Feedback on Ram 3500's

[blofgren]

Hello all. We are outgrowing our current Supercab truck quite quickly due to our 4 year old son growing like a weed and we have a yellow lab as well. So we are starting to look around at newer trucks and test drove several Ram 3500's.

The first and my favorite so far is a 2007 Ram 3500 Laramie Quadcab dually 4x4 with 5.9L, 6 speed manual and 102,000 kms (approx. 60,000 miles). It has new tires, ball joints, FASS fuel filtration system and Southbend clutch. It is fully loaded with heated seats, power rear sliding window, sunroof, power passenger seat, etc, and also has a Pacbrake exhaust brake. It is in very good condition and just needs a good detail cleaning which the dealer has confirmed he would do. The price on it is $39,995 Canadian and so far he is not moving on his price.

The second truck is a 2007 Ram 3500 Laramie Megacab dually 4x4 with 5.9L, 6 speed manual and 112,000 kms. This truck is super clean and is also fully loaded with heated seats, power rear window, power passenger seat, and rear DVD. It has original ball joints and did not seem to have as much power as the Quadcab described above. This truck has a price of $39,000 Canadian and it is at the same dealer as the Quadcab above. My wife and son really liked this one.

The third truck is a 2011 Ram 3500 Laramie Crew cab dually 4x4 with 6.7L, automatic transmission, nav, heated and cooled seats, captains chairs, etc. This truck also has a B&W turnover ball. It has 98,000 kms and is a bit beat up; it is also from the US and the history appears to be a bit vague which concerns me. It also felt like it was in 4 wheel drive (the switch wasn't) because it was jumping when turning so that is an issue that would need to be sorted out. The price on this truck is $47,500 Canadian. This truck was very nice with many comfort features over the 3rd gen trucks above.

The dealer with the two 5.9L trucks advised us that these trucks are preferred by many over the newer trucks (he sells them too) because of their reliability and superior fuel mileage which is the reason for the high prices on them. I have also looked at these trucks online both in Canada and the US and see similar prices on them, especially when it is considered that the Canadian dollar is approximately 10% lower than the US dollar now.

I really like the first truck described because of the amount of recent work done to it because it takes care of most of the high expense items that trucks like this are known for. I do like the newer 4th generation truck but feel that the 5.9L would be a good solid truck for many years to come.

I would appreciate any and all feedback on these trucks, especially from people that have owned them. I guess the big question is should I buy the older low mileage 5.9L or pay some more for the newer 4th generation truck?

Thanks in advance.

[Eng208]

Might as well keep your SC as to go with a quad cab. Not much improvement. The seat backs are very vertical. The CC or MegaCab would be a nice upgrade. Will give you enough room to justify the price. The Mega Cab adds a good bit of weight though which decreases payload substantially. I had a 5.9l 12 valve I just got rid of. It was a truck that I bought at 60K miles. I had to basically rebuild the chassis when I got it. The hub went out at 114K miles. The engine was great though. Truck just didn't quite match it. I took very good care of that truck and whoever has it now has a great truck. I spared no expense in building it. If it had been even a quad cab, I would have kept it. It was an older extended cab and the lack of access just got to be too much for the wife and child. I couldn't take two women whining at me.

[DirtyOil]

Seems to be a theme... :W

[DirtyOil]

http://assets.diyfail.com/hashed_silo_content/b18/192/e7a/resized/diyfail-com-22ad7c.jpg


Steak anyone?

[DirtyOil]

http://assets.diyfail.com/hashed_silo_content/silo_content/15995/resized/RLcy6.jpg


oh no they didn't...

[DirtyOil]

http://assets.diyfail.com/hashed_silo_content/silo_content/6330/resized/Ha8Id.jpg

oops?

[45Ricochet]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

45Ricochet wrote:
I've been happy with ours. Been thinking of getting a new one, but I just can't see getting rid of our 06 that does what I need it to do.
Heck those prices are pretty high though for the 07's. Can't you import personel used vehicles from the US? That price is at least $5k high.
Anyway good luck. Your right every guy should own a Cummins at least once in his life.

No comment... :B Anyway... LMAO

Curious why the cabs would be off?

Must be ex Ford Technicians.

[Cummins12V98]

FishOnOne wrote:

45Ricochet wrote:
I've been happy with ours. Been thinking of getting a new one, but I just can't see getting rid of our 06 that does what I need it to do.
Heck those prices are pretty high though for the 07's. Can't you import personel used vehicles from the US? That price is at least $5k high.
Anyway good luck. Your right every guy should own a Cummins at least once in his life.

No comment... :B Anyway... LMAO

Curious why the cabs would be off?

[Cummins12V98]

FishOnOne wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
Well that helps explain why the value of our 2001 has not dropped in three years, may have even gone up!!

Neither of the 5.9's are even broken in yet! I am towing 11,000# with my 01 with only 269,000 miles. My neighbor at the Storage, has about the same size 5er, and a 12 valve about 96, with like 490,000 miles.

A little chuckle...:B I can assure you that your 5.9 is broken in! :R

I can honestly say my 98 12V was not fully broken in until 150K. The mileage kept improving then leveled out at 150K. I did very little towing before that. Mostly freeway commuting 45 to 80 miles each way. 380K now.

[FishOnOne]

45Ricochet wrote:
I've been happy with ours. Been thinking of getting a new one, but I just can't see getting rid of our 06 that does what I need it to do.
Heck those prices are pretty high though for the 07's. Can't you import personel used vehicles from the US? That price is at least $5k high.
Anyway good luck. Your right every guy should own a Cummins at least once in his life.

No comment... :B Anyway... LMAO

[donn0128]

Man at those prices maybe I should sell my 2007 6.7L Laramie quad cab 4X2 dually with 23K miles on it and buy a brand new truck.

[blofgren]

45Ricochet wrote:
I've been happy with ours. Been thinking of getting a new one, but I just can't see getting rid of our 06 that does what I need it to do.
Heck those prices are pretty high though for the 07's. Can't you import personel used vehicles from the US? That price is at least $5k high.
Anyway good luck. Your right every guy should own a Cummins at least once in his life.

Thanks for the feedback; it is appreciated.

Yes, we can import vehicles from the US but comparable ones I have seen listed are priced at about $36,000 US; add on 10% for money exchange and it is almost where these prices are. The dealer where these trucks are just sold a 2007 Ram 3500 SLT dually 4x4 with 5.9L, 6 speed manual and 44,000 kms (26,000 miles) for $41,900. He said the truck sold new for $38,000. That really says something for the 5.9L in my opinion.

I also found a 2010 Ram 3500 Laramie dually 4x4 with 50,000 kms on it in Alberta for $45,500 but someone beat me to it! So good well priced ones are out there but you need to jump on them quickly.

[FishOnOne]

rhagfo wrote:
Well that helps explain why the value of our 2001 has not dropped in three years, may have even gone up!!

Neither of the 5.9's are even broken in yet! I am towing 11,000# with my 01 with only 269,000 miles. My neighbor at the Storage, has about the same size 5er, and a 12 valve about 96, with like 490,000 miles.

A little chuckle...:B I can assure you that your 5.9 is broken in! :R

[45Ricochet]

I've been happy with ours. Been thinking of getting a new one, but I just can't see getting rid of our 06 that does what I need it to do.
Heck those prices are pretty high though for the 07's. Can't you import personel used vehicles from the US? That price is at least $5k high.
Anyway good luck. Your right every guy should own a Cummins at least once in his life.

[blofgren]

Engineer9860 wrote:
OP-

I see you have a Ford in your sig. Can I ask why you are not considering the other three HD trucks?

Well, there are a couple of reasons. The Ford I currently have has been a really good truck overall (I would not have owned it for 8 years if it wasn't) but I am going to take quite a hit on resale because of the 6.0L reputation. For that reason I don't think Ford deserves any more of my hard earned money. Additionally, I have read enough issues with the hpfp failing on the 6.7L with no warranty coverage to make me think that Ford still has not really got things right yet. I also do not really care much for the looks of the 6.7L dually fenders and interior.

The second issue I have is that I want the truck to fit in my garage, and I want to stick with a dually because they are definitely more stable towing and we plan on stepping up to a larger fifth wheel at some point in the future. I believe a GM is only available in a long box with a crew cab dually which will not fit in my garage (same with Ford). The 3rd generation Dodge with the Quadcab long box will fit in my garage, but the 4th generation crew cab with the long box will not. I was hoping to stick with a long box which was my reason for considering the 3rd generation Dodge. So I would have to go with a Megacab dually in the 4th generation Ram truck, which I believe is the only newer dually with a minimum crew cab that will fit.

I also want to try out a Cummins, and I love the look of the 4th generation Ram both inside and outside. I'm starting to think that is the route to go considering the cost of the low mileage 5.9L trucks.

Hope my rambling makes sense.