RE: To Dodge or not to Dodge?
It all depends if you can REALLY live without the little extras. I just bought a new truck 2 weeks ago here in New Mexico. I paid 31,900 for a 2008 Ram 2500 CTD, Big Horn SLT Quad Cab 4x4 short bed 6 Spd-Auto with nice little extras like Satellite radio, chrome steps, diamond plate bed caps, premium wheels, bedliner, chrome grille inserts, power-locks,windows , sliding rear window. I shopped 5-6 dealers in central, and northern NM and I got the best deal in Taos, NM at Scheid Motors. They treated me real good too, no-games. Keep in mind, that if you don't buy that truck, all the other dealers you called will have to go down eventually if they are 08's. I really love our new truck. It's black, and I just tinted that windows, looks real sharp! It has sick amounts of power too IMHO.
RE: How many people have downsized their TV?
Pop beavers, you do have a point. I live at 6000 feet and camp 4000 feet higher, and my TT is at least 8,000lbs. 10% grades on my gasser was NO fun.
RE: How many people have downsized their TV?
Okay, so if you are getting 15 mpg empty like I was getting on my F-150, and you can acheive close to 20 mpg empty on a diesel after breaking it in, then tell me where are the savings? My new diesel with less than 500 miles already got 16 mpg empty. Not to mention, nobody knows what the oil market is going to do. The gap in price between diesel and gas could very well close one of these years. It did last year when gas was hitting 3 bucks, diesel and gas were pretty close in price for a while there around here anyway.
Another thing; using a truck these days for a long commute is plain old foolish diesel or gas. When gas hit 4 bucks this year I went out an got me a slightly used 07 Honda Civic. That car saves enough gas to make it's own payment almost 3 times!
RE: How many people have downsized their TV?
I personally just upgraded from a F-150 to a Dodge 2500 CTD. I would NEVER consider another half ton or a gasser for that matter after I towed with the diesel for the first time last weekend. I don't see how people can figure saving money by downgrading from a diesel 2500 to a half ton gasser. Not only are the savings marginal if at all, you are compromising safety. If you can put a price on life itself then I dont' know what to say. This topic has brought mostly talk of going from diesel to half ton gas. If you really want to save money, just downgrade to a V-6 minivan or small SUV and a Pop-Up. That's the only way you are going to save bigger bucks in my actual opinion. The way I look at it, when you consider the 75 cents more a gallon for diesel and you get 12-14 mpg towing to the 7-9 mpg towing with a gasser, where is the savings!!!??? Not to mention the lack SAFETY!!!
RE: New to forum will gas ever be better than diesel
Speaking of MPG's, my F-150 Gasser got 7-9 mpg's towing and about 16 mpg empty. The new Dodge CTD with 600 miles on the odometer towed the same load at 12.5 mpg. And before I towed, I drove it around empty because the manual said not to tow anything for the first 500 miles. Driving around empty I achieved 16 mpgs before the 500 mile mark. So I'm getting the same mileage empty I was getting on the gasser except now I have a different animal for towing. Once I get about 20k miles on it they say it should increase a bit. I can't complain.
RE: New to forum will gas ever be better than diesel
I just traded my gasser for a Dodge Diesel with the exhaust brake and 6spd auto, and man what a difference! The gasser acted like I was beating the******out of it on any grade and of course I would never see my buddy towing his 5ver till I got to camp just to find him all set up and drinking beer. Then of course he would tell me what took you so long. Fast forward to last weekend on my first tow with the new Cummins on several New Mexico 10% grades. My buddy this time said that I went from never being seen in his mirror to now tailgating him! He has a 6 Spd Manual Cummins and he said he could tell the difference in my auto that it would keep up good compared to his manual. He said the computer does a better job of shifting than human. Either way, all I can tell you is that you won't be dissappointed in a diesel. Diesel is more expensive, but so is everything else in this world that is worth while. You get what you pay for. My payment went up about a hundred thirty bucks, but I shopped around thoroughly till I got a killer deal. $15k off of sticker on a Dodge! You're better of being upside down on the truck you want/need, than being upside down on a truck you don't want/need. I say go for it!--Life's too short to be dealing with stress on them grades.
