Ditched the 1/2 ton.

[hellfirehydra]

Well after a few thousand miles towing with my Tundra I decided a 3/4 ton truck was in order. The Tundra did well, but at almost 9000 lbs trailer weight, I was about 200 lbs over the Tundra's GVWR and had to be very careful not to exceed the RAWR.

The Tundra pulled the camper fine, especially with the Hensley Arrow, but you could tell it was working the truck especially hard. Kansas winds are no joke, and the regular 30+mph crosswind or headwind had the Tundra downshifting at every opportunity and ending up with 7-8mpg.

I ended up trading the 2014 Tundra in for 32k and got my new Ram 2500 Cummins for 41k. All in all, I can't be more pleased with how the financial situation turned out.

I will be towing the camper this weekend with my Hensley Arrow and I'm absolutely certain this combination will last me many years to come.


Here is the truck after its first wash/wax.

[brulaz]

Hannibal wrote:
Beautiful truck! Do you even need the HA anymore? We recently ordered a Jayco 28RLS TT to replace our 5th wheel. Yes, we went back to gas and now back to a TT but, I still prefer a HD pickup. We set one they had on the lot on the ball and it's 700 lb TW squatted the rear 2" and didn't move the front. I bought a Reese trunion style WD hitch just to satisfy the hitch receiver's rating. Not trying to imply anything. Just curious. Here's wishing you many years and miles of happy travels with it!

From what I can tell reading through the Ram literature, the Ram's Class 5, 2.5" hitch receiver can handle up to 1800#, with or without a WDH.

When setting up our Equal-I-Zer hitch, I tried the trailer without the WD bars, and the steering was not squirrely at all, although the front end was lifted about 1/2". The trailer's TW is about 1200#, but that Cummins in the front is heavy! I imagine the steering would be affected more if we had one of the much lighter gas V8s.

[Charley67]

Driving my 3rd Ram/Cummins. Had two 2500s and was very happy with both. Now have 3500 and like it better while towing, but not when not towing.

[hellfirehydra]

Hannibal wrote:
Beautiful truck! Do you even need the HA anymore? We recently ordered a Jayco 28RLS TT to replace our 5th wheel. Yes, we went back to gas and now back to a TT but, I still prefer a HD pickup. We set one they had on the lot on the ball and it's 700 lb TW squatted the rear 2" and didn't move the front. I bought a Reese trunion style WD hitch just to satisfy the hitch receiver's rating. Not trying to imply anything. Just curious. Here's wishing you many years and miles of happy travels with it!

I'm certain I could tow with another hitch without issues, but after seeing and feeling the way the Hensley Arrow tows, I wouldn't tow a travel trailer without one now. I plan on keeping it for many years to come.

I will keep it until the kids are grown and we end up in a 5th wheel for retirement traveling.

[bigbullelk]

hellfirehydra wrote:


Towed about 40 miles today.

All I can say is wow.

Absolutely enjoyable perfect towing experience now. I never got sway with my previous truck thanks to the Hensley Arrow, but you could still really feel the trailer back there, between the RPMs, suspension, and sidewall flex. Today towing with the new truck was a whole different experience. Truck feels almost exactly the same as unloaded. As a nice bonus pulled 11.5mpg while towing compared to my previous 7.5-8 on the same route with the Tundra.

I believe I made the right decision with the trade instead of spending $1500+ on tires and air bags etc to try to get a 1/2 ton to do a job at the extreme of its limits. Should pay some more dividends on fuel savings this summer when we take our 1500 mile trip with it.

Great looking setup! Congrats on the step up in TV capability. I lived that same dream when I had my Tundra. Great truck but I was at or slightly beyond its limits which made me uncomfortable with family, dog and all the other gear. I upgraded to a different manufacturer 3/4 ton and have never looked back or regretted it. The towing experience is sooooo much better and I feel much more confident about slowing down and stopping the rig with the 3/4 ton vehicle brakes and exhaust braking.

[RobertRyan]

IdaD wrote:
Huge upgrade, congratulations! These new diesels are just awesome. Another cummins owner joins the fold. :B

Most Australians, who know nothing about US Pickups, think these are normal,size Pickups/Big Utes, or Cars. They had the Red? one 2500 6.7 and a black model 3500 6.7 on display near the Camper Trailer and the very small TC Display, at the Sydney Caravan and Camping Show, overall show a bit of a fizzer compared to previous years.
No 5th Wheelers this year.
Importers of Lance, have now decided to build their own TC, more inline with local tastes. Model on display was called " Custom Campers"

[bbaker2001]

I like the color. ours is white, yours was our 2nd choice

[Hannibal]

Beautiful truck! Do you even need the HA anymore? We recently ordered a Jayco 28RLS TT to replace our 5th wheel. Yes, we went back to gas and now back to a TT but, I still prefer a HD pickup. We set one they had on the lot on the ball and it's 700 lb TW squatted the rear 2" and didn't move the front. I bought a Reese trunion style WD hitch just to satisfy the hitch receiver's rating. Not trying to imply anything. Just curious. Here's wishing you many years and miles of happy travels with it!

[spoon059]

dwayneb236 wrote:
I have to say I went from a F250 gas to an F350 diesel dually and it's MUCH quicker than the gasser. That turbo really does it's job. It's fast.

The Ford 6.7 has a lot more HP than the Ram 6.7. My Ram is quite a bit slower than my Tundra... but the Tundra had a LOT of HP.

[Grit_dog]

hellfirehydra wrote:
My 4x4 Sr5 Crewmax Tundra had a payload just shy of 1400lbs so I picked up an easy 900+ lbs of payload.

There is a lot of comfort/peace of mind to me as well to know that the frame, brakes, tires, trans, axles, etc are the same as the 3500 with the 11,700 max gross weight vs my 10k. I don't need any of that additional capability, but nice to know the components are up to it.

You picked up a little more than that in real life. That 2300lbs equates to the difference between the empty scale weight of the truck and the 10kkb cap on a class 2 truck.
My ''13 & '15 F250s actually have soft enough springs that the 2k-2500lb payload is more of a real number based on the soft spring rate, but the '14 Ram 2500 Mega I had for a while wouldn't even start squatting until you dropped around 2k in the bed.
You're correct that it doesn't have the springs of a 3500 Ram under it, but it's still stout. 3500 gives about 1000lbs more real world payload for the same amount of squat.

[hellfirehydra]

My 4x4 Sr5 Crewmax Tundra had a payload just shy of 1400lbs so I picked up an easy 900+ lbs of payload.

There is a lot of comfort/peace of mind to me as well to know that the frame, brakes, tires, trans, axles, etc are the same as the 3500 with the 11,700 max gross weight vs my 10k. I don't need any of that additional capability, but nice to know the components are up to it.

[Fordlover]

I really like that color, enjoy and congrats.

[hbrady]

Nice RAM, congrats! :C

[dwayneb236]

GBuilders wrote:
Diesel don't have the same getup and go as gas engine but driving a diesel you just know you have all the power you will ever need.

I have to say I went from a F250 gas to an F350 diesel dually and it's MUCH quicker than the gasser. That turbo really does it's job. It's fast.

[4x4ord]

Nice truck, congratulations. I'm kind of curious how that payload (2300 lbs) compares to that of your Tundra?