Ahhh no I did a BIG mistake today.

[Bigdaddy]

Yes, I went and test drove a 3500 Ram diesel 6.7L Cummins Turbo with the Aisin Transmission and yes I loved it. They are having some pretty good rebates on them now. I don't know guys I can see one in the near future, I really love the power that this truck had.

Oh it was the Laramie trim, nice really nice.

 

[BossHogg]

I'm going to talk you out of it.

If you were impressed with the test drive, wait until you get one and put a thousand miles on it. By then, the transmission will have gone through its adaptive learn and shift up and down appropriately.

Sitting in traffic, put down the windows and let the sound of the inline six drift in while it sits there idling. Also, notice the look-overs you will get.

Wait until you get to play with the exhaust brake, if you are towing, engage tow/haul along with the exhaust brake and you will begin to question why RAM bothered to put in a brake pedal. It is a guy thing, but the exhaust brake has its own pleasant sound.

Drive one with the 68RFE and enjoy fueled shifts that put you back in the seat a bit.

For some reason, when I go out, the FOB for the diesel always ends up in my pocket. The poor 1500 is losing her self-esteem.

 

[GsRAM]

oh no big daddy! Your going to blow through that inheritance you got quick if you keep this stuff up. first the 5ver, now a 3500 Laramie diesel? well, you can't take it with you. i just hope all the new diesel emissions crap and issues that come with it, plus always adding DEF don't annoy you.

if i really needed a diesel I'd get one, but i don't and i dont want to bother with all the BS that modern diesels have good luck

 

[smurfs_of_war]

I had mine in last week to have the LED map lights fixed and they gave me a 3500 cummins Laramie to run around in simply because they know I am a new truck *****. They were right. I liked it- but I didn't love it. I didn't love it for the simple reason that I would never actually use all that power BUT I still told them to crunch some numbers. After my self mandated 3 day cool down, I realized the money I would be out moving up to that monster I will never truly use to its full potential buys a lot of gas for my hemi. Combine that with the potential for emmission systems to **** the bed out here (we are 200km away from the nearest dealership), and the fact that I can't legally run dyed diesel through it and the decision was easy. The hemi does a great job at what I need- and pulling around loaded trailers and full chem totes in the bed for the farm doesn't even make it break a sweat. That's my story and it makes me feel better about walking away lol!

Now that I have that out of the way, are you gonna buy it? Is the 6.4 not handling the new 5er?

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

[MADDOG]

LOL Just wait until you've driven one that's been tuned!!!

I so knew this was gonna happen when I saw your new 5'vr...

 

[smiley]

I am a little jealous enjoy it!

 

[billa9b0ng]

I thought you were going to say you bought a boat

 

[Bigdaddy]

Lol, I'm thinking about one but the problem that I'm running into now is that the Laramie is a little too much for me so I have been trying to look at the big horn and with that theirs not any 3500 flame red big horn around. Their a few 2500 diesel flame red that are around so my question is will the 2500 do what I need. We are keeping our 5th Wheel for a few years at least 4 to 5 years so I might just go with the 2500 if I can't find a 3500 flame red big horn.

@ smurfs_of_war yes it handle my 5th wheel really good, we just came back from Las Vegas so it perform awesome, going in the mountains it did a lot of searching and high rpm and 7 mpg but other than that it was good.

 

[Bigdaddy]

oh no big daddy! Your going to blow through that inheritance you got quick if you keep this stuff up. first the 5ver, now a 3500 Laramie diesel? well, you can't take it with you. i just hope all the new diesel emissions crap and issues that come with it, plus always adding DEF don't annoy you.

if i really needed a diesel I'd get one, but i don't and i dont want to bother with all the BS that modern diesels have good luck

Life is good we don't have to use that money, not even have to touch it so all is good. I might have to try to go with the 2500 since the 3500 Laramie is a little over kill for me so I I can't find a 3500 big horn I might have to go with the 2500.

 

[Bigdaddy]

Okay guys tell me the different between the Aisin vs 68RFE?

 

[BossHogg]

Okay guys tell me the different between the Aisin vs 68RFE?

This subject opens a huge can of worms fueled mostly by folks that have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and most of the time don't own and never owned either one.

The 68RFE is made by Chrysler, it earned a bad rap back in the day when all one had to do was turn a screw on the injection pump to kick up the Cummins. The engine exceeded the 68RFE's abilities and was falsely blamed as being junk.

The Aisin is a medium duty transmission primarily used in the cab and chassis trucks which also have a detuned Cummins. The benefit of the transmission is it has a PTO option. The Aisin can pass more power in pick-up applications hence the reason the Cummins is kicked up to 900/930 foot-pounds of torque but has de-fueled shifts. This comes at a 30,000 service interval compared to the 68RFE's 120,000 service interval. The Aisin also costs $2,600 over the cost of the 68RFE. Wow!

The general rule of which transmission should I buy is to consult the RAM towing guide. If you are going to exceed the tow weight of an SRW, then you might as well go with a dually with the Aisin. Keep in mind the Aisin does nothing for resale.

