2500 or 3500

I have been looking to upgrade my 2015 sport (loaded) to a 2500 RAM. My key features I wanted are a 6.4 & 4:10 axles in a Big Horn 4x4. After looking for 3+ weeks, I found a couple several hundred miles away that were promising. The prices however are more than I'm willing to pay. A few days ago, I found a screaming deal on a 3500 (loaded). Are there any downside in moving up to a 3500, other than license plate fees? It would suit are needs for towing for sure!

The rear suspension is different. I am assuming the 3500 wouldn't ride as nice

I think the rear has leaf springs on the 3500 verse coils on the 2500. Other than that, I think the trucks are really the same, maybe better brakes on the 1 ton as well. I can get the truck for less money than I paid for my 1500! A rougher ride doesn't bother me, its a truck. I read somewhere that the tire pressure monitor is better on the 1 ton also. Any other thoughts?

I'd just go with a nice 2500 optioned out the way you wanted it. Rear coils ride really nice if you swap the shocks. Unless you actually need to carry more than 2,700 lbs (I believe) in the bed, I don't see a need for a 3500.

We looked at 1500 sports and realized for what we were planning on doing a 2500 was a better option. I stepped up just to a 2500. We didn't look at the 3500s. Unless you need to carry more than 2700 lbs, in the bed, or tow more than 18,000 lbs, a 2500 will do it farily easily. just swap out the shocks and they ride really good. If you are planning on towing a 5ther just go 3500, 2500s can't take the pin weight like a 3500 SRW can.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated.

The 3500 does have leafs, though if it's loaded it might have the factory air ride(which rides a little better). Same frames, axles, front suspension, and drivetrains. Bigger brakes on the 3500. Is it a 6.4 or cummins?


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Id go with the 3500, especially if it's cheaper. Nobody ever complains of having too much truck.

pcschwenke said:

I have been looking to upgrade my 2015 sport (loaded) to a 2500 RAM. My key features I wanted are a 6.4 & 4:10 axles in a Big Horn 4x4. After looking for 3+ weeks, I found a couple several hundred miles away that were promising. The prices however are more than I'm willing to pay. A few days ago, I found a screaming deal on a 3500 (loaded). Are there any downside in moving up to a 3500, other than license plate fees? It would suit are needs for towing for sure!

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Yes, the 3500's generally higher yearly registration/tax fees depending on your state and a slightly rougher ride. There are some that say get the biggest tool in the box, but apparently those are the same kind of people that use a sledge hammer to nail in a thumb tack.

I drove a dually for years back in the day and hated every second of it. I did it because my towing needs back in those days required it. I decreased my towing needs to get away from a dually so the saying that "nobody ever complains of getting too much truck" is false. Although due to continuous improvement of these trucks, what required a dually back then could be done with a SRW 3500 and what a SRW 3500 was rated for 10 years ago is now what a 2500 is rated for.

While I do agree that you should get the amount of truck you might need in the foreseeable future or as long as you will own the truck, I don't see getting a way more than you will ever need. If the roughly 1,300 lb payload of your 1500 was fine or if you were barely pushing over that, then the 3,000 lbs paylaod of the 2500 6.4L will do just fine.

I was in kinda the same boat, really good end of the year deals, wanted a 2500 6.4 With 4:10s. Only thing I could find with 4:10 was a 3500.I really like the truck but sometimes wish I had held off for exactly what I wanted. The 3500 is a noticeably more harsh ride than the 2500s. If you are sure that wont bother you go for it.

Does the 2500 big horn have the factory rear air suspension? I personally love mine. Anyway, sounds like the unladen (except passengers) ride quality is the main issue with a 3500 over a 2500. I know going from a 1500 to 2500 was a noticeable step down in ride quality. if it's a comparable step down from a 2500 to 3500, I know it'd be too harsh for me.

If you test drove both and you truly don't mind the ride, get the 3500. But be absolutely sure, hit a few rumble strips, pot holes, etc during the test drive, because that's a lot of money to throw down for buyer's remorse. I know, I went the opposite way and bought a 1500 for ride quality only later to realize the poor truck was strung out for work purposes. Lost my shirt with in a year in the trade to a proper 2500

Our dealers do not have a lot of 3/4 or 1 ton trucks... I searched every dealer in Michigan to find what I need, but couldn't. Special order is fine, but the cost would be $6-7000 more than the 1 ton truck I found. The truck is about 400 miles away and is exactly what I want, except more more payload capacity! We are at maximum weight when towing our 28'BHBE Jayco trailer. The dry weight is 6744lbs and could be loaded up to 9200lbs. This is not considering my wife, our 3 kids, firewood. Don't get me wrong, the 1500 has been great! Just would feel safer traveling further with a larger truck. By the way, the truck lists at $59,000 and I can get it for $44,000. Not a bad deal for a loaded single wheel HD pickup.

