From 2015 Sierra to 2016 Ram Rebel. My thoughts so far...

[TRCM]

My 2015's auto climate stays on all the time. They changed this?

Same here......

 

[mohemipar]

Mine still kicks into MDS when in tow haul mode. You can hear it in the exhaust.

Yeap mine does as well.

Ah, I am thinking of HD. I forgot it doesn't turn off in 1500.

 

[sbarron]

As for the Ram, the headlights are good. But why have the ugly yellowish halogen's and then have bright white LED fogs? Anyhow, winner by a long shot: Ram.

FIRST EVER praise for the OEM RAM headlights.

 

[TRCM]

FIRST EVER praise for the OEM RAM headlights.

Yeah...cuz to get the same light output out of my Ram that I got out of the silverado I had, I had to put the Ram on high beams W/the fogs on....chevy was just low beam

 

[racerx20]

Congrats on the Rebel, if I ever traded off my Sport it'd be for a Rebel!

 

[fpdsniper]

Same here......

I should clarify, the auto stays on, but doesn't run the a/c unless it wants to. On my GMC, I could have the a/c on all the time.

 

[ColdCase]

So like, if you set AC on all the time manually, its now not auto mode... I think mine controls the cabin temp when the AC button is pushed, so its like auto with AC?

 

[raggdoll]

I had a 15 Sierra and traded up to a Laramie. I agree with all your points. But the BIG one I had was the GMC/Silverado "70 mph vibration" Total deal breaker and it's what lead me to Ram!

 

[tbird71]

One BIG factor for me was price...I got most of these upgrades on my 2014 Express for LESS than a Sierra BASE short box work truck with nothing on it would have cost. Ram is a winner big time, and a much better drive train and powerplant (5.7 Hemi)

 

[Dusty]

Yep, on 1500, while in Drive (I do it when I'm stopped), push the minus (-) button on the wheel to enter manual mode, then push the plus button next to it and you will see on your dash with each push you increase a gear. Whatever gear you increase to, the truck will limit it's operation to the set gear as maximum. Set it to 8 and the truck will run exactly as normal up to 8th gear with NO MDS.

Any time you set a manual selection, MDS is turned off.

Running in Tow Haul mode also disables MDS.

On my 2014 Ram 1500 Big Horn with the 8HP70 transmission, MDS IS NOT deactivated in the Tow/Haul Mode.

Regards,
Dusty

2014 Ram Big Horn 1500 Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP70, 3.92 LSD, factory dual exhaust, 20” wheels. Now at: 072194 miles.

 

[jwperry]

I prefer using the steering wheel / gear shifter method of deactivating the MDS as I feel the Tow/Haul also plays with downshifting & braking.

When I picked my Laramie, I did so based on nearly everything you posted! I was doing a lot of test driving with the High Country or Denali trucks and came to all the same conclusions you did.

 

[OzCop]

Yeap mine does as well.

I was under the impression that tow/haul only disengages torque converter lock-up...it should not affect MDS...

That is the principle it works on vehicles without MDS...

 

[olscout]

I don't know about the newest model Rams with MDS, but the 08-14s anyway are having cam problems. My buddy is a mechanic in an independent shop, and in two weeks time he had three Rams in for a miss on #5 cylinder that turned out to be a bad cam. They were not high milers either, all were under 150K, one was around 110K and he said looked very well taken care of, inside was clean as new. It's not a cheap fix, it's labor intensive and there is a healthy core charge for the cams, which they get from Mopar. He said they want every cam back, which tells me they know there is an issue there and they need the cores to regrind. He said the average cost of the repair is in the $3000 range which to most of us is a lot of jack. He's done GM's with MDS for lifter problems too, his advice to me was 'buy old, before the MDS on any of them'. Not a problem for me, that's all I can afford!

 

[GsRAM]

I went from a 2015 Silverado 1500 z71 to my ram. I echo the Ops thoughts, but will add the G80 locker in my Silverado just plain sucked. never locked up.. useless.

ram is a winner by a long shot. trans in the Silverado is pure garbage. makes the 6 speed in my he seem like a dream. no comparison even if it was 1500 vs 1500

 

[mohemipar]

I went from a 2015 Silverado 1500 z71 to my ram. I echo the Ops thoughts, but will add the G80 locker in my Silverado just plain sucked. never locked up.. useless.

ram is a winner by a long shot. trans in the Silverado is pure garbage. makes the 6 speed in my he seem like a dream. no comparison even if it was 1500 vs 1500

We all know the 66RFE isn’t perfect but I find it shifts smart and very smooth. Especially if I put it in manual mode to 5th. Just gotta get used to the taller gears and now I don't even think about it or notice it. After it settled and leaned my driving style it has been very smooth. I find it nicer to live with day to day than either of 6L80s I owned. It feels more in command overall than I remember the GM's being, even with a lot of weight in the truck. I remember at times the GMs would just completely be in the wrong gear for the situation. I never have that with the Ram. Driving around town the truck isn’t constantly shifting. It is very composed. An HD/6.4 specific 8 speed would be great, but for now I don't have much to complain about.

 

[mohemipar]

On my 2014 Ram 1500 Big Horn with the 8HP70 transmission, MDS IS NOT deactivated in the Tow/Haul Mode.

Regards,
Dusty

2014 Ram Big Horn 1500 Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP70, 3.92 LSD, factory dual exhaust, 20” wheels. Now at: 072194 miles.

Yes, I have made the correction in a previous post. It disables on HD trucks when in Tow Haul. Forgot that it doesn’t in half tons.

 

[GsRAM]

We all know the 66RFE isn’t perfect but I find it shifts smart and very smooth. Especially if I put it in manual mode to 5th. Just gotta get used to the taller gears and now I don't even think about it or notice it. After it settled and leaned my driving style it has been very smooth. I find it nicer to live with day to day than either of 6L80s I owned. It feels more in command overall than I remember the GM's being, even with a lot of weight in the truck. I remember at times the GMs would just completely be in the wrong gear for the situation. I never have that with the Ram. Driving around town the truck isn’t constantly shifting. It is very composed. An HD/6.4 specific 8 speed would be great, but for now I don't have much to complain about.

yes, 100% agree, SPOT on!

 

[Jeepwalker]

Square wheel wells .......... Winner - Ram

Nice review, sounds like a nice truck!!

GM's getting away from the square wheel wells with the upcoming gen. Lot of things are going to change. It's almost like they're listening to people who left and went to Ram! I've had good luck with my past GM trucks, still, the RAM it a wonderful machine like you say.

Also, I wouldn't get so wrapped up with the rear LSD. Sure everyone wants to have as many features as possible, but I'd estimate 90% of the cars/trucks don't have them, and haven't had them in the last 30 years and they function just fine rain and snow. Sure there are occasions when it would be nice to have and might get you out of a sticky situation, especially if you lived in the mountains and were on mountain trails a lot, but for most leather-upholstery city-slicker commuters and weekend boat towers, I bet they could on one hand the times when you'd REALLY need it (over the traction control). And, in ice, true LSD's with clutches can be destabilizing around corners. Now on a construction truck or farm truck, they would be almost essential!

But I can't blame you, I wish my truck had one too. But it doesn't (I checked the build sheet).

 

[69GWC]

What going away from the square fenders, dang just after they made wheels and tires to fit. lol

 

[tidefan1967]

Do the + - (plus and minus) buttons on the right side of the steering wheel turn it off on earlier models? On my 2017 all I have to do is tap on those until it shows an 8 next to the PRNDL on the cluster and it will turn off the MDS until you turn off the truck and then it goes back to normal.