New(er) Dodge aka Ram trucks.

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dukeboy440

dukeboy440

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Looking at possibly buying a new or newer Cummins truck, or possibly considering a Powerwagon with the Hemi.

4x4, quad cab/mega whatever it’s called now a days.

Really wanting a manual, which means if I go that route, I can go no newer than 2018. Which I’m okay with. But curious what real world mileage you all are seeing with either the Hemi or Cummins?

My 99 24 valve could push 19 highway/city average unloaded, 13-14 pulling a trailer and 16k pound tractor. If the newer ones aren’t at least in line with that, looking at just spending 10k to have the Cummins rebuilt and another 5-8 to have it repainted professionally. This is better than the 50-85k I’d be looking at in a newer truck.
 
I have a 2017 Rebel, 5.7. It will push mid 20's on the highway if I drive responsibly(which I dont) but, it will average 18 ish. Coming from a 2010 with 4.7 and before that, 1999 to 2001 Rams, it sips fuel compared to those...lol
 
The 6.4 in the 2500 power wagon isn’t going to get the same mileage as the 5.7 in the 1500, especially when towing. If mileage is important then you need the diesel. You’re probably going to be money ahead rebuilding and painting if the rest of the truck is decent. At least you know what you’ve got.
 
Here is a thread I started about the V6, it may have some info in it.
My current 2017 Crew Cab with 5.7 6spd gets mid 20's hwy AT BEST. If I load it with my 17' Lund (alum) and trailer it get 15/16.
Piss poor in my opinion.
Ram with V6. Reviews?
 
gzig5 said:
The 6.4 in the 2500 power wagon isn’t going to get the same mileage as the 5.7 in the 1500, especially when towing. If mileage is important then you need the diesel. You’re probably going to be money ahead rebuilding and painting if the rest of the truck is decent. At least you know what you’ve got.
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Yeah rest of the truck is fairly solid, some minor rust repair (I’ll just swap the doors), Bed is solid as it was replaced after a minor accident about 10 years ago. Needs all new seals on the doors, windows and cab lights. It’d be fairly close to a body on frame restoration. Which I don’t have the time to tackle myself which is where it’ll get costly.

It’s only got 176k miles on them and I know every bolt that’s ever been turned on the thing.
 
Just a chassis heads up, a quad cab has short rear doors, not really great for rear seat adults. A crew/mega has full size rear doors but generally a shorter bed. And sticks were generally only available on 2500s and up.
 
66Valiant528 said:
Just a chassis heads up, a quad cab has short rear doors, not really great for rear seat adults. A crew/mega has full size rear doors but generally a shorter bed. And sticks were generally only available on 2500s and up.
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Can’t be any shorter than my 99 quad cab doors haha. Yeah, have to have the 3/4 ton, though for the price, if I go new(er) I may step up to the 4500. I can get the 4500 crew cab long bed for 750 dollars more than the 2500 Crew cab short bed locally. Difference is the 4500 is a dually not sure I want that.

I should add, the intent would be this truck will replace my jeep as a daily. The Jeep is getting 12.8 which I don’t care about mileage on it as it’s paid off. Fuel mileage comes into play only when trying to figure out if it’s worth restoring the 99 in the short term vs the 75-85k for the new Cummins. I’m really having a hard time justifying the new truck with that bad mileage out of a diesel
 
66Valiant528 said:
Just a chassis heads up, a quad cab has short rear doors, not really great for rear seat adults. A crew/mega has full size rear doors but generally a shorter bed. And sticks were generally only available on 2500s and up.
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Yes and no. There are three cab sizes, or at least there were. The smallest has short rear doors and is not comfortable for an adult in the back seat IMO. See this one on a lot of V6 trucks. The regular cab has essentially equal doors and a nice big rear area. Much bigger than my 2013 Ferd and in my Laramie the rear seat reclines/tilts. Then there is a the MegaCab. I don't know if the rear door is bigger, but it has about 6-8" added to the cab behind the rear door. Never been in one but it must be huge back there.
 
F855B83C-4DC4-4F95-AC3E-E16155D0636D.jpeg

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
But, if I had to do it all over again, I’d get a diesel. MegaCabs are big and heavy and can benefit from a diesels torque and dare I say fuel economy over a HEMI
 
Well I’m test driving a 2024 Ram 2500 4x4 6:7 Cummins auto truck(yuck i autos in a truck). We shall see. They’re letting me keep it overnight and let me drive it to work, 54 miles away one way from the dealer. So far, it’s kind of meh. Does great in the hills with the torque. Not a fan of the sunroof haha
 
dukeboy440 said:
Looking at possibly buying a new or newer Cummins truck, or possibly considering a Powerwagon with the Hemi.

4x4, quad cab/mega whatever it’s called now a days.

Really wanting a manual, which means if I go that route, I can go no newer than 2018. Which I’m okay with. But curious what real world mileage you all are seeing with either the Hemi or Cummins?

