New Tow Vehicle

[wkswenson]

New to us 2011 Dodge 3500 DRW CTD that we picked up for a great price - just finished the hitch install and put the pin in it. Going to add Air Bags but pulling out on Sunday so that will have to wait a week or so.

[MdMike1007]

I have a 3500 SRW Dodge Ram Crew Cab... I did the same as another poster on here and added a set of Loadrite 5000 to dampen the ride. Truck sits level when I add 25-30 psi in bags. I pulled once w/o the bags and decided it would be a bit better with the bags. I was right. Now 3400 miles into a cross country 3 mo trip and am extremely pleased with the ride.

Bags were fairly inexpensive (no air pump, I inflate them manually with my pancake compressor). If for somereason one should fail I can dump the other side and still tow fairly comfotably with the truck till I repair the leak.

best $250 I spent!

[Cummins12V98]

wkswenson wrote:
Not sure where the cutoff is, but it was "born" on Jan 2011.

I am fairly sure based on your build date it is not a HO. If it is it will have a HO tag on the tailgate.

[johncamtravel]

Congrats on the new truck. Your going to love the 6.7 Cummins and the full time exhaust brake.
I have the same truck as you. Added Firestone air bags and what a difference in the ride and handling. Like day & night. Also when
driving at night the lights are not shinning at the sky. Also rode a lot better on some of the terrible roads that are out there.

[wkswenson]

Not sure where the cutoff is, but it was "born" on Jan 2011.

[Cummins12V98]

C Schomer wrote:
I love my airbags and I also added an exp. tank to them. The tank makes the bags totally unnoticeable when empty. I cut the ends off the bottom OLs and the bags are much softer than bouncing on the bottom OLs. The top OLs aren't bone jarring like the bottoms so I left them on. The Rancho 9000 shocks were icing on the cake. They are as valuable as the bags for tuning out a bad road. Craig

From what i have been told the ride is much better in the 4th gen VS the 3rd gen. I leave my bags at 5psi running solo and for a big truck the ride is very good. Had Ford friends ride with us that have a 09 KR 350 SRW and they were very impressed with the ride.

[Bionic_Man]

Nice looking rig. From the first photo, I agreed about the need for airbags. 2nd photo looks much more level.

I am surprised you don't notice more of a difference between the two trucks. Is your RAM an '11 or a '11.5 with the high output engine?

[C_Schomer]

I love my airbags and I also added an exp. tank to them. The tank makes the bags totally unnoticeable when empty. I cut the ends off the bottom OLs and the bags are much softer than bouncing on the bottom OLs. The top OLs aren't bone jarring like the bottoms so I left them on. The Rancho 9000 shocks were icing on the cake. They are as valuable as the bags for tuning out a bad road. Craig

[Cummins12V98]

If you are happy with the ride leave it alone. If not get the 4600 Bilstien's they are worth it! Also the bags set at 30 psi will help.

[wkswenson]

Well the first pull with the truck is in the books. Jury is still out on air bags - not sure it really needs it any more. We did not feel the ride was any different from the Ford with the air bags. The ride was ok, with only bridge expansion joints a noticeable difference. Not sure if the difference is due to the air bags (ford) or the dodge being a 4x2 not a 4x4....

As a comparison to the 2002 F350:

Feel of Power: Not any real differences. The 7.3 had plenty of power including being able to increase speed even on steep hills at highway speeds. The Dodge just has power to spare as the 7.3 did. I did not really detect any significant differences here.

MPG: Again no real difference - we traveled the same 150 miles we travel twice a year for the last 6 years and have pulled in at 11-11.5 MPG with the ford and the dodge got the same at 11 mpg. This was pulling at 62ish, nice weather, no AC, and camper fully loaded with water, 2 generators, 55 gallon tank of water in bed of truck.

Noise: Here is where there was some difference. Both trucks really just purred along the highway with minimal noise. The ford had more highway noise in general but not much of a difference in engine noise. When asking for more power the ford would literally roar to life and in heavy pull it would be hard to carry on a conversation as the engine noise was loud. The same route and the Dodge the purr of the engine really was only a slightly louder purr when power was demanded from it.

Braking: No comparison - the Exhaust brake is amazing!

Overall the dodge is newer with many fewer miles so it is quitter than the ford was and well worth the upgrade.

[wkswenson]

Our pin weight estimate is around 3400 - but this is only a guess as we don't have a good scale around the house to run it over and find out exact details. We will be giving it a good test on Sunday as we will have in the bed:

50 Gallons of water (in separate tank)
Full size generator
few boards
Plus the pin weight (Camper is loaded with 45 gallons of water also)

We are heading to the race track about 100 miles away and a route we know very well (including all the bumps).

[Chiefcpo]

Really don't think you will leave out Sunday as the front leggs(landing gear) is still down.
Nice liioing rig and gonradts on the new T/V.

[Mootpoint]

dave17352 wrote:
Nice truck. It will be interesting if you think you will need airbags after your first trip without them.
My 2011 chevy 3500 SRW drops about three inches when fully loaded with the truck camper. It rides really well the way it is. When empty the rear ends sits high. I have always kind of wondered about this. Of course the truck is going to sit down with a heavy load. They are designed to. So the question is are we defeating the purpose of the trucks engineering with air bags. I say we because I still think about them now and then myself. I seldom drive at night but I can say when I do, I do not have the problem of oncoming traffic blinking their lights at me as I have in other trucks with a heavy of a load that were 1/2 tons. Seems to me they expect these 3500 to be loaded down to a certain extent and design them more traveling with a load on rather than empty. JMHO

X2

My Ram 3500 drops about 2" and still sits a titch high in the back.

:B "Air Bags!? I don't need no stinkin' Air Bags!":B

[dave17352]

Nice truck. It will be interesting if you think you will need airbags after your first trip without them.
My 2011 chevy 3500 SRW drops about three inches when fully loaded with the truck camper. It rides really well the way it is. When empty the rear ends sits high. I have always kind of wondered about this. Of course the truck is going to sit down with a heavy load. They are designed to. So the question is are we defeating the purpose of the trucks engineering with air bags. I say we because I still think about them now and then myself. I seldom drive at night but I can say when I do, I do not have the problem of oncoming traffic blinking their lights at me as I have in other trucks with a heavy of a load that were 1/2 tons. Seems to me they expect these 3500 to be loaded down to a certain extent and design them more traveling with a load on rather than empty. JMHO

[Cummins12V98]

My truck is exactly the same, I really doubt the op has more pin weight than I do I have 4,500# plus hitch and tool box that is full. The rear axle weighs 8,780# loaded. My truck sits level without bags. I added them to help control the spring action you get on some of these horrible roads we all travel. I also installed 4600 Bilstiens. This combo really helped the ride. I only run 30psi in the bags just enough to dampen the springs. That pressure does not raise the ride height.

OP I suggest you see how the ride is and then decide if you need any upgrades. Hard to see from pic but it looks like you are sitting level as I do hooked up.

I run 80psi in front tires at all times 45 rear solo and 60 when towing. Weigh your axles loaded and use the weight charts and you will see those are good pressures and will give the best ride.