- Messages
- 5,221
- Reaction score
- 5,426
- Points
- 113
It’s a very stable platform. With 2 ATV’s above the bed rails my 18 was more stable with the stock auto-level than my 05 was with airbags and an aftermarket anti-sway bar.
Ram Heavy Duty Forum
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Considering purchasing a gas 3500 Crew Cab long bed dually and my friends think I'm nuts
- Thread starter RKCRLR
- Start date
It’s a very stable platform. With 2 ATV’s above the bed rails my 18 was more stable with the stock auto-level than my 05 was with airbags and an aftermarket anti-sway bar.
sstoner911
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 1,491
- Reaction score
- 897
- Points
- 113
Just an interesting story here...not much to add to this thread...
A local GMC dealer here had 3 3500 DRW trucks that were gas, they discounted them 15K and they say on the lot for about 8 months. Not sure if they sold them or traded them off to another dealer.
The GM is a friend of a friend who told me the guy who ordered them was assigned to other job duties.
No gas DRW trucks...I mean you can..
Doesnt mean you should hahaha
A local GMC dealer here had 3 3500 DRW trucks that were gas, they discounted them 15K and they say on the lot for about 8 months. Not sure if they sold them or traded them off to another dealer.
The GM is a friend of a friend who told me the guy who ordered them was assigned to other job duties.
No gas DRW trucks...I mean you can..
Doesnt mean you should hahaha
gimmie11s
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 2,677
- Reaction score
- 3,973
- Points
- 113
A gas DRW that's planned use is heavy haul in the bed -- sure, makes total sense.
A gas DRW that's planned use is to tow 15-20k+ lbs is like buying a spoon to dig the new pool youre installing in the back yard.--- It'll do the work, but you'll hate every minute of it.
A gas DRW that's planned use is to tow 15-20k+ lbs is like buying a spoon to dig the new pool youre installing in the back yard.--- It'll do the work, but you'll hate every minute of it.
I will just throw in my 2 cents, since I have been looking at trucks and am also in N CA. ( Bay area ).
Most people on this forum know 10x more than I ever will about trucks than I do, but living in CA always means that we have to think about the next 5 - 10 years of the nutcase / diesel haters in Sacramento. They are making it harder and harder to own a diesel - and inconvenient. At least some of the users now have to go in for an emission / inspection every 6 months vs every 2 years like before, so a complete pain.
For my own use, a 3500 SRW megacab is very close to my needs.
When I look at the cummins 6.7 option, the engine / transmission combo removes about 1 000 lbs of total payload, mostly in the front of course.
When I compared the DRW to SRW, by the time, by the time the additional axle and tire weight is added on, it didn't really help as much as I thought in terms of carrying capacity. Especially for use on soft ground or icy roads, the searching that I did - seemed like it was better to have wide SRW vs the narrow DRW tires. Again - just my searching - no personal experience.
There are a lot of discussions on line about Cummins plan to release a modified version of the 6.7 engine so that they can configure it ( factory ) for diesel, gasoline or something else - maybe propane. Along with it, there are people at Cummins talking about their efforts to trim off some weight from the new engine + trans combo that will come with it.
I don't know anything other than what is being posted by leakers and speculators, but it kind of makes sense and they have already done this for their larger engines.
A big part of the truck market looks a lot like service body truck fleets, and those fleets don't want to deal with CA government diesel hate problems, so we are all kind of playing along.
Most people on this forum know 10x more than I ever will about trucks than I do, but living in CA always means that we have to think about the next 5 - 10 years of the nutcase / diesel haters in Sacramento. They are making it harder and harder to own a diesel - and inconvenient. At least some of the users now have to go in for an emission / inspection every 6 months vs every 2 years like before, so a complete pain.
For my own use, a 3500 SRW megacab is very close to my needs.
When I look at the cummins 6.7 option, the engine / transmission combo removes about 1 000 lbs of total payload, mostly in the front of course.
When I compared the DRW to SRW, by the time, by the time the additional axle and tire weight is added on, it didn't really help as much as I thought in terms of carrying capacity. Especially for use on soft ground or icy roads, the searching that I did - seemed like it was better to have wide SRW vs the narrow DRW tires. Again - just my searching - no personal experience.
