Ford owner thinking about a Ram, tips?

I will tell you from first hand experience I've owned a f150 with 3.5. If your buying a ram hemi for towing the EcoBoost will out tow it, it is faster because of the twin turbos etc, but since your keen to fornus you know that the eco boost has. A lot of issues. That being g said I traded my f150 EcoBoost in for the ram and $for $ it's a tough call, that's until you see all the perks dodge offers for it, plus dodge is offering the highest incentives on buying a new one. I got 11k in incentives not including my trade in. So far so good.

I'm running a 2011 1500 with a 4.7L V8 and 4x4 SLT for work. I routinely put anywhere from 1k to just under 2k in the bed and drive in all traffic conditions. My truck has never complained or given me any problems at @ 95k on the meter.

rocktoza said:

I will tell you from first hand experience I've owned a f150 with 3.5. If your buying a ram hemi for towing the EcoBoost will out tow it, it is faster because of the twin turbos etc, but since your keen to fornus you know that the eco boost has. A lot of issues. That being g said I traded my f150 EcoBoost in for the ram and $for $ it's a tough call, that's until you see all the perks dodge offers for it, plus dodge is offering the highest incentives on buying a new one. I got 11k in incentives not including my trade in. So far so good. View attachment 173550

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The OP had the na 3.5 so the hemi would be a world of improvement

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Get it you won’t be disappointed but if you can spring for the v8 get it. Gas mileage isn’t any different.

kp4243 said:

Get it you won’t be disappointed but if you can spring for the v8 get it. Gas mileage isn’t any different.

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Sorry, but I must disagree. When my 2015 Big Horn V6 was in the shop for a thermostat, a repair that took three days, they gave me a 2018 Ram 1500 with a hemi in it. After I had my jollies putting my foot into the gas pedal a couple of times I reset the EVIC and monitored the gas mileage. I got a little over 14 mpg in a mix of city and freeway driving. I routinely get 19-20 mpg in the same driving patterns with my V6. The hemi might match the V6 in mpg in freeway driving at a constant 60 mph, but otherwise I don't see how it can match it in overall real world driving.

PowrRam said:

Sorry, but I must disagree. When my 2015 Big Horn V6 was in the shop for a thermostat, a repair that took three days, they gave me a 2018 Ram 1500 with a hemi in it. After I had my jollies putting my foot into the gas pedal a couple of times I reset the EVIC and monitored the gas mileage. I got a little over 14 mpg in a mix of city and freeway driving. I routinely get 19-20 mpg in the same driving patterns with my V6. The hemi might match the V6 in mpg in freeway driving at a constant 60 mph, but otherwise I don't see how it can match it in overall real world driving.

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I disagree completely my hemi 4x4 crew can gets great mileage very consistently

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Ohio5pt7 said:

I disagree completely my hemi 4x4 crew can gets great mileage very consistently View attachment 173560

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Let's see....

328 miles traveled in 6 hours and 56 minutes. That is an average speed of 47.3 mph. That means you traveled a lot of the time at highway speeds. Also an average speed of about 50 mph is probably the sweet spot for gas mileage for just about any vehicle.

I'll check my latest stats when I go out in a bit.

PowrRam said:

Sorry, but I must disagree. When my 2015 Big Horn V6 was in the shop for a thermostat, a repair that took three days, they gave me a 2018 Ram 1500 with a hemi in it. After I had my jollies putting my foot into the gas pedal a couple of times I reset the EVIC and monitored the gas mileage. I got a little over 14 mpg in a mix of city and freeway driving. I routinely get 19-20 mpg in the same driving patterns with my V6. The hemi might match the V6 in mpg in freeway driving at a constant 60 mph, but otherwise I don't see how it can match it in overall real world driving.

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I was just expressing my opinion, I own the V6 as well and rent the V8's normally for work. From my experience mileage is very similar also around 17.5 to 21 depending of city or highway. I have always found the V8 (if you don't romp on them) to be very comparable mileage wise. I got my V6 thinking there would be a drastic difference in fuel consumption ( again my opinion) and there isn't. I would have gotten the V8 if I would have compared them a little more in depth. Regardless the Ram no matter the engine size is a fantastic truck!

Matthew Ritchie said:

Hello all! Currently driving a 17 F150 Supercab XL Sport 4x4 with the NA 3.5.

Mostly a dd with some occasional hauling/towing- nothing major and similar offroading.

Considering a Ram 1500 for the same type of driving.

Just drove an 18 Tradesman with the 3.6, quad cab 4x4- pretty similar package. I liked the truck well enough, but have never owned a Dodge before.

Anything to watch out for in these years/models?

I've read good things about the Pentastar V6, how do they hold up- anything to be wary of?

Liked the ride, surprised these trucks have coil springs in the rear, how do they hold up?

Basically just looking for any tips, things to be careful of, stay away from etc- is there any engine/trans combo that is known to be problematic, known to be bulletproof? Stay away from this axle code, these features cause problem- things like that.

Any help appreciated!

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Go with the Hemi Crew Cab big horn and be done with. I bought the 4.7L and wish I would have went with the Hemi.

Just spend the extra money for the Hemi!!!

