'Nother truck question. Narrowing down my choices:

[BIGdaddy]

Checked out this truck yesterday:

2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab

4.7L V8

5speed, 4wheel drive

poverty pack (black interior with buckets up front. Cloth, manual windows, A/C/Heater, not much else. LOL)

We test drove it yesterday with my wife and me in the front, and my 3 girls in the back. Tons of room width-wise. Normal amount of room legroom-wise.



1. What tcase? I think I know that the tranny is a NV3500

2. MPGs? Fuelly is saying around 13-15 on average, with better mileage on the highway. Somewhere around 17-21, depending on who you ask. This is similar to the mileage ratings for the Jeep commander (which we also like) which uses the same motor, so I think it's about right.

3. Thinking of RTT's in the bed, or possibly a slide-in.

4. This motor is fairly highly regarded from what I can tell. Agree? Anyone have direct experience?

5. This would be an all around truck for me. Daily driver, offroad camper, desert explorer.

6. overall strength/reliability of the chassis, etc? I heard a rumor that this range of years is actually a 3/4 ton de-rated to 1/2 ton. true?

 

[BIGdaddy]

Oh, and it only has about 60k miles on it. very, very clean truck.

 

[njtacoma]

if it is a "mega cab" it would have the solid axle it is the derated 2500.

If it has the regular crew cab and IFS it is a regular 1500 chassis truck.

check out this thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...b-Poor-Man-s-Power-Wagon?highlight=dodge+mega

I don't know much about the drivetrain questions.

Good luck in your search.

 

[BIGdaddy]

if it is a "mega cab" it would have the solid axle it is the derated 2500.

If it has the regular crew cab and IFS it is a regular 1500 chassis truck.

check out this thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...b-Poor-Man-s-Power-Wagon?highlight=dodge+mega

I don't know much about the drivetrain questions.

Good luck in your search.

Not a mega. just a crew. IFS as well. Not really hung up on the 3/4 rating (at all). Just want to be clear on what I'd be buying.

(I don't need more than a 1/2 ton. No horse trailers here. lol.)

And thanks for the link, I had already read through that info. Good stuff.

 

[njtacoma]

I keep vacillating on truck choices (mostly because I haven't convinced my friend to sell me his 91 suburban). It's strange, I consider trucks like a tundra with IFS but suddenly when a solid axle is available, ala dodge, I lose my mind, and must have the 3/4 ton truck with the 27 million pound GVW instead of staying with what will actually meet my needs.

Good job staying focused on the real goal. Sorry for the slight Hijack, I have to go call my friend with the suburban...

 

[BIGdaddy]

I keep vacillating on truck choices (mostly because I haven't convinced my friend to sell me his 91 suburban). It's strange, I consider trucks like a tundra with IFS but suddenly when a solid axle is available, ala dodge, I lose my mind, and must have the 3/4 ton truck with the 27 million pound GVW instead of staying with what will actually meet my needs.

Good job staying focused on the real goal. Sorry for the slight Hijack, I have to go call my friend with the suburban...

No, no that's ME too..haha. I'm trying to stay strong.

 

[BIGdaddy]

What helps keeps me focused is riding in my mother-in-laws 1 ton dually. That thing literally rides like a buckboard wagon. The only time I've enjoyed riding in that thing is when it was loaded with a ton of river stones. Rode like a caddy.

My wife was seriously expecting the same ride from the truck yesterday, and was floored and surprised that it rode more like our expedition from years past than anything. Very, very comfy and quiet. I looked over and said, "yup. half ton. Whole 'nother world"

Even though I can totally use the pickup for carrying gear, as long as it has a nice tow hitch (which it does) that will pull our small utility trailer, I can load the crap out of the trailer (and not my truck) when we need to get lumber/materials for our projects. I'm fine moving furniture, etc for my family/wife, but I think I'm realistic in thinking that the heaviest thing this would carry is stripped-down, bantom-weight popup or hardsided camper...

 

[Scrib]

Hah! I'm currrently installing 1-ton's on my 1/2 ton, so I must have the same disease

Brian - we had a 4.7L for 3 or 4 years of 'normal' (no towing, 50/50 highway - city, light offroad) with no issues. Pick any engine, though, and you can find horror stories about it on the interwebs. The #1 question is did the previous owner(s) perform good, regular, maintenance? If they don't have paperwork (or there's been multiple owners), then it would be a good idea to have a shop do a leak-down test on it and pull the valve covers for a visual inspection. Good luck!

 

[Hawkz]

I have a 2005 Ram 1500 quad cab I bought new and I've been very happy with it. It does have the 5.7, not the 4.7 but the truck over-all has been solid.

I did tow my Jeep with it for a couple of years and I added the Firestone air bags to the rear. The bags are not too expensive and will keep things level if you decide to go with a light weight camper or Flippac like I did.

I'm at 133k miles and planning to put another 150k or so on it.

 

[ExpoMike]

If you are considering ANY slide in camper, you will NEED a 3/4 ton or heavier truck. Do not kid yourself in thinking a 1/2 is going to work well. You will be overloaded. Even with my 3/4 ton Dodge, I am just over the GVW when loaded up for a trip. Don't believe most accounts of camper weights and loaded rig weights as most never run them over a scale. Many "think" their rigs weigh less then what they really do and are very surprised when scaled.

