Just Bought New Ram Half Ton Diesel!!!!

[polarisfornow]

Update.... The facts:

Closing in on 12000 miles today and I've had some pretty varied usage so I thought I would give some more feedback. Lifetime average on the truck is currently 24.3. That includes idle time, some trailer pulling and tons of city driving. My truck normally has about 1000lbs of tools and equipment in it at all times. Just for comparison sakes my normal highway mileage usually settles in at around 26-28mpg with the cruise set at 75. Thats in the predominantly flat but very windy Dakotas and Minnesota. I've only had one longer trailer pull and that was an 8x20 open Floe trailer with 2 sleds on it. About 230 miles (from hay days back to fargo) and the average was 22.7 with the cruise set at 74. Granted its pretty flat but the most impressive thing is it never once downshifted out of 8th gear. It just chuggs along at that speed and rpm.

As far as DEF usage goes this is a little sketchy. I was keeping track until about 8k miles but haven't since then. My math shows its using very little but I'm not gonna totally stand behind these numbers. That said my math shows roughly 1 gallon of DEF every 450 miles.

The good:

Mileage of course is awesome. compared to my hemi I'm $120 a month less in fuel costs. Obviously my miles are higher than most but it makes sense for me. Power is actually very good. Its a little laggy off the line but once it gets going it really scoots along. Just for a comparison my buddy has an 04 chevy 1500 with a 5.3 (bone stock) and was bragging about how much quicker his truck was over mine based on his seat of the pants experience. So we lined them up and both trucks were dead even up to about 70mph where we let off. He claims that he won but he was at most about a half a foot ahead of me. That was 3 runs all pretty much the same result. I think he was actually pretty disappointed because he sure loves his old chebby.

The bad:

A couple small things. Had one key fob that had a dead battery and didn't work. The air conditioned seats could be quieter. And the big gripe is the oil change is ludacris expensive. The filter is $60 alone. 11 quarts of oil as well. The only saving grace is it only needs a change every 10k miles.

Well there it is.

 

[Jaynelson]

Great little review! That is very impressive mileage IMO. I think running even with a 5.3L Chev is great....that engine was always pretty quick unloaded in a 1/2 ton.

$60 oil filter + still need to buy oil is a silly punishment....can't win em all I guess.

 

[rmscustom]

Them are awesome #s... Almost enough to temp me back into a 1/2ton.

 

[catfreak]

Thanks for the great review. I unloaded my Chevy DRW duramax a while back and been eye balling the eco desiel that could even replace my wifes Toyota V6 Venza that only averages 22-23 mpg. The best I can get out of her Toy is 27-28 mpg on the highway at 65 and its basically a stupid car.

 

[SLEDIT]

Thought I would chime in. I have had mine for 4 months now 12000 km interesting that I am seeing the same mileage and def use as polarisfornow very happy with the truck so far. I ordered the truck with the crew cab 6'4" box cheaped out a bit and stuck with heated cloth other wise full load and specd 3.92 gears to roll with upgraded the tires one size and to take the abuse, I drive a lot of gravel country roads, also went with the air ride suspension, very happy with it there is 3 settings normal off road 1 and off-road 2 the off road setting drops back to normal as speed increases. Have only hooked on to the trailer a couple times and hauled a few things but it auto levels perfect and rides great. Only waiting for the real cold weather to hit up here then I will know for sure if it was the right call on this engine and the air ride. I have had three cummins 3/4 and 1 tons got sick of the ride empty, then went back to a gas chev 5.3 1/2 ton before this truck. Here is a pic in off-road 1. Can't wait to get the 4 place Inclosed sled trailer on a trip north or to BC when we get enough snow. Will know if worth it then !

 

[matofsrud]

any updates on pulling a trailer or any problems any of you guys that have one have encountered yet?

 

[Jon Mutiger]

I'd be interested to hear honest feedback from a Dodge/Ram Tech. It would be interesting to know what's going wrong to know where the weak links are, if any.

I'm hoping for awesome numbers from this truck sales wise so others follow suit. I want a diesel /manual combo.. Without going to a big truck. I suspect the Colorado will be first, but we'll see if they bother with the manual tranny.

Thanks for reporting!

 

[lorne1176]

Nissan is supposed to be putting the cummins deisel in ther half ton next year that was originally supposed to go in the dodge. Dodge dropped the motor because the where wanting better mpg then what the cummins offered. We just purchased 4 half ton dodges with the Fiat deisel and are quite happy and the air ride is damn near as good as a Cadillac.

 

[polarisfornow]

any updates on pulling a trailer or any problems any of you guys that have one have encountered yet?

Yeah I do have a short update. Pulled an 8.5 x 24 enclosed from fargo nd to denver when I moved out here the begining of the month. Averaged 17.1 with that trailer fully loaded up. Guessing 6k lbs total. Ran 65mph all through the dakotas and nebraska but ran 75mph once we hit I-80 in north platte. Never once felt short on power. But the 8 speed trans is what makes most of that possible imo. Because the engine never really has to wind up. It just kinda hums along in 7th at 2200rpm or 6th when it hits a decent hill at about 2800rpm. I cant say enough about how much I like the engine trans combination.

