2016 Ram 3500 Laramnie mega cab

[KubotaToy]

Have always owned Ford trucks. Looking to replace my old faithful 1997 F350 DRW XLT crew cab, she is using/losing more oil than fuel, and the transmission has seen better days. Thought about rebuilding but she needs a lot more than just motor work, I could put over $10k in the truck but still have a 20 year old truck. So, I thought I would would see who else makes a truck and found 2016 Ram 3500 to be appeasing to the eye but what about towing? Servicing? Reliability?

It will spend about a third of its life towing trailers but most will be less than 15k. I also have a 2006 F350 KR SRW but I need more tow capacity occasionally, hence keeping a DRW truck around is important (wife's horse trailer is one heavy trailer and if I cannot tow it, I am not of much use and no longer required in her book).

I have looked at 2016 F350 KR DRW and they are nice but does any brand have something over the other brands that makes it a gotta own?

 

[Danny C]

The Ram is the best looking inside and out IMO and has the best tow rating and the Cummins engine and Aisen (spelling) transmission are near bullet proof.

 

[Fordman1981]

I've had them all my preference right now (because they've given us the best service) is ram. Here is a picture of the last one I ordered.

 

[Fordman1981]

 

[Fordman1981]

Double post.

 

[bdog]

Just make sure you get the one with the low rear end and the aisan. Dodge has hundreds of variations and options and you have to get a very specific one to get that 30k+ tow rating they brag about. I went to my local dealer who had dozens of trucks on the lot and not a single one had the aisan. There is a huge difference in tow capacity without it.

 

[mikesee]

I will second bdog, the sales folks will gloss over the fact that the 488 gears are required for max tow capacity and you will be hard pressed to find one of them on the lot. Mostly 4.44 or 4.10

 

[Morning Wood]

4.88 gears are not going to give you much room for good fuel economy. How heavy is your wife's trailer anyway? Is it actual weight or pin weight that heavy?

 

[Code54]

I bought a Ram CTD and am very pleased with it. I was never a Dodge/Ram person but had two for work that were flawless and that made me buy one for personal use. On another note I was hit HARD in my work RAM and was amazed how well it faired. Totaled a Minivan taxi cab, knocked me up on two wheels (hit in the passenger side) and both me and the passenger were fine without a scratch. To top it off I changed a tire and was able to drive it back home 300 miles away. It did suffer extensive damage but I must admit I was impressed with it overall

 

[bdog]

Look here to see what I am talking about.

https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/towing_guide/pdf/2016_ram_3500_towing_charts.pdf

The highest tow rating on a dually without the aisan is 22,550. If you get a non aisan dually with 3.42 gears the tow rating is only 17,550. The dually with the aisan and 4.10's has a tow rating of 31,210. You can have two cummins trucks on the lot that look identical except for the rear end ratio and transmission and one is rated to tow 13,660 pounds more than the other. Make sure you know what you are getting.

I am not bashing dodge I have owned four of them and their 31,210 is king of the hill in towing for 1 ton trucks but they are pretty deceptive about this vs other manufacturers. Ford and GM have tow rating variations based on axle ratios and cab configuration but not near the swings that dodge does. When I went to the local dodge dealer looking at duallies a couple months ago the sales guy couldn't stop talking about their 30k tow rating but they didn't have a single truck on their lot that was anywhere close to it. I think the highest they had was the 22,550 variant.

 

[TSO]

I like my F450 ... And when my 6.0L PSD is running properly, I like that too LOL. I would say that I'm more a "Ford" guy than GM or Dodge when it comes to 3/4 & up trucks, since many of my family work(ed) for Ford, and anything else would be blasphemy.

But (and don't tell anyone!) I really like the DuraMax (Isuzu) diesel paired with the Allison trans. If I was buying a new diesel truck, I'd opt for a GM, simply for that Powertrain. I have several friends with those trucks and they tow very well, and are quite efficient.

 

[KubotaToy]

Just make sure you get the one with the low rear end and the aisan. Dodge has hundreds of variations and options and you have to get a very specific one to get that 30k+ tow rating they brag about. I went to my local dealer who had dozens of trucks on the lot and not a single one had the aisan. There is a huge difference in tow capacity without it.

I agree, all the trucks I looked at had the Aisan trans listed. None of the salesfolks seem to know much about the bigger trucks.

4.88 gears are not going to give you much room for good fuel economy. How heavy is your wife's trailer anyway? Is it actual weight or pin weight that heavy?

