Anyone Looking for a New Truck?

[BeatTheTunaUp]

It's a Fiat.

Joke all you want. 2014 and up Fiat made a huge leap in quality over the old trucks. I think a lot of yall are doing yourself a disservice not considering a newer ram when looking at trucks. Again, just an opinion of someone that fixes everything not just one brand like a dealer tech.

 

[Haystack]

Joke all you want. 2014 and up Fiat made a huge leap in quality over the old trucks. I think a lot of yall are doing yourself a disservice not considering a newer ram when looking at trucks. Again, just an opinion of someone that fixes everything not just one brand like a dealer tech.

I didn't joke, nor did I disparage. I just called an apple an apple.

 

[bbbass]

Joke all you want. 2014 and up Fiat made a huge leap in quality over the old trucks. I think a lot of yall are doing yourself a disservice not considering a newer ram when looking at trucks. Again, just an opinion of someone that fixes everything not just one brand like a dealer tech.

I know NO THING about current Ram trucks.

However, in 2004 I needed a truck to haul RV trailers for delivery to dealers.... a mistake on sooooo many levels!!! I bought a brand new Ram 3500 diesel dually with the Cummins engine. Had some nice features but nothing lavish, and the ride was so stiff my wife stopped traveling with me after one month. Electronics were shit and blew out all the time. Those things were geared wrong for towing, even with "Tow Mode" and were burning out trannies like no tomorrow. Too much RPMs at 55-60mph in 3rd, and too low RPMs at 70-75mph in overdrive. They thought they fixed the problem by going to the Mercedes tranny, but nope, I think the axle must have been wrong ratio. IDK

 

[bbbass]

That's more than 3 times the cost of my first new house. Well, in 1976.

Tee hee.... my first house was in Huntington Beach Calif... paid $18k. Sold it to move to San Diego when I was stationed there with USCG. Shoulda kept it but two mort on a E4 salary was not going to happen. Today it's work well over $3M and it's only a standard 2400sqft ranch home with the add on.

For sure. I see people drop cash on mid 90s corollas but they keep on going and going. Energizer bunny doesn't hold a candle to simplicity that is corolla

My beloved '98 Yukon engine bit the dirt and the car was too old IMO to drop a new engine into... I bought a 2004 Toyota Highlander. Later it quit running, no fuel, I replaced fuel pump, it ran, then quit again... I bought a service manual.... turns out there is a zillion sensor sources that will turn off the fuel pump.... I wired around the relay... never had another prob.

The modern Toy cars are waaaaaayyyyyy too complex. Never had an oxygen sensor before, but learned about them when I broke the lower one off on a snow drift. Broke the stud and put the new one on with galv wire. ROFL. I musta been a farmer in another life.

 

[toddnjoyce]

I see that $108K sticker on that Dodge and I remember that I paid $29K for my first house in 1977.

That no-haggle sticker price is within spitting distance of what we paid for our first house in 2001. 3/2/2 1650sf that was less than ten years old.

 

[Sasquatch]

Joke all you want. 2014 and up Fiat made a huge leap in quality over the old trucks. I think a lot of yall are doing yourself a disservice not considering a newer ram when looking at trucks. Again, just an opinion of someone that fixes everything not just one brand like a dealer tech.

Worked towing & roadside for 16 years, getting out of it a year ago. In 2014 the company I worked for bought a brand new Ram 5500 4WD rollback. Within three months it had the union at the radiator let go. Chrysler wouldn't warranty it.

That truck also wound up having the transmission cooler fail - mixing coolant with transmission fluid. Chrysler wouldn't warranty it. Required a replacement transmission.

Turbo went out at about 70k miles. Chrysler covered that one, surprisingly.

Won't even get into the flaws that popped up with the interior.

I towed a lot of Chrysler products - not shitting, 30+% of what I towed where Chrysler products, and there were recurring themes that popped up for why they failed.

While the newer RAM trucks were a bit of an improvement over the older designs, they are still inferior to Ford or Chevy in terms of quality.

A couple months before I left that industry and moved to Texas, one of my employees bought himself a two year old Challenger. It caught fire in his garage and damn near burned his house down.

