Power Wagon as a family Exploration Vehicle

[paroxysym]

GM junk, yuck.

such a good looking truck though

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

ZR2 only has rear locker in the 2500. I haven heard of many of the 7.3 lifter issues? The one advantage GM has is the Auto 4wd in the HD (assuming you live in snow country)

I'd be more tempted to tow the Jeep personally than try and make a HD work. I've been in Moab with full size rigs and It is just so much slower due to the size, etc.

I agree, the auto 4WD is a nice setting. Ram and Ford have it in the half tons, but still not the HD lineup. My wife’s Colorado ZR2 pretty much lives in the auto setting from the first snow fall until near the end of March. It sounds silly, but after having the auto setting myself, it’s almost a requirement. I’d have to look real hard at the Silverado 2500 ZR2 if I was buying a HD truck today.

 

[Bayou Boy]

I just got out of a PW after owning it for 2.5 years and back into a 1 ton diesel. I really wanted to PW to work for us but it just didn't. And really only for two reasons.
1.The PW range is trash. Absolute trash. Especially on 37s. Having to screw with fuel every single day on an antelope hunt or whatever sucked.
2. It simply doesn't carry any kind of load well on the highway. Loaded down for a family camping or hunting trip and the sway on highway curves was terrible. Borderline dangerous IMHO. It was fine with 2 plus gear. 4 plus gear is too much.

For those two reasons I went back to a diesel 1 ton in the form of a 2023 Tremor.
That said, the PW is much, much better in the dirt than the Tremor. It rides better, the turning radius is MUCH better, it's shorter.
The Tremor cab is much more comfortable and I like the slightly larger bed now that I have it.

For anyone that asks, no, I don't tow heavy. But I do load the bed with 1-2000# in addition to people inside when we camp or hunt.

 

[Tex68w]

I just got out of a PW after owning it for 2.5 years and back into a 1 ton diesel. I really wanted to PW to work for us but it just didn't. And really only for two reasons.
1.The PW range is trash. Absolute trash. Especially on 37s. Having to screw with fuel every single day on an antelope hunt or whatever sucked.
2. It simply doesn't carry any kind of load well on the highway. Loaded down for a family camping or hunting trip and the sway on highway curves was terrible. Borderline dangerous IMHO. It was fine with 2 plus gear. 4 plus gear is too much.

For those two reasons I went back to a diesel 1 ton in the form of a 2023 Tremor.
That said, the PW is much, much better in the dirt than the Tremor. It rides better, the turning radius is MUCH better, it's shorter.
The Tremor cab is much more comfortable and I like the slightly larger bed now that I have it.

For anyone that asks, no, I don't tow heavy. But I do load the bed with 1-2000# in addition to people inside when we camp or hunt.

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

[phsycle]

I just got out of a PW after owning it for 2.5 years and back into a 1 ton diesel. I really wanted to PW to work for us but it just didn't. And really only for two reasons.
1.The PW range is trash. Absolute trash. Especially on 37s. Having to screw with fuel every single day on an antelope hunt or whatever sucked.
2. It simply doesn't carry any kind of load well on the highway. Loaded down for a family camping or hunting trip and the sway on highway curves was terrible. Borderline dangerous IMHO. It was fine with 2 plus gear. 4 plus gear is too much.

For those two reasons I went back to a diesel 1 ton in the form of a 2023 Tremor.
That said, the PW is much, much better in the dirt than the Tremor. It rides better, the turning radius is MUCH better, it's shorter.
The Tremor cab is much more comfortable and I like the slightly larger bed now that I have it.

For anyone that asks, no, I don't tow heavy. But I do load the bed with 1-2000# in addition to people inside when we camp or hunt.

What was the range on the PW, out of curiosity? And the Tremor?

 

[Bayou Boy]

What was the range on the PW, out of curiosity? And the Tremor?

It's not really fair since they are setup totally differently. The PW on 37" ATs with a Smart Cap was maybe 400 on the highway with no wind but that dropped quickly with any wind or any speed over 75-80. (Interstate speed limits here are 80 and ******** is FAR in Montana.) It was 300-325 realistically playing around looking for antelope or moving around on FS roads on deer or elk trips. You might get another 50 out of that with 35s.

The Tremor is a diesel still on 35" Yokohama AT XDs that I bought for winter use but it does have that overcab AT Atlas on the back that sucks some mileage. That said I still get 500 miles with a full tank on the highway with cruise set at 80-83. Wind will eat it though with the cabover. On the dirt I'm seeing 400 or so. The truck would see close to a range of 600 miles stock on the highway.