RE: One for the Enviromentalists
Since we're on topic of Environmentalists can I say spinning tires?! Many aspects of "environmentally friendly" is a defeated purpose. I did a research paper for school earlier this year on hybrid cars and the truth of it is the processing invovolved in making the nickel based batteries for one hybrid car completely devastates the environment. In other words they said if you drove a Hummer H2 300k miles and drove a Toyota Prius 300k miles, at the end the Prius would still be 10 times more detrimental to the environment than the Hummer. The one plant that mines and processes the nickel for the hybrid batteries in Sudbury Ontario, is completely dead of any plant life for miles. The very same acid rain in the area has actually eaten concrete! That's not the end of it, after the nickel is smelted at the Sudbury plant, then it's put on a container ship and sent around the world to China where they further process the nickel, then it is shipped to Europe for producing usable nickel battery cells, then shipped to Japan to actually build the batteries, then of course shipped back to the good old USA to be installed in your local, friendly, environmentalist's shiny new Prius! If that makes environmental sense to you, then I am at a loss for words.
RE: New Tow Vehicle-What a great piece of machinery!
Nice truck Mr. Ed. Just like mine except mine's black. I got those chrome steps too, and chrome diamond plate bed caps. Another reason I love my new truck is because it's still short enough to fit in the garage yet has four doors on the "right" way. I've had extended cabs in the past, and I can't stand those backwards opening rear doors. Makes the whole door assembly appear weak and wobbly.
RE: Any recent TV buying experience?
I just bought my new TV last week. A 2008 Dodge 2500 Cummins Quad Cab 4x4 auto SLT, Big Horn with the exhaust brake, steps chrome grille and a few other extras for $31,995. The DW and I have Excellent credit, and we did trade a 06 F-150 we were upside down on, and we still only suffered about a hundred bucks a month. The key is don't fall in love with one truck. We were looking at about a dozen dealerships at Dodge, Ford, and GMC. Ford was the proudest of their trucks and would only come down about $8k. GMC came in second, but nobody could touch the one Dodge dealership. Other local Dodge dealerships were still $3500 higher. Just take your time and shop around. If a new doesn't work, try for a newer used model. Around here many dealerships actually seemed kinda desperate while others acted like diesel is $0.99 per gallon, so shop around and get a feel for who's wanting to move them. You'll get an idea real fast after looking at different dealerships. Don't be afraid to turn around their mind games around on them. Most dealerships can't be straight forward so why should you. It's everyone for themselves out there!
RE: New Tow Vehicle-What a great piece of machinery!
Thanks for all the kind words guys! There's nothing like hearing that turbo, and really feeling your truck work for you all under 3k RPM's. Coming down those 10% grades I was actually getting sleepy. That's how relaxed I was. Before I would be stressed white knuckling riding the brakes; man that sucked. My new truck is money well spent!
This one's really gonna get spoiled. I plan on tinting the windows tomorrow, and giving it a wax job before winter, and it will stay in the garage when not towing. ;)
New Tow Vehicle-What a great piece of machinery!
Well, I towed our 26ft Puma up to the woods this weekend up the same 10% grades that had my F-150's tranny fluid temp up at 220. The new truck is just a completely different animal. Going up the steep hills was effortless. My new Dodge 2500 Cummins is better than excellent. Coming down those grades involved very little if any braking with the exhaust brake on. I have to admit that with my F-150 I was white knuckling down those hills. Seemed like the TT was controlling the truck. It is now a pleasure to tow my TT. What a beautiful piece of machinery is all I can say. Oh, and towing I achieved 12.5 mpg and empty so far I've gotten 16 mpg. Compared to
7-9 mpg towing and 16mpg empty on my F-150. Diesel is more expensive, but you know where the extra 75cents went! I am more than happy!
RE: 08 Dodge 2500 Cummins Recent Buying Experiences?
