Looking at ordering a 2022 3500 SRW

[NickinColorado]

Hello all,
First post here, looking for some confirmation or opinions before placing an order on a new truck.

A little background first- I currently have a 2019 F150 XLT crew cab, 3.5 eco boost, 5.5' bed that I bought new that has 26k on the odometer. It's also paid off. This truck has treated me awesome averaging 21.5mpg combined, carrying 2-3 dirt bikes into the mountains regularly, and general use as a truck. I'm a firefighter so I often carry around a lot of work stuff. Payload in the F150 is 1,839 pounds with a tow rating of 13,200lb.

Up until a couple weeks ago we had a built out 159" Promaster camper van that I put about 200 hours of labor into, but since we are expecting our first kid and we also have three dogs we have sold our van and are looking to size up to buy a travel trailer. We aren't interested in staying in any RV parks and really ONLY boondocks. We've never paid to camp anywhere in the van. In nearly 4 years of ownership we put 53,000 miles on the van with 4 trips to British Columbia, one to Mexico, one to California, and a dozen + to Utah. I've never been interested in a travel trailer because the build quality on the ones I have been in are horrible. In all that time in our van I never had to do any repairs. Even after thousands of miles down washboard roads.

Researching heavy duty "off road" travel trailers I came across Northwoods, and Outdoors RV. I really like the backcountry series from ORV. Specifically the 20BD and 24KRS. The 24KRS specs are as follows but the 20bd is also really similar- https://www.outdoorsrvmfg.com/back-country-series-24krs/#specs

Dry weight 7430
fresh water capacity 100 gallons
grey tank 40
black tank 40
LPG 80lb tanks
Dry hitch weight 965lb
Max trailer weight 9995lb.

Researching online in a forum similar to this people say to expect 15-16% tongue weight because of where the generator is, water tank, and propane. Being conservative I'm figuring 1500lb tongue weight off the max possible trailer weight. You can see where this is going... With 3 of us, 2 full size dirt bikes, 3 dogs, and some gear the payload will easily surpass 1900lb. In order to pull a travel trailer and have two full size dirt bikes I would also have to remove the tailgate which is a little bit of a PITA. At this point I was pretty bummed because I just paid my truck off last month. With current truck values I figured maybe it wouldn't be so bad to upgrade to a diesel 2500. I went and looked at a 2021 Longhorn 2500 Mega Cab with the cummins. The salesman was clueless and I knew more about the truck than he did. I looked in the door and was surprised to see the payload was 1909lb. Only 70 pounds more than my 1500! Back to the drawing board.

I started looking into 3500's and that seems to be the ticket for my use. The spec I want is just under 4000lb payload. I drive the "Ike Gauntlet" (yes I've watched all the YouTube videos) probably once a week to either mountain bike or ride Moto. I imagine we will pull the travel trailer that way at least once a month in the summer if not more with 3 or 4 two week trips a year to the PNW along with elk hunting in fall. We also plan on getting a lot of winter use out of this setup skiing for 2-3 days at a time 5 or 6 times a winter. Otherwise it will be my daily driver and my work commute is only about 12 miles. We spent about 60 nights a year in the van on average as a comparison.

I found this site when researching where to buy a 3500 from since there are zero available locally. Not in any configuration to look at or test drive. I found Aaron and Sandi at Mark Dodge and I'm about to put an order in for the following 3500 Laramie Mega Cab SRW. I've never owned a diesel but I'm semi-familiar driving a fire engine every day at work.

SO Cummins
Air Suspension
Engine block heater
Towing tech group B
Safety group B
Laramie Level B
Night Edition
Power Running Boards

Am I going way overkill with this? I feel like 90% of trucks I see towing big RV's around here are 2500's. I can only assume they're all over the payload rating. I'm a little nervous about how bad the ride will be as a daily driver when empty. I'm looking forward to the diesel in the mountains though not only for the power but for the exhaust braking. I'd love to hear any opinions or confirmation that I'm making the right choice here before jumping back into a big car payment. We are planning on keeping this truck for at least 6 or 7 years and imagine we'll put 150k - 200k miles on it in that time. If you made it this far I appreciate it!