If you're planning to tow a small trailer, then you will be fine and towing ratings are much higher than load capacity. There are a lot of band aid fixes to increase the load capacity but none of them legally raise the GVW of the truck.

As for the ride, modern 1/2 tons do ride much more car like and that has been their intent. IMHO 1/2 ton trucks have become a car with a bed.

 

[BIGdaddy]

If you are considering ANY slide in camper, you will NEED a 3/4 ton or heavier truck. Do not kid yourself in thinking a 1/2 is going to work well. You will be overloaded. Even with my 3/4 ton Dodge, I am just over the GVW when loaded up for a trip. Don't believe most accounts of camper weights and loaded rig weights as most never run them over a scale. Many "think" their rigs weigh less then what they really do and are very surprised when scaled.

If you're planning to tow a small trailer, then you will be fine and towing ratings are much higher than load capacity. There are a lot of band aid fixes to increase the load capacity but none of them legally raise the GVW of the truck.

As for the ride, modern 1/2 tons do ride much more car like and that has been their intent. IMHO 1/2 ton trucks have become a car with a bed.

if that's the case, we'll probably stick to RTT's, a trailer, or maybe plain 'ol ground tents.


AT flippac's are also an option. Those are pretty lightweight, right Mike?

 

[78Bronco]

The Dodge 1500 crew cab isn't a real crew cab. You should be able to seat five adults around 6ft tall in comfort for a half decent journey. The dodge crew cab has the smallest doors and back seat in the industry. We had a real tough time fitting car seats and such in the back seat of our inlaws dodge 1500. As your kids get older and desire more room you will be looking for another vehicle again. My general rule is, if I can't sit in the back seat comfortably why would I ask someone else too. No doubt the most spacious and functional 1/2 ton interior is the F150. Good luck with your Ram though.

 

[fjrohrs]

The Dodge 1500 crew cab isn't a real crew cab. You should be able to seat five adults around 6ft tall in comfort for a half decent journey. The dodge crew cab has the smallest doors and back seat in the industry. We had a real tough time fitting car seats and such in the back seat of our inlaws dodge 1500. As your kids get older and desire more room you will be looking for another vehicle again. My general rule is, if I can't sit in the back seat comfortably why would I ask someone else too. No doubt the most spacious and functional 1/2 ton interior is the F150. Good luck with your Ram though.

Take my input with a grain of salt as I'm a recent F150 owner but having sat in the backseat of all of the big trucks (Toyota, Dodge, GM, Ford) I found the F150's to be the most spacious and useful. The Tundra is advertised to have a larger rear seating arrangement but the seats do not fold up out of the way allowing for a flat load floor which became a priority when acquiring a TV that I didn't want in the bed.

Ultimately you should get what makes you and your family happy though and if it's the Dodge then go for it.

 

[BIGdaddy]

The Dodge 1500 crew cab isn't a real crew cab. You should be able to seat five adults around 6ft tall in comfort for a half decent journey. The dodge crew cab has the smallest doors and back seat in the industry. We had a real tough time fitting car seats and such in the back seat of our inlaws dodge 1500. As your kids get older and desire more room you will be looking for another vehicle again. My general rule is, if I can't sit in the back seat comfortably why would I ask someone else too. No doubt the most spacious and functional 1/2 ton interior is the F150. Good luck with your Ram though.

3kids, 7, 5 and 3 all fit just fine in their carseats. This was an '04 with the full 4 doors, not the clamshell dealio's, but also not the megacab... just fyi.

While it may not be a "real" crewcab (not really sure what that means ) our test of it revealed no fitment or comfort issues.

Thanks for your concern, though.

 

[78Bronco]

3kids, 7, 5 and 3 all fit just fine in their carseats. This was an '04 with the full 4 doors, not the clamshell dealio's, but also not the megacab... just fyi.

While it may not be a "real" crewcab (not really sure what that means ) our test of it revealed no fitment or comfort issues.

Thanks for your concern, though.

I mean that when I compare my F150 crewcab side by side with a Dodge "quad cab" the difference in space is night and day.

I put the driver seat in both vehicles where I need it then get into the back seat and see how much room is left. I have inches to spare with the ford from the back of the seat to my knee caps, in the dodge I am lacking inches. That is why they had to come up with the megacab ...due to the normal Dodge quadcabs not being a realistic size to fit 5 adults in comfort. The Rear doors of the F150 also make getting in and out easier. When the inlaws and us are going out we leave their dodge at home and take the f150 cause everyone fits comfortably with room to spare. Maybe not an issue with 3 little ones for now in forward facing car seats.

FWIW...Expedition will tow more than a Ram 1500...LOL. I get a good chuckle with the faithful dodge people out there about that...what do you mean your SUV has a stock class 5 receiver and gcvwr higher than my dodge 1/2 ton hemi.

Isn't the NV3500 the same transmission they use in jeeps? Doesn't sound like a good idea for a 1/2 ton truck.