Pick WinterDeere's next truck

[sunandsand]

Well here's what ChatGPT had to say about $4,500 taillights:

Why OEM Ford taillights can be extremely expensive​

1. Complex electronics inside the lamp
   
   • Modern trucks often have full LED lighting, sensors, radar, and wiring modules built into the taillight assembly (e.g., blind‑spot detection or side‑obstacle alert systems). These aren’t just bulbs — they’re integrated electronic systems.
2. Sensor modules and communication networks
   
   • On some newer F‑150s and Super Duty models, the taillight assembly communicates with other vehicle electronics (CAN bus). If it fails (e.g., water intrusion), you often must replace the entire harness/ module, which drives up cost.
3. Dealer parts markup + limited supply
   
   • OEM parts from a Ford dealer often cost far more than their component value — e.g., an LED tail lamp may be listed over $1,100–$1,400 at parts counters, and modules/ harnesses add more cost. When shops source all necessary parts, total repair bills can exceed $4,000–$5,000 with labor.
4. Misunderstanding what the “taillight” price means
   
   • When people talk about “$4,500,” they usually mean the repair invoice total (parts + labor + associated wiring modules), not the raw housing itself. Forums mention some Super Duty owners reporting dealer quotes between $4,500 and $6,500 for full system replacement.

So here's Ford's "Better Idea" - how about we put two of these complicated, expensive, delicate devices on the back, outer corners of a work truck where they are very exposed to accidental damage and destruction even in normal, everyday use, and integrate them into the CAN bus so nothing else will work without them!

Chop shops are going to LOVE these things . . .

Best Regards,
Mike/Florida

 

[WinterDeere]

Below is what I'm looking at, but probably in Granite Chrystal Metallic, same as my Charger. But need to figure out difference between Night Edition vs. Sport Appearance Package, in terms of wheel size and color.

Given this is my snow and offroad vehicle, I'd actually favor a taller skinnier tire, over anything wider with better street performance. It ain't a sports car.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Smaller diameter wheels is always my choice ... Then add the larger sidewalls to make up the difference (no low profile tires on my truck!) ... Give the option of airing down if off road ... Just make sure you have a compressor to fill them back up!

 

[sd455dan]

Yeah, Dodge use to make a Ram, but Ram now doesn't make a Dodge ...

Many moons ago I had a little Dodge Ram 50 ... Had a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder with a "electronic carburetor"! IIRC ... RAM is now making tiny trucks though, just not available on this side of the border ... Sorry for the thread derailleur!

View attachment 5393973

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I didn't think I'd like the big backseat in mine, and that I'd rather have a longer bed, but I really like my crewcab now that I've had it awhile ... Still wish the tiny bed was longer, even though I have both a 10' & 20' trailer to use ...

Our his and her 03 and 04 HD's have both RAM and Dodge markings, but the ones that count most to us are the little Cummins badges.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Back in 1914 was when Dodge added the RAM line to there trucks, and started calling them that ...

In 2009 Dodge split off the RAM line, and from then on only used RAM on there truck and large van lines ... Dodge still makes the caravan I believe?

My 2018 doesn't say "Dodge" on it anywhere ... And the sign out front of the dealership has two distinct signs ... Just like Ford/Lincoln ... (Use to have Mercury too!)

 

[dodge man]

I had a 2004 DODGE with a Cummins, it also had the snowplow prep option(I never plowed with it) which gave the truck a little lift on the front. This truck just barely for in a standard garage door. I’m not sure how what your looking at compares in height.

Ford taillights? Something AI didn’t cover. The backup sensors are in the bumper but the 360 cameras have something in the taillights for that.

 

[WinterDeere]

So once you get it, will you finally call it a “RAM” and not a “dodge”.

If I do, it'll be my third Ram pickup... and I'll probably still call it "the Dodge". Just feels better, somehow.

I guess the first one was legitimately a Daimler-Dodge, before the Stellantis-incentivized split in branding.

 

[WinterDeere]

I had a 2004 DODGE with a Cummins, it also had the snowplow prep option(I never plowed with it) which gave the truck a little lift on the front. This truck just barely for in a standard garage door. I’m not sure how what your looking at compares in height.

