Perspectives Requested: 2024 Ram 2500 Megacab Limited vs 2024 GMC 2500 Denali Ultimate

[rennis]

Piling on to this sub-topic a little.  My F250 does not have BlueCruise but it does have Adaptive Cruise.  It's pretty awesome for towing.  Set the speed you want to go, turn on the exhaust brake, and you just steer.  The truck just hums along (almost always in 10th gear, unless passing or climbing/descending a big grade) and makes for as close to a stress-free towing experience I can imagine.  It's night/day vs. towing with my old F150.    I would not buy or order a truck without at least adaptive cruise.

I will say the deceleration/braking while towing with Ford's adaptive cruise is too aggressive for my liking when the truck comes up on a slower vehicle.  I override often with throttle inputs.  So that's worth noting. 

[teamerickson]

19 minutes ago, hunter77ah said:

Not to derail this too far, but what is the point of the autopilot if it isn’t completely autonomous/FSD? I’ve watched the commercials for the GMC trucks that can tow with supercruise but can’t understand what the benefit is.  Is it really a reason to choose one truck over another? 
 

Granted, as far as cars go I’m a bit of a lud (#savethemanuals) but I’m open to understanding what other people think.  

Most of the driver assistance features are for the freeway. They keep you in your lane and steer for you. Some allow you to take your hands off the wheel. It allows you to relax a little. The speed sensitive cruise control is a game changer. Set the speed and it adjusts to traffic conditions. Again, helps makes the drive easier.

[Slayer]

20 hours ago, Afastmotorider said:

i have had the big 3 i always loved dodge limited mega cab the only downfall is the 6 speed trans its a turd and the f250 needs a full redesign the obvious winner is denali ultimate or chevy high country

See 2023+ Super Duty.  It's a full redesign.  Completely different than my 2022.

[REHinH20]

1 hour ago, teamerickson said:

Most of the driver assistance features are for the freeway. They keep you in your lane and steer for you. Some allow you to take your hands off the wheel. It allows you to relax a little. The speed sensitive cruise control is a game changer. Set the speed and it adjusts to traffic conditions. Again, helps makes the drive easier.

Keep in mind if you are buying for these features, they use the lines painted on the roads.  So, they are only as good as the company that had the lowest bid (just how government entities work).  My wife's Acura will sometimes be tempted to follow "other" lines on the road that are made by other things, like a vehicle exiting the roadway!

[jjackkrash]

Adaptive cruise while towing long freeway distances in moderate traffic is great.  In thicker traffic, towing heavy, its sucks too much diesel for my taste the way it holds speed.  But I am talking towing a 19-20k fiver.  I don't have super cruise in the truck just adaptive cruise.  

[DAI]

1 hour ago, rennis said:

Piling on to this sub-topic a little.  My F250 does not have BlueCruise but it does have Adaptive Cruise.  It's pretty awesome for towing.  Set the speed you want to go, turn on the exhaust brake, and you just steer.  The truck just hums along (almost always in 10th gear, unless passing or climbing/descending a big grade) and makes for as close to a stress-free towing experience I can imagine.  It's night/day vs. towing with my old F150.    I would not buy or order a truck without at least adaptive cruise.

I will say the deceleration/braking while towing with Ford's adaptive cruise is too aggressive for my liking when the truck comes up on a slower vehicle.  I override often with throttle inputs.  So that's worth noting. 

Hopefully they have gotten better, but I stopped using adaptive cruise when passing a shiny tanker the truck hit the brakes hard.  This was with my prior F150 platinum, but my Raptor collision warning has gone off a few times when there was not immediate collision about to occur.  The tanker truck thing happened multiple times, and once while towing.  Since then I’ve stopped using cruise all together.

[Sparky450]

25 minutes ago, DAI said:

Hopefully they have gotten better, but I stopped using adaptive cruise when passing a shiny tanker the truck hit the brakes hard.  This was with my prior F150 platinum, but my Raptor collision warning has gone off a few times when there was not immediate collision about to occur.  The tanker truck thing happened multiple times, and once while towing.  Since then I’ve stopped using cruise all together.

If going Ram. Look at the transmission options. I be pop refer the Aisin over the standard transmission. (Whatever it is). The Aisin just works better. I quite often pull at 32k-34k. I drop off of Priest grade. (The new one) and let the truck coast. Very seldom touching the brakes. Without a trailer I will drop off Old Priest Grade and I need to throttle to keep speed. I have had 3 Ram 3500’s. On the hunt for another right now. I sold  my 2014 with I think 123k. After I drove it off the lot, it never saw the dealer.  My 2018 has 192k. All that has been done to it (if I recall correctly) is ball joints. It is a known problem with Rams. They will start knocking   At least now they actually last about 90-95k on our rough California highways 

[oldjeep]

1 hour ago, REHinH20 said:

Keep in mind if you are buying for these features, they use the lines painted on the roads.  So, they are only as good as the company that had the lowest bid (just how government entities work).  My wife's Acura will sometimes be tempted to follow "other" lines on the road that are made by other things, like a vehicle exiting the roadway!

