Which Truck?

[MiniAdventures]

My Dodge 2500 Hemi has been great, but, with nearly 300,000 miles I think it may be time to get a new Truck to haul my Lance 815 (1650# dry weight). Was wondering what truck/model TC'ers are thinking/buying/running lately. (I hear Ford has a 1500 configuration with over a 3000# payload).

Thanks

[jaycocreek]

MiniAdventures wrote:
My Dodge 2500 Hemi has been great, but, with nearly 300,000 miles I think it may be time to get a new Truck to haul my Lance 815 (1650# dry weight). Was wondering what truck/model TC'ers are thinking/buying/running lately. (I hear Ford has a 1500 configuration with over a 3000# payload).

Thanks

I don't think you have to worry which truck you buy with the 815 knowing your going to haul a TC..I had the Lance Squire version of the 815 on a 1976 Ford f-250 with only a 7200 GVWR and with the only mod being a set of Helwig helper springs.It road/drove almost as well as my dually with a 9.6 Lance and mods that came with the truck.

A great camper I might ad,I would have bought that configuration again when I was looking for a TC but none to be found in my area.

[Optimistic_Para]

MiniAdventures wrote:
My Dodge 2500 Hemi has been great, but, with nearly 300,000 miles I think it may be time to get a new Truck to haul my Lance 815 (1650# dry weight). Was wondering what truck/model TC'ers are thinking/buying/running lately. (I hear Ford has a 1500 configuration with over a 3000# payload).

Thanks

The smartest thing you could do right now is take your current truck and camper and find your nearest CAT scale and get it weighed. Then go back and get just your truck without the camper weighed.

A little bit of simple arithmetic and you'll be able to choose your next truck based on reality, not fantasy.

https://catscale.com/

[n0m4d]

MiniAdventures wrote:
My Dodge 2500 Hemi has been great, but, with nearly 300,000 miles I think it may be time to get a new Truck to haul my Lance 815 (1650# dry weight). Was wondering what truck/model TC'ers are thinking/buying/running lately. (I hear Ford has a 1500 configuration with over a 3000# payload).

Thanks

Just to circle back on one part of your original question. I recently looked to replace my Sierra 2500 and was looking at the Ford F150 CC w/ heavy duty payload package and the 6.5' bed. It's really close to a 3/4 ton in theory. The problem is, it's a unicorn on the lots and if you order one you'll be in it for more that a F250 (I ended up with a CPO 2016 F250). Also, I have a Lance 805 which is smaller and lighter than the 815 and I weigh in at almost exactly 2000lbs on the scale, so I would start there.

[Optimistic_Para]

work2much wrote:
If I got 300,000 good miles out of any brand I would probably stick with it.

Yeah . . .

If you had had a 7.3 liter Ford diesel and used that logic to get a newer 6.0 or 6.4 liter Ford diesel, you would have ended up with a real dog.

[Grit_dog]

Agree on the coils not being optimum for big campers. However OP figure that one out on your own. It has been blown out of proportion by people on here who’ve never even sat in one, much less worked a 2500 Ram.
If buying used 3500 rams are hard to find.

[MiniAdventures]

Much food for thought here! Had never considered a 3500 as I figured a 2500 payload with timbrens was plenty and there seems to be a better 'on-lot' selection of 2500's. May include the 3500 in search as I rarely take the TC off, anyway. Will definitely check out the 6.4 engine if I stay with Dodge. Boss admitted a willingness to check out Ford and Chevy as well - options are good.

Keep 'em comin' - Borglum has not carved the 'mountain' yet.

Thanks!

[towpro]

ram 2500 went to five link suspension with coil springs for 2014 model year.
http://www.trucktrend.com/news/1306-2014-ram-2500-five-link-coil-rear-suspension/
I had a 98.5 2500 that even had helper springs.

[Kavoom]

I say Ram but am prejudiced. I do believe you get more truck for the money. You might also check out Cargurus for low mile used. You can really get some amazing deals particularly if you are willing to drive a bit. Also,as the 2019's come out, there will be some amazing deals on the 18's.