I didn't measure, but they all feel tall to me. I probably said the same thing in 2015 or 2017, when comparing my new truck to my prior 2005.

BTW... all Ram 2500's come with the snow plow prep kit. So many dealers were ordering their 2500's with that option, that Ram just made it standard on every truck. I don't plan to mount a plow, though, my tractor does that job plenty well for my needs.

 

[Rustyiron]

Diesel all the way. You'll never look back. And, no they arent slow as you claim. Maybe back in the 80s they might have been. Unless you drag race, you wont notice a speed difference.

Look around you, city owned maintenance pickups, or tow trucks, or any other industry that uses and abuses them every single day... what do you see? Nothing but GMs up north anyways. Very resilient and nice looking vehicles

That's the way it was 10-15 years ago.
The epa through emissions has dramatically "raised the bar" for diesel ownership with higher acquisition and ownership costs. Then there's another layer of reliability problems that undeniably comes with today's diesels.
A diesel just doesn't make sense for a greater percentage of buyers with these complicated emission systems.
Look at your friendly UPS guy, they've switched to gasoline for their end delivery trucks.
Unless you need to be in the 30- 40k+ gcwr area more often than not they don't make sense short of any ego considerations.
It's truly incredible what they're getting out of these modern diesels but that only pencils out now for a smaller group of buyers.

 

[Hay Dude]

That's the way it was 10-15 years ago.
The epa through emissions has dramatically "raised the bar" for diesel ownership with higher acquisition and ownership costs. Then there's another layer reliability problems that undeniable that comes with today's diesels.
A diesel just doesn't make sense for a greater percentage of buyers with these complicated emission systems.
Look at your friendly UPS guy, they've switched to gasoline for their end delivery trucks.
Unless you need to be in the 30- 40k+ gcwr area more often than not they don't make sense short of any ego considerations.
It's truly incredible what they're getting out of these modern diesels but that only pencils out now for a smaller group of buyers.

Well said.
The VW diesel scandal didn’t help, either.

I remember right before the scandal broke, all kinds of vehicles were available with smaller, high efficiency turbo diesels. VW, Audi, Mercedes, Jeep Gladiator, F-150 and more. Even Porsche Cayenne!

Now there’s just a scant few available. We were on the road to having high efficiency diesel engines getting close to 40MPG highway, then the regulations and VW scandal hit.

I would really like to own a Tahoe with a baby Dmax, but the wife is skeptical.

 

[Runner]

I like the start where he "found" reverse.
I bet that tranny is full of dust.

Saw this on a trip to Hawaii, wanted it so bad I could taste it.

Also this

And this, which might be Winterdeer's next truck.

 

[tradosaurus]

Below is what I'm looking at, but probably in Granite Chrystal Metallic, same as my Charger. But need to figure out difference between Night Edition vs. Sport Appearance Package, in terms of wheel size and color.

Given this is my snow and offroad vehicle, I'd actually favor a taller skinnier tire, over anything wider with better street performance. It ain't a sports car.

Since I'm spending your money I've built the Ram with more features so your $55K truck is now $74K.
Having owned a 3/4 ton truck I wish I would have had a larger fuel tank and heated steering wheel.
Verify the tires will be 10 ply.

 

[Runner]

Since I'm spending your money I've built the Ram with more features so your $55K truck is now $74K.
Having owned a 3/4 ton truck I wish I would have had a larger fuel tank and heated steering wheel.
Verify the tires will be 10 ply.

Nice truck. I really wish gov. did not require the front bumpers on trucks to be lowered, messed up the styling on all of them in my opinion.

 

[WinterDeere]

...ego considerations.

The real reason behind 90% of diesel truck purchases. For every one @Hay Dude pulling 15k# trailers dozens of times per year, there are ten weekend warriors who want to pretend they have a "big boy truck".

Diesel makes (or made) sense if you're putting a million miles on the thing, idling long hours, or pulling heavy loads a large fraction of the time. I'm doing exactly zero of of these three things.

Since I'm spending your money I've built the Ram with more features so your $55K truck is now $74K.
Having owned a 3/4 ton truck I wish I would have had a larger fuel tank and heated steering wheel.
Verify the tires will be 10 ply.