There are a lot of discussions on line about Cummins plan to release a modified version of the 6.7 engine so that they can configure it ( factory ) for diesel, gasoline or something else - maybe propane. Along with it, there are people at Cummins talking about their efforts to trim off some weight from the new engine + trans combo that will come with it.
I don't know anything other than what is being posted by leakers and speculators, but it kind of makes sense and they have already done this for their larger engines.
A big part of the truck market looks a lot like service body truck fleets, and those fleets don't want to deal with CA government diesel hate problems, so we are all kind of playing along.
The big thing that I found is that you have to really strip off anything in back that you can to bring up the weight carrying capacity for situations like ours.
That means nothing in the bed area that does not need to be there.
My needs sort of look like a service body in terms of wanting a lot of side access to things for my van electrical system work, but also for the camping that I want to do. That pushes me toward at least a crew cab and with a megacab, I can sleep in the back seat if diagonal a bit. The challenge that I face is that none of the service bodies have deep enough storage for how I want to use it, but that is a different story and I don't want to dilute / distract your thread.
For me, it might make sense to remove the bed and turn it into a flat bed, maybe you can find a flat bed version. The sides just add weight that I don't need - depends on your camper though.
If you go on youtube, there are some people who are using 5500s and converting them to SRW. Using those to do kind of what you are talking about.
I guess my main point is that it might be worth your while to wait for 6 months and see what comes out in 2025 for gas engines, once the current inventory clears out a bit.
In the ram trucks, it appears that you have to go to the limited to get leather, or plan to go to an upholstery shop to get that done. It is pretty amazing what an upholstery shop can do for upgrading your seats if that is your goal.
That means nothing in the bed area that does not need to be there.
My needs sort of look like a service body in terms of wanting a lot of side access to things for my van electrical system work, but also for the camping that I want to do. That pushes me toward at least a crew cab and with a megacab, I can sleep in the back seat if diagonal a bit. The challenge that I face is that none of the service bodies have deep enough storage for how I want to use it, but that is a different story and I don't want to dilute / distract your thread.
For me, it might make sense to remove the bed and turn it into a flat bed, maybe you can find a flat bed version. The sides just add weight that I don't need - depends on your camper though.
If you go on youtube, there are some people who are using 5500s and converting them to SRW. Using those to do kind of what you are talking about.
I guess my main point is that it might be worth your while to wait for 6 months and see what comes out in 2025 for gas engines, once the current inventory clears out a bit.
In the ram trucks, it appears that you have to go to the limited to get leather, or plan to go to an upholstery shop to get that done. It is pretty amazing what an upholstery shop can do for upgrading your seats if that is your goal.
RKCRLR
Active Member
- Messages
- 213
- Reaction score
- 117
- Points
- 43
There are two reasons I'm upgrading from my current K3500, reliability and increased load carrying capability. A gas crew cab long bed DRW fits the bill for me. I chose RAM because my current camper fit it the best but I still need a conventional pickup the other half the time I use it. There are C&C options out there but they would be much more expensive by the time I got to the point of a utility bed that would fit my camper but also could be used as a conventional pickup. I have already ordered my truck, I wanted to avoid a 2025 price increase.
While the DRW adds weight, the increase in a gas 3500 DRW RGAWR nets about a 2400 lb increase in load carrying capability on the rear axle. To me that is significant enough to deal with the hassles of DRW.
One of the dealers had a Big Horn with Katzkin seat covers. They looked really nice but the rest of the interior isn't leather trimmed like the option in the Laramie and above. I would have ordered a Laramie with a gas engine if RAM would have let me. The three things that I gave up with the Big Horn is leather trim, ventilated seats (less important with cloth seats anyway), and passive entry.
Dave01
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 651
- Reaction score
- 786
- Points
- 93
Snow and ice - you are correct that SRW will do better than DRW, but narrow tires are better in snow than wide. Having said that, get the right tires and either single or dual will do quite well in snow.
I'm not going to comment on your issues with CA, since I'm on the east coast. But I will tell you that diesel emissions stuff is a problem everywhere. In commercial settings there is a definite thought process to move to gas where we can, it's hard to keep diesels on the road.