I know people say that I can easily find fuel in those ranges and that's correct, however, having to use fuel to get fuel every damn day is dumb. I am often camped or in a cabin 25-50 miles or more from a fuel station. So that's 50-100 miles of fuel just to get more fuel. The Tremor will have a larger stock replacement tank by the fall so it won't be an issue ever moving forward.

Also 37s ride appreciably better on dirt than 35s IMHO. Even before airing them down. They are worth the slight mileage decrease on a diesel especially. For me at least.

 

[Pzary3233]

I just got out of a PW after owning it for 2.5 years and back into a 1 ton diesel. I really wanted to PW to work for us but it just didn't. And really only for two reasons.
1.The PW range is trash. Absolute trash. Especially on 37s. Having to screw with fuel every single day on an antelope hunt or whatever sucked.
2. It simply doesn't carry any kind of load well on the highway. Loaded down for a family camping or hunting trip and the sway on highway curves was terrible. Borderline dangerous IMHO. It was fine with 2 plus gear. 4 plus gear is too much.

For those two reasons I went back to a diesel 1 ton in the form of a 2023 Tremor.
That said, the PW is much, much better in the dirt than the Tremor. It rides better, the turning radius is MUCH better, it's shorter.
The Tremor cab is much more comfortable and I like the slightly larger bed now that I have it.

For anyone that asks, no, I don't tow heavy. But I do load the bed with 1-2000# in addition to people inside when we camp or hunt.

Ahhh see that's a pain, and one I had not thought about Fuel range.... Though coming from the JLU it's not a problem but coming from 450-500 mile range with the Sierra on a cross country trip that IS a problem.

You bring up a good point that the Ford is BIG - I don't need big, bigger than a JLU is good for me.

It's not really fair since they are setup totally differently. The PW on 37" ATs with a Smart Cap was maybe 400 on the highway with no wind but that dropped quickly with any wind or any speed over 75-80. (Interstate speed limits here are 80 and ******** is FAR in Montana.) It was 300-325 realistically playing around looking for antelope or moving around on FS roads on deer or elk trips. You might get another 50 out of that with 35s.

The Tremor is a diesel still on 35" Yokohama AT XDs that I bought for winter use but it does have that overcab AT Atlas on the back that sucks some mileage. That said I still get 500 miles with a full tank on the highway with cruise set at 80-83. Wind will eat it though with the cabover. On the dirt I'm seeing 400 or so. The truck would see close to a range of 600 miles stock on the highway.

I know people say that I can easily find fuel in those ranges and that's correct, however, having to use fuel to get fuel every damn day is dumb. I am often camped or in a cabin 25-50 miles or more from a fuel station. So that's 50-100 miles of fuel just to get more fuel. The Tremor will have a larger stock replacement tank by the fall so it won't be an issue ever moving forward.

Also 37s ride appreciably better on dirt than 35s IMHO. Even before airing them down. They are worth the slight mileage decrease on a diesel especially. For me at least.

I'm almost starting to think I should go with a RAM 2500 Big Horn or Laramie Diesel, swap gears/axles for lockers and lower gearing. I've heard of people throwing power wagon axles and radius arms on the Diesel trucks and having good results offroad. The ride.... THAT is what sucks about the regular 2500. I could go with a Thuren kit, but then we are back to the whole payload thing, which again I am not terribly worried about.

I drove a 6.4 truck over the weekend and it was great on road, just a rough ride, but it was not a power wagon. I've had a lot of wheel time behind a Diesel and it rides about the same...

 

[Bayou Boy]

Ahhh see that's a pain, and one I had not thought about Fuel range.... Though coming from the JLU it's not a problem but coming from 450-500 mile range with the Sierra on a cross country trip that IS a problem.

You bring up a good point that the Ford is BIG - I don't need big, bigger than a JLU is good for me.

I'm almost starting to think I should go with a RAM 2500 Big Horn or Laramie Diesel, swap gears/axles for lockers and lower gearing. I've heard of people throwing power wagon axles and radius arms on the Diesel trucks and having good results offroad. The ride.... THAT is what sucks about the regular 2500. I could go with a Thuren kit, but then we are back to the whole payload thing, which again I am not terribly worried about.

I drove a 6.4 truck over the weekend and it was great on road, just a rough ride, but it was not a power wagon. I've had a lot of wheel time behind a Diesel and it rides about the same...

If you get a Ram get a 3500. The leaf rear end does not have the sway issues that 2500s do and can ride very well if setup correctly. I've had both, and the Ram coil rear end sucks with a load. All of my Rams, PW and 3500, have had Thuren front coils. Running those coils in the front and properly inflated 37s will make a 3500 ride pretty darn well IMHO. A lot of the "poor" stock ride of HD trucks is due to the small stock tires that have entirely too much pressure in them. Get 37s on them down to 40F 35R and they ALL ride pretty nice.