Ive been running a 5500 laramie with a fully outfitted welding bed since november, used to 3500 duallies but just didnt have any payload left with a 3500 so thats why i upgraded to the 5500. Its a full time family/work vehicle. Although i keep the interior spotless.
I find parking far easier with the wide track front end, dropping kiddos at daycare parking lot is tight, and that wide track is a god send. BUT! at the same time on the highway it does tend to wander a bit as it climbs in and out of the existing ruts as it dosent follow inside them. Not a deal breaker though.
Ride quality vs a 3500/2500. Obviously its going to be a harsher ride being its a cab and chassis and setup for payload. But in the same breath a short box 2500/3500 isnt anything to write home about either. But i will say my previous 3500 dually did ride better. There was one guy in town here that bought a 2022 - 4500 just for the "prestige" of the badge and he put a regular dually box on it, it actually looks completely out of place but i can only imagine that thing is AWFUL to ride in. With my welding bed fully outfitted i am about 4500lbs on the truck and it rides relatively well. On a decent highway i doubt you could tell the difference between it and a half ton. But it is certainly more stiff when it comes to bumps. So far no complaints from the family though. You could always get a keldermen or liquid spring.... but thats a huge investment... atleast for us canadians anyway, i was quoted over 10k for a keldermen system.
Maintainence.... well i would say its on par with a 3500, same engine. Depending on where you are located annual safeties are mandatory, and some dealerships dont have high enough capacity lifts to accomodate these trucks. Only one in my town.
Fuel mileage, well. I am not sure i would say " it sucks " considering its a commerical truck. I am about 13,500lbs running down the road and i average 12.5 mpg and thats city and 40km of hwy a day to get home. On long hwy trips best case scenerio ive seen 16 mpg. I would say running this truck especaially with the 4.44s you can easily expect 3-5mpg less than a 3500 dually depending on your weight.
Insurance will also cost more!
I think unless your going to run out of payload on a 3500 dually, there would be no reason to get into a 4500/5500. with me moving to an aluminium welding bed, i might even be able to slide back into a 3500 dually in the future if the payloads continue to increase. I think you would really have to have a use for a 45/5500 to buy one, i know alot of guys are just after the look. But at that point just buy a 3500 dually and put some 20s on it. If your going to run it around as a daily driver and have it not loaded to some extent you may as well just sell your kidneys! Would i buy one again for my purposes? yep! But if it was just a family truck that pulled my camper god no.
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