Any advice for son considering a 2500?

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Truck Fun

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My son is considering a 2500 for his next truck. What advice or suggestions would you offer? Possibility of towing someday such as a future boat and/or hauling his wife's jeep to off-road events. Has a car for work so the truck won't have to be a daily driver. Gas vs Diesel? Options?
 

McBroom

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POWER WAGON!!!!
Lots of options and off-road capability ta boot. Him n wife can off road together.


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road
 

mtnrider

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Really need to figure out what exactly he is going to be towing to make the right choice. Trailer and pay load weight, tongue weight, goose neck? etc all play a part in making the right decision. Depending on tongue weight you can quickly get into the 3500 range.
If it's just a average size boat or just one jeep on a trailer it's probably still good with a 2500.

For me once you hit the 2500/3500 for towing it's diesel all the way. But this is a gas biased forum so you will get a lot more that sway towards the gas on here.
Go ask the same question on the cummins forum so you get a good balance of opinions.

.
 

Firebird

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When I towed, it was Cummins hands down!

I no longer tow, so quite happy with the 6.4 now.
 

NewBlackDak

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If it’s not a DD, Cummins all day.


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Truck Fun

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POWER WAGON!!!!
Lots of options and off-road capability ta boot. Him n wife can off road together.


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road

He originally was considering a Power Wagon but is leaning towards a standard 2500 now. I think any off-roading would be done together in the Jeep; with the truck being more of a get-there vehicle.
 

OC455

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2500 Big Horn would be nice with a Cummins
 

kiloRAM

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If he is going for new, get the highest differential ratio offered. I got the 3.73:1 ratio in mine, but wished I had done the 4.10:1.
 

Ratket

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If it’s going to hide out in a garage, and seldomly be used. I vote cumin’s. Mainly due to the fact it will be towing most of the time it is used” That exhaust brake is amazing” also the resale on the truck should be really good as well since he has a daily driver and it’s just gonna sit most the time. But that’s just my opinion. Also the diesel comes standard with 3:42”s?? Which is more than enough gear when pushing 800 foot pounds of Tq.

Kilo : hate to be the barer of bad news- if ur not happy with 373”s in ur 6.4, 4:10”s wouldn’t cure that itch either. But 4:56 or 4:88”s would... just saying, it can be done..
 

GsRAM

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My 6.4/3.73 geared 2500 handles my 6k tt just fine with plenty of power to spare. Dont know how big of a boat your thinking of but up to 8 or 9k trailer weight my truck would do just fine.

I'll go opposite of what's been said. If your not going to run it much I'd go 6.4. Diesels require more maintenance and letting them sit you have to treat the fuel or it can get alge in the tank.

Just my .02. If your up over 10k trailer weight and need the diesel, by all means get it....but if you dont need the torque then i personally have no desire for one.
 

ronheater70

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Bought a 2016 2500 6.4 new, got it to tow a 6K ish trailer, and more importantly I wanted an 8 foot bed I could load up with all my camping goodies. We then bought a heavier camper aboout 10k ish and I wasnt happy with the performance so I Traded for a 2018 3500 cummins and really enjoy it. Ours is used as a daily driver a few times a week. Point im trying to make is maybe buy more truck thatn you think youll need because you never know what your going to be hooking to in the future.. Maybe its a 4K pound boat in the near future but then you see a deal on a nice big boat that weighs much more.
 

SouthTexan

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My son is considering a 2500 for his next truck. What advice or suggestions would you offer? Possibility of towing someday such as a future boat and/or hauling his wife's jeep to off-road events. Has a car for work so the truck won't have to be a daily driver. Gas vs Diesel? Options?

Either engine will probably do for your son, but to better answer your question we need to know what he is mainly looking for in a truck and his motivation behind buying one. Cost, performance, reliability?

If it is cost, then the 5.7L will be the least expensive in total cost of ownership by a few grand. He may be willing to pay for more performance in the 6.4L or 6.7L. Whether the 6.7L or 6.4L is the cheaper route will depend on many variables like fuel prices, interest rates, local depreciation values and such. For me, a 6.7L is actually less expensive in total cost of ownership and I would still pay for it even if it were a few grand more regardless if I towed or not. However, this is not the case for everyone and he may or may not willing to spend it for the added performance.


