Posted: 4/22/2016 11:50:21 PM EDT
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I've lurked long enough to know that Dodge Ram 1500 pickups get a lot of flack.
My question is, are they still considered bad or are they now good to go? Been thinking about getting a Toyota Tacoma over the Summer but the Dodge Ram 1500 sure do look nice  , seem to have a bit more features and cost a little bit more.
Any suggestions? |
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I like them, but not sure about the 8spd auto trans, i wish you could still get 1/2 ton trucks with manual transmissions. I'm picking up my new '16 1500 RCLB company truck the week after next. Only the 8-speed was available with the Hemi so that's what I'm getting. The 6-speed auto is only available for fleet accounts in that config.  I'm sure there's a good reason for that somewhere...
Anyway, we haven't had any issues with any of our 8-speeds but I haven't had one for personal use yet. I will post up some feedback when I put some miles on it if you'd like. The only thing I didn't like about my current truck (2012 1500, Hemi, RCLB, 6-speed auto) is the trans, actually. It takes way too long for it to choose the right gear. Hopefully they've squared that up with the new trans setup. |
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I have a 2014 crew cab, 4x4, 6 1/2' bed with the Ecodiesel. 3.92 rear end. Have just shy of 26,000 miles and it has been a great truck. Took it on a 4900 mile round trip out west with a one year old and 4 adults last year and averaged 25 miles combined for the trip, that included a return portion through the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass. I generally average 24.8 mpg hand calculated per fill up. The only issue I have had was a check engine light at 4000 miles for a "pending particulate matter sensor". Ram didn't have the sensor in stock, told me to drive it and finally got it replaced after a week wait. The 8 speed auto is really nice. Does not hunt gears at all. Only uses ~5 gallons of DEF per oil change, so that's roughly an additional $24 added expense every 9000-10000 miles.
Does not seem to have to all the problems you hear about on the different forums, but I generally do not take much stock in "other people's experiences", too many variables to account for. I have had 3 Dodges prior to this one, and yes it squats with a load in the bed. I put 30 bags of mulch in the bed and it was approximately 2" lower in the rear vs. the front. Timbrens or Firestone airbags and a Viair compressor are in the future to fix that problem. Overall a very quiet and comfortable ride. Very pleased with it 
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I spent this weekend truck shopping.
The Ram 1500s hands down had the worst build quality of any of the American trucks. I spent a good 3 hours at Dodge test driving pretty much the whole gamut. The 2500s are solid, but that's a whole different truck than the 1500. I do have to say the Ecodiesel was pretty interesting, in a good way. It won't punch you in the stomach like a big gasser V8, but it's got some grunt to it for sure. Very smooth for a diesel too. My conclusion from this weekend is go GMC or Ford. I'm eyeballing a nice Sierra 1500 myself right now... |
| Friend of mine has one, says it's been pretty good other then one issue where the abs kept applying pressure to the passanger side front brake and toasted the rotor and bearings. He was hauling a bike and trailer back from Daytona, stopped at a dealer and they took care of him with no issue and no charge as was covered by his warranty. He said the rotor was a dull red so it did get dang hot. |
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The Ram ecodiesel generally has a particularly shitty payload rating. If it's well optioned, the truck itself ends up at 6500 lbs or so and you're lucky if they leave you 1100 or so pounds. It's all there on the door sticker. Wow. I think I can load that much in my moms Kia 
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I've lurked long enough to know that Dodge Ram 1500 pickups get a lot of flack. My question is, are they still considered bad or are they now good to go? Been thinking about getting a Toyota Tacoma over the Summer but the Dodge Ram 1500 sure do look nice , seem to have a bit more features and cost a little bit more.
Any suggestions? I didn't know they were ever "considered bad". I have a few guys I work with that have 2005 Hemi Ram 1500's with over 200,000 miles on them with no issues other than routine maintenance. My 2004 has 160,000 miles on it...and all I've done to it is put tires, brake, oil, filters...pretty standard stuff. I love my Ram 1500. |
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We have one at work. Put any amount of weight in the bed, and it's resting on the bumpstops. The locking tailgate that activates with the doors is pretty neat. They have coil springs in the back. I stacked flooring in my bed all the way to the back window, and I didn't see any sag at all. If your going to be putting super heavy stuff in your bed, you need a truck with leaf springs. |
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. The Ram is an aging body style and I look for those numbers to change with the new generation coming out in 2017. This current body hit the market in 2009. I would hope the new bodies models Ford and Chevy are using would be better than something built in 09 |
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I'm picking up my new '16 1500 RCLB company truck the week after next. Only the 8-speed was available with the Hemi so that's what I'm getting. The 6-speed auto is only available for fleet accounts in that config. I'm sure there's a good reason for that somewhere...
