ram 1500
 

i want to buy a ram 1500. i will be off roading and hauling trailers with it. the off roading will be in mud most of the time and the trailers will waigh alot. alot being like hauling my freinds ram 1500 to the beach. can it haul that or do i need a 3500. i wont buy a 2500 and if the 1500 is capable of doing that than i will buy it.

RE: ram 1500
 

a 2500 diesel certainly would make things easier, pretty sure a 1500 could haul a car/trailer.

How far will you be towing this thing to/from the beach? uphills?

Why are you hauling a friends 1500 to a beach anyway? often?

RE: ram 1500
 

i would go with the ram 2500 turbo diesel. it'll make hauling a lot easier. but if you get the ram 1500 go with the 5.7 hemi and not the 4.7. but a 3/4 ton will make your life alot easier

RE: ram 1500
 

First, what years are you looking at??? If you're looking new, I'd buy a Chevy, if you're looking used, I'd buy a Dodge 2500 with a Diesel, MANUAL TRANSMISSION ONLY!!! Dodge auto trannies are JUNK to say the least, and Ford ain't a whole lot better, and their manuals are weaker than a Dodge Manual. From a guy that's owned all three, I'll tell you that the Dodge 2500 with a manual tranny that I have is the best of the trucks I've owned, but if I were buying a gasoline engine truck, it would without a doubt bea Chevy. If you want a truck that's good for off-roading, and your less concerned about trailer pulling, FORD is hands down the best that I owned, and the limited slip in a Ford is better than either of the other two. Notice I didn't mention an rice-burners, because I've never, nor will I ever own a foreign made car, and if more Americans bought AMERICAN, you wouldn't be watching the 2 of the BIG 3 looking at financial disasters, though I do place part of the blame on the executives as well, the "BUY AMERICAN" theme is part of what has DESTROYED the AMERICAN economy. Sorry for the political bullet, but I feel THAT STRONGLY about it, and if more people did, this country would have been better off.

RE: ram 1500
 

A diesel would help a lot with the towing, although I dont know why you would want a womens truck (DODGE)to begin with. :D

RE: ram 1500
 

salukipv1 we haul each others trucks there because there is about 10 of us that go and its easier to get there having each person haul somebodys truck. its a 3 hour drive and we live in texas so there is hills. its not that often just about once or twice a year.

RE: ram 1500
 

If the big three would make better, longer lasting, more reliable vehicles, and if the UAW didn't have the companies by the short hairs preventing them from having the flexibility to manage their companies in a profitable and efficient manner, then we wouldn't be watching 2 of the Big 3 swirling around the toilet bowl waiting to get sucked down. Has anyone noticed that in all the hoopla about GM and Chrysler that Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, BMW and Mercedes are weathering this storm just fine? They all make a large portion of their cars right here in the USA. In fact, the Toyota Tundra is not only assembled in the US (in San Antonio, TX and Princeton, IN), but they also have the same domestic parts content as the Ford F150 (80%) and only slightly less than the Chevy Silverado 1500 (85%). So the way I see it, you're supporting the exact same number of American families regardless of the nameplate.

I guess I don't really understand why you'd want to tow half your trucks with you. Why is it necessary for everyone to have their truck with they if you're going to the beach? I'd say get the truck you want to drive and let your friends worry about their own trucks. What's stopping them from driving their own vehicles if you're going to drive yours? Are they not street legal?

If you feel you must spec your vehicle for the sake of your friends, and serious towing is a requirement, I'd strongly suggest getting the diesel version of whatever type of truck you choose. I'm not a huge fan of Dodge trucks, but the Cummins I6 Turbo Diesel is a very good motor. If you plan on towing a 5th wheel trailer I'd also defininitly recommend at lease a 3/4 ton chassis, and depending on the weight on the 5th wheel, dual drives as well. But now you're talking about a lot more money as well.

Mike

RE: ram 1500
 

I've owned American vehicles and foreign vehicles and currently own a Dodge truck. We have other cars too both American and foreign. My honest opinion is the foreign vehicles are much much better. There are no if's ands or buts they are more reliable. Or at least the experiences I've had they have been. I think if you are going to get a half ton truck Toyota or Nissan would be worth looking into.

If you want a 3/4 or 1ton truck the American car companies are really the only way to go.

What years are you looking at? This was asked earlier but I didn't see a answer.

If you are looking at the 2nd gen ones which would be 94-01 or actually 02 for the 2500 and 3500. The 1500's changed in 02 but the 2500's and 3500's didn't. These all have solid front axles which I like and is a must if you plan to offroad. However, with a 2500 or 3500 you get much stronger axles both front and rear. You also get stronger hubs and just all around better drivetrain parts. You also get the option of a diesel or V-10 gas motor. Really a lot of guys that start out with half ton's that offroad them heavily end up upgrading to the axles out of a 2500. It's a worthwhile upgrade. The 1500's have a Dana 44 up front and a Chrysler 9.25" in the rear. The factory LSD's in the rear are basically junk however, the rest of it's pretty strong. The D44 up front is the weak link unless you like breaking parts.