Reliability is a mixed bag. The Cummins may have emissions issues while the 6.4L seems to have lifter issues with the MDS. The only one that seems to not have hardly any issues is the 5.7L, but that may be due to how many are out there compared to the other two. Regardless, none of them seem to have any major issues warranting any fear of not getting one over the other due to reliability. Unless you are one who is just looking for a reasons or justifications of getting one over the other. In that case you will find them.
 
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Nickx86

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Your son needs to evaluate what he plans on doing w the truck. If he looking for brute towing 3500 w Aisin trans all the way. If it’s a DD local, 6.4 Hemi 2500 or 3500 SRW will suffice. Long commute daily, Cummins for better mpg but 6.4 might fit his wallet better, gas prices vs diesel prices here are close to $.75 more per gallon.
 

PaulTGarrett

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Tell him to go with anything pre-2013... No DEF, leaf-spring suspension, less intrusive computer, easier to upgrade... Just a tougher truck IMO...
 

redvettx2

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I came out of 04' 2500 ******'s with a stick. I owned it since new and she had 88K and I got 21K for her when I traded. I think I only paid like 36k. Sticker was 46K. Not bad value. Dealer has it on the lot for 32,999. Once you tow with a Diesel it is hard to go back to gas. I sold my offshore boat and the most I will tow currently would be a 5000lb enclosed sled trailer.

First thought was Eco Diesel. 30 MPG sounded good. Was hard to find one with Ramboxes and the options I wanted. The reputation of the ECO concerned me along with the pending lawsuits. Trouble I didn't want. Ok I will just get a loaded of Rebal or Laramie. Again low availability with Ram boxes but I was flexible. I started shopping hard. The gas trucks had crappy deals. "For that money I can get a loaded Laramie 2500 with Cummins". Got the Auto this time and love the truck. Just did a trip to Central OR and Timberline Lodge. About 800 miles total. 19 MPG going one way more up hill and 21 on the return. I was running 75 to 80. In the snow with the stock Tranforce tires I was very impressed. Used 2wd only at Mt Bachelor only really spun if I got on here hard and spoiled the turbo which I expected. Very pleasant trip and I will say I don't miss my lifted truck on 35's. Ok in the snow there is still nothing better than a stick but the slush box did just fine. Truck is fast too. 90 or so in my lift truck was interesting enough. I was passing a string and jumped on her hard. Look down and she was triple digits and pulling hard. Oh the Exhaust Brake is the bomb in the mountains and hills. Can't wait to hook the trailer to her this week.
 

22hemi13

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Tell him to go with anything pre-2013... No DEF, leaf-spring suspension, less intrusive computer, easier to upgrade... Just a tougher truck IMO...
I agree except for the leaf springs. The coils are solid lol. Better ride and just as tough as leafs. I’m betting money the 3500’s will have springs. Heck even the dual ya will. Good for a semi good for a pickup truck.
 

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He originally was considering a Power Wagon but is leaning towards a standard 2500 now. I think any off-roading would be done together in the Jeep; with the truck being more of a get-there vehicle.


With this info and what you stated in your original post I would tell your son to get a 3500. Reasoning is you said that he tows his wifes jeep to events. So what's the chance since he's towing his girls friends rig around he will want to get his own and they can both wheel together in two rigs. At this point he is in to a 35' Goose neck to fit both Jeeps and other gear. The capacities of the 3500 would be nice.
 

Omegasupreme

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If I towed more than 25% of my driving I would be in a cummings.
 

GsRAM

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Tell him to go with anything pre-2013... No DEF, leaf-spring suspension, less intrusive computer, easier to upgrade... Just a tougher truck IMO...

Agree about the no def being a plus...however the 13 or 14 and up 25 and 3500s got a big upgrade of the frame, differentials, etc. I'd suggest the 14 and up trucks are more stout based on those upgrades, but that's just my .02.

No def is a big plus though.
 

ronheater70

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I agree except for the leaf springs. The coils are solid lol. Better ride and just as tough as leafs. I’m betting money the 3500’s will have springs. Heck even the dual ya will. Good for a semi good for a pickup truck.

my 2016 2500 was coil, and my 2018 3500 is leaf.. Besides the obvious difference between one ton and 3/4 ton, the coils certainly did ride good, and I felt hauled well within their capabilities. On the cummins forum people say where the coils lack is lateral stability. SO if someone has a tall slide in camper or other "tall heavy load" ( tall can vary depending on peoples opinion I suppose) folks have a noticeable decrease in stability compared to the leaf spring setup. Everything is a trade off I suppose.
 
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