Here's my mileage.

rocktoza said:

I will tell you from first hand experience I've owned a f150 with 3.5. If your buying a ram hemi for towing the EcoBoost will out tow it, it is faster because of the twin turbos etc, but since your keen to fornus you know that the eco boost has. A lot of issues. That being g said I traded my f150 EcoBoost in for the ram and $for $ it's a tough call, that's until you see all the perks dodge offers for it, plus dodge is offering the highest incentives on buying a new one. I got 11k in incentives not including my trade in. So far so good. View attachment 173550

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All in all they are pretty even, the rating on the eco is a couple hundred lbs more. But otherwise equal. Check out TFL trucks on youtube, they do a run in the mountains in Colorado. They call it the Ike Gauntlet and they compared the F150 to the 1500 towing up and down the mountain while maintaining 60 mph. Granted the ecoboost beat the Ram by a few seconds in an approximately 8 min run due to the turbos but I wouldn't spend thousands more out the door for that.

If you buy used from dealer pay attention if they try to sell you extended warranty, they will try to sell you a new vehicle warranty which seems like good extra coverage but it goes back to the date it was put in service so if it's a 2 yr old vehicle you pay for those two yrs gone by. I don't know how they can get away with that but they do. I just bought a 2017 2500 and purchased the 8yr extended new vehicle warranty and that started in 17 the day the truck was put in service, I found this out when I got my warranty card in the mail and noticed the dates so I called the dealership and he told me that's how they do it so I'm actually paying for an extra year and a half that's already gone by. They don't make it clear at all when their telling you about it so really watch the wording in the contract.

Get the Ram. Go with the 3.92 rear end. If you don't want to pay extra for air suspension you can always add airbags after. I traded in a 2014 f150 xlt xtr for a 2016 Ram ST and just the ride was enough to make me loyal to Ram. Looking at 2019 Classic Express with Sport Appearance. Never touch ford again.

I bought a 13 Ram w/ hemi quad cab two months ago.355 gearing is okay but I would like the 3.92 better but its not a deal breaker.Great truck and its very hard to just keep it parked.Im on my second oil change since May.I want to get it tuned and turn off the mds. I dont want to tune it to the 93 octane as I ran that in my Challenger and am enjoying a little cheaper gas

I like the 3.55 rear gearing

I'm no expert about Ram's, but having owned 17 or 18 blue ovals (cars and trucks), my recent purchase of a 2009 bighorn is an indication that Fords are missing something and for me it's the engines and the ride. I tested several different year models and finally bought one that I like and can afford. Only had it for 3 months but so far so good. The only thing I want to weigh in on is the gear ratio and it's effect on mpg. The average driver won't notice the difference in mpg between 3.92 and 3.21, but you'll sure as heck notice the difference in pulling power. Whatever you end up with, you'll be happier if it has LSD, and Ram has a good one.

As a longtime (and multiple) ford owner myself (9 F150s, a Ranger, and 4 Mustangs), I too am in my first non-ford truck in my 17 ram. I was on my way to a Ford dealer to buy an F150 I had previously test driven when I stopped by the Ram dealer on a whim. I had never driven one, or even ridden in a new one. Within the first thousand or so feet of the test drive, I knew I was buying it. Two main reasons for me were ride quality and options/dollar. Neither can be matched on any other fullsize truck from any manufacturer (drove all of them).

I personally do not care for V6 engines in fullsize trucks, so I wont buy a pentastar. I had an 11 F150 with the NA 3.7 V6 and a 14 Tremor (reg cab short bed) with 3.5 Eco and 4.10 gears. Both were fine for daily driving, but just didnt do it for me. My RCSB 5.0 with 3.55 gears had far more punch than the Tremor. Both were tuned, so fair comparison in my mind.

I have never cared for the styling of crew cab trucks, but since I now have the "instant family" - aka step kid - and we do a bunch of people hauling, I ended up getting one. It's comfortable, rides good, and the 5.7 with 3.92 gears does everything I need it to and then some. It's not winning many races, but then again, it's a fullsize crew cab, not a race car. I very rarely do any towing, and dont haul many loads in the bed. My bed mostly gets used for storage and transportation of my golf clubs, lol. I've had it full of rocks and full of mulch without issue.

When the time comes for my next vehicle, I'll drive a new Ram and a new F150 and see what tickles my fancy at the time. I MIGHT drive a GMC (not a fan of the new body styling) and a Tundra (IF they make some updates), but they're typically priced out of my desired budget with the options.

As for the options/dollar, while I bought mine as a dealer demo with 5k miles, so it's not a particularly fair comparison to a brand new one, I bought the Lone Star with the Hemi, 8.4 with Nav, power rear window, 3.92 with LSD, center console, etc, stickered at $46k and I paid $32k. The brand new one they had on the lot with the same options was listed for $36k. A comparable F150 was going to cost me nearly $40k.

This is why I bought my ram


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Ohio5pt7 said:

This is why I bought my ram


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Its nice that you actually still have a place to do that! All those kind of places disappeared from where I live like 20 years ago.

tidefan1967 said:

Its nice that you actually still have a place to do that! All those kind of places disappeared from where I live like 20 years ago.

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I'm sure it will be gone soon

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