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.

[hellfirehydra]

houseoffools wrote:
I've really been wanting one of those. What trim level is that...Tradesman? 4x2 or 4x4?

It is a Tradesman 4x4. Popular Equipment package and a few other nice to have options. Everything I personally need in a truck for options!

You can option out the tradesman pretty far. I personally think they are currently the best deal in the HD truck market at the moment.

Payload for mine is 2300lbs to put it at the magical 10000lb mark.

Withe my current tongue weight it leaves over 1100lbs for family and stuff.

[time2roll]

So what is the listed payload for a 2500 Cummins?

[bbaker2001]

congrats--love our tradesman
one thing we don't get is the back seat floor. I went to home depot and got a piece of plywood. cut to fit with hinges and covered with indoor-outdoor carpet. it is amazing how much room. my dog likes it better also

[spoon059]

houseoffools wrote:
I've really been wanting one of those. What trim level is that...Tradesman? 4x2 or 4x4?

Looks like a Tradesman, without the fog lights. Unless you want a heavily optioned truck, the Tradesman is an awesome package. Its like the old Ford XLT package used to be.

[coolbreeze01]

hellfirehydra wrote:
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.

Nice looking truck.

[houseoffools]

I've really been wanting one of those. What trim level is that...Tradesman? 4x2 or 4x4?

[spoon059]

That's about what I averaged with my old Tundra and the new Ram. Took a 2600 mile round trip to Florida in February and averaged almost 12 mpg towing at about 68 mph. Highest was 13 with favorable winds the first day. Lowest was a morning at about 10 when we were driving through strong winds.

That is almost DOUBLE what my Tundra got, so I am pretty pleased.

[GBuilders]

Congrats on the new Ram. I have the same color and love it. 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. You will enjoy that truck as Ram use to be at the bottom of the big three but not anymore. BTW that smile never goes away.

[hellfirehydra]

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.

[Dog_Trainer]

I also did that last year traded my 2010 1/2 ton Ford for a 2015 Ram HD. Not even a question as to how much more capable the 3/4 ton is as compared. I did not go Diesel and the 6.4 gas motor is plenty capable for my 9000 lb loaded TT. I also have the 32 gal tank which makes it a little better especially at 8.5 - 9 MPG towing. Nice looking truck.

[FishOnOne]

Congrats on ditching the .5 ton. :B

[scbwr]

Congratulations on the new truck! I've posted many times that I really like my Tundra with my Minnie, but I'm only towing 6,500 lbs. When I first got the Tundra, I pulled my old 29' Sunline which weighed in around 8K and I could tell that although it could pull it, it wouldn't be a match that I would want for long term hauling. It's my opinion that the Tundra is better suited for towing 7K or less and for heavier trailers, a 3/4 ton truck is sooo much better.

Enjoy!

[spoon059]

hellfirehydra wrote:
Sounds like we were in very similar situations. I really was sad to see the tundra go, but just hated knowing I was pushing the limits so hard on it. Over on GVWR on every trip and right up against the RAWR packed lightly.

The Cummins does bring a smile to my face on every start right now though!

10K miles later, I still get the smile. I miss the fun and speed of the Tundra at times, but the larger cab of the Ram, the fuel mileage and not having to worry about payload make up for it!

[hellfirehydra]

spoon059 wrote:
Nice, I had to trade in my Tundra last year when I got my new trailer. I was over my rear axle rating when we factored in all the *stuff* that the wife mandated needed to come with the new rig. The Tundra pulled it and stopped it with no problem on the first couple of trips, but I didn't like being over my ratings and 7mpg with a 24 gallon tank was brutal.

I was looking for a gas 3/4 ton rig when I stumbled across a used 2015 Ram with the CTD with 10K miles on it for the same price as a gas. I bought it and haven't looked back.

2500 mile round trip to Florida earlier this year I got about 11.5 towing at almost 70 mph... WAY better than the Tundra. 32 gallon tank also allowed us to drive a LOT further between refilling stops. Exhaust brake does a great job of slowing the rig down... looking forward to towing in the mountains later this summer!

I'm going to warn you, the CTD doesn't have the get-up-and-go that the Tundra had. Even pulling 8500 lbs, that 5.7 engine felt great! The Ram feels slower, but feels much stronger.

My Tundra had the TRD sway bar and air bags with the Equal-I-Zer hitch, and always felt solid. The Ram doesn't feel overwhelmingly more stable so far. Thankfully I have never had, and hopefully never will have, an emergency maneuver while towing. I assume the Ram will handle it better with an additional 2000 lbs of base weight though.

Enjoy the new truck, I like that red!!!

Sounds like we were in very similar situations. I really was sad to see the tundra go, but just hated knowing I was pushing the limits so hard on it. Over on GVWR on every trip and right up against the RAWR packed lightly.

The Cummins does bring a smile to my face on every start right now though!

[hellfirehydra]

The Tundra really is a great truck and no doubt fast as heck. The final straw was my trip to the Cat scales. My originally 700lb brochure tongue weight was pushing 1200lbs and the camper was sitting at 8700lbs with no water on board.

Having to start looking for gas stations I would fit into every 2 hours sure didn't help either.

So far I'm super pleased with how the Ram drives. Feels very solid. Definitely not as fast as my Tundra was, but wow can you feel the torque at any rpm.