Newbie questions....

[Loco-Nomad]

Greetings, I found this forum a few weeks ago and I'm hooked! You all have excellent rigs and tons of experience. That is where my questions come in. I have an '01 Dodge 2500 diesel that is totally stock. It has the extended cab cab not the 4 door, and 8 ft bed. I plan on getting a cap, (drove 2 1/2 hours today only to find out it didn't fit, and yes I gave him the measurements...)

My biggest question is lift and tire size. How important is this? I would like to do moderate off roads, but don't see any rock climbing in the future. This will be a somewhat daily driver so mileage is a concern also. It currently has Firestone LT 365/75 R16 on it. They are getting close to needing replaced. Lifting and putting bigger tires causes a loss of fuel mileage so how big do you go and how much can I expect to lose? Also should I buy a 4 door cab since the family will be with me or stick with what I have. It has 144,00 miles on it and no problems at all. I'm kinda all over the place here so give me your thoughts here what you think.

Thanks!!

 

[Martyn]

Welcome to the portal.

Your Dodge has only just run in with 144K on it.

My advice would be to stay stock until the time you start to attempt things that put scrapes and dings on the bottom of your vehicle and then think about some body armor.

If it's a daily drive you need to keep the fuel consumption in check.

Invest in some good tires that will work for you on and off road, BFG's have always worked for us, something like the All terrain TA/KO

 

[Capt Eddie]

I have the same.

I have the same truck and made the same changes. First you will get tired of people not having their own door to get in. Get a quad cab. I put a 3 inch donut lift on the front and had a spring shop rearch the back 3 inches. When I went with 315 BFG A/T I got death wobble from h/ll. No one could fix it. I had to go to a smaller size. With gas prices you should be able to pick up a quad cheap. A shell is the best thing I ever did. I have an brand new still at the dealer, black shell for sale. Take $1000.00 It has the windoor on one side. Never installed.

 

[Loco-Nomad]

Thanks for the info. Would you stay with a diesel or go to a gas? Don't know if it makes a difference, but when I say moderate off roading, I want to be able to do an Alaska trip and a few way out places on Colorado. Is that still possible to do and keep the truck a somewhat daily driver? What kind of armor would you suggest first?

Thanks again!

 

[Guinness44]

We had a gas V10 and took it to the Maze. Granted the V10 HAS great lowendtorque and power more than enough at just 3000 rpm. Then we went Cummins. Had to learn to "idle" all over, even more lowendtorque. Hating to sleep next to gascans, but not worried about sleeping next to diesel cans (which we did NOT need, not like the gascans, that we DID need.)


We run both trucks, bonestock, but with 285 tires. The Cummins, we just changed from bilsteins to ranchos 9000, and bilsteins, beside the too many leaks, and mushed bushings, is fired. The ranchos ride much better. For the gastruck, I had skidplates built for the tank. And the cat. For both trucks, sliders were built on the front axle for the trailing arms. (I thinks that has not yet been used, but a TCase skidplate crossmember has been used due to the long wheelbase). We have run the Maze (not dollhouse spur), the White Rim,
the Klondike, several easies around here with no problem.

Both these trucks are identical (quadcab, shortbed, HD TCase, autotrans, some bells, whistles). For drivability thrugh windy roads, the Cumins is frontheavy. The gasser was more sporty, but this is a truck. Diesel, rules, mileagewise, safety wise (if you need to carry cans), torquewise on the trail.
The V10, was a 99, the Cummins is an 02. They dont make the V10, so the V8 is going to probably need more rpms for that kind of work.

 

[Jerry]

In our Ford F150 we switched from 31" to 33" tires and dropped in gas mileage from almost 15 to 11. Big decrease in fuel economy for such little increase in ground clearance. But...I'd do it again:safari-rig:

 

[Carlyle]

Welcome!

If your rig is stock I would think that you would be running 265's, not 365's as those are huge tires on a non lifted vehicle. I ran 305 Nitto's (same company as Toyo), with a 2" spring lift on the front of my truck and they were great tires for what they are expected to do. The front lift takes the rake out of the factory truck and is then level for my needs, eg camper.

The more you lift, the more you compromise your driving characteristics and mileage. IMHO, keep the truck close to stock for a daily driver and find a cap on CL, there always going cheap.

 

[jcbrandon]

Run watcha brung

Welcome aboard. Good group of folks here with lots to share.

Here are my thoughts:
Stick with what you've got until it can't do what you ask of it. Meanwhile, invest in skills, information, and gear that can easily go with you later if you decide to get a different base vehicle.

A three-quarter ton pickup is a great platform to start with. It has decent power, payload, and trail ability. As Martyn points out, your diesel is just getting broken in. Unless you have a compelling reason to dump it for something else, keep it.

You might find that a two-door truck is inconvenient. If so, you've got lots of vehicles to choose from. But you don't have to make that jump now.