[SidecarFlip]

Never seen a 1650 pound Lance camper. Might be sticker weight but not actual. try adding 1000 pounds to them 1650 and then you'll be close.

Probably more like 3 or 32 loaded for a trip with 'stuff'.

[SidecarFlip]

d3500ram wrote:
Stay away from Dodge especially the 2500- you want a truck that works, not one that rides nice for a T application.

I tend to agree with that, especially the 2500 series. Two issues right off. The 2500 series has coils instead of leaves out back and the spacing of the coils are inboard of the frame rails so it's a sway ride.

Coils belong on the back of an Impala, not a truck and coils are especially hard on shocks because they have no inherent damping from starting friction like a leaf spring pack does.

Why they ride better unladen.

[d3500ram]

An '05 2500 was rear leaf springs. All 3G 2500's were leaf. And I believe the 4G Dodge 2500's were leafed up to a point... not sure what year they changed.

After having owned 2 Dodge diesels I would not do it again... If I were looking I would be in the Ford camp... one of these days I might tell why I need a new engine on my 2005 diesel 3500 with only 117,000 miles on it.

[kerrlakeRoo]

If you go back to the original post, the comment was that he was replacing a 2005 model Ram 2500 that he kept for 300,000 miles. I believe the 2005 models also had coil spring suspension.
I know I bought my Ram 2500 because I preferred the ride to either a 1500 or a 3500.
He states that the Lance only weighed 1650, and the new 2500 Ram is rated for about 3000 load capacity, so he has plenty of cushion there. If he has kept an older model with less capability for 13 years and 300,000 miles and been happy with it, why must he go to something heavier which may not be as comfortable? And besides, if the wife is happy, the battle is already 3/4 over.

Edit add, Just saw, the 05 was a leaf spring set, but also the truck at that time had 300 lbs less cargo cap than the current model.

[JimK-NY]

Ordering a truck will not typically get you the best price. You can get the best price buying off the lot. I just bought a new Dodge 3500 off the lot. I took an initial look and told the sales manager I did not have any interest in leather seats and a bunch of other luxury items. I marked items I was not interested in. The total was $4500. The manager took that off. Then the $2500 in dealer incentives and that is where we started our negotiations. BTW, I really do like lots of the luxury items. Ventilated seats really feel great in the heat. My wife likes the fancy leather seats with driver and passenger lumbar adjustments. My wife can now drive comfortably with the pedal height adjustment. The auto memory for seat, pedals and mirrors makes it easy to change drivers.

[towpro]

I also would recommend looking at the 3500 SRW over the 2500 because of rear suspension. but now is the time to decide. new model coming out next year, it will look just like the current 1500. so if you like the current HD version, buy now or for ever hold your peace. But I hear they will be building the current version through 12/2018 so you could still even custom order one if you wanted

[kohldad]

Get a 2500 Ram and tell her it was to give her what she wanted and a better ride.

2500 Rams are coil rear suspension and worthless for carrying campers due to the bounce and sway.

I have 65k miles with over half hauling my Lance 815 on my Ram 3500 with 6.4 gas engine. Love it and don't miss the 5.9 diesel I had before because I'm not towing heavy like I did in the past. Average with the camper running 64 has been 12.4 mpg so not bad. The 6.4 is a much better engine than the 5.7 as it's designed to tow. I did go with the 3.73 gears but next one will order with 4.10 gear. Don't just look on the lot, look at ordering one to get exactly what you want. The cost for me was only going to be a couple hundred more for custom order so I only paid for what I wanted.

The truck handles the camper very well without any mods except for the tie down and a heavier charge circuit as I boondock a lot and wanted a 20A/hr charge late as I drive between camprgounds.

I also had an 18' bowrider I've towed behind it and just slowed down to 60mph dropping out of 6th and still managed almost 11mpg on that trip. The heaviest I pulled was a u-haul trailer with my daughter's camry and that is about as much as I would want to push the truck on a regular basis, but then again, I do have the 3.73.

We often go the Blue Ridge Parkway which means 5,000' and haven't found a lack of power then either. Haven't had the chance to get to 10k' though, but from past gas experience at those altitude, I'm sure I'll have plenty of power.