The lane departure warning is the most irritating thing on my wifes lexus.  It is always road construction season in MN and there are extra lines everywhere.  Silly steering wheel vibrator is gonna wear itself out

[DAI]

On 11/15/2023 at 3:07 PM, Afastmotorider said:

i have had the big 3 i always loved dodge limited mega cab the only downfall is the 6 speed trans its a turd and the f250 needs a full redesign the obvious winner is denali ultimate or chevy high country

What makes the 6-speed trans a turd in the Ram 2500?

[SouthsideBoarder]

19 hours ago, oldjeep said:

The lane departure warning is the most irritating thing on my wifes lexus.  It is always road construction season in MN and there are extra lines everywhere.  Silly steering wheel vibrator is gonna wear itself out

The lane keep assist and adaptive cruise on my wife’s Honda are awful. 
 

Adaptive cruise will slam on the brakes while beside a semi on the interstate. Lane keep in road construction will try to pull you into a bridge so you have to fight it to prevent from side swiping a bridge. For long hauls I could see these being valuable but for short 1-4 hour drives they are sometimes more of an annoyance than help. I’m sure there is an example when it could have “saved us” but can’t think of it right now. 

[DAI]

Thoughts on the AT4x vs Denali Ultimate for towing (both diesel)?  

[HollywoodBall]

43 minutes ago, DAI said:

Thoughts on the AT4x vs Denali Ultimate for towing (both diesel)?  

Same drivetrain.  I can't imagine a huge difference, unless the suspensions are different (off road suspension in the AT4 vs some kind of mag ride on the Denali - guessing here).

I think these two come down to which appearance package and bells and whistles you prefer, more so than towing performance.

 

As for OP, I think the Denali is the better looking truck but don't have an opinion on reliability or performance for either.

[wedge88]

3 hours ago, DAI said:

Thoughts on the AT4x vs Denali Ultimate for towing (both diesel)?  

No experience with current MY but I came from a 2017 Denali Dmax into my current 23' AT4 Dmax and my current rig is way better in ride quality.  I know it isn't apples to apples but throwing in my $.02.  I got the AT4 in February and have 26000 miles on it already and zero regrets and hasn't seen the dealer since the day I picked it up.  I didn't think I would like the tailgate as much as I do but with owning a contracting company, that thing has come in handy when hauling larger items such as conduit, strut and ladders and I don't think I would get another truck without it.  

When I was shopping, I couldn't order the ramboxes on the 2500 as it wasn't being offered.  That could have been supply constraints, at the time, but I carry a fair amount of tools and the truck is used for work and play so the ramboxes seemed like a great idea.  Then we traded our TT for a 5er, in March, which couldn't have happened if I'd have had the ramboxes.  

 

[jjackkrash]

For towing, lower to the ground and stiffer on-road suspension is better than higher off the ground and softer, off-road suspension, generally.  But how much difference is a good question and I suspect would only matter on the margins of very heavy towing or if you are towing a fifth wheel, for example.    Either one is going to tow a 10k lbs. boat just dandy.  I'd think about it a little harder if I were going to drop a 3000 lbs. (or heavier) hitch in the bed and tow near the limits.  

 

(Edit:  I am assuming we are talking about the HD models and not the 1/2 tons).  

Edited November 17 by jjackkrash

[DAI]

32 minutes ago, jjackkrash said:

For towing, lower to the ground and stiffer on-road suspension is better than higher off the ground and softer, off-road suspension, generally.  But how much difference is a good question and I suspect would only matter on the margins of very heavy towing or if you are towing a fifth wheel, for example.    Either one is going to tow a 10k lbs. boat just dandy.  I'd think about it a little harder if I were going to drop a 3000 lbs. (or heavier) hitch in the bed and tow near the limits.  

 

(Edit:  I am assuming we are talking about the HD models and not the 1/2 tons).  

Correct, HDs.

[RyanB]

On 11/16/2023 at 11:32 AM, DAI said:

Hopefully they have gotten better, but I stopped using adaptive cruise when passing a shiny tanker the truck hit the brakes hard.  This was with my prior F150 platinum, but my Raptor collision warning has gone off a few times when there was not immediate collision about to occur.  The tanker truck thing happened multiple times, and once while towing.  Since then I’ve stopped using cruise all together.

