Review of my Ram Mega Cab 3500 DRW

[mooring_product]

After hauling around my Lance 881 on the F250 for years I upgraded to a 2012 Ram 3500 Megacab 3500. It took 6 months to find the truck that I wanted, not many 4x4 truck in South Florida.

The truck is a fully loaded Laramie with navigation, backup camera and the new I-6 6.7 Cummins HO with 6 speed auto. Even has ventilated seats to keep your rear cool..

The truck drives and handles like a car. I went with the 3.73 gear since it has 800 ftlbs of torque. The new Gen4 has no similarity to it older models. The motor isn't as quit as the GM or Ford but better then my old Ford was. The exhaust brake is great when loaded but the tow/haul mode isn't as great as the old Ford, it really doesn't do anything.


I swapped the stable loads from the Ford to the Ram. The Lance 881 has a 3600lbs loaded sticker on it and loaded the truck is level. Once loaded with 11 days of gear it does sag a little.

Average fuel mileage was 10.6 - 11 mpg on a 4000 mile trip. That was with an average speed of 70mph. The ride is smooth but did get some bouncing over big bumps. Not sure what Im going to do to solve this issue. In Vermont we had the camper shift on us in some extreme back roads hill crossing. The turn buckle ended up kissing the dually fender and took some paint off.


Carnage by MooringProduct, on Flickr

Here she is loaded. I hate bags so Im up for any solutions. Maybe Timbrens..


2013 NewYork Canada trip by MooringProduct, on Flickr

In all Im really happy with the truck. City driving isnt much harder in a dually but parking does have some minor issues.

[DCBarger]

campingken wrote:
We have used both Timbrens and airbags. If you tow loads of various weights airbags can be adjusted. Because we sometimes don't tow the horse trailer, tow it empty, tow one horse, tow two horses, and really load the camper and trailer for long trips air bags worked best for us.

Same here. I've had air bags on my truck since the late 80s and have learned a lot of lessons. If installed properly (lots of clearance around the bag), with a lot of attention to hose routing, monitor the pressure with an on board gauge, and have a small compressor to adjust the pressure when needed air bags can be trouble free for years of hard use. Short cut any of this, they can make life difficult...

[campingken]

We have used both Timbrens and airbags. If you tow loads of various weights airbags can be adjusted. Because we sometimes don't tow the horse trailer, tow it empty, tow one horse, tow two horses, and really load the camper and trailer for long trips air bags worked best for us.

[mooring_product]

kohldad wrote:
Nice writeup.

Was the mileage hand calculated or just from the overhead?

From the computer. Its very accurate and always changing.

[kohldad]

Nice writeup.

Was the mileage hand calculated or just from the overhead?

[abslayer]

I looked at a Ram 3500 Megacab 3500 SB and because of the COG and payload differences I went with a F350 my first ford ever LOVE this truck.
I also tried Timbrens for the first time in my new truck and I will never go back to air bags.;)
Timbrens have so much more control over sway with a heavy TC
Only come into play when truck has a load.
And when truck is not loaded they have no effect on ride.
Try them you will never go back to air bags

[noteven]

That is a good looking rig. Congratulations.

Our pickup is outdated now (2006) but we use air springs ("air bags") with individual adjustment side to side and onboard compressor. The truck rides level front to back and side to side and we can get 4 inches of side to side leveling on uneven sites as well as fore and aft.

The urethane ("rubber") stop type attachements are simple systems and might suit your purpose.

[mooring_product]

The truck has little sway, I blame the roads and hills. I would have tipped over in my old SRW.

I'm going to bring the truck in for its first service soon, I'm going to have them check the tow/haul mode.

[6pac]

Good looking rig .
Happy Traveling

[jtlingo123]

Mooring product,
I'm not able to afford air bags so I went with some all purpose bump stops from Amazon for about 12 dollars a pair. Mine are cone shaped and they work great, made a huge difference with swaying and hard bumps in the road. They actually make the overload spring engage like you would want them to do!

Josh

[Scott16]

Sundance07 wrote:

mooring product wrote:

Sundance07 wrote:
Airbags for sure if it were me......

Just curious, why the shortbox with a camper that size?

A longbox would position the weight further forward for better weight distribution.

The 881 is a shortbed truck camper. It would look silly in an 8' bed.

The cog is 4" behind the axle.

Thank you for the clarification, and the side on picture. Makes sense to me now...:B

Enjoy your new rig!

2x,
Enjoy your new truck,
Scott

[Specularius]

Sorry about the fender. Have you thought about moving the turnbuckle to the jack mounting bracket to gain some clearance on the fender?

[zb39]

JumboJet wrote:

mooring product wrote:
A The exhaust brake is great when loaded but the tow/haul mode isn't as great as the old Ford, it really doesn't do anything.

I don't know what might be the difference in your Tow/Haul mode and mine, but when engaged and a slight tap on the brake pedal and the downshifts start to occur along with the exhaust brake.

Empty in Tow/Haul mode and the rear tires will bark on the down shifts.

Never, ever, engage the Tow/Haul mode and exhaust brake on an icy downhill road! Ask me how I know! I did it as a controlled experiment (I slept in a Holiday Inn Express the night before the experiment!).

I agree, in the mountains the tow haul mode with exhaust brake is AWESOME!

[Sundance07]

mooring product wrote:

Sundance07 wrote:
Airbags for sure if it were me......

Just curious, why the shortbox with a camper that size?

A longbox would position the weight further forward for better weight distribution.

The 881 is a shortbed truck camper. It would look silly in an 8' bed.

The cog is 4" behind the axle.

Thank you for the clarification, and the side on picture. Makes sense to me now...:B

Enjoy your new rig!

[narcodog]

I am also not a fan of AB's. I'd go for Supersprings. Nothing to wear out. AB" are for leveling.