It would be cheaper to just start with a 2500. I don't know why you don't want one but it would be the way to go. Sure a 1500 would probably tow what you want but the 2500 would do a much better job at both it and offroading. I see no reason that you would need a 3500 unless you want a dually or just want a 1 ton. For what you want it sounds like the 2500's will work fine for you.

If you are looking at the 03-I guess 08 which are the 3rd gens for what you want I wouldn't even consider a half ton. They have IFS up front which is independant front suspension if you didn't know. It's not popular at all for offroaders for good reason. If you try to put big tires on it or wheel it hard or both expext to replace lots of front end parts on a regular basis. I also wouldn't want this if I did a lot of towing either. The 2500's and the 3500's step up to the solid front axle which is what most offroaders want. The only advantage I see to IFS is it rides a bit smoother in most cases however, it's a lot weaker if you plan to beat on the truck at all. Once again I think a 2500 would be the optimal setup here. Not sure why you don't want one.


I will say from owning a Dodge and talking to lots of guys that own them these trucks have a lot of common issues. I know the most about the 2nd gens as that's what I have but they have issues with the automatic tranmissions(can be built to hold up pretty well.), lsd's in the rear, pleneum gasket on the 5.9L and 5.2L engines, dash cracking all over into pieces, heads cracking on the magnum engines so 5.9L and 5.2L, and probably some I'm forgetting. Those are all major issues that are pretty common with these trucks. I'd say the heads cracking are the least common of those listed. I've yet to hear of many that don't have a bad pleneum gasket or bad transmission. Quite a few also have had the dash crack at least once if not more than once however, I've heard of a few that haven't had that. Really these trucks just have a lot of common issues that cost a lot of money to fix. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy one I'm just letting you know to be prepared.
The manual transmissions aren't perfect but a bit stronger. It's what I'd want.

Honestly, if I was to do it over again I'd want a 2500. Not sure why you say you don't want one but it's what I'd go with as well as many others I've talked to who have bought 1500's and wish they had gone with a 2500.


This is just my opinion from all I've read.

RE: ram 1500
 

Sorry but I'm not going to buy some piece of crap just because "Americans" make it. In fact look at the stickers on a lot newerish so called "American" vehicles and you will see made in Mexico. I've had American vehicles as well as foreign vehicles as said. Every time the American vehicle is problematic. While the foreign cars have had some problems it's not been near as many as the "American" ones I've had. This has been about the experience of most of my friends and family as well. Most of them have gotten rid of their "American" vehicles and gotten Honda's or Toyota's and will comment on how much better build quality they seem to be. Like me most of them also run them forever, as in 150-300k miles. While a Honda or Toyota may give you a few problems as anything would in that mileage our experience is they give you a lot less problems. Most of the people I know that still own "American" vehicles are ones who trade theirs very often. As in every 2-3 years at most and want a new vehicle when the warranty runs out in which case it wont matter. I've always heard 5 years or 100k miles with an American vehicle and you will start having problems. That's about my experience.

I know a few people that own them and don't trade. One is my grandparents as that's just what they have owned. However, one of their cars is not and the car they say they plan to get next is a Toyota. The other is a guy that I'm friend with who has just grown up with "American" vehicles and while he even has a Honda it's a beat up Honda in bad shape and he just basically talks like you where he thinks nothing can ever be better than a American vehicle. There are some guys like that.


I'd have 0 problem with buying an American vehicle if they were just as good or better quality and reliability, had similar features for just as good of a price, and were as nice as the foreign cars. However, I've yet to find one that meets that critera. Maybe it's out there and I haven't tried it but I haven't seen it.

The only place I think American cars jump ahead is in the 3/4 and 1 ton truck markets as the foreign manufacturers don't have much to compete. I really like the new Tahoe's and Suburbans too but I'm just not sure I want another Chevy after my previous experiences.

RE: ram 1500
 

Just my person experience here but I haul a 16 ft trailer everyday with a 2005 2500 5.7l hemi and this truck is a hunk of s--t!!! If you are going to haul buy a diesel or a dually. I personally will never own a Dodge truck now that I have seen all three of these trucks have the exact same issues, all the same year, all the same problems, and Dodge says the knocking noises are normal, the paint burning off the transfer case is normal, and the differential fluid burning up is normal. In my opinion either these guys were not competant or this year of truck with the MDS are garbage. Oh ya I didn't mention the recall on all their trucks from 04 - 08 for a faulty linkage that could break and if your on the freeway at high speed it may be your last drive...