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Ram/GMC 3500 SRW


malibu2004

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The Denali line in 2500/3500 has been at this discount rate in a couple regions all summer. I almost bought that truck in black at a dealer close to me. The AT4s have been only $5-6k off and more desirable.

That being said I picked up a F250 Ultimate Lariat with the sport package. I used to be a GM guy, but they're just not as appealing to me lately. I looked at getting a new Tahoe/Yukon for my wife, but their interiors just aren't cutting it. No wonder the trucks are getting new interiors next year. Disappointing.

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I have a 2018 ram mega cab Cummins 2500 and love it. Towed a 12k mini excavator the other day no problem. Behind the back seats in our cab is a perfect spot for surfboards, even with the seats reclined. I get ~23 mpg empty. My brother has a 2020 Chevy high country 2500, that 10 speed is really smooth. He gets ~20 mpg empty. Only complaint from him is the def consumption while towing. Not aware of a delete kit for the newer duramax if you are thinking of doing that. I do know there is/was one for a truck similar to mine.

The empty ride is much better on his Chevy than mine. That independent front suspension makes a huge difference. Duramax also takes 2 quarts less oil.... if that makes a difference.

Cant go wrong with either one, but I like the look of the ram better. 

Edited by BlindSquirrel
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Do you know when the 2021's come out? It should be soon. Once the 2021's start coming out I'm sure they'll be giving the 2020's away. 

I'm just not to excited to have a truck payment that is more than my house. 

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20 minutes ago, BlindSquirrel said:

I have a 2018 ram mega cab Cummins 2500 and love it. Towed a 12k mini excavator the other day no problem. Behind the back seats in our cab is a perfect spot for surfboards, even with the seats reclined. I get ~23 mpg empty. My brother has a 2020 Chevy high country 2500, that 10 speed is really smooth. He gets ~20 mpg empty. Only complaint from him is the def consumption while towing. Not aware of a delete kit for the newer duramax if you are thinking of doing that. I do know there is/was one for a truck similar to mine.

The empty ride is much better on his Chevy than mine. That independent front suspension makes a huge difference. Duramax also takes 2 quarts less oil.... if that makes a difference.

Cant go wrong with either one, but I like the look of the ram better. 

Which transmission? 

 

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12 minutes ago, malibu2004 said:

Do you know when the 2021's come out? It should be soon. Once the 2021's start coming out I'm sure they'll be giving the 2020's away. 

I'm just not to excited to have a truck payment that is more than my house. 

2021s should be out very soon.  Problem is if you take a look at most dealer sites, they have about as many 3/4 & 1 ton diesel trucks as the boat dealers have boats.  Slim pickings in this category so I'm not sure they'll blow out the little bit they have.  I could be wrong but one of my hunting buddies is shopping 2020 GMC/Chevy 2500HD right now and he thought he'd wait till October (typically one of the best times a year to buy a new vehicle) and he's been to 6 dealers and none of them have anything close to what he wants.  He sold his previous truck quick and now he's concerned he may not find a deal on a 2020 and be stuck paying the higher price for 2021.

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5 minutes ago, wedge88 said:

2021s should be out very soon.  Problem is if you take a look at most dealer sites, they have about as many 3/4 & 1 ton diesel trucks as the boat dealers have boats.  Slim pickings in this category so I'm not sure they'll blow out the little bit they have.  I could be wrong but one of my hunting buddies is shopping 2020 GMC/Chevy 2500HD right now and he thought he'd wait till October (typically one of the best times a year to buy a new vehicle) and he's been to 6 dealers and none of them have anything close to what he wants.  He sold his previous truck quick and now he's concerned he may not find a deal on a 2020 and be stuck paying the higher price for 2021.

Very few new trucks to buy which is what is driving the premium price. Shoot Dave Smith only has 8 GMC, 3500's and he's a huge volume dealer. All the Portland dealers together have less than 20 GMC, 3500's. Some Ram dealers don't have any 3500's. 

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Crazy how much different the prices are up here in Canada. Brand new Denali duramax for low 80s cad that’s mid 60k usd. 