FWIW, Laramie "leather" is bonded (fake) leather. Only the center seat section is leather.
Limited trims have real leather on all "leather" surfaces AFAIK.
RKCRLR
Active Member
- Messages
- 213
- Reaction score
- 117
- Points
- 43
I'm familiar with bonded leather, my car has a mixture of real and bonded leather. And I don't have a problem with bonded and synthetic leather as long as it is high quality. Many modern synthetic leathers have a good feel while also having good durability.
They're all mostly chemicals now anyway...
I will say I'm disappointed in the door handles on my Limited. It could be the product, but a microfiber cloth and Turtlewax "inside job" interior graphene cleaner/protectant has removed a lot of the dye. I've stopped using it.
Thanks
sstoner911
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 1,491
- Reaction score
- 897
- Points
- 113
Well, these were not Fleet trucks...they were Denali's and one Ultimate. Here is Arizona those trucks are not being bought for gas engines.
Gas DRW trucks may be fine for Fleet, although even that is debatable.
Thank you for that input. Appreciate it.
Our driving in snow in CA is not really the same as driving in snow in MN or IA like I did when I was younger.
In those states, driving in snow is a daily thing in the winter.
In CA, the typical driving in snow is driving from the coastal or central areas up to the mountains to go play in the snow / ski.
About half way up the mountain, they have everyone pull off to the side of the road and put on chains, unless you have very aggressive snow tires on an 4wd.
Running that kind of tire means changing it out in the summer for a high temperature tire - the black top gets really hot when it is 110 - 115 F out.
I used to do that - had two sets of tires - but don't really go up often enough to bother with that anymore but maybe if I started going more it would make sense.
It is interesting that I don't see videos about people trying to use tire chains for getting through mud and sand. Not sure why.
You don't want to dig to the bottom in mud or sand.
I have a limited DRW and it's been great ..
.. I hauled a 14k load back across 4 states and it did fine. In the mountains it was getting like 6 but when i got back to level/ small hills it was getting 9.
I had to order mine and I think I saw very few setup like mine on the order tracking maybe like 4 or 5.
Did you end up finding one ?
.. I hauled a 14k load back across 4 states and it did fine. In the mountains it was getting like 6 but when i got back to level/ small hills it was getting 9.
I had to order mine and I think I saw very few setup like mine on the order tracking maybe like 4 or 5.
Did you end up finding one ?
RKCRLR
Active Member
- Messages
- 213
- Reaction score
- 117
- Points
- 43
I wound up ordering one. I couldn't find a newer used truck that would justify the lack of savings over a new truck. For my use paying a premium for a diesel didn't justify the the advantages and I was worried about the emissions reliability for the way I'm going to use the truck.
I figured it would be super hard to find one used some place esp since you d they might use more fuel but long as they're moving they're m
can save a large chunk of money ordering new from a few dealers.
I have two F-550 gas trucks too for work and same thing I don't want them sitting at the dealer for emission problems. Even if they're under warranty they are making no money sitting in a parking lot lol
RKCRLR
Active Member
- Messages
- 213
- Reaction score
- 117
- Points
- 43
I didn't find one gas crew cab 4WD DRW in my searches. I found some great deals on in-stock diesels out of state but they still were significantly more with the options I wanted and taking shipping/travel expenses into account. I think I could have got comfortable with exceeding the diesel payload/GVWR as long as I didn't exceed GAWR but I was still concerned about the emissions problems. I am going to be using the truck the exact way they say causes problems with the diesel emissions systems.
In the end I wound up ordering semi-locally. They were a little more than the out of state volume dealers but it was a wash when taking shipping/travel expenses into account. And if if I find something wrong with the truck when I go to pick it up I can tell them to fix it and I'll come back when they're done. And, if all else fails, I live in a state where the deposit is refundable by law. And while it probably wouldn't have been a problem I still like being able to stay within the manufacturer's payload/GVWR ratings.
I would have purchased a Laramie if Ram would have let me buy one with a gas engine. I like the "leather" trim, ventilated seats, and passive entry. But, on the other hand, it saved me some money.
Last edited: