Help me choose: Ram 2500 V8 or Diesel?

Exact same load, no. Similar load weight wise, yes. But, i will admit that the dodge 8.0 was an NV4500 truck with 4.10 gears, so im sure that would tow better than 3.55's and an auto. Though i couldnt imagine it being that much different.

EDIT: I just thought i might also make this point, look where we live. Here in Illinois, we have no 6%+ grades on the interstate, no mountains to drive though, and no real elevation change. There are a few overpasses that get up there in grade, but they are short. So this may also be causing the large discrepancies in towing experience, arround here its alot easier to get away with less motor.

 

Sure do. Many times I've ridden with my buddy when pulling his durby car on his gooseneck and the cattle trailer from one dairy to the next. The truck just plain out accelerates better when loaded than any other gas truck I have ever seen. I've never been with him on long trips (100m+) but he says he doesn't slow down much at all if he isn't too heavy, and after riding in the truck many times laoded, I believe it.

A 7K sled trailer, 7K utility trailer, 18K triple axle gooseneck, and a 10K service trailer that I am starting to build next week. I've towed my blazer more than once... Don't give me that crap, My CTD has probably seen much heavier loads than yours with a measly 8K truggy behind it.

When you factor in an already tall 3.55 gear with 35" tires, I'd figure thats enough of a handicap.

Grow up. I'm not going to sit here and defend myself over a stupid comment like that, I don't need to. If I am not sure on something I make sure thats clear in all my posts.

If you can't act civil to fellow members, don't post here.

 

The problem with towing with a Dodge 1500 is the tranny's. The 1/2 ton tranny's and brakes are known to be weak links in the chain. A 2500 would definitly be a worth while upgrade for the little extra money if you choose a gasser.

Harley

 

P.S. I have towed my K5 loaded down with alot of stuff behind my Dad's 2005 Ford F250 V8. It did fine on most of the flat stuff and did ok on the hills but it had to downshift into lower gears and the RPM's of the motor went WAY up. Some of the hills it would downshift and be spinning 4500-5000rpm to try and keep speed. If you didn't do the towing on a regular basis it would be fine to tow it with the V8. We got about 10-12mpg over different stretches of the 1000 mile drive from AZ to CO. My dad had a 2001 V10 F250 and it definitly had more guts but not as much as I would expect from a V10.

For somewhat heavy towing on a consistent basis I believe that the diesel is really the best choice. If it isn't that often then you might be just fine with a gasser.

Harley

 

Maybe you should grow some thicker skin? No need to get butt hurt over the small things.

 

I have: Same load, 3 different tow rigs, (2 trips on the same 300 mile stretch of highway comparing the gasser and the 04.5)

Load: My K10 and 18' flatbed. K10 is 5200lbs, trailer is 2000lbs, 5 days of water, food & camping supplies, 30 gallons of fuel, 2 spare tires, and every hand tool I own, and most of the power tools I own, I guestimate at 8,000lbs

First tow rig: 98 Dodge 2500, 360, 3.55 gears.
Second: 04.5 3500 Cummins 600, 3.73 gears
Thrid: 05 3500 Cummins 610, 3.73 gears

Obviously, there was absolutely no comparison. The hills I was pulling at 25mph in 1st gear literally standing on the gas pedal of the gasser were pulled at 65mph with the cruise control with either of the cummins trucks.

 

WOW. Some great conversation here. Thank you all for the input. As someone guessed earlier, I believe that once I have the truck, I will be much more inclined to get into the camping and more frequent trail riding.

I guess I'm beginning to see it like this... I drive a little Mazda around daily to get good gas mileage, and I'm not dissappointed. Now, I'm looking to buy a truck for what... TO PULL STUFF. So from what I can tell with all this, is that I would probably get annoyed quickly if I found my foot on the floor often enough.

I believe my sights are set on the CTD, regardless of the higher upfront cost, etc. I am also looking forward to being able to switch off w/ my daily driver and not take such a huge hit on the gas mileage.

I went to take a look at a 2001 Ram 2500 w/ 57k miles on it. The guy wants $21k. The truck had a slight oil leak from the front of the oil pan... is this common to anyone?

 

I used to tow my K5 with a 96 Chevy c1500. the vortec 350 pulled very well, though I was usually pretty worried about the 4l60e so I kept it out of OD and ran at about 65-70/3k rpms (3.73's). The truck had 120k on it when I got rid of it.

I now tow the same setup with an 01 Ram 2500 with CTD/NV4500 (3.55's). I actually traded trucks with the guy plus another $10k cash. The power difference is obviously not even worth discussing.

I will say, I would never have made the trip to Moab or anywhere out of state towing with the Chevy. Of course, that was mainly because I was only getting 6-8mpg while towing. The ram is getting about 13mpg pulling the same setup at the same speed. The trailer is a 20ft, 12k bumper pull that weighs in at ~3200 pounds.

 

Just made a deal for this '01 Ram 2500 with 57k miles on it for $20k.

Woo hoo!

...Thank you all for your input... now somebody tell me when we are going to MOAB!

 

Congats!!! thats a nice truck!!! I hope that this thread was useful to you and helped you make your desicion. Dont be a stranger around here!!! waytogo

 

Wow, it's Cummins equipped right? I can't believe you got it for that cheap. 4x4, Cummins, loaded, and lower mileage (even higher mileage) equals at least 22-23K around here and thats not window price, thats working after all the hageling is over. I paid $22,900 For mine and it had 101K when I bought it.

 

Yeah, I really stepped in this one.

I was seeing the same prices you were, $22-23k for higer mileage diesels.

Over the last few months, I've been seeing the same damn trucks on "cars.com" and ebay, etc. Mostly at dealerships. I found the website with this truck on it after doing a google search for "used trucks" in my area. The website's thread for Dodge vehicles had only 2 entries... one was a car, and the other was my Ram. To make things better, this guy lives only 20 minutes from me. I just had a huge grin on my face when I pulled up to his house with meticulously groomed property. I just got that feeling that he was a really conciencious owner, and I wasn't disappointed. Lucky me!

 

Damn man...you don't fuk around eh?

Congrats dude, nice truck. waytogo