Anyway, we haven't had any issues with any of our 8-speeds but I haven't had one for personal use yet. I will post up some feedback when I put some miles on it if you'd like. The only thing I didn't like about my current truck (2012 1500, Hemi, RCLB, 6-speed auto) is the trans, actually. It takes way too long for it to choose the right gear. Hopefully they've squared that up with the new trans setup. Quoted:
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I like them, but not sure about the 8spd auto trans, i wish you could still get 1/2 ton trucks with manual transmissions. I'm picking up my new '16 1500 RCLB company truck the week after next. Only the 8-speed was available with the Hemi so that's what I'm getting. The 6-speed auto is only available for fleet accounts in that config. I'm sure there's a good reason for that somewhere...
Anyway, we haven't had any issues with any of our 8-speeds but I haven't had one for personal use yet. I will post up some feedback when I put some miles on it if you'd like. The only thing I didn't like about my current truck (2012 1500, Hemi, RCLB, 6-speed auto) is the trans, actually. It takes way too long for it to choose the right gear. Hopefully they've squared that up with the new trans setup. The reason is the 8 speed is an upgrade option and fleet vehicles are base models. Most companies wouldn't want to pay the extra $1000 for an 8 speed. |
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Ive had 2000, 2005, and 2012 1500s. Each truck bought new, each truck 100k miles trouble free. Its amazing how these "junk trucks" last with standard maintenance and replacing wear parts before they break.
On the coil spring rear suspension....Every year from 2012-2015 My Polaris XP850 would live in the bed for the entirety of deer season. That is a 770lbs ATV, the only time it would hit the bumps stops was at highway speed during a significant g-out. That truck also pulled a 10kgvw trailer with a 35hp Kubota TLB, while it was over loaded, and a few short trips, it was never sketchy or 'unsafe'. The ride comfort of that set-up cant be beat. |
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The Ram is an aging body style and I look for those numbers to change with the new generation coming out in 2017. This current body hit the market in 2009. I would hope the new bodies models Ford and Chevy are using would be better than something built in 09 Quoted:
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. The Ram is an aging body style and I look for those numbers to change with the new generation coming out in 2017. This current body hit the market in 2009. I would hope the new bodies models Ford and Chevy are using would be better than something built in 09 Meanwhile, the new F150 required four additional gussets to be added after it killed a few dummies in IIHS testing. But lets not mention that......... http://www.autonews.com/article/20150729/OEM11/150729843/new-test-shows-disparities-in-ford-f-150-crash-protection |
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. IIHS website tells a different story |
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The reason is the 8 speed is an upgrade option and fleet vehicles are base models. Most companies wouldn't want to pay the extra $1000 for an 8 speed. Quoted:
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I like them, but not sure about the 8spd auto trans, i wish you could still get 1/2 ton trucks with manual transmissions. I'm picking up my new '16 1500 RCLB company truck the week after next. Only the 8-speed was available with the Hemi so that's what I'm getting. The 6-speed auto is only available for fleet accounts in that config. I'm sure there's a good reason for that somewhere...
Anyway, we haven't had any issues with any of our 8-speeds but I haven't had one for personal use yet. I will post up some feedback when I put some miles on it if you'd like. The only thing I didn't like about my current truck (2012 1500, Hemi, RCLB, 6-speed auto) is the trans, actually. It takes way too long for it to choose the right gear. Hopefully they've squared that up with the new trans setup. The reason is the 8 speed is an upgrade option and fleet vehicles are base models. Most companies wouldn't want to pay the extra $1000 for an 8 speed. We didn't want to pay the extra grand either. The 6-speed has been fine in my current truck for 200K miles but since we weren't a registered fleet account they wouldn't let us select it for my new truck (base Tradesman trim level). We wouldn't have even known about there even being a 6-speed option if it wasn't for the configurator on the Ram website. It let us build it with a 6-speed there but we couldn't build it in VOIM. It's not a huge deal either way. We just thought we could save a couple extra bucks but it is what it is. |
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. IIHS website tells a different story the F150s still scored higher, especially if you compare crew cab to crew cab, but nice work cherry picking years to better suit your bias |
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Bout time they fixed the issues, after the whole 1997-2004 F-150 supercab your going to die in a crash just deal with it fiasco...
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the F150s still scored higher, especially if you compare crew cab to crew cab, but nice work cherry picking years to better suit your bias Quoted:
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. IIHS website tells a different story the F150s still scored higher, especially if you compare crew cab to crew cab, but nice work cherry picking years to better suit your bias |
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I have an 11 year old Ram 1500 with the 5.7. We also have some newer Dodges at work. The 5.7 is an excellent engine and transmission problems were fixed a long time ago. The pre '02 models have solid front axles, the '02 to '05 has IFS with torsion bars, IFS front coils started in '06 along with MDS, and rear coils started in '09(?). Each generation has become more car like.