 

[Bocephus]

17 mpg???? That's amazing with that load! I'd get no better than 12 with my 6.7 Cummins. Probably worse haha.

 

[sledneck_03]

Nissan is supposed to be putting the cummins deisel in ther half ton next year that was originally supposed to go in the dodge. Dodge dropped the motor because the where wanting better mpg then what the cummins offered. We just purchased 4 half ton dodges with the Fiat deisel and are quite happy and the air ride is damn near as good as a Cadillac.

Also that motor costs as much as the 6.7L straight 6. So in canada a what? $8000+ option? Why bother, $8000 buys a ton of fuel over 5 years and half the price oil changes.


#canadastrong

 

[sledneck_03]

Yeah I do have a short update. Pulled an 8.5 x 24 enclosed from fargo nd to denver when I moved out here the begining of the month. Averaged 17.1 with that trailer fully loaded up. Guessing 6k lbs total. Ran 65mph all through the dakotas and nebraska but ran 75mph once we hit I-80 in north platte. Never once felt short on power. But the 8 speed trans is what makes most of that possible imo. Because the engine never really has to wind up. It just kinda hums along in 7th at 2200rpm or 6th when it hits a decent hill at about 2800rpm. I cant say enough about how much I like the engine trans combination.

Man... Thats what my 2010 hemi gets empty! No trailer.


#canadastrong

 

[MORSNO]

Yeah I do have a short update. Pulled an 8.5 x 24 enclosed from fargo nd to denver when I moved out here the begining of the month. Averaged 17.1 with that trailer fully loaded up. Guessing 6k lbs total. Ran 65mph all through the dakotas and nebraska but ran 75mph once we hit I-80 in north platte. Never once felt short on power. But the 8 speed trans is what makes most of that possible imo. Because the engine never really has to wind up. It just kinda hums along in 7th at 2200rpm or 6th when it hits a decent hill at about 2800rpm. I cant say enough about how much I like the engine trans combination.

Don't believe your driver info center on a Dodge/Ram. They consistantly run 11-14% high, it's well documented. I'm on an Truck Camper forum regularly where all of us carry heavy loads with campers and Dodge/Ram's are no where near the mileage displayed. The new Fords and GM's are actually getting very close to actual gallons used when compared to the pump.

 

[polarisfornow]

Don't believe your driver info center on a Dodge/Ram. They consistantly run 11-14% high, it's well documented. I'm on an Truck Camper forum regularly where all of us carry heavy loads with campers and Dodge/Ram's are no where near the mileage displayed. The new Fords and GM's are actually getting very close to actual gallons used when compared to the pump.

Mine are hand calculated. And its not well documented as the eco forum I'm on shows most of the new ecodiesel trucks are more pessimistic than hand calc. My read out is typically 1mpg under actual hand calculated. The part that is well documented however is that chevy speedos are usually 2-3 mph higher than gps. So even if you hand calc on a Chevy its still wrong as the odometer says you've gone farther than you actually did. Hence pushing your mpgs up with it. Mine is within a 1/2 a mph at 75 compared to gps.

 

[WileyCoyote]

How did the truck do pulling the trailer up I-70 up to the tunnel?

 

[turboless terry]

Tried to look at one but nobody has one.

 

[carlc]

Lithia in Helena has a few I know of. Give Dave at Lithia a call. He is the sales manager, tell him Carl sent you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ndC7M8]

I'm also curious about the air ride suspension.

Does it limit payload?
Is it adjustable for highway versus off-road driving?
Does it improve mileage enough in the "slammed" position to notice?
Does it decrease the towing capability?

Can't remember what the load limit is on the truck, but as far as adjustability, it will lower itself at highway speeds to be as aerodynamic as possible. You can raise the suspension about 4 inches I'd say for "off-road height" but that's only good up to 25 mph and it lowers itself again. Then you have Mexican low rider mode, or as Chrysler calls it, "entry/exit level" so you barley have to step to get in or out. The mudflaps actually touch the ground on ours when lowered. You can move it around slowly like that but it always adjusts itself going down the road no matter how you adjust it.

It rides rough with an empty car trailer. Really rough. But the airbags work beautifully when you put a load on. I can't say for sure on any weights we've had on it but I know they're comparable to what we've put on our 1 tons and it handles them just fine for a half ton. The air bags and rear camera make hooking to bumper trailers a dream as well. Just like in a semi, you can dump your air and be out from under your trailer without jacking your hitch way up & vice versa.

Had some starting issues recently. It's at the dealer now, hopefully just a bad connection somewhere. I've never seen so many different connections right at the battery posts as on this Eco diesel. Looks like a headache to chase electrical gremlins around on. Learned how to put it in neutral without it running since it has that silly dial on the dash to shift gears.

 

[meathooker]

we just bought a standard cab 4WD for a guy at work. took it around the block and it is a NICE truck. getting 22MPG around town. ton of torque. smooth transmission. i like it, but dont regret buying my evo boost f150.

 

[polarisfornow]

How did the truck do pulling the trailer up I-70 up to the tunnel?

That trailer at 6k lbs was just for moving and I stopped in denver. However my normal sled setup comes in at around 4k and I've pulled it up to vp twice. Handles it very easily and flies up and down the pass. Easily keeps up with and will pass traffic if needed.