I love the 6.7 Cummins engine in the RAM trucks. I loathe everything that Chrysler designed and bolted to it. Pop that motor into a Silverado or F-series and you'd have one beast of a truck.

Don't get me wrong, all the makers have their issues - and I wouldn't buy a Ford diesel with anything but the 7.3 or their 6.7 either - the 6 liters were utter trash, the 6.4s were a marginal improvement.

Fiat/Chrysler still has a long way to go to make up for decades of absolute shit quality. They had some gems over the years, but they were relatively cheap turds by and large. Just like Ford can't make a sedan/minivan that won't give you serious issues inside of 70k. GM also was on the struggle bus in regards to passenger vehicles - their sedans and SUVs had their own recurring problems.

I knew techs that wound up specializing in one sort of repair, because they did so damn many of the things. GM fuel pumps. Transmissions on their compact and mid size SUVs and the compact sedans.

I used to tow for a shop that 95% of their work was either repairing/replacing or bulletproofing 6 liter Ford diesels. The 5.9 Cummins swap was a popular, if expensive fix.

In my previous business, we had two Chrysler vans - RAM ProMaster City vans. My partners bought them before I bought in. They were utter trash, and spent 25% of their life in the shop. Back in 2019, one of them went down for damn near a month - because of a recurring cooling fan issue. Chrysler fixed it under warranty, but the vehicle failed at one of the worst parts of the year both because it was the start of a typical busy season for us, and the busy season for the delivery industry. We had a BusinessLink account - they were supposed to pay for rental vehicles while our vehicle was under going repair, except in November, all the cargo vans get hoovered up by FedEx, UPS, and DHL. There were *no* available cargo vans to rent within 200 miles of Portland.

I would not recommend a Chrysler product to anyone relying on it f.or a commuter vehicle or business vehicle. Fiat doesn't exactly have the greatest reputation as an auto maker, and pairing their already shaky rep with that of the worst of the American auto makers isn't confidence inspiring. Maybe they are still improving, maybe they'll make rock solid, reliable cars again - but 40+ years of automotive history isn't on their side.

There's a reason I chose a Toyota when we bought our last vehicle, and when it comes time to get a truck, it'll be a GM or a Ford. But not a 2020 Diesel Silverado half ton - that one has bugs to work out too...

 

[BeatTheTunaUp]

well don't buy a 3.5 in a ford. Cam Phaser issues, dead turbos etc.... Gm will have oil leaks, poor interior quality and vlom issues. Rams just need oil changes and brakes. Honestly. I wouldn't touch any Chrysler car or van. I agree they're trash. The 02-13 ram is utter garbage. Ram broke away and I bet if you checked out a newer 1500 you would be impressed. Again, I see all three trucks all the time. I bought a Ram based on what I see and fix all the time. 68k miles in and only issue was a broken exhaust bolt. Just a reason to install headers to fix the root cause. Don't base your opinion on 1 ton transit vans with a 3.6 engine

 

[gdr_11]

At the end of the day......it's just a man and his truck

 

[toddnjoyce]

Joke all you want. 2014 and up Fiat made a huge leap in quality over the old trucks. I think a lot of yall are doing yourself a disservice not considering a newer ram when looking at trucks. Again, just an opinion of someone that fixes everything not just one brand like a dealer tech.

I looked long and hard at the Eco-Diesel and that was a hard pass, lots of horror stories there. Did the same with it a Jeep JL Renegade that had the e-assist motor or whatever. Came to the conclusion on both that owning either out of warranty was a fool’s errand.

Finally ended up with a 2017 5.0 King Ranch. Other than preventive/scheduled maintenance, not a single thing has been done for the nearly 60K miles on it.