 

[Jacob]

The truck and trailer sounds good to me. My first thought is that a 3500 pulling a 28' travel trailer on forest service roads to camp out is lot different than a camper van.
I think a single wheel 3500 is a good choice and with the mega cab you have a lot of room.
Did you test drive the 2500?

 

[NickinColorado]

I did test drive the 2500 and I liked it a lot. I’ve heard varying arguments about the 3500 being much worse though in ride comfort. That’s one of the reasons I’m planning on going with factory air ride.

I understand our camping options will change- the Promaster was FWD and definitely got me into some gnarly 4wd areas where I probably shouldn’t have been but it never let us down. I’m pretty comfortable driving big rigs though. My work truck (fire engine/ladder truck) are 20+ tons and about the length of this truck/trailer combo.

If I can get down some bumpy forest service road and the trailer doesn’t crumble I will be happy.

 

[DRAGRAM]

Hello all,
First post here, looking for some confirmation or opinions before placing an order on a new truck.

A little background first- I currently have a 2019 F150 XLT crew cab, 3.5 eco boost, 5.5' bed that I bought new that has 26k on the odometer. It's also paid off. This truck has treated me awesome averaging 21.5mpg combined, carrying 2-3 dirt bikes into the mountains regularly, and general use as a truck. I'm a firefighter so I often carry around a lot of work stuff. Payload in the F150 is 1,839 pounds with a tow rating of 13,200lb.

Up until a couple weeks ago we had a built out 159" Promaster camper van that I put about 200 hours of labor into, but since we are expecting our first kid and we also have three dogs we have sold our van and are looking to size up to buy a travel trailer. We aren't interested in staying in any RV parks and really ONLY boondocks. We've never paid to camp anywhere in the van. In nearly 4 years of ownership we put 53,000 miles on the van with 4 trips to British Columbia, one to Mexico, one to California, and a dozen + to Utah. I've never been interested in a travel trailer because the build quality on the ones I have been in are horrible. In all that time in our van I never had to do any repairs. Even after thousands of miles down washboard roads.

Researching heavy duty "off road" travel trailers I came across Northwoods, and Outdoors RV. I really like the backcountry series from ORV. Specifically the 20BD and 24KRS. The 24KRS specs are as follows but the 20bd is also really similar- https://www.outdoorsrvmfg.com/back-country-series-24krs/#specs

Dry weight 7430
fresh water capacity 100 gallons
grey tank 40
black tank 40
LPG 80lb tanks
Dry hitch weight 965lb
Max trailer weight 9995lb.

Researching online in a forum similar to this people say to expect 15-16% tongue weight because of where the generator is, water tank, and propane. Being conservative I'm figuring 1500lb tongue weight off the max possible trailer weight. You can see where this is going... With 3 of us, 2 full size dirt bikes, 3 dogs, and some gear the payload will easily surpass 1900lb. In order to pull a travel trailer and have two full size dirt bikes I would also have to remove the tailgate which is a little bit of a PITA. At this point I was pretty bummed because I just paid my truck off last month. With current truck values I figured maybe it wouldn't be so bad to upgrade to a diesel 2500. I went and looked at a 2021 Longhorn 2500 Mega Cab with the cummins. The salesman was clueless and I knew more about the truck than he did. I looked in the door and was surprised to see the payload was 1909lb. Only 70 pounds more than my 1500! Back to the drawing board.

I started looking into 3500's and that seems to be the ticket for my use. The spec I want is just under 4000lb payload. I drive the "Ike Gauntlet" (yes I've watched all the YouTube videos) probably once a week to either mountain bike or ride Moto. I imagine we will pull the travel trailer that way at least once a month in the summer if not more with 3 or 4 two week trips a year to the PNW along with elk hunting in fall. We also plan on getting a lot of winter use out of this setup skiing for 2-3 days at a time 5 or 6 times a winter. Otherwise it will be my daily driver and my work commute is only about 12 miles. We spent about 60 nights a year in the van on average as a comparison.

I found this site when researching where to buy a 3500 from since there are zero available locally. Not in any configuration to look at or test drive. I found Aaron and Sandi at Mark Dodge and I'm about to put an order in for the following 3500 Laramie Mega Cab SRW. I've never owned a diesel but I'm semi-familiar driving a fire engine every day at work.