I recently took delivery of my 2017 6.4 2500, optioned out crew cab SLT, with 4.10’s. I bought this truck as an upgrade from my 1500 (135,000km) which I was loading, up to, and over the max payload capacity on a regular basis. Needless to say that truck took a beating which resulted in replacing 2 torque converters, multiple sets of brakes, and a rear end. And if I were to do it over again I would have bought the 3500 instead of the 2500. Why? I’ve ridden in many of my friends RAM 3500’s and the ride in those is very similar (maybe better?!) to that of my 2500. The rear coils provide no better ride without a load over the rear axle, in fact, it feels stiffer than some of my buddies 2-3 year old 3500s. Now throw 1500-2000 pounds in to the box, which I do regularly with 2 sleds, extra fuel, loaded on a sled deck, and it rides really nice, other than the fact that now I have to add air bags to compensate for the sag due to the added weight. The exaggerated sag is partly due to the fact that I put I levelling kit in the front end because I like that look of a leveled truck, but adding airbags is going to make it ride like a tank again. My buddies 3500’s with the same load, leveling kit and no bags ride level and very smooth. And beyond those issues comes the worst part of all, the feel of the rear end when unloaded and correcting after a high speed maneuver, ie. lane correction after passing at high speed, course correction in tight corners at moderate to high speed or unexpected and sudden course correction when avoiding large animals (moose, deer, elk) on the highway. The whole rear end seems to float around and generally feel loose in those situations, completely unnerving. Frankly I thought something must have been loose/broken in the rear end when I first noticed it and brought it back to the dealer for inspection. I was informed that “loose feeling” was just a condition of the coilover springs and there was nothing that could be done about it. One tons with leafs do not have this issue whatsoever. Finally, up here in British Columbia you have to pay luxury tax (+3%) on 2500’s over $55g whereas on 3500’s it isn’t added as one tons are considered work vehicles.

Looong story short, in my opinion a 3500 is the way to go.

(PS- that was my first post on this forum and I feel I had to say something and it ended up being pretty long winded, sorry.)



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I have owned both the 2500 and 3500 and the ride is similar. The difference between hauling a 9-10k trailer is like night and day with the nod going to the 3500. The Cummins makes it twice as good as the gas if you ask me. I just pulled 10k through the mountains and averaged 12.3 mpg.

I have owned nothing but RAM rcsb models but if I were to tow I know I would chase after a Abrams M1A1 or a lesser Golden Leopard (NATO tank). Good luck with your search.

NewBlackDak said:

Bigger brakes on the 3500.

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Nope, same brakes 2500 and 3500.

Same exact truck except for the rear suspension and the emblem on the side (and the weight ratings on the door frame). I like the coils on the 2500 for daily driving and when you supplement with a good set of airbags it's actually a more capable setup than the 3500 leafs (this is where the weight police and the argument usually begins).

My state doesn't have any requirements or enforcement of towing laws on the private party level and I've heard some do. That "might" make me consider the 3500 from the start.

pcschwenke said:

Our dealers do not have a lot of 3/4 or 1 ton trucks... I searched every dealer in Michigan to find what I need, but couldn't. Special order is fine, but the cost would be $6-7000 more than the 1 ton truck I found. The truck is about 400 miles away and is exactly what I want, except more more payload capacity! We are at maximum weight when towing our 28'BHBE Jayco trailer. The dry weight is 6744lbs and could be loaded up to 9200lbs. This is not considering my wife, our 3 kids, firewood. Don't get me wrong, the 1500 has been great! Just would feel safer traveling further with a larger truck. By the way, the truck lists at $59,000 and I can get it for $44,000. Not a bad deal for a loaded single wheel HD pickup.

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Idk where you are in Michigan, but plenty of dealers around me have HD trucks on the lot, quite the selection actually. The dealer I bought mine from actually had the same amount of HD's as they did 1500's.

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pcschwenke said:

Our dealers do not have a lot of 3/4 or 1 ton trucks... I searched every dealer in Michigan to find what I need, but couldn't. Special order is fine, but the cost would be $6-7000 more than the 1 ton truck I found. The truck is about 400 miles away and is exactly what I want, except more more payload capacity! We are at maximum weight when towing our 28'BHBE Jayco trailer. The dry weight is 6744lbs and could be loaded up to 9200lbs. This is not considering my wife, our 3 kids, firewood. Don't get me wrong, the 1500 has been great! Just would feel safer traveling further with a larger truck. By the way, the truck lists at $59,000 and I can get it for $44,000. Not a bad deal for a loaded single wheel HD pickup.

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Have you checked out Dennis Dillion? A lot of people have gotten good deals.

I have a 2500 MC with 6.4 and 4.10. LOve the truck and all it can do. That being said my next one will be a 3500 MC Cummins and Aisin. I really see no need for a 3500 and 6.4 Hemi. If you start to utilize all the payload of the 3500 then you have already started to really max out the effective capacities of the 6.4 Hemi. NO sense in paying the additional registration fees for the 3500 if you don't need to capacities.

pcschwenke said:

Our dealers do not have a lot of 3/4 or 1 ton trucks... I searched every dealer in Michigan to find what I need, but couldn't. Special order is fine, but the cost would be $6-7000 more than the 1 ton truck I found. The truck is about 400 miles away and is exactly what I want, except more more payload capacity! We are at maximum weight when towing our 28'BHBE Jayco trailer. The dry weight is 6744lbs and could be loaded up to 9200lbs. This is not considering my wife, our 3 kids, firewood. Don't get me wrong, the 1500 has been great! Just would feel safer traveling further with a larger truck. By the way, the truck lists at $59,000 and I can get it for $44,000. Not a bad deal for a loaded single wheel HD pickup.

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Wow, that is a good deal, I would go and test drive it for sure, our TT is 8300 lbs unload and load it's about 9500 lbs to 10,000 and my truck handle it fine, the tongue is 900+ lbs.

Check Dennis Dillon and dave smith both in Idaho about 2 hours apart- They have the cheapest prices in the nation and 100$ plane ticket they will pick u up at the air port and have more trucks for u to look at than you will know what to do with. on the plus side u get to break it in driving it home.