And just like boats dealers have no HD trucks at the moment. Ford had no upper level trim models and Gm had 2 Denalis left locally. 

Edited by Cole2001
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On 9/14/2020 at 9:55 AM, malibu2004 said:

I'm not sure what the difference is between the 2 at the base price other than $7,400 more for the Longhorn.  

 

The interior of the Longhorn is a significant step up from the Laramie.  The leather in my truck is better than what is in my Porsche or my buddies A8.

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Just bought a 2020 AT4 and today will be first time I tow with it. Be careful of Dodge and stock air ride suspension. Not sure if they changed it but in 2017 it was a single supply line to both bags, not good for a truck camper. Makes sway really bad. Very little research but still looks the same. Also 5 minutes in the internet made it seem like Dodge owners were not happy with the way they carried campers. Just sold our truck camper and it came back in 30 min on the Dodge listed above. I asked them to take me for a ride as I thought maybe they have just never driven with a camper. Nope, I wanted out of that thing fast! I carried the camper with a 13 Sierra that I still have, handled it great!

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On 9/20/2020 at 8:19 AM, Rechromed2 said:

Just bought a 2020 AT4 and today will be first time I tow with it. Be careful of Dodge and stock air ride suspension. Not sure if they changed it but in 2017 it was a single supply line to both bags, not good for a truck camper. Makes sway really bad. Very little research but still looks the same. Also 5 minutes in the internet made it seem like Dodge owners were not happy with the way they carried campers. Just sold our truck camper and it came back in 30 min on the Dodge listed above. I asked them to take me for a ride as I thought maybe they have just never driven with a camper. Nope, I wanted out of that thing fast! I carried the camper with a 13 Sierra that I still have, handled it great!

It’s actually not the bags. The coil spring trucks have it also. It’s the rear track bar. Causes the truck to rear steer when suspension compresses. Really annoying for sure. Replaced mine on my 2015 with the Thuren track bar assembly and fixed the issue. Now my moms 2014 and my dads 2014 with coil springs still have the issue. Not as much when unloaded. 

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On 9/14/2020 at 11:12 AM, malibu2004 said:

Very few new trucks to buy which is what is driving the premium price. Shoot Dave Smith only has 8 GMC, 3500's and he's a huge volume dealer. All the Portland dealers together have less than 20 GMC, 3500's. Some Ram dealers don't have any 3500's. 

Don’t forget to check Dennis Dillon if you’re willing to go out of state. Last time I shopped they had better pricing than dave Smith and will actually show you prices of their online inventory as opposed to having to call in. 

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20 hours ago, Pnwrider said:

Don’t forget to check Dennis Dillon if you’re willing to go out of state. Last time I shopped they had better pricing than dave Smith and will actually show you prices of their online inventory as opposed to having to call in. 

I'll check them out. 

I'm stuck on 3 trucks GMC Denali, Ram Laramie with the Aisin or Ram Longhorn with the 68RFE. The Ram in interior is second to none and after a ton or reading both transmissions are stout. I'm not going to be pulling heavy so I'm leaning towards the Longhorn with the 68. 

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3 hours ago, malibu2004 said:

I'll check them out. 

I'm stuck on 3 trucks GMC Denali, Ram Laramie with the Aisin or Ram Longhorn with the 68RFE. The Ram in interior is second to none and after a ton or reading both transmissions are stout. I'm not going to be pulling heavy so I'm leaning towards the Longhorn with the 68. 

Between those trucks (RAM), I would go with the Longhorn.  The 68RFE is fine, especially with your load (I've put many miles towing over 17,000 pounds on mine).  The Longhorn trim is great.

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Read the rv forums and not the diesel forums if you want an unbiased opinion from someone that tows with their trucks. Usually the people on those forums are retired so they don't want to do any vehicle repairs themselves and will give brutally honest answers on what they have had problems with. I used to be a mechanic and am still a gear head so I have always had friends in the business to ask these questions to. A close friend that has a very successful automotive mechanic shop once told me to look at the dealers 'waiting for service' lot behind the dealerships to see what brand gets worked on the most. It is quite eye opening to take a cruise and compare numbers. 