My 99 24 valve could push 19 highway/city average unloaded, 13-14 pulling a trailer and 16k pound tractor. If the newer ones aren’t at least in line with that, looking at just spending 10k to have the Cummins rebuilt and another 5-8 to have it repainted professionally. This is better than the 50-85k I’d be looking at in a newer truck.
Click to expand...
Unless you're going to delete it, stick to your old truck
 
My brother has a 2015 3500 high output 4x4 6spd. Being in Cali can’t do the def delete, but can add the Banks monster intake and the peddle monster. The mileage is about 16 when doing the speed limit, and 18 when cruising at 80. Towing can be as low as 13 depending on the load. Shifting is slow like the NV5600 in the 3rd gen 3500 dully he has. We always start off in 2nd in both trucks when not towing. A friend rented a 2022 ram 3500 dully regular output with an 8spd auto from enterprise to tow a 18k boat, I drove it from San Diego to Portland, it drove just fine with the auto holding 55 over the grapevine and other passes along 5. The mileage down towing the trailer was about 14 but coming back the mileage really sucked at about 6 miles per gallon.
 
4spdragtop said:
Here is a thread I started about the V6, it may have some info in it.
My current 2017 Crew Cab with 5.7 6spd gets mid 20's hwy AT BEST. If I load it with my 17' Lund (alum) and trailer it get 15/16.
Piss poor in my opinion.
Ram with V6. Reviews?
Click to expand...
Just put a 318 in it. Some guys worship them.
 
Well F that.

108 miles, topped off when I left dealer, topped off same station before returning. 9.27 gallons used. 11.65 mpg at an average speed of 47 mph. Empty. Yeah ain’t buying no new truck. Hell my 78 w200 with 4.56s can beat that.
 
2014 ram 3500 6.7L dually full delete, travel 40 miles to and from work and with traffic 5 days a week and some driving on the weekends, I fill up every 2 weeks. Get around 24-26 mpg on the freeway with traffic, open freeway, can go from south Idaho to south Cali with 2 tanks.
 
Matts440 said:
2014 ram 3500 6.7L dually full delete, travel 40 miles to and from work and with traffic 5 days a week and some driving on the weekends, I fill up every 2 weeks. Get around 24-26 mpg on the freeway with traffic, open freeway, can go from south Idaho to south Cali with 2 tanks.
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I can live with that. Can one even purchase the delete kits anymore with the EPA bs lawsuits?
 
I would be looking at re-doing your old truck.
Newer ones the mileage is just horrid.
Just got back from a 1500 mile trip, pulling a car trailer.
2017 3500 6.4 10 mpg.
The truck gets the same mpg empty or pulling a load, must be the 4.10 gears.
 
I have an 05 Ram 5.7 with 104,000 miles on it. I get 11-12 mostly hiway and occasional stop light. I pulled a plug at 102,000 miles and it looked perfect. Truck is 20 years old and has fired up everytime I turned the key. I just replaced the front calipers, because piston was frozen, and pads and rotors. New pistons in caliper are plastic to eliminate the problem of piston frozen. Maybe happened because I don't use it every day. A great truck and great engine. By the way I got 14 years out of original battery.
 
tonysrt said:
I have an 05 Ram 5.7 with 104,000 miles on it. I get 11-12 mostly hiway and occasional stop light. I pulled a plug at 102,000 miles and it looked perfect. Truck is 20 years old and has fired up everytime I turned the key. I just replaced the front calipers, because piston was frozen, and pads and rotors. New pistons in caliper are plastic to eliminate the problem of piston frozen. Maybe happened because I don't use it every day. A great truck and great engine. By the way I got 14 years out of original battery.
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Good to know on the original battery, I keep a solar tender on mine, knock on wood its still surviving at 7 years old.
I do try to use the truck every few weeks to keep everything moving, but sometimes in the winter it will sit for a few months when there is salt on the road.
 
sireland67 said:
I would be looking at re-doing your old truck.
Newer ones the mileage is just horrid.
Just got back from a 1500 mile trip, pulling a car trailer.
2017 3500 6.4 10 mpg.
The truck gets the same mpg empty or pulling a load, must be the 4.10 gears.
Click to expand...
Plus gas vs diesel. I've hauled my buddies 28 or 30' camp trailer loaded freeway to winding roads doing 70 and getting 14-18
 
Matts440 said:
Plus gas vs diesel. I've hauled my buddies 28 or 30' camp trailer loaded freeway to winding roads doing 70 and getting 14-18
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I went out of my way to find a heavy truck, with a gas engine.
I am just not a diesel fanatic in a pickup truck, drove too many of them at my previous job.
 
11-12?? Good lord that's 70's carb mileage...Good that it's reliable. More to vehicles than mpg
tonysrt said:
I have an 05 Ram 5.7 with 104,000 miles on it. I get 11-12 mostly hiway and occasional stop light. I pulled a plug at 102,000 miles and it looked perfect. Truck is 20 years old and has fired up everytime I turned the key. I just replaced the front calipers, because piston was frozen, and pads and rotors. New pistons in caliper are plastic to eliminate the problem of piston frozen. Maybe happened because I don't use it every day. A great truck and great engine. By the way I got 14 years out of original battery.
Click to expand...
 
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