MPH. You just have to keep shifting down and not let the RPM drop to much. I hardly use my service brakes when slowing down except at the very last to actually stop. I'm still learning the truck so every once in a while I'm not fast enough on the down shifter.
This is my second Dodge/Ram, the last one was a 2006 3500 Laramie with a 6 speed manual. I really liked that truck but with the stick and a bad right shoulder it just wasn't meant to be a long term relationship. :)
I just did the same switch a little while back. Went from my 2011 F350 4X4 King Ranch 6.2 to a 2013 Laramie DRW 4X4, it is pretty well loaded including the cooled seats that blow cool air up your rear. On real hot day it is kind of nice to have that cool air be blowing in that area. My Ford had the same thing.
With DRW you have a choice of 3.42, 3.73 or 4.10 axle. I have the 3.73 and have found it so far to be a good ratio. When I drove my truck back from Texas after buying it I was getting in the 17MPG range. You can't compare mileage between the pre 2013 and 2013 and later. With using DEF the mileage increases also. I could of had the Aisin trans but for the additional money I just could not spring for it. If I was going to be towing heavy all the time then I would have gotten it. My GCWR is 27,000# and I don't ever see me towing that much. So I stuck with the stock tranny.
The exhaust brake works great, so people say it only works down to about 30MPH but if you use the +/- on the shifter and shift down as you are slowing I have had mine work down to 10MPH. You just have to keep shifting down and not let the RPM drop to much. I hardly use my service brakes when slowing down except at the very last to actually stop. I'm still learning the truck so every once in a while I'm not fast enough on the down shifter.
This is my second Dodge/Ram, the last one was a 2006 3500 Laramie with a 6 speed manual. I really liked that truck but with the stick and a bad right shoulder it just wasn't meant to be a long term relationship. :)