The biggest negative to Dodges are the steering and suspension components. Unless they've changed in the last couple years, Dodges come with very cheap tie rods and ball joints that barely make it to 100,000 miles if you're very lucky.. The factory shocks are a joke for any serious use but the same could be said about Ford and Chevy. Again, unless things have changed, Dodges seem to develop rust the easiest. My '05 will probably die from cancer long before the drivetrain dies. My '05 1500 has been a good vehicle overall but it hasn't been flawless. Its been much more reliable than the Chevy's I had. |
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the F150s still scored higher, especially if you compare crew cab to crew cab, but nice work cherry picking years to better suit your bias Quoted:
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. IIHS website tells a different story the F150s still scored higher, especially if you compare crew cab to crew cab, but nice work cherry picking years to better suit your bias Cherry pick? Lol. Anyone can use the drop down to look them all over....but were is the asterisk for the F150s that cripple, then the added gussets to stop the tire intrusion?....oh yeah, that never differentiated...and why is that???? That's why the iihs is a fucking joke. Best selling truck killed our dummies....quick, tell em to fix it and we'll start over |
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Cherry pick? Lol. Anyone can use the drop down to look them all over....but were is the asterisk for the F150s that cripple, then the added gussets to stop the tire intrusion?....oh yeah, that never differentiated...and why is that???? That's why the iihs is a fucking joke. Best selling truck killed our dummies....quick, tell em to fix it and we'll start over Quoted:
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. IIHS website tells a different story the F150s still scored higher, especially if you compare crew cab to crew cab, but nice work cherry picking years to better suit your bias Cherry pick? Lol. Anyone can use the drop down to look them all over....but were is the asterisk for the F150s that cripple, then the added gussets to stop the tire intrusion?....oh yeah, that never differentiated...and why is that???? That's why the iihs is a fucking joke. Best selling truck killed our dummies....quick, tell em to fix it and we'll start over WTF are you saying?
Slow down, and try again lol |
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WTF are you saying?
Slow down, and try again lol Quoted:
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They failed miserably in the insurance institute front corner impact test- Passenger compartment was compromised. Chevy and Ford did well. IIHS website tells a different story the F150s still scored higher, especially if you compare crew cab to crew cab, but nice work cherry picking years to better suit your bias Cherry pick? Lol. Anyone can use the drop down to look them all over....but were is the asterisk for the F150s that cripple, then the added gussets to stop the tire intrusion?....oh yeah, that never differentiated...and why is that???? That's why the iihs is a fucking joke. Best selling truck killed our dummies....quick, tell em to fix it and we'll start over WTF are you saying?
Slow down, and try again lol Let me see if I can slow it down for you.... The most recent gen F150 crew cab folded like an envelope in iihs testing. In response Ford added 4 gussets tof manage all the wheel/tire intrusion of the occupant space. Iihs 'retested' the vehicle, then applied the survivability grades. Slow enough? |
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The most recent gen F150 crew cab folded like an envelope in iihs testing. In response Ford added 4 gussets tof manage all the wheel/tire intrusion of the occupant space. Iihs 'retested' the vehicle, then applied the survivability grades. Slow enough? the 2015 extended cab had troubles... and was still rated the same as the comparable dodge; the 2016 was reinforced like you said and had a better rating. article the extended cab F150 looked like this: 
the comparable 2015 extended cab 1500 looked like this: 
both had the same rating and the same warning of "The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was not maintained well." The Dodge supercrew looked like this: 
It received a marginal rating, with the same warning of non-maintained survival space. However, the Supercrew F150 looked like this: 
The supercrew F150 received a good rating (highest safety rating of a half ton truck), with the caption of "The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well." 2016 extended cab after the structural changes mentioned got good reviews across the board, where the 1500 received marginal in two categories. |
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Sweet! Your added reinforcements to previous posts have made me reconsider my original stance and Ive decided to act like they never happened. When do we broach the corrosion? without the reinforcements the F150 still received the same score as the Dodge, which has received the same rating each model year with the same problems. They've killed dummies every year and haven't changed things. |
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OP, checking in with my 2 cents
My agendas/bias as best I can tell it - Toyota Fanboy, now also a convert to the church of Ramslam. - Modern large pickups are awesome. I think we're in a super competitive era like the muscle cars of the 70s. They really are all pretty good, for the most part. - Fords are awesome, they're leaders in given areas/metrics, but their koolaid is the strongest without a doubt. It's kinda groanworthy if you aren't a Ford fan. It's like watching Joe Buck call the Giants on Television. He's such a fan it's hard to listen to if you're the other guy 
I recently got a Ram Rebel 1500, (factory bro-dozer), and I love it. - The rebel is not a Ford Raptor, the Raptor is just about a factory baja truck. The rebel is an offroad-ized pickup, that you can drive every day. - Air suspension is amazing. Rides like a big car. It can raise and lower. The Aero mode (lowered) is great on the highway. Offroad height for when you need it. Entry and exit mode for letting in shorter women (or if you've sprained an ankle and suddenly regret having a high truck).