I haven't finalized all details, but I'm pretty well convinced I can keep my out the door in the low-$60k's. A larger gas tank wouldn't make sense for me, given I have only managed to put 50k miles on my last truck in 11 years. I really only drive the truck when I need a truck, or when the weather is too ugly to drive anything else, so no need to option it out for long haul... or even like I would my daily driver.

Yes, it has heated wheel and heated seats, which I appreciate all winter long. I went with the Level 2 group when pricing, other than factory spray-in bedliner, it hit most of the stuff I wanted and very little of what I didn't. I can get spray-in bedliner separate from Dodge for $900, or done locally for $700. I'll paste the Level 2 equipment list below. The other similarly-priced package is Level 1 Plus, which has an unheated bench seat and unheated wheel, but does give you a bedliner and more bed lighting in the package.

Anyone know how many garage doors the new trucks can handle? All of my 2020 and earlier cars only have buttons for 3, which is about half of what I'd like. I don't know why they can't give me 8 or 10 garage doors thru the touch screen, even if there are only 3 buttons on the overhead console.

Level 2 Equipment Group:

• 2nd-Row In-Floor Storage Bins
• Heated Front Seats
• Dual Wireless Charging Pad
• Door Trim Panel Foam Bottle Insert
• Anti-Spin Differential Rear Axle
• Rear Power-Sliding Window
• Sun Visors with Illuminated Vanity Mirrors
• Automatic-Dimming Rear-View Mirror
• Power Heat/Fold/Telescoping Mirrors
• Cluster with 7.0-Inch TFT Color Display
• 115-Volt Auxiliary Power-Outlet w/400 Watt Inverter
• Locking Lower Glove Box
• Dual Glove Boxes
• 115-Volt Auxiliary Front Power-Outlet
• Footwell Courtesy Lamp
• Glove Box Lamp
• Black Exterior Mirrors
• Exterior Mirrors with Supplemental Signals
• Exterior Mirrors with Courtesy Lamps
• Power Adjustable Mirrors
• Power Telescoping Mirrors
• Automatic Power-Folding Mirrors
• Power Adjustable Convex Auxiliary Mirrors
• Forward and Reverse Utility Lights
• Rear Dome Lamp with On/Off Switch
• Mirror Running Lights
• Premium Cloth Bucket Seats
• "Big Horn" Instrument Panel Badge
• Dampened Tailgate
• Exterior Mirrors with Heating Element
• Heated Steering Wheel
• 9 Alpine® Speakers with Subwoofer
• Steering-Wheel-Mounted Audio Controls
• Media Hub with 2 Charge-Only USB Ports
• Luxury Steering Wheel
• Power Adjustable Pedals
• Exterior 115V AC Outlet
• Remote-Start System
• Universal Garage-Door Opener
• 400W Inverter

 

[WinterDeere]

Nice truck. I really wish gov. did not require the front bumpers on trucks to be lowered, messed up the styling on all of them in my opinion.

Years ago, I had a Bronco with 17" of lift on 40" mud tires, and got into an argument with a cop about bumper height. I had assumed the main issue was safety to others, should you hit a Miata with your truck, but that was actually only one part of it.

Have you ever noticed all highway guard railes have a "W" profile? The shape and height were chosen and controlled to essentially grab and lock in the bumper of any car that hits the guard rail at a glancing blow, to prevent the vehicle going over whatever cliff or bridge side that the guard rail is guarding.

Just one thing I'd never considered before...

Separate topic: Seeing all the trucks on the lot at the dealership was amusing, as almost every 1500 they had was optioned up to almost comical levels, with various appearance or HO packages. Most of them were nicer than luxury cars of 10 years ago, but with silly big wheels and mud tires that will never see mud. Damn near every one of them was more expensive than most of the 2500's on the lot, but I guess that's what sells! My trucks have always been pretty stripped down by comparison, as I'd rather spend time in and money on a fast car, than any pickup truck.

 

[Runner]

Years ago, I had a Bronco with 17" of lift on 40" mud tires, and got into an argument with a cop about bumper height. I had assumed the main issue was safety to others, should you hit a Miata with your truck, but that was actually only one part of it.