SO Cummins
Air Suspension
Engine block heater
Towing tech group B
Safety group B
Laramie Level B
Night Edition
Power Running Boards

Am I going way overkill with this? I feel like 90% of trucks I see towing big RV's around here are 2500's. I can only assume they're all over the payload rating. I'm a little nervous about how bad the ride will be as a daily driver when empty. I'm looking forward to the diesel in the mountains though not only for the power but for the exhaust braking. I'd love to hear any opinions or confirmation that I'm making the right choice here before jumping back into a big car payment. We are planning on keeping this truck for at least 6 or 7 years and imagine we'll put 150k - 200k miles on it in that time. If you made it this far I appreciate it!

I have a 21 MegaCab 3500 SRW Cummins Air suspension. And, I find the ride to be quite good in the context that is it a one ton truck. I do not use the alternate ride height with my Trailer so the ball height remains the same all the time and the truck rides better when towing since it is up on the bags more. The reason I started doing this is because I could not achieve the alternate height when there is no car in the trailer and so it would change the setup loaded to unloaded. And I do pull it empty from time to time.

Unloaded it is better going diagonally through cross gutters etc. with the air suspension. I am very happy with the ride overall. It rides way better than my 2018 3500 CCSB Cummins did without air suspension. You did not mention 4X4 but I think that config only comes that way. Make sure you get it.

 

[MarcG]

My uses for my future truck are similar to yours so I'll add a few thoughts...take it with a grain of salt as my truck is currently on order but I previously had a 2500 followed by a 3500 DRW with air ride and now I have a 3500 SRW w/ air ride on order. The reason I did the 3500 DRW is I also have an Arctic Fox truck camper...but my family has out grown it so it's getting displaced.

1) I'm glad your doing your research on the hitch weights for the ORVs...as you stated...ORV is know to have very high hitch wights once fully configured. The model I'm looking at is the 21DBS and owners are reporting hitch weights of 1200#~1300# before they even get to max trailer weight...I remember reading someone stating they had 1/2 a tank of fresh water and scaled it at 1200#...which most don't expect for a 21' class trailer. I've read of a few people had to get new tow rigs because they didn't expect such a high hitch weight. I would expect something similar for the trailer you are looking to get...prob keep that in mind when you are purchasing your wt. dist. hitch as well.
2) The payload ratings are a bit conservative on the modern RAM 2500s but only you can decide if you are comfortable exceeding those numbers. As you mentioned, many people do, some out of ignorance some out of calculated risk to get that "better" ride quality. Ride quality is very subjective, I personally didn't mind the day to day ride of the 1 ton and would (and have) daily drive my truck but my other vehicles tend to have suspensions that are valved more aggressively and have a bit of "platform" to them (you mentioned MTB so I'm hoping you understand the reference) so they tend to ride "harsh" or firm to most people. Even with the air ride, unless you decide to go the carli route in the future, plush will never be a descriptor used for the ride quality.
3) Similar to DRAGRAM, toyed with using the alt ride height but eventually didn't bother with it
4) I agree, an often overlooked huge plus of the CTD is the exhaust brake...the drama free decents are worth the price of admission.
5) Be mindful that your 15 mile commute is actually a bad thing when it comes to a CTD. I wouldn't use it as a reason to go gasser, probably much to do about nothing for most people...if anything it will give you an excuse to do your weekend ride.
6) I personally have toyed with the idea but loading a motorcycle into the bed of a truck using ramps gives me enough anxiety so it has been nothing more than an idea. I have seen pictures of people but no one I know has tried, putting on a diamongback cover and loading their bikes ontop of that...seems very iffy to me but something to think about if you need the bed storage for large coolers and such.
7) One last thing, if you are one to modify your vehicles, the rear air makes suspension modifications a bit of a challenge. Not saying it cannot be done but you have to be more thoughtful because it's not as common and aftermarket support isn't as wide spread. (i.e. aftermarket shock options are limited, etc).


Long story short...you are going down a similar path as me...my answer was a 3500 Mega Cab CTD SRW.

