***with 180K can u tell me any problems that you might have had with the truck? I have the same year and model with only 25K--kinda looking into the future for me!***
Like CrewDually said, it's apples and oranges.
My issues so far have been minimal. I think mostly because my truck is constantly moving. I take it relatively easy in terms of maximum versus my towed weight. I dont push the truck to it's maximum.
A few interesting observations, and tips:
1. Use the factory air filter. I posted this before, but in case you missed it- I was towing my trailer and a fairly light load up Donner Pass in California when my truck went into limp mode and the check engine light came on.
I read it with my scanner and it said "insufficient airflow past MAF". It turned out my brand new (less than 200 miles) Auto Zone air filter was too restrictive when the truck needed maximum air intake.
2. The rear 3rd brakelight leaks now. It's an issue that I was waiting to happen since it seems fairly endemic to the Ram and there's a factory recall on it. (Im past the mileage so it's going to be an out-of-pocket expense for me.
3. Right front tire has ALWAYS had unusual outside wear on it. I've had it aligned, sometimes 2-3 times during a tires's life cycle, and have had varying success but it always seems to show up eventually on every set of tires. Tires with LARGE blocks or a full shoulder on the outer wall buys me some extra time versus highway tires.
I don't rotate tires any more. I'd rather get a full 50k out of the 4 dually wheels, and replace the fronts as needed than to spread the wear along to other tires. (besides, I burn through 2 sets of tires a year anyway.
4. The Radio has "frozen" where none of its controls work (steering wheel, touch screen, or knobs).
It's happened about 5-6 times now and the only remedy is to remove the fuse and let it reboot itself. I have the Laramie package with the large display screen with all the cool (weather map, Fuel Prices, Nav screen) stuff on it.
By the way the inline fuse is located along the fire wall on the PASSENGER side of the engine compartment. in a tiny black flip top capsule. It's NOT in the fusebox. I ended up stopping at a dealership who actually had to look it up because no one knew where it was.
5. If you want to sleep overnight in the truck, and need to keep something plugged in (in my case it's a CPAP), and don't want to run the engine all night, invest in a battery clip-to-12V (cigarette lighter) adapter, and plug in a power inverter. If your lucky your power inverter cord will reach under the hood to the 12v adapter, and the cord will fit in the front of the door when you close it, onto the dash. and you can plug in any standard household outlet product, within reason, that is. The Dual batteries provide enough reserve capacity to power it and still start right up even on the coldest mornings. The IN-dash power plug shuts off after 15 (20??) minutes.
6. Stay on top of the fuel filter water separator drain intervals. And dont let the diesel fuel filter go longer than 20k miles. I let my water separator drain every 7500-10,000 miles. Water will destroy a diesel fuel injection pump and all it takes is one contaminated service station.
7. These engines hate bio diesel blends any higher than 5%. All truck stops have blends of "up to 20%". The higher the blend, the worse the MPG.
Also- buy your DEF at the pump at truck stops. It's far cheaper for the same stuff than the boxed stuff. Remember if you pre-pay for Diesel and DEF, you have to stop pumping the fuel with at least $10 left on it, or you can't pump DEF. It is possible to purchase DEF only at the pump. It just has to be for more than $10. $15 usually fills an empty DEF tank.
Thats all for now.