 I have adaptive cruise on a 2019 Expedition, 2022 Grand Cherokee and 2023 RAM 3500. I think it works great with all the vehicles. Even towing. 

10 hours ago, DAI said:

What makes the 6-speed trans a turd in the Ram 2500?

You don’t have a choice in a 2500. You only get the 68RFE. IMO it is not a bad transmission but it isn’t as good as the 10 speed in the GM (which isn’t really an Alison) or the Aisin in the 3500 with the high out put. It’s a little slower to shift and not happy if you tune with more than 40-50 additional HP. 
 

And if you look at how flat the torque curve is, you will have some understanding of why the Cummins only has (and really only needs) 6 speeds. 

[DAI]

Well, decision made.  Ordered a Sierra 2500 AT4x this morning.

Thank you everyone for the perspectives.  

[redrooster]

Run away from anything gm right now.  We have 6 new 2500 Chevys in our company fleet.  Any given time 3 are in the shop.  No one wants to drive them because they break all the time.  

 

I would go ram for the engine alone.  Diesels are supposed to be straight 6.  Plus the coils at all 4 corners makes for a nice ride. 

[Afastmotorider]

Dodge trans 🤮 buy gm dont look back i build trucks for a living wrench on them everyday allday

[Afastmotorider]

All new diesel with these bs emissions have issues  pick one they all do with that said biggest next disadvantage is rams garbage transmission so it falls to 3rd olace immediately. 

[redrooster]

We have 40 truck's in our fleet. 10 of them are gm.  Most are ford.   A few ram.   GM has the highest cost to operate year after year.   Its almost double when it comes to the other 2.   GM is horrible.  I am trying to post a picture of one of our fleet trucks literally on fire that burnt to the ground.   You did build a nice truck, my wife would love to take it to the mall!! lol. 

[UWSkier]

On 11/16/2023 at 10:05 AM, rennis said:

Piling on to this sub-topic a little.  My F250 does not have BlueCruise but it does have Adaptive Cruise.  It's pretty awesome for towing.  Set the speed you want to go, turn on the exhaust brake, and you just steer.  The truck just hums along (almost always in 10th gear, unless passing or climbing/descending a big grade) and makes for as close to a stress-free towing experience I can imagine.  It's night/day vs. towing with my old F150.    I would not buy or order a truck without at least adaptive cruise.

I will say the deceleration/braking while towing with Ford's adaptive cruise is too aggressive for my liking when the truck comes up on a slower vehicle.  I override often with throttle inputs.  So that's worth noting. 

This has been my experience with my 2024 Silverado HD also.  I'll be cruising along comfortably towing my camper around 67 MPH or so in the right lane and someone will pass me, then move back into the right lane like they're supposed to, but the truck thinks they're too close and kills my momentum.  I towed my camper from AZ to WI and back this summer and ended up doing most of the drive with adaptive cruise disabled because that was so annoying.  It's great on two-lane country roads, but just made me angry on expressways.

@DAI I went through this exercise this spring when purchasing.  I didn't go for the highest of the high end trims, but ended up with a truck that's 9/10th as loaded from an interior perspective as the Denali Ultimate.  I LOVE the tech on the GMs.  The camera tech when towing is like cheating.  I also love the trailer profiles.  The screen is huge, high def, and positioned just right.  Wireless Android Auto works like a charm.  On the LTZ trim level, the only thing the transmission stalk blocks in my view when towing (I tow in M, not D) is my seat heat/cool controls, which I can live with.  The Denali trim is the same as my dad's half ton, only with a column shifter.  I really like that interior layout too as pretty much all the important stuff is in the same spot on that interior as my truck.  The one thing I don't like about the Denali/AT4 interior is the placement of the trailer brake controller.  That's a "miss" on an otherwise outstanding interior IMO.  My LTZ has more usable center console space by having the brake controller up on the dash.

I spent some time looking at 3 year old trucks when I was shopping and while the RAM interiors feel nicest when new, I wasn't impressed with how they held up.  I also didn't like the portrait screen and the touchscreen for things where buttons and dials should be on a truck.

I only briefly looked at Ford.  This is because they have the worst ride of the big three, worst interior of the big three, and they were, at least at the time, the most scarce and least likely to sell below MSRP.

I went with gas and am very happy with it.  I won't turn this into a gas vs diesel thread but I've been impressed with the 6.6L gasser as it's broken in.  It feels way stronger after 7000 miles than it did new.