 

[agtcovert]

Hello all,
First post here, looking for some confirmation or opinions before placing an order on a new truck.

A little background first- I currently have a 2019 F150 XLT crew cab, 3.5 eco boost, 5.5' bed that I bought new that has 26k on the odometer. It's also paid off. This truck has treated me awesome averaging 21.5mpg combined, carrying 2-3 dirt bikes into the mountains regularly, and general use as a truck. I'm a firefighter so I often carry around a lot of work stuff. Payload in the F150 is 1,839 pounds with a tow rating of 13,200lb.

Up until a couple weeks ago we had a built out 159" Promaster camper van that I put about 200 hours of labor into, but since we are expecting our first kid and we also have three dogs we have sold our van and are looking to size up to buy a travel trailer. We aren't interested in staying in any RV parks and really ONLY boondocks. We've never paid to camp anywhere in the van. In nearly 4 years of ownership we put 53,000 miles on the van with 4 trips to British Columbia, one to Mexico, one to California, and a dozen + to Utah. I've never been interested in a travel trailer because the build quality on the ones I have been in are horrible. In all that time in our van I never had to do any repairs. Even after thousands of miles down washboard roads.

Researching heavy duty "off road" travel trailers I came across Northwoods, and Outdoors RV. I really like the backcountry series from ORV. Specifically the 20BD and 24KRS. The 24KRS specs are as follows but the 20bd is also really similar- https://www.outdoorsrvmfg.com/back-country-series-24krs/#specs

Dry weight 7430
fresh water capacity 100 gallons
grey tank 40
black tank 40
LPG 80lb tanks
Dry hitch weight 965lb
Max trailer weight 9995lb.

Researching online in a forum similar to this people say to expect 15-16% tongue weight because of where the generator is, water tank, and propane. Being conservative I'm figuring 1500lb tongue weight off the max possible trailer weight. You can see where this is going... With 3 of us, 2 full size dirt bikes, 3 dogs, and some gear the payload will easily surpass 1900lb. In order to pull a travel trailer and have two full size dirt bikes I would also have to remove the tailgate which is a little bit of a PITA. At this point I was pretty bummed because I just paid my truck off last month. With current truck values I figured maybe it wouldn't be so bad to upgrade to a diesel 2500. I went and looked at a 2021 Longhorn 2500 Mega Cab with the cummins. The salesman was clueless and I knew more about the truck than he did. I looked in the door and was surprised to see the payload was 1909lb. Only 70 pounds more than my 1500! Back to the drawing board.

I started looking into 3500's and that seems to be the ticket for my use. The spec I want is just under 4000lb payload. I drive the "Ike Gauntlet" (yes I've watched all the YouTube videos) probably once a week to either mountain bike or ride Moto. I imagine we will pull the travel trailer that way at least once a month in the summer if not more with 3 or 4 two week trips a year to the PNW along with elk hunting in fall. We also plan on getting a lot of winter use out of this setup skiing for 2-3 days at a time 5 or 6 times a winter. Otherwise it will be my daily driver and my work commute is only about 12 miles. We spent about 60 nights a year in the van on average as a comparison.

I found this site when researching where to buy a 3500 from since there are zero available locally. Not in any configuration to look at or test drive. I found Aaron and Sandi at Mark Dodge and I'm about to put an order in for the following 3500 Laramie Mega Cab SRW. I've never owned a diesel but I'm semi-familiar driving a fire engine every day at work.

SO Cummins
Air Suspension
Engine block heater
Towing tech group B
Safety group B
Laramie Level B
Night Edition
Power Running Boards

Am I going way overkill with this? I feel like 90% of trucks I see towing big RV's around here are 2500's. I can only assume they're all over the payload rating. I'm a little nervous about how bad the ride will be as a daily driver when empty. I'm looking forward to the diesel in the mountains though not only for the power but for the exhaust braking. I'd love to hear any opinions or confirmation that I'm making the right choice here before jumping back into a big car payment. We are planning on keeping this truck for at least 6 or 7 years and imagine we'll put 150k - 200k miles on it in that time. If you made it this far I appreciate it!