Edited by MLBurns
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41 minutes ago, MLBurns said:

I used to be a mechanic and am still a gear head so I have always had friends in the business to ask these questions to. A close friend that has a very successful automotive mechanic shop once told me to look at the dealers 'waiting for service' lot behind the dealerships to see what brand gets worked on the most. It is quite eye opening to take a cruise and compare numbers. 

This^^  Actually getting to see that vehicles are in the shop is definitely a way to view things. My dad owns a snap on tool franchise and talking to the mechanics from every single brand you really get the inside scoop on what the problems really are and how they are dealt with down the road. 

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  • 2 months later...
  • 6 months later...
On 12/17/2020 at 10:54 AM, malibu2004 said:

I ended up with a White Frost, GMC, Denali, Duramax, CC, Long Bed. I got it on Monday and let me tell you it's a big truck. 

So... You love the new rig? How does it do on DEF fluid consumption? That's my brothers only complaint about his 2020 duramax, his uses a decent amount. If you don't like it.. you could likely sell it for more than you paid. I checked on my truck yesterday, 2018 ram ctd, and there are several priced over the original MSRP with ~50k miles on them. Insane.

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On 9/14/2020 at 10:12 AM, tjklein said:

The Denali line in 2500/3500 has been at this discount rate in a couple regions all summer. I almost bought that truck in black at a dealer close to me. The AT4s have been only $5-6k off and more desirable.

That being said I picked up a F250 Ultimate Lariat with the sport package. I used to be a GM guy, but they're just not as appealing to me lately. I looked at getting a new Tahoe/Yukon for my wife, but their interiors just aren't cutting it. No wonder the trucks are getting new interiors next year. Disappointing.

The new (leaked) GMC interior looks really nice.  I agree the current version is so-so.

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So I am at 7k miles on a 2021 Ram 3500 SRW and just dumped 7th 2.5 gal jug of DEF in it. All hwy miles only towed twice with it. Anyone else see the same with theirs?

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3 hours ago, MLBurns said:

So I am at 7k miles on a 2021 Ram 3500 SRW and just dumped 7th 2.5 gal jug of DEF in it. All hwy miles only towed twice with it. Anyone else see the same with theirs?

I've put 4, 2.5 gallons in my truck so far with 7500 miles on the ticker. Mixed driving and 300 miles of towing. 

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On 6/22/2021 at 7:39 AM, BlindSquirrel said:

So... You love the new rig? How does it do on DEF fluid consumption? That's my brothers only complaint about his 2020 duramax, his uses a decent amount. If you don't like it.. you could likely sell it for more than you paid. I checked on my truck yesterday, 2018 ram ctd, and there are several priced over the original MSRP with ~50k miles on them. Insane.

I love it and it pulls like a beast. We just sold our trailer and going back to a camper so we can pull our boat. We are also headed to shasta at the end of August so we'll see how it does going over the passes. I'm sure I wont have any issues. 

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5 hours ago, MLBurns said:

So I am at 7k miles on a 2021 Ram 3500 SRW and just dumped 7th 2.5 gal jug of DEF in it. All hwy miles only towed twice with it. Anyone else see the same with theirs?

Seems like you are putting in a bunch. I guess it depends on your MPG though. Usage should be around 2% or so (per the manual), or 1 gallon of def per 50 gallons of fuel. I think I was putting in 2.5 every 4 - 5 tanks of fuel or so when I had to.

So for your truck, at 7,000 miles if you are getting 20 mpg. 7,000/20= 350 gallons of fuel..... 350 gallons / 50 gallons = ~7 gallons of def. You said you just put in your 7th, so you used 6 already. 6*2.5 = 15 gallons. Might ask your dealer to check it. A friend of mine had a similar issue with his ram, and the dealer made an adjustment for him.

Also, DEF is cheaper at the pump instead of those 2.5 jugs if you have a truck stop near by. Plus you get to fill your truck up in like 30 seconds with the fast fill pumps. :woot:

Edited by BlindSquirrel
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