As far as the 68RFE being junk, non-sense. Besides the C&C, the Aisin is only available in the 3500 pick-ups. RAM sells mostly 2500 with 60% being 68RFEs (RAM sales figures) and yet there is little 68RFE issues discussed on the various RAM forums outside of the never-ending which one is better.

Which transmission is based on your towing needs.

Here is an article comparing the two transmissions.
Aisin AS69RC vs Chrysler 68RFE Transmission Comparison

 

[GsRAM]

Life is good we don't have to use that money, not even have to touch it so all is good. I might have to try to go with the 2500 since the 3500 Laramie is a little over kill for me so I I can't find a 3500 big horn I might have to go with the 2500.

that's good to hear BD. very good!

however, i do think you should stick to your plan of 3500 srw. the issue with a diesel 2500 series truck is the added weight of the diesel drive train really eats into payload. ie, many 2500 diesels only have in the low 2,000s for payload, per the yellow door jamb sticker. With that big 5ver of yours, that's an issue. for the minor increase in cost, better to go 3500 and have way more payload to work with. my truck with the 6.4 has over 3100lb of payload, your current truck is likely similar.

you could choose to do what many others do and disregard the payload limit, or put band-aids on the 2500 like air bags, or try to justify it by using GRAWR and staying under that.

but the bottom line is you'd likely be overweight with your rig and a 2500 diesel, period. it's up to you what your comfortable with. personally, I'd go 3500 in a heartbeat and never look back. have a dealer do a search for what you want, or just order one and get exactly what you want. it's a lot of money. i compromised on the 4.10 gears when i got my truck and have no regrets. maybee prioritize what's most important and see what can be found that has most everything you want. good luck

 

[smiley]

If buying new I think the Aisin is now available for 2500 too. I don't know which is better but since the Aisin is only way to get the max configuration my guess is that it is stronger and I would go that route if I had the money and the need.

Also I have never seen anyone upset they got a rig that was too big or capable. However tons of folks sad or have regret for getting too small of setup.

 

[MADDOG]

...Also I have never seen anyone upset they got a rig that was too big or capable. However tons of folks sad or have regret for getting too small of setup.

Oh so very true. I hear and read that lament on a couple of RV forums as well as here on RamForum.

 

[GsRAM]

Oh so very true. I hear and read that lament on a couple of RV forums as well as here on RamForum.

100% agree MD, on RV.net I'm a sworn member of the weight police. LOL!

 

[Bigdaddy]

Wow, okay you guys are awesome I'm looking at the 3500 now, I went to two dealership today. One had what I want but not in the color which is no big deal to get what I want, the other dealership I told them what I was looking for and that I had went to another dealer and found one but not the color I was really looking for.

So the second dealer said okay we will find you what you want and in the color you want, I'm a bad man I'm putting two dealer to fight against one another. So it's the 3500 it is, I will know more this week if the deal came through. Thank everyone for all of your comments, I really do value you guys opinion because I have never own one.

 

[GsRAM]

nice BD! Excellent choice. i hope all works out for you and don't feel bad. this is the game we must play. it's your hard earned money or theirs. make them step up and take care of you if they want your business. good luck man!

 

[BossHogg]

I'm looking at the 3500 now

Good choice for towing a fifth wheel.

Just so you know, I spend a year researching, reading, etc. before I bought anything including our RV. I knew absolutely nothing about RVs and how to tow them.

Forums were of little help, the few reasonable folks that tried to help were pushed aside by the big-mouths who knew everything and owned nothing. I'm not suggesting that happened here but it happened to me over at rv.net

Of course, car dealers and RV dealers are yes people, I think General RV would have hooked up our Montana to a 1500 if that is what I drove in to pick up the RV. On the other side, you have a facet that insists you need a dually with 4:10s to pull anything over 1,000 pounds.

What my wife and I did was visit campgrounds over the summer and spoke with folks about their RV, dealer experiences, and towing. Very eye-opening but also very educational. Campers are typically friendly and outspoken and shared everything. We learned from their mistakes.

Once my wife decided on an RV I had the weight information needed to select a tow vehicle. Clearly, the pin weight of most fivers put the TV in 3500 territory. What is left is SRW or dually, Aisin or 68RFE.

As anxious as I was to get a tow vehicle and picking up our RV I had to put my excitement to the side, I wasn't going to settle for whatever a dealer could find for me. I wanted specific options, the rear air leveling, RAM's fifth wheel prep package, cargo camera, Longhorn non-filigree seating, SRW, 68RFE. I had to order which also meant a better deal since the dealer gave me back 100% of the holdback. It was a long nine weeks but I'm in my third towing season and have zero regrets on the decisions my wife and I made.

The takeaway from my rant is get exactly what you want and if you have to order one to get it, do it.

 

[Skrap]

Yes, I went and test drove a 3500 Ram diesel 6.7L Cummins Turbo with the Aisin Transmission and yes I loved it. They are having some pretty good rebates on them now. I don't know guys I can see one in the near future, I really love the power that this truck had.

Oh it was the Laramie trim, nice really nice.

As Red ( That 70s Show) would say. "*******!"

I won't go drive one just because I'm afraid what would happen.

 

[Skrap]

BD, any reason you are not ordering a truck form a dealer so you get all you want and nothing you don't? I'd at least give DD a call for a quote at the minimum.