Not sure on the pin weight but overall the trailer with living quarters loaded with four horses and gear is a little over 22K. That was a load on my 97 F350 which is probably why I only got 297K miles out of it.

 

[Monster5601]

I am not bashing dodge I have owned four of them and their 31,210 is king of the hill in towing for 1 ton trucks but they are pretty deceptive about this vs other manufacturers.

Your posts are strongly anti-RAM casted. RAM is the only manufacture that publishes SAE J2807 tow specification for their entire pick-up truck line-up beginning with the 2014 model year. Ford has just as wide of towing weights and you can't get GM's towing number on line, you have to go to a dealership and then, well, salesmen, ug!

Talk about deceptive, Ford rated their trucks with out bumpers, spare tires, and the such. The only trucks Ford rates under J2807 for 2016 model year are the the F150 and the F450.

GM just introduced J2807 on their HD trucks beginning with model year 2016. This leaves Ford as the lone duck with the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

When comparing towing numbers between the big three, only RAM offers J2807 numbers on their pick-up trucks, all models.

 

[KubotaToy]

Well, I did not want this to be a brand war. I can own any of them (big three) and be happy. I have always owned Ford due to family farming business and good fleet deals, I was just looking for good value for my money, now that I am not around the farm anymore.

BTW- For the ram folks, is the ram mega cab something worth having?

 

[TSO]

Decent review of the three... I'm not swearing by it, just something I found.

AutoGuide 2015 Heavy Duty Truck Comparison » AutoGuide.com News

 

[Fordman1981]

Well, I did not want this to be a brand war. I can own any of them (big three) and be happy. I have always owned Ford due to family farming business and good fleet deals, I was just looking for good value for my money, now that I am not around the farm anymore. BTW- For the ram folks, is the ram mega cab something worth having?

It allows for the rear seats to recline. The only one of the three that do that I think. Never owned a mega cab myself but if you like a lot of room in the cab they are very nice I've heard.

 

[Fordman1981]

Decent review of the three... I'm not swearing by it, just something I found. AutoGuide 2015 Heavy Duty Truck Comparison » AutoGuide.com News

I wouldn't put much stock behind this comparison at all. The trucks tested had 3.55 and 3.73 rear ends. Who specs trucks like that for an ultimate HD comparison. Spec each truck at the max each offers then compare. Almost every comparison by these type of articles seem like they know very little about trucks.

For what it's worth we have a F450 truck with a 12' box and a Ram 5500 with a 16 foot box the 450 even empty has much more body roll. Loaded it's even worse.

 

[dodge man]

The mega cab is nice, I looked at one several years ago. The back seat seems huge. They are available with the short bed only if thats important.

 

[bdog]

Your posts are strongly anti-RAM casted. RAM is the only manufacture that publishes SAE J2807 tow specification for their entire pick-up truck line-up beginning with the 2014 model year. Ford has just as wide of towing weights and you can't get GM's towing number on line, you have to go to a dealership and then, well, salesmen, ug!

Talk about deceptive, Ford rated their trucks with out bumpers, spare tires, and the such. The only trucks Ford rates under J2807 for 2016 model year are the the F150 and the F450.

GM just introduced J2807 on their HD trucks beginning with model year 2016. This leaves Ford as the lone duck with the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

When comparing towing numbers between the big three, only RAM offers J2807 numbers on their pick-up trucks, all models.

I certainly didn't mean for them to read that way. I like dodges. There is no doubt properly spec'd they blow the others away. Like I said I have owned four. I was going to buy another one when I was searching for a dually back in October but the local dealers didn't have any of the high spec one and I didn't want to have to wait to order one so I got a 2016 GMC. Granted it isn't rated much higher than the non Aisan rams they had on the lot but it was considerably cheaper. I don't really care about the brand name I just buy trucks to get a job done. I also own a 2015 F-250. I am the least brand biased guy you will find. At one point I was driving a ram 2500, our other work truck was a F-250, and our crew was riding around in a suburban. I was just pointing out that at least in my area what the dealers have on their lots are not the 30k+ tow rated trucks you see on the commercials. As to GM not having tow ratings online they are listed right here. https://www.gmc.com/content/dam/GMC...1_Images/2015-gmc-trailering-towing-guide.pdf

 

[bdog]

The mega cab is nice, I looked at one several years ago. The back seat seems huge. They are available with the short bed only if thats important.

Yes the cab is huge which is very nice but only the short bed option which was a no go for me. I have a long bed truck and I often wish it was a bit longer. I haul lots of stuff for work and it seems there is never enough room.