The RAM techs have to go thru a lot more red tape to get warranty approval than the Ford techs, but I'm not sure about the GM and their policy.

 

I wish you the best of luck. If I had to live out of a back seat a mega cab would be my choice as well. But to expect less problems than what you've had this go around is unrealistic. Chrysler corp products tend to have lots of nagging problems, nothing major usually, you buy them when the design is clearly better for your needs, i.e. Mega cab.

 

I'm a previous Toyota Tundra and Honda owner. In my previous vehicles, the problems were far fewer and much easier to get fixed than now.


That being said, the diesel is far more complicated and expensive than a N/A V8.


My choice if the Ford didn't exist today would be the GMC 2500. Right now though, I'll give Ford a chance to fix the problem.

 

Who says they do?

Not at all what is being reported by RAM owners.

My experience with ford warranty sucks.

 

Hate that some of you have had bad warranty service. I have had great luck with problems being taken care of. I do believe that some of the warranty problems can be related to a crappy dealership.
Anyways, good luck with the Dodge and let us know how it goes.

 

Post some pictures of the Ram when you get it. Hope it runs for 500,000 miles without any trouble for you.

I didn't see that you purchased a dually, any reason?

 

He said so he can stay under 26K gross.


But I don't understand that myself. Even my DRW comes in around 8800 lbs. I could still pull up to 17,200 by that standard.


don't most RV towing companies want your registration at 26K anyway?

 

I don't get it either. I would think a 3500srw would be desireable for him.

I know most of the RV delivery folks like him prefer the ram trucks. I don't know why but maybe lightning will let us know.

I really think that with a 2500 if it were me I would frequently surpass the 10,000lb gvwr. I did that all the time with my f250. My 350 is much better due to the long bed too. I'm relieved to be in the 11,500 350 long bed. The ride and handling are vastly improved over the short bed I was used to.

 

He is probably concerned about GVWR. Its not how much the truck weighs but rather the rating. Insurance and registration goes up in some states. My 15 has the 14000 rating. I have commercial insurance, which is expensive anyway and the registration is around 200 per year.

 

For what I do a 3/4 ton truck works out best. I have no CDL so for me to operate legally my GCWR has to stay at 26K or less. With a 3/4 ton like my current F250 or New RAM 2500, the GVWR is 10K so that allows me to tow up to a 16K GVWR trailer making a GCWR of 26K. If I step up to a 3500 SRW the GVWR on that truck goes up to I believe 11.5K GVWR, that means the trailer GVWR that I can tow falls to 14.5K GVWR meaning there would be many trailers I can't haul legally. And my current truck, or the new one coming in, will pull those 16K GVWR trailers with ease and never exceed the GAWR of the truck. Especially since the actual shipping weight of those trailers is much less than the GVWR, I think the heaviest actual weight trailer I have pulled was just under 14K. The new RAM 2500 has a tow rating of over 17K, I will never come close to maxing out that rating with what I do.

Believe me, I have done my homework on this, and this gives me the highest potential income, allows me to be able to pull the most variety of trailers. Lots of guys get into this business without thinking it through, they go out and buy some big fancy F350/RAM 3500 DRW with that 14K GVWR and then find out that because of the regs they can only haul a 12K GVWR trailer so they lose out on so much business that their profits don't allow them to make a decent living and they give up.

So, that is why I run the truck that I run.

 

So you are saying you go by the cert label, not actuals when towing?


So by that standard I am at 29,400? (14K truck and 15,400 trailer).

 

Yes, that's the way the law reads. You are exempt because you're not a commercial carrier, he isn't. For the same reason that you can drive a Class A motorhome without a CDL. The transport driver has to have one though.

 

yes, its the gvwR (rating) not weight.

there are non-commercial licenses required in some states, I know Texas does. I need to get that done. (13,000+15,400) My wife is none too excited about it.

 

Exactly, though if that class A MH has a 26K or less GVWR then I could transport drive it.

My dad kept his cdl after getting out of driving 18 wheelers so he went with a F350 and hauls some of the bigger trailers but he really doesn't make any more money than I do because the rates they pay for those bigger trailers don't cover the extra fuel used. That's the other thing about using a DRW truck for this business, they use a lot more fuel and have higher maintenance.

As I stated, I have thought all of this out very well, most of the other guys don't.

 

Do you guys have to adhere to the full FMCSA motor carrier regs? Log books, inspections, commercial insurance, motor carrier authority, and the rest?