Take it from me -- if you want a diesel, just get the 3500, otherwise a gasser in a 2500 will give decent payload. I don't have mine yet (on order), but for what my plans are, I shouldn't have gotten the 2500 I did. I even knew better, and like everyone ends up saying, get more than you need. The one I have on order is spec'ed for interior longer-drive comfort and towing. Only thing I didn't want/need was DRW -- I'm good limiting my RV options a bit, as I still need to use the truck for other things and don't feel like DRW made a lot of sense for me. The 8' bed might be a bit annoying, but the 50 gal tank will only be annoying when I fuel up.

Good luck w/ ordering & enjoy what you get.

 

[NickinColorado]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Long distance comfort is also a priority for me so the Laramie I have spec’ed is basically fully loaded minus a moonroof. Does anyone know the difference between a loaded Laramie and the Limited?

It’s a $5700 difference for the limited and I think the only difference is full leather seats vs leather trimmed seats as well as some different upholstery?

 

[NickinColorado]

Take it from me -- if you want a diesel, just get the 3500, otherwise a gasser in a 2500 will give decent payload. I don't have mine yet (on order), but for what my plans are, I shouldn't have gotten the 2500 I did. I even knew better, and like everyone ends up saying, get more than you need. The one I have on order is spec'ed for interior longer-drive comfort and towing. Only thing I didn't want/need was DRW -- I'm good limiting my RV options a bit, as I still need to use the truck for other things and don't feel like DRW made a lot of sense for me. The 8' bed might be a bit annoying, but the 50 gal tank will only be annoying when I fuel up.

Good luck w/ ordering & enjoy what you get.

The 50 gallon tank will definitely be missed with the mega cab. I think swapping to a 50 gallon titan tank will be one of the first things I do when I get the trailer. My current F-150 gets about 700 miles to a tank with the 36 gallon tank and I’m a big fan.

 

[NickinColorado]

My uses for my future truck are similar to yours so I'll add a few thoughts...take it with a grain of salt as my truck is currently on order but I previously had a 2500 followed by a 3500 DRW with air ride and now I have a 3500 SRW w/ air ride on order. The reason I did the 3500 DRW is I also have an Arctic Fox truck camper...but my family has out grown it so it's getting displaced.

1) I'm glad your doing your research on the hitch weights for the ORVs...as you stated...ORV is know to have very high hitch wights once fully configured. The model I'm looking at is the 21DBS and owners are reporting hitch weights of 1200#~1300# before they even get to max trailer weight...I remember reading someone stating they had 1/2 a tank of fresh water and scaled it at 1200#...which most don't expect for a 21' class trailer. I've read of a few people had to get new tow rigs because they didn't expect such a high hitch weight. I would expect something similar for the trailer you are looking to get...prob keep that in mind when you are purchasing your wt. dist. hitch as well.
2) The payload ratings are a bit conservative on the modern RAM 2500s but only you can decide if you are comfortable exceeding those numbers. As you mentioned, many people do, some out of ignorance some out of calculated risk to get that "better" ride quality. Ride quality is very subjective, I personally didn't mind the day to day ride of the 1 ton and would (and have) daily drive my truck but my other vehicles tend to have suspensions that are valved more aggressively and have a bit of "platform" to them (you mentioned MTB so I'm hoping you understand the reference) so they tend to ride "harsh" or firm to most people. Even with the air ride, unless you decide to go the carli route in the future, plush will never be a descriptor used for the ride quality.
3) Similar to DRAGRAM, toyed with using the alt ride height but eventually didn't bother with it
4) I agree, an often overlooked huge plus of the CTD is the exhaust brake...the drama free decents are worth the price of admission.
5) Be mindful that your 15 mile commute is actually a bad thing when it comes to a CTD. I wouldn't use it as a reason to go gasser, probably much to do about nothing for most people...if anything it will give you an excuse to do your weekend ride.
6) I personally have toyed with the idea but loading a motorcycle into the bed of a truck using ramps gives me enough anxiety so it has been nothing more than an idea. I have seen pictures of people but no one I know has tried, putting on a diamongback cover and loading their bikes ontop of that...seems very iffy to me but something to think about if you need the bed storage for large coolers and such.
7) One last thing, if you are one to modify your vehicles, the rear air makes suspension modifications a bit of a challenge. Not saying it cannot be done but you have to be more thoughtful because it's not as common and aftermarket support isn't as wide spread. (i.e. aftermarket shock options are limited, etc).