In shopping for a full-size truck earlier this year, I compared gasoline to diesel engines. In my case, with all other things being equal, gasoline turned out to be a better economic choice for the first 11 years of ownership. But if I already had a diesel I wouldn't sell it just to buy a gas truck.

I think the best vehicle for adventure travel is the one that gets you on the trails today, rather than next year, or "someday." Get out there and have some fun, learn stuff, take your kids places. Discover what works well and what needs improvement. Then, when you do need to get a new vehicle, you'll know what you want.

 

[Haggis]

Hello Loco, welcome to the Expo. :wavey:

My main travel expo vehicle is my '01 Ram Quad Cab. Not as "Expo Cool" as my LJ but it has been everywhere back and forth amongst the East Coast forests and has preformed excellently. And unlike the Jeep, I can actually haul my whole family and our gear plus a couble of canoes for a couple weeks trip. Mine is an Offroad model and came from the factory with a 2" lift and some other stuff. I've ran 33x12.5x17 inch tires on the factory 17x8 factory rims with no problems, but now have a set of the same size tire on some aftermarket rims. My Dodge has been through grill deep mud, climbed rock staircases, waded through deep snow, winded it's way through forset paths, hauled gravel, firewood, diesel powerplants and nameless other things, and towed many a trailer. And it drives down the road with apomb.

That being said, to the meat of your question. I'd use a coil spacer leveling puck on your front suspension and mount a set of good tires eithewr 285/75 or 33x12.5s on arim with either 5 or 5.5" backspacing. When you have money saved up install a locker in the rear (I have a Detriot locker in the rear of mine and it works great). Those two things will make your truck more capable with minimum fussing with your front suspension. Alternatively, my step brother runs 255/85/16s on his stock '01 1500 on factory rims and only has minimum rubbing, but he doesn't wheel his truck either. The main problem with the Rams is that they are not the most nimble rigs in the woods, the turning radius is a little wide. Also the Mopar trannies are not the best, yours is a 47RE, which is better than the 46RE in the 1500s but still has some problems. My Offroadster came with the 47RE with the offroad package, but at 140,000 miles the thrust plate let go. I went ahead and had the tranny rebuilt wtih a shift kit and heavier duty internals for about $1600. But bear in mine my truck is used constantly for work and hauls and tows way more than the average user.

As for mileage, mine left the dealership getting around 14 mpg ave. Whats funny is that my previous '97 Ram ClubCab Shortbed with the 5.9 and 3:92 gears got at the best 12 mpg while the '01 with the same 5.9 motor and 4:10 gears gets the 14 mpg. Anyway I used a Hyperyech power programmer and set to the 87 octane setting my mileage jumped up to 16 mpg ave. I'd check and see what gearing is in your diffs, 4:11 are working great for my 33's and I've not lost any mileage or driveability over the 275/75/17 (32") that came on it stock. I like the 17" rims because the handling is better and with the 33's there plenty of sidewall to squat when you air down.

We run a cab on it when we're off trekking and with my wife and 2 kids hauling stuff for a couple of weeks of traveling is easy. And my trucks gone everywhere the smaller rigs have gone as long as it could fit. Of course srcatches are badges of honor and add to the patina of the vehicle.

 

[Overdrive]

Welcome to ExPo!

Keep the diesel, the mileage will be much better.

I'm wondering what you have there though...Dodge did not make a ClubCab diesel in 2001. (At least not for the US market.) I think the last ClubCabs were in '98.

 

[Loco-Nomad]

Lots of excellent advice, I appreciate it all! Couple of corrections though, you were right it was just a typo on my part it has 265's on it nor 365's as I had in my original post, and it is a quad cab, technically 4 doors but you have to have the front door opened to open the back door so that is why I was looking for an actual 4 door cab so the kids could get in and out of their own door and have a little extra leg room.

:Mechanic: I love the truck though, no tranny problems yet and I have pulled a camper for a few years and a utility trailer with my tractor on it occasionally, never any trouble. Biggest concern was mileage when I start modifying and you all have given great info on that. Thanks and dont hesitate to tell me what needs to be done or not done, that's why I asked!

 

[Overdrive]

and it is a quad cab, technically 4 doors but you have to have the front door opened to open the back door so that is why I was looking for an actual 4 door cab so the kids could get in and out of their own door and have a little extra leg room.

Oh, gotcha. The four real doors are really nice. If you intended to stay with the Dodge/Cummins platform (and I certainly would), then that means you'd be looking for a 2003 and newer. Warning: Do not test drive one or you'd be hooked. I've had all years of the D/C and the "third generation" drives like a sports car compared to the earlier ones.

If you haven't already, check out the Turbo Diesel Register. The website has all sorts of info on your truck. The minor fixes you will learn about will save you far more than the $35 yearly subscription to see all of the website and get the quarterly magazine.