Have you ever noticed all highway guard railes have a "W" profile? The shape and height were chosen and controlled to essentially grab and lock in the bumper of any car that hits the guard rail at a glancing blow, to prevent the vehicle going over whatever cliff or bridge side that the guard rail is guarding.

Just one thing I'd never considered before...

Separate topic: Seeing all the trucks on the lot at the dealership was amusing, as almost every 1500 they had was optioned up to almost comical levels, with various appearance or HO packages. Most of them were nicer than luxury cars of 10 years ago, but with silly big wheels and mud tires that will never see mud. Damn near every one of them was more expensive than most of the 2500's on the lot, but I guess that's what sells! My trucks have always been pretty stripped down by comparison, as I'd rather spend time in and money on a fast car, than any pickup truck.

We need government to protect us.

Also saw this one on the Hawaii trip, which was in better shape, but not as rare at the pickup style top.

Most people take photos of the scenery in Hawaii, but me......

 

[dieselscout80]

I

Since I'm spending your money I've built the Ram with more features so your $55K truck is now $74K.
Having owned a 3/4 ton truck I wish I would have had a larger fuel tank and heated steering wheel.
Verify the tires will be 10 ply.

I really like my heated steering wheel and seats on my 2020 Ram 2500.

They come on automatically when the temperature is below 40 degrees.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

My dream truck:

2 door
Manual shift
Crank windows & manual locks.
Bench vinyl seat
No carpet
Radio delete
No cameras...anywhere
Heater
Ash tray with lighter
AC (optional)
Everything knob or lever operated
8 ft bed so I can carry OSB or plywood
Rear view mirrors
Horn
Hitch
Spare & jack
6 or 8 gas I can get to everything

I sent letters to all three. So far no reply.
When I get too decrepid to open a window or turn a knob, I'll quit driving.

 

[Highlandr]

No cameras...anywhere

Backup camera is pretty handy when hooking up a trailer.

 

[WinterDeere]

We have very different dreams, Fuddy!

My dream truck:

2 door - I like the space to lock up gear inside the truck, and am frequently hauling more than one kid out to the marina for sailing, etc.
Manual shift - Agreed. The problem is that no one is going to warranty a clutch in a p/u truck with an optional 1000+ ft-lb. torque.
Crank windows & manual locks. - For the love of God... why? Manual crank passenger window is a PITA in even a narrow compact car, and completely un-workable in a full-size pickup truck.
Bench vinyl seat - Again... why? You like hopping onto a stiff freezing seat in winter? Burning the skin off the backs of your legs in summer? Having a sweating rear and back the rest of the year? I always order leather in my cars and durable cloth in my trucks.
No carpet - Agreed, but I can deal with deep rubber mats on carpet... not a big issue for me.
Radio delete - Why? Don't see any advantage in deleting a radio.
No cameras...anywhere - You must not hook up many trailers. This is probably the single most imporant option on a pickup truck, if you tow trailers too heavy to move to a ball hitch by hand.
Heater - I wonder, can you buy a truck without heat, today?
Ash tray with lighter - No thanks... never smoked.
AC (optional) - Your summer weather is worse than ours. I wouldn't want to go without AC in anything I might have to drive in business clothes.
Everything knob or lever operated - Most things, sure. But you will need to peel that remote start fob out of my cold dead hands.
8 ft bed so I can carry OSB or plywood - Never had an issue with this. My current p/u has a 5.5 ft bed, and I haul 8' sheets of plywood in it countless times per year. I just throw them up on the tailgate... non issue. The bigger problem with shortie beds is hauling 12' or 16' trim, both of which are easier in an 8' bed. But plywood? Not a problem.
Rear view mirrors - Pretty sure these are mandatory
Horn - Mandatory
Hitch - With integrated trailer brake and 4 + 7 pin connectors.
Spare & jack - Agreed. Don't give me a can of fix-a-flat, and call that "good enough".
6 or 8 gas I can get to everything - ?

I sent letters to all three. So far no reply.
When I get too decrepid to open a window or turn a knob, I'll quit driving.