2010 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel for towing-What can you tell me about it?

[Piston]

I'm about ready to pick up a new to me truck. My trusty Ford Escape has 240k miles on it and I think it's time.

I also had a '99 F350 diesel crew cab that I sold to my father about two yrs ago. I still use this truck often today, but want one of my own again and not have to borrow his.

A friend is selling his 2010 Ram 2500 with diesel.

Can you Dodge guys tell me anything about these trucks? Good or bad?

I find conflicting tow capacities on them. I'll be towing my 4k lb pontoon boat/trailer often, and also my 9500lb tractor/implements/trailer about 9 times a year 240 miles round trip.

How do you like this truck for towing?

How does it ride with no load in it? Especially compared to my old truck?

My wife is mostly concerned with a nice ride, and comfortable seats, with room for 2 car seats in the back seat.

I may get a cap for it and put my 3 dogs in the back, but not sure about that yet.

Any info or opinions would be much appreciated.

 

[Diamondpilot]

That will be plenty of truck. I use my 1/2 ton for them jobs under 10,000# and get my F350 diesel out for the bigger stuff.

Worst part of that era diesel is the mpg suck compared to the urea stuff now.

Chris

 

[Piston]

Just how bad are the mileage numbers? I'm not overly concerned with mileage because I only drive about 5k miles a year, but I do hate stopping to fuel up.

Does anyone have any insight on tow capacity of this truck? I'm interested mostly in bumper pull capacity, but also gooseneck as well.

I "almost" purchased a Tundra last week but it fell through. I started thinking I was glad it did because I don't know how happy I'd be going from the 1 ton diesel to a half ton gasser, even though I know the 5.7 is well respected.

 

[kenmac]

If it helps. Dmace posted this info on another thread Dodge Towing Guide - By Vehicle

 

[Dmace]

Honestly for those loads amd low yearly miles, a diesel is not a good choice. Diesel engines and fuel do not sit well especially with the 2007-2011 emissions setup. The Cummins didn't have the regen problems the others had but still had problems related to low use.

A gas powered 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton will easily tow those loads and have a much better unloaded ride. Although compared to a 99 1-ton truck even the RAM 2500 will be like a caddy.

The link posted above only goes to 2009. For 2010, use this pdf file of the RAM body builders guide to find the tow capacity, GWVR, etc...
www.rambodybuilder.com/2010/docs/ram/rammlup2500.pdf
If you can't find it in the pdf, just post your cab layout (regular, crew, mega), 2wd or 4wd, bed length, transmission and rear end ratio and I will look it up.

 

[Diamondpilot]

For mpg I would guess 15 from what I see and 12 pulling. All this with fuel that cost $0.79 more per gallon last time I bought diesel for my truck on Saturday.

A 1/2 ton modern gasser is all you need or a late model gas 3/4 ton.

Chris

 

[tractorski]

I have the exact truck you are looking at. I can tell you it will easily pull the trailers you have. If concerned with ride, change the shocks, I put some Bilstien 5100's in and it made a great deal of difference. Mileage stock is around 14-17 mpg, my truck is deleted and gets almost 20 mpg with 35's if I baby it, I don't.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[Piston]

Thanks for the replies and links.


It looks like the max trailer weight would be 12,600 from what I found in the PDF posted.

I believe the gearing is 3.73. It's a crew cab short bed.

This particular truck is a friend of mines and I know it's been taken care of. It has 25k miles on it. The low mileage and known history are the only reasons I'm considering it. I normally haven't been a fan of Dodge in the past.

I actually think I'd prefer a half ton, and I really like the Tundras. But I was looking and I can buy this truck for cheaper than the cost of a similar mileage Crewmax from what I've been seeing, so I figured why not have the more capable truck?

I really don't want to buy a new truck actually, but my wife is pushing me too because she doesn't like borrowing my dads 350, and also, she gets carsick with the bumpy ride of the 350.

Now I'm wondering if maybe I should stick with the Tundra idea?

The ONLY actual justification for me going with a bigger diesel is just in case I end up buying a bigger tractor, I don't know if a Tundra would handle it. Then again I'd be towing the larger tractor only a few times a year and could always use the ole 350 for those rare occasions.

My wife really wants me to get a suburban, and I like pickups, so we're trying to find a compromise.

What would you do? I really don't want to spend more than 25k. MAYBE close to 28 or so if I just fell in love.

The problem I'm facing is, if I buy a 25k dollar truck, I'm pretty much locking myself into not buying a bigger tractor for at least 5 years. And quite honestly if I'm going to have a payment, I'd rather a tractor payment than a truck payment.. I use the tractor more than the truck.

Ahhh decisions...

 

[Piston]

Another quick question I forgot.


If the dodge has a class 4 hitch on it, does that mean I still can't tow more than 10k? If so, that's the same as the Tundra.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Personally from a total cost standpoint I would stick with a 1/2 ton. I own both and my 1/2 ton gets used 75% of the time for that very reason.

Chris