New Vehicle First Tow Report

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Just bought a 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie Quadcab, 5.7L, 3.92, 4x4.

It has 1340 lbs of payload, which will work fine for my situation, and I'm not afraid to push that a bit occasionally. Though I do think I will add Timbrens or some kind of air bags to firm up the rear when towing. With about 430 lbs of passengers, under 100 lbs in the bed and about 750 lbs of tongue weight (Equal-I-zer hitch), it towed level, after settling 3 or 4 inches in the rear. Just a little too soft for my tastes. It handled the load very well with no sway, but stiff crosswinds got my attention a couple times.

I understand that it's not the cat's meow of half ton tow vehicles anymore, but I couldn't be more impressed with the engine/transmission combination. Pulling my approximately 6000 lb trailer, I had more power than I needed at all times. I was able to pass with confidence, even climbing grades. We were constantly changing elevation the entire trip between about 1500 and 4500 feet, which netted near 8.5 mpg, hand calculated. Considering I inadvertently found my self well north of 70 mph several times and the ever changing terrain, I'm very satisfied with that number, but I expect it to improve as the engine breaks in, and I settle down behind the wheel.

I can't believe how quiet and pleasant driving this truck is. The only time you hear the engine is when you push hard on the go pedal, and that's definitely a nice sound. 1000% improvement over the 'ol 97 F150, even though it was significantly souped up.

My wife is the most impressed. I learned on this trip that she dreaded road trips in our old rig and always drug her feet when I wanted to go somewhere. Now she's already planning our next adventure, and we've only been back less than a week! I think all the amenities, including the ventilated seats, may have influenced her some too. 🙂

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transferred wrote:
Billy, why did she hate the old 1/2 ton? Just curious. Congrats on the new one btw.

It's a long story. It all started with the under powered 4.6l engine burning a valve,leaving it struggling on 7 cylinders, then the mechanic reducing that to 6 working cylinders. I naively chose to rebuid the entire engine with hardened internals, lower compression pistons and a small supercharger. They never got the parts mix just right, resulting in an engine that always ran rich, made funny rattles at certain RPMs, and could never manage to tune it just right. It was strong but loud and needed constant attention, and got terrible fuel mileage. Fun to horse around with but Definitely not a vacation rig. As time wore on, dealing with its foibles grew old, especially for her. Now you know! 🙂

[csamayfield55x]

Good news on the new truck. You said it was kinda squishy? Did you take a little more tension up with the equalizer? Did you measure both wheel wells to make sure you xfered equal weight front to back? Might make a difference.

Dave Smith is the best place we have found to get our rigs from. Well worth the drive from Northern Nevada!!

Chris

[Buzam]

Sounds nice, lets see a pic!

[transferred]

Billy, why did she hate the old 1/2 ton? Just curious. Congrats on the new one btw.

[TurnThePage]

I believe the features that warrant the Ram buy back don't exist on the current models.

[minnow]

After today's news on the buybacks, I might hold off the backslapping. Jury is still out if this recall/buyback will also extend to the 2013-15 models.

[45Ricochet]

Congrats one the new truck. Enjoy

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Thanks for the feedback and info!

I forgot to mention the integrated brake controller! One of the best features! The trailer brakes seamlessly with the truck, absolutely smooth. I can't believe what I was satisfied with before (Prodigy/old F150).

[jrp26789]

I did the Firestone bags in my 2012 ram 1500. Great product. Worked well with the equalizer hitch. I bought a 2500 this year and like the truck a lot. I often think though I should have just upgraded tires and kept my 2012 for the nice ride empty.

[Fast_Mopar]

Very nice. Post a photo if possible.

[shepstone]

Congrats Nice truck! ,I wouldn't push over- loading it too much, remember you've only got 5 lugs on that puppy. Need pics!!

[IdaD]

BillyW wrote:
I got it at Dave Smith. I didn't do as well as hoped but was still almost 20% under MSRP. There was one I liked more at a local dealer, but they didn't seem interested in selling. Didn't even offer a price after repeated prods. I couldn't find an ideal match anywhere else, and was in need of something pretty quickly, despite some compromises on color and features.

Sounds like you did ok. That's not too far off the discount I got from Dillon on my 2500, and you would have eaten some of that up in travel expenses. Congrats on the new ride. It's always fun to get a new truck.

[ib516]

You could always install Firestone Ride Rite 1000s ($100) or the tuffspring replacement coils that come in 25% or 50% stiffer than stock. Both are easy bolt ins.

http://tuftruck.com/products/dodge/

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I got it at Dave Smith. I didn't do as well as hoped but was still almost 20% under MSRP. There was one I liked more at a local dealer, but they didn't seem interested in selling. Didn't even offer a price after repeated prods. I couldn't find an ideal match anywhere else, and was in need of something pretty quickly, despite some compromises on color and features.