 

[Sasquatch]

well don't buy a 3.5 in a ford. Cam Phaser issues, dead turbos etc.... Gm will have oil leaks, poor interior quality and vlom issues. Rams just need oil changes and brakes. Honestly. I wouldn't touch any Chrysler car or van. I agree they're trash. The 02-13 ram is utter garbage. Ram broke away and I bet if you checked out a newer 1500 you would be impressed. Again, I see all three trucks all the time. I bought a Ram based on what I see and fix all the time. 68k miles in and only issue was a broken exhaust bolt. Just a reason to install headers to fix the root cause. Don't base your opinion on 1 ton transit vans with a 3.6 engine

My opinions were based on all of their line up - from passenger cars to trucks to vans - including heavy duty models. In the half-ton realm the F150 is hard to beat, reliability or comfort wise. My former work truck was an 07 F150 with pushing 200k miles on the 4.2liter V6 - it started having electrical issues around 160k but that was likely from all the non-standard equipment we had wired in - air compressor, work lights, emergency lights, after market camera / stereo, power inverter etc. The newer trucks with the EcoBoost get better fuel economy. 5.0 V8s are solid engines as well, though like all Ford products they'll start using oil around 100k. I'd go through a quart of oil in my 07 every 3000-4000 miles. I was religious on oil changes with the service vehicles, since its one of the top things you can do for longevity and mechanical reliability. Lots of idle time and city traffic on those vehicles. We ran 7000k between changes on the tow trucks - averaged 1-1.5 months between oil changes on those, and roughly every month on the service trucks.

I saw lots of RAM vehicles going in for transmission issues, electronics failures, and suspension failures within 80k. Electronics were a big one across the board for Chrysler from the Neon to the RAM trucks.

Silverados when they failed were usually electronics moreso than mechanical failures, if it wasn't fuel pumps. Fords were usually electronics - the Cam sensors were one of the more common reasons for failure.

FWIW the truck that is most attractive to me when it comes time to get one is a 2015-2018 Colorado diesel, 2nd up would be a similar vintage F150. At this point I don't need the heavy duty towing of a larger truck - if I get to a point where I need more truck than the half ton / lite half ton truck, an older 7.3 dually Ford is where I'd be most interested. No DEF nonsense to deal with, comfortable styling, and one of best engines Ford put in a truck. I don't have much love or use for gas powered full size trucks - they lack the torque / towing of a diesel, and they burn way too much fuel. My dad has a 2015 gas Silverado HD and when towing a trailer he's in single-digit economy range, and gets around 12-14 empty. I was getting 10-12 avg in my 4.2 F150 that was constantly loaded down (26 car batteries, tools, compressor, slide-out tray.)

 

[CyberWolf]

Question for y'all with with the experience working on Dodge vehicles - are they still wiring up the whole friggin vehicle through the instrument cluster? (i.e. - when the instrument cluster starts to get squirrelly, all kinds of unrelated shit stops working, like windows, door locks, etc.; giant pain in the ass...)

 

[pronstar]

Question for y'all with with the experience working on Dodge vehicles - are they still wiring up the whole friggin vehicle through the instrument cluster? (i.e. - when the instrument cluster starts to get squirrelly, all kinds of unrelated shit stops working, like windows, door locks, etc.; giant pain in the ass...)

That’s sort of an issue with all makes, particularly the Germans. To help reduce wire harness complexity, most things run on a CAN bus, where basically a lot of wiring is shared.

Done right, and it’s pretty robust and works as advertised.
Toyota is a good example of doing it right. Electrical issues aren’t common.

Done “not right” and you can get wonky electrical issues that are extremely difficult to fix.


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[Mike_from_Texas]

It's a Fiat.

With 702HP and 4.5 second 0-60.

I’d take one in a heartbeat.


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[pronstar]

I know NO THING about current Ram trucks.

However, in 2004 I needed a truck to haul RV trailers for delivery to dealers.... a mistake on sooooo many levels!!! I bought a brand new Ram 3500 diesel dually with the Cummins engine. Had some nice features but nothing lavish, and the ride was so stiff my wife stopped traveling with me after one month. Electronics were shit and blew out all the time. Those things were geared wrong for towing, even with "Tow Mode" and were burning out trannies like no tomorrow. Too much RPMs at 55-60mph in 3rd, and too low RPMs at 70-75mph in overdrive. They thought they fixed the problem by going to the Mercedes tranny, but nope, I think the axle must have been wrong ratio. IDK

Yeah I had an 07 Ram with the 5.9 CTD.

Honestly I regret selling, it was a fantastic truck. I didn’t have any of the common issues…I best on that truck off-road and didn’t even have any interior steaks or rattles.