- The hemi's mileage isn't amazing, but it isn't bad. The highway mileage numbers are believable (cylinder shutoff). - The comforts are amazing, especially coming from an FJ cruiser (think wrangler-esque). This is where a lot of modern pickups are throwing the kitchen sink - the trucks of today are practically luxury trucks. They feel awesome, and if you're doing a lot of driving for work, and you don't have to haul/tow a whole lot? The 150/1500 series truck class is great. - It's actually quiet on the inside - but if you floor it with the hemi, you'll know it's a hemi. - Ramboxes are great. As this truck isn't a hauler, the precious inches of bedspace you lose is not a big deal, imho. - It's big on the outside, huge on the inside. The rear seat has a "limo" feel to it, so says everyone who has sat in it
- Headlights are nice, upgrade from my last truck for sure. - Being able to play music off a USB drive is phenomenal. I really can't say enough about the truck. It's a beast that rides like a dream. Has a lot of technology stuff I could bore you about but, my belief is this. Ram is a brand that wants to be better than it is, and wants to compete for our dollars. It's really put effort into making good products, and they earned my dollars. "drawbacks" and design limitations, and trucks in general - Look at that small overlap test. It's given everyone the fits. Notice how that barricade is design to crane that wheel into the passenger cabin. Look at every makers crash test ratings, IHMO the differences are more "they look pretty similar to me" than they are gigantic. Do I believe that maker who put support beams in only one truck and not other models in 2015 (Ford), the maker who got to re-test their truck after killing some dummies, has a wind pushing it forward? Oh yes. Notice the shit ton of articles dropping the same day trumpeting the test results. You don't think Ford's marketing juggernaut had a hand in this? Yes I'm implying some bias. No I have nothing other than a conspiracy. I think these trucks are all very close competitors, I find it fishy that the guys with the biggest marketing budgets, who are allowed re-tests, get something that they can run as pretty much an ad. - If you have high payload needs, read on the actual payload numbers of your truck. the GVWRs, doorstickers, etc. Do this for any truck you want to buy. When the sales guy tells you this pickup can haul (and he reads the sales sheet), open the door, and read the sticker. The limiters on payload ratings are going to end up being things like the tires (Are they LT thick as tires? E-rated? Or are they comfortable road tires?), Are they strong leaf springs that make you feel every bump? Or are they comfortable springs that make it seem like you're in your living room on a 4x4 frame? Every option you check off adds weight onto that frame, chassis, transmission, etc. The payload on the Rebel is ~ 900lbs. Why? The tires, the comfy ass air suspenion is heavy, the crewcab is heavy, the ramboxes are heavy, thebedliner has weight, the skidplates have weight, you name it. This is the problem that truck manufacturers were having. As we want bigger, more loaded, more comfortable pickups with more features, those payload numbers come down. Ram is not the only brand this happens to. There's a reason GM and Ford were doing this: GM, too, removes parts to weigh pickups, boost payload ratingshttp://www.autonews.com/article/20140730/RETAIL03/140739979/gm-too-removes-parts-to-weigh-pickups-boost-payload-ratings Ford advises dealers to warn customers that they could disqualify their warranty coverage if they exceed a truck’s gross vehicle weight rating.
However, on the F-450, if a customer loaded a base vehicle to Ford’s advertised maximum payload capacity, the vehicle would exceed its Class 3 gross vehicle weight rating by 61 pounds. Ford went to aluminum to get payload numbers back. Yes it makes repairs more expensive, yada yada. I would not be surprised to see other makers do it too one day, as the payload numbers for Ford F-150s are high. If towing and hauling all day, every day, are super important to you? IMHO, get a 250/2500+ truck. Run the numbers, do not buy into the hype, no matter whose hype it is. If you see a comparo of a Ford F-450 vs a Ram 3500, ask why didn't they test the Ford F-350. If you see a comparo with a Ford (with a turbo engine) doing engine-related comparos, at high altitude where turbos have an advantage over non-turbos? go "hmm" If you see a comparo using a Chevy Silverado high country crew cab, fully loaded (with a lower payload #) being compared to someone's stripped down truck with no bedliner and different springs? Go "hmm". TLDR: Ram is a real player with a good product. If you want a 1500, I say get one. I'm glad I didn't listen to the naysayers who have never owned a Ram truck. Strongly consider the air suspension. |
| I have an 06 with 107k on the clock that has not needed anything but oil changes, front brake pads, and tires. There are a lot of them out there so of course there will be some bad experiences, just like every other MFG. the Ford, Chevy, Dodge argument is like 9mm vs .45 or AR vs AK. They're pointless arguments. Look for the truck that offers what you want at the orice you're willing to pay and buy it. |