Originally Posted by wahoo

Well let me pinch hit here. I have a 2005 Ram 1500 Quadcab 4x4 with the Hemi, 3.73 LSD, 17" wheels, and the Larmaie package. You can see some of my comments on the "Sell me a Ford" thread.

Here's what I like about my Ram in no certain order:

- The size. Big enough but small enough to park in crowded parking lots.
- Turning radius. Easy to park again.
- Armrest/storage area. It's wide and flat and the perfect height for me plus holds a ton of stuff and is easy to get to instead of being narrow and deep which would make you dig for stuff.
- Front seats. They're comfortable and higher off the floor which makes me more comfortable on long drives. Plus the seat backs are not as thick which gives more rear seat leg room than a thicker seat back would and is just as comfortable.
- Steering Wheel. Looks good and is the right thickness.
- Cruise Controls. Letters are clear, and buttons have a nice feel to them.
- Steering wheel mounted radio controls. The best I've ever used including my wife's three german cars. I can't think how you could improve them.
- Infinity Stereo. Looks good for a factory system and sounds good for a factory system. Much better than Ford's "audiophile" system. Should be able to contol an MP3 player though.
- Heated seats also warm your back not just your butt.
- The fold-out steel floor under the back seat. Simple and effective.
- Interior trim. The Laramie is accented in silver. I have a silver truck and looks good with it.
- The engine. Has lots of power to pass when I need it. It has been flawless to date, which it should... it only has 27K miles on it. Also pulls my boat fine.

Here's what I don't like about my Ram in no certain order:
- Gas milage. It was getting about 14 city/highway average. 10mpg when towing my boat. The last three tanks though seem to doing worse with about a 13 average. Don't know why.
- Suspension. The 1500 has a slight rake to it instead of sitting level. I hate that look and adjusted the torsion bars a little to level it out. Now it rides a little bit rougher. Also when I hook up my 5K lb boat up to it the rear sags to the point it sometimes doesn't look perfectly level. My buddies 4400 lb boat doesn't do that, makes me question the tongue weight of the trailers. 600lbs should not make a noticable difference.
- The Chrome colored grill. Too much chrome on a silver truck. I like the normal grill on the non-Larmaie trucks better.
- The "you must be a redneck if you drive a Dodge" attitude of some people, including my wife.
- Dodge's hype of the Hemi engine even though I think it is a great engine so far.
- It takes 7 quarts of oil.
- Wish it had a power sliding rear window instead of a manual one. That is an option on the 06' now.

Tranny... has worked perfect but is always in the back of mind due to Dodge's reputation for tranny's.

Don't know if that helps any.

Originally Posted by captchas

tim is more then correct on this one..we have another former ford owner turned 06 dodge bfr250sd .riches new dodge cdm has had a new motor, 2 tranies, and convertors and a new transfer case all in 2500 miles,

no auto company is emune to a problem vehicle here and there, just web surf the other sites they are in there.

Originally Posted by BFR250SD

The only thing I'll add, and you can see my signature, that all the issues that I've had with this new truck have been 99% service department induced. The truck, as it came from the factory was fine.

Now, after the tech's got a hold of it, that was a whole different ball game.

Due to the screw ups on the tech's and the one of the most incompetant service managers that I've ever dealt with, the truck ended up in the shop 6 times. What the truck originally went in for was a slight vibration. After driving serveral other CTD's, I found it fairly normal.

But, after he dealership replaced the torque converter that's where the fun began.

Here, read all about it. It makes for a good laugh:

http://www.dodgeforum.com/m_549556/tm.htm

Originally Posted by BFR250SD

Like I said though, I absolutely love the truck. It was the damn dealership that added screw up, after screw up, after screw up.

They turned a simple torque converter swap into a major PITA.

Between both trucks, the '04 SD and this one, I really have to say that I like the Ram better. Handling, power, ride quality, turning, fit and finish are all head and shouders above my SD.

Look back through some of my old posts and you always see that I tell people the same thing. It's YOUR money, it's YOUR truck, get what YOU need.

I'm not brand loyal and I'm also not blind to the offerings of another company. I buy what best fits me at the time and does what I need it to do. If you like to buy one thing or another for whatever reason, so be it. It's your money, do what YOU need to do.

I look at it like this: If your old jeans are no longer made the same way they used to and aren't as comfortable as they used to be; would you still buy them just because of the brand they are?

Think about it.

Originally Posted by osbornk

The reason there are no good Dodge forums for old Dodges is because there weren't enough old Dodges to have a forum. Before Dodge did their redesign of the trucks, they didn't sell enough trucks to be counted. I had 3 of them over the years and seeing another was rare and seeing a good one was rarer still. They sold very cheap used and it didn't take much for people to simply park them when they broke. The cost of a fender, bumper and grille would be enough to total most of them as the parts were 3 or 4 times more expensive than a Ford or Chevy.

Originally Posted by CA55F100

Depends on where you live. Here in Central and NW Iowa, you can't swing a dead cat without seeing an old Pre-94 Dodge. I owned three of them and loved them all. Most of the problems I had were my own fault. I will now say that I find Fords to be much better trucks that the Dodges for reasons like fuel mileage, comfort, and price. In my opinion, Dodges are better at pulling and hauling loads, as my 98 F-150's had a tendency to be a bit soft in the rear.

I grew up in Northern IL. There is a town called Hampshire where they had a Dodge dealer. That is what everyone drove.

Out in Central Cali, it seemed that Chevy owned the place and it was rare to see a Dodge.

Originally Posted by CA55F100

Dodge has a reputation for having poor service centers. The 5 star rating means nothing.