You’re absolutely spot-on.
The 4-speed 46RE had way too large gaps between gears.
This was an evolution of the original TorqFlite transmission that came out in the 50’s. It was never designed to hold the torque output of a modern turbo diesel. The lockup strategy was garbage, and the stall speed was way too high, both of which created a ton of heat.

In addition to off roading, I also towed a 42’ toy hauler. Needed 4.56 gears and quite a large tranny cooler to keep it healthy…I never tuned the engine or tranny, they were basically stock and I know I was on borrowed time with the tranny.

The evolution of this was the 68RFE, which was another in-house Chrysler design that also want meant to handle big torque. I don’t believe any MB or DAIMLER tranny made it to the diesel trucks. But the 1500’s id/do have a ZF tranny that’s German, but pretty good.

The upgrade from here is the Aisin.

There’s talk that they may didn’t have Aisin and go to ZF for the diesel trucks in the future, but I don’t think that’s been decided yet.


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[bbbass]

Yeah I had an 07 Ram with the 5.9 CTD.

Honestly I regret selling, it was a fantastic truck. I didn’t have any of the common issues…I best on that truck off-road and didn’t even have any interior steaks or rattles.

You’re absolutely spot-on.
The 4-speed 46RE had way too large gaps between gears.
This was an evolution of the original TorqFlite transmission that came out in the 50’s. It was never designed to hold the torque output of a modern turbo diesel. The lockup strategy was garbage, and the stall speed was way too high, both of which created a ton of heat.

In addition to off roading, I also towed a 42’ toy hauler. Needed 4.56 gears and quite a large tranny cooler to keep it healthy…I never tuned the engine or tranny, they were basically stock and I know I was on borrowed time with the tranny.

The evolution of this was the 68RFE, which was another in-house Chrysler design that also want meant to handle big torque. I don’t believe any MB or DAIMLER tranny made it to the diesel trucks. But the 1500’s id/do have a ZF tranny that’s German, but pretty good.

The upgrade from here is the Aisin.

There’s talk that they may didn’t have Aisin and go to ZF for the diesel trucks in the future, but I don’t think that’s been decided yet.


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Good post! Thx for the info!!!!

I sold the Ram dually in 2006 due to the high payments and bought a 2002 Chevy 3500 diesel dually with the 5spd Allison tranny for cash (the 6spd is supposed to be even better). I've been very happy with it... perfect ratios for towing the 36' triple slide 5th down to AZ and the uphill was plenty of poop with the Duramax, and the Allison handled downhill grades with the extra weight brilliantly. The only problem I've had with the Duramax is injectors needing replaced, and I wound up buying an Air Boss water/airbubble filter for the fuel line.

I recently have had most of the steering system rebuilt, in two steps dangit cus the first didn't work, and now am going to have to replace the steering box because it still wanders all over the road. Too much travel on gravel has really worn the front end. The work has cost about half of what the truck NADA value was.... so I wasn't happy with the surprises that the first and second tries didn't fix the problem. Dang Commercial Tire Company steering mechanic.

So I'm stuck not being able to travel in the woods so far this summer. My stepson has ordered the steering box, he's a diesel mech, but he is a busy guy, so we'll see. I'm jonesing to get out and wander. Hope to have it fixed by the time the wife wants to go pick huckleberries.

 

[Coop45]

They offered me 12k for my 2016 Corolla that has 88000 miles on it LOL. I gave them the finger. Im driving this thing until the wheels fall off.

They keep trying to get my 2016 Frontier. At 27K miles it's almost broke in.

 

[BMF500]

FWIW, other than being "OEM" a stock 2021 Raptor isn't really a fair comparison to the TRX for the full package, including price....

This $110K option is a true pound for pound competitor.

Shelby F-150

I've heard all the complaints and horror stories yet my "13 RAM 1500 with a 5.7 served me for a very hard 168K miles and never flinched. A good bit of engine upgrades and tuning to achieve 518 to the wheels whilst pushing a stock transmission. It towed many a trailer with weights at & above it's capacity rating for many a mile and was driven like a race car when I felt so inclined. My only complaint is it ate brakes like crazy but that was my fault.

 

[pronstar]

Good post! Thx for the info!!!!

I sold the Ram dually in 2006 due to the high payments and bought a 2002 Chevy 3500 diesel dually with the 5spd Allison tranny for cash (the 6spd is supposed to be even better). I've been very happy with it... perfect ratios for towing the 36' triple slide 5th down to AZ and the uphill was plenty of poop with the Duramax, and the Allison handled downhill grades with the extra weight brilliantly. The only problem I've had with the Duramax is injectors needing replaced, and I wound up buying an Air Boss water/airbubble filter for the fuel line.

I recently have had most of the steering system rebuilt, in two steps dangit cus the first didn't work, and now am going to have to replace the steering box because it still wanders all over the road. Too much travel on gravel has really worn the front end. The work has cost about half of what the truck NADA value was.... so I wasn't happy with the surprises that the first and second tries didn't fix the problem. Dang Commercial Tire Company steering mechanic.

So I'm stuck not being able to travel in the woods so far this summer. My stepson has ordered the steering box, he's a diesel mech, but he is a busy guy, so we'll see. I'm jonesing to get out and wander. Hope to have it fixed by the time the wife wants to go pick huckleberries.

Those fuel injectors are pricey, so doing 8 at a time hurts that much more.
Are they a common issue on those trucks?

Make sure you’ve replaced the entire pitman arm and all related bushings…sorta common on the IFS HD trucks.

My Silverado is IFS but for trucks I actually prefer a solid axle up front…they’re tough and known issues (like death wobble) are easily prevented/remedied, plus I’m just more familiar with them.

I’ve read you can turn your 5-speed Allison into a 6-speed with a valve body and programming…but that valve body is like $2k LOL

With all the pricey components and emissions crap, I dunno if I’ll ever own another diesel truck…at least not without a warranty.

I love that each carmaker offers a pretty stout gas V8 for their HD trucks. That’s the route I’d most consider.


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[TexasRedneck]

Joke all you want. 2014 and up Fiat made a huge leap in quality over the old trucks. I think a lot of yall are doing yourself a disservice not considering a newer ram when looking at trucks. Again, just an opinion of someone that fixes everything not just one brand like a dealer tech.

As a guy that pretty much drove nothing but Ford trucks since 1983, I'd have to agree. Bought my first Ram about 5 years ago. It impressed me enough that when I had to buy a new one last year, I didn't even consider anything else. It's a work truck so Tradesman package is all I wanted/needed - but on a Ram, that means tilt wheel, power window/locks and cruise control. The B/U camera in the rear view mirror is about useless IMO, but since it's a safety-related issue, I'm gonna upgrade the radio to this:

2019-2021 RAM Truck UAM Radio Uconnect 4 with 8.4-Inch Display including Apple CarPlay & Android Auto Upgrade

INTRODUCTION Our reconditioned factory upgrades feature a 90-day guarantee and a hassle-free return policy. Extended warranties are also available! 100% Factory RAM® Apple CarPlay® & Android Auto® Ready! Supports English, French, & Spanish languages No-hassle, Plug & Play system. Pre-programmed...

www.infotainment.com

Now the wife has spotted the new 2022 Aviator and decided she wanted it...so, we'll be trading in her 2020 Aviator (with under 8k miles) and picking up her new one around the first part of September. They ain't coming off the MSRP of the new one much, but they're giving us a helluva lot more for her '20 than I expected, it's a wash.

Oh - and this is the Ram 3500.....along with some of the custom rigging we did.

 

[Mike_from_Texas]

FWIW, other than being "OEM" a stock 2021 Raptor isn't really a fair comparison to the TRX for the full package, including price....

This $110K option is a true pound for pound competitor.

Shelby F-150

I've heard all the complaints and horror stories yet my "13 RAM 1500 with a 5.7 served me for a very hard 168K miles and never flinched. A good bit of engine upgrades and tuning to achieve 518 to the wheels whilst pushing a stock transmission. It towed many a trailer with weights at & above it's capacity rating for many a mile and was driven like a race car when I felt so inclined. My only complaint is it ate brakes like crazy but that was my fault.

Uhhhh not quite. That Shelby F150 is quite a joke.



If you want to see the beat down fast forward to about 11:45 in the video.


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