I forgot to mention I also got side steps, satellite radio, infinity sound, tow package, power sliding rear window, exhaust brake, diamond plate bed caps, mud flaps, billet grille, anti-slip diff, bedliner, and upgraded interior. all for 31,900. And it's a diesel. I also feel as if I got a pretty decent deal after all. Thanks to everyone!
RE: 08 Dodge 2500 Cummins Recent Buying Experiences?
Well, to update you all, I finally went with a different dealer and got a 08 2500 Ram SLT, 4x4 6-Spd Auto Quad Cab Short Bed Diesel, Big Horn Edition for $31,900. That was the best deal I could get. I shopped GM and Ford for reference, and they are way too proud of their trucks around here. Ford was the proudest as GM did offer a better discount, but nobody could come close to Dodge. That Cummins is a power house!!! The Ford was dead at take-off, and the GM was pretty well rounded.
So what is my Tow Rating/Capacity? 08 Dodge 2500 Cummins
Well after hearing 3 different numbers from three different salesmen and reading the owners manual which is kinda misleading, what is the tow capacity of my new TV? It's a 08 Dodge 2500 Cummins 6-Spd, Auto, 3:73 gears, with the exaust brake. I know the GVWR of my TT is about 9500lbs so I know I'm okay, just curious what the trucks tow rating is. Thanks.
RE: 08 Dodge Diesel 6 Spd Auto Question
Oops, I meant to type 2008. It is an 08. Anyway thanks, I figured 4th would be better under 45mph. Kinda like my F-150 I would always take OD off below 45 too, it just felt wrong. Can't wait to tow with it this coming weekend. I've been working all week trying to get the 500 miles by Friday before towing. That's a hard task to do, driving around a brand new truck trying to get 500 miles!--LOL. It looks like I'll make the 500 by Friday.
Yesterday I was on a 10% grade doing about 40mph, and I decided to hit the throttle, and whoa! It actually kinda scared the DW and I, it shot to 75-80mph in split seconds and begged for more! The power on this thing is sick!
RE: 08 Dodge Diesel 6 Spd Auto Question
No real down or up shifting. It just reminds me of driving a 5spd standard transmission in 5th gear going 35-45 mph. It'll just take a little getting used to I guess. I can't say I ever drove a 6 Spd auto. I've also noticed that the power is very direct, doesn't feel like an auto, feels more like a manual tranny. Thanks.
RE: F-150 V8 Enough for 4,900 lbs dry??
I would probably stick to no higher than 4400lbs dry. Water alone is like 500lbs on a 45 gallon tank! I just got rid of my F-150 5.4 because I got too heavy of a TT. If you're going to be towing only in the flats no problem, but them hills are the killer on a 1/2 ton gasser. Going up them you rev up the engine and heat up the tranny, and down hill you tend to burn the brakes, and where I live 10% grade hills aren't uncommon and something about going down hill with too heavy of a trailer, it seems like the trailer is controlling the truck. Just doesn't feels safe. You can say you'll pack light, but once you start getting ready for camping, it seems like a hundred trips to the camper, clothes, food, drink, water, propane, gear, firewood, grill, family, etc... it adds up even though it doesn't seem like it.
08 Dodge Diesel 6 Spd Auto Question
Well, I just took delivery of my new tow vehicle. A 2008 Dodge 2500 4x4 Quad Cab diesel! Big difference from my F-150. This thing has sick amounts of power. Enough to scare you! When I get on the throttle I can tell that it's a hair away from losing traction!
Anyhow, I've noticed that when I'm driving empty on a country road in "D" with a 35-45 MPH speed limit. It seems as if it is in too high of a gear like in overdrive. What's the proper thing to do here? Should I use the manual shift option and get it into a more adequate gear like 4th?--Or just leave it in drive and not worry about it? The Owners Manual is't too clear about this. Thanks.
RE: Dodge Cummins Blue-Tec?
Thanks guys. I am not going to let the blue-tec worry me. The bottom line, is all diesel truck manufacturers have to abide by the new EPA rules and us diesel owners have to live with it. I haven't done a whole lot of research but it seems like I keep crossing paths with forum posts saying that the new Ford PSD has way more problems than the Dodge when it comes to emissions.