[DAI]

22 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

This has been my experience with my 2024 Silverado HD also.  I'll be cruising along comfortably towing my camper around 67 MPH or so in the right lane and someone will pass me, then move back into the right lane like they're supposed to, but the truck thinks they're too close and kills my momentum.  I towed my camper from AZ to WI and back this summer and ended up doing most of the drive with adaptive cruise disabled because that was so annoying.  It's great on two-lane country roads, but just made me angry on expressways.

@DAI I went through this exercise this spring when purchasing.  I didn't go for the highest of the high end trims, but ended up with a truck that's 9/10th as loaded from an interior perspective as the Denali Ultimate.  I LOVE the tech on the GMs.  The camera tech when towing is like cheating.  I also love the trailer profiles.  The screen is huge, high def, and positioned just right.  Wireless Android Auto works like a charm.  On the LTZ trim level, the only thing the transmission stalk blocks in my view when towing (I tow in M, not D) is my seat heat/cool controls, which I can live with.  The Denali trim is the same as my dad's half ton, only with a column shifter.  I really like that interior layout too as pretty much all the important stuff is in the same spot on that interior as my truck.  The one thing I don't like about the Denali/AT4 interior is the placement of the trailer brake controller.  That's a "miss" on an otherwise outstanding interior IMO.  My LTZ has more usable center console space by having the brake controller up on the dash.

I spent some time looking at 3 year old trucks when I was shopping and while the RAM interiors feel nicest when new, I wasn't impressed with how they held up.  I also didn't like the portrait screen and the touchscreen for things where buttons and dials should be on a truck.

I only briefly looked at Ford.  This is because they have the worst ride of the big three, worst interior of the big three, and they were, at least at the time, the most scarce and least likely to sell below MSRP.

I went with gas and am very happy with it.  I won't turn this into a gas vs diesel thread but I've been impressed with the 6.6L gasser as it's broken in.  It feels way stronger after 7000 miles than it did new.

So far I’m more at ease now with the order in.  This was the hardest buying decision as none of the 3 fit my needs perfectly.

I was really close to getting the Ram, but the 2 different dealers I talked through made the decision easier.  One told me getting in for service takes awhile and it’s highly unlikely they can give me a loaner for bigger repairs/service.  The other told me I need to get the extended warranty to get a loaner for any repairs/service, and the loaner would be from Enterprise, which usually means a basic car with 30,000+ hard miles and smells like a fart on the inside.  I basically told this dealer you are trying to sell me a premium ~$100k truck and not providing the service that would come with that price tag???????

I went with the AT4x over the Denali Ultimate because living/working between Milwaukee and Chicago nearly every GMC on the road is the Denali trim.  The AT4x will be a little rarer to see and the feel/look will carry a little reminder of the Raptor (high up on my list of one the best vehicles I’ve owed, despite 2 cam phaser replacements).  Plus I wasn’t a fan of the brown interior in the Denali Ultimate.

I’m excited to take a delivery after the new year and use it to tow to the northwoods this next summer.  I will be nice not to have to take 2 vehicles.  In the meantime, need to learn about owning a diesel.

[jjackkrash]

57 minutes ago, DAI said:

I went with the AT4x 

I crawled around in an AT4X 1/2 ton on the lot today while getting an oil change.  It was a nice friggin' truck.  I doubt you will be disappointed with the HD version.  Congrats.

[UWSkier]

1 hour ago, DAI said:

So far I’m more at ease now with the order in.  This was the hardest buying decision as none of the 3 fit my needs perfectly.

I was really close to getting the Ram, but the 2 different dealers I talked through made the decision easier.  One told me getting in for service takes awhile and it’s highly unlikely they can give me a loaner for bigger repairs/service.  The other told me I need to get the extended warranty to get a loaner for any repairs/service, and the loaner would be from Enterprise, which usually means a basic car with 30,000+ hard miles and smells like a fart on the inside.  I basically told this dealer you are trying to sell me a premium ~$100k truck and not providing the service that would come with that price tag???????

I went with the AT4x over the Denali Ultimate because living/working between Milwaukee and Chicago nearly every GMC on the road is the Denali trim.  The AT4x will be a little rarer to see and the feel/look will carry a little reminder of the Raptor (high up on my list of one the best vehicles I’ve owed, despite 2 cam phaser replacements).  Plus I wasn’t a fan of the brown interior in the Denali Ultimate.

I’m excited to take a delivery after the new year and use it to tow to the northwoods this next summer.  I will be nice not to have to take 2 vehicles.  In the meantime, need to learn about owning a diesel.

All the camera angles make parking easier, but it's still not as easy as my half ton was.  These things are absolutely massive...  Clears my 7' garage door by about 1.5 inches.  The AT4x would be a driveway queen at my house.