Long story short...you are going down a similar path as me...my answer was a 3500 Mega Cab CTD SRW.

Good point about the suspension. I need to look into the Carli setup and see if it’s worth saving the $1700 on the air ride and investing in that. I generally don’t like to do a ton of vehicle modifications though.

 

[NVYCHF]

Hello all,
First post here, looking for some confirmation or opinions before placing an order on a new truck.

A little background first- I currently have a 2019 F150 XLT crew cab, 3.5 eco boost, 5.5' bed that I bought new that has 26k on the odometer. It's also paid off. This truck has treated me awesome averaging 21.5mpg combined, carrying 2-3 dirt bikes into the mountains regularly, and general use as a truck. I'm a firefighter so I often carry around a lot of work stuff. Payload in the F150 is 1,839 pounds with a tow rating of 13,200lb.

Up until a couple weeks ago we had a built out 159" Promaster camper van that I put about 200 hours of labor into, but since we are expecting our first kid and we also have three dogs we have sold our van and are looking to size up to buy a travel trailer. We aren't interested in staying in any RV parks and really ONLY boondocks. We've never paid to camp anywhere in the van. In nearly 4 years of ownership we put 53,000 miles on the van with 4 trips to British Columbia, one to Mexico, one to California, and a dozen + to Utah. I've never been interested in a travel trailer because the build quality on the ones I have been in are horrible. In all that time in our van I never had to do any repairs. Even after thousands of miles down washboard roads.

Researching heavy duty "off road" travel trailers I came across Northwoods, and Outdoors RV. I really like the backcountry series from ORV. Specifically the 20BD and 24KRS. The 24KRS specs are as follows but the 20bd is also really similar- https://www.outdoorsrvmfg.com/back-country-series-24krs/#specs

Dry weight 7430
fresh water capacity 100 gallons
grey tank 40
black tank 40
LPG 80lb tanks
Dry hitch weight 965lb
Max trailer weight 9995lb.

Researching online in a forum similar to this people say to expect 15-16% tongue weight because of where the generator is, water tank, and propane. Being conservative I'm figuring 1500lb tongue weight off the max possible trailer weight. You can see where this is going... With 3 of us, 2 full size dirt bikes, 3 dogs, and some gear the payload will easily surpass 1900lb. In order to pull a travel trailer and have two full size dirt bikes I would also have to remove the tailgate which is a little bit of a PITA. At this point I was pretty bummed because I just paid my truck off last month. With current truck values I figured maybe it wouldn't be so bad to upgrade to a diesel 2500. I went and looked at a 2021 Longhorn 2500 Mega Cab with the cummins. The salesman was clueless and I knew more about the truck than he did. I looked in the door and was surprised to see the payload was 1909lb. Only 70 pounds more than my 1500! Back to the drawing board.

I started looking into 3500's and that seems to be the ticket for my use. The spec I want is just under 4000lb payload. I drive the "Ike Gauntlet" (yes I've watched all the YouTube videos) probably once a week to either mountain bike or ride Moto. I imagine we will pull the travel trailer that way at least once a month in the summer if not more with 3 or 4 two week trips a year to the PNW along with elk hunting in fall. We also plan on getting a lot of winter use out of this setup skiing for 2-3 days at a time 5 or 6 times a winter. Otherwise it will be my daily driver and my work commute is only about 12 miles. We spent about 60 nights a year in the van on average as a comparison.

I found this site when researching where to buy a 3500 from since there are zero available locally. Not in any configuration to look at or test drive. I found Aaron and Sandi at Mark Dodge and I'm about to put an order in for the following 3500 Laramie Mega Cab SRW. I've never owned a diesel but I'm semi-familiar driving a fire engine every day at work.

SO Cummins
Air Suspension
Engine block heater
Towing tech group B
Safety group B
Laramie Level B
Night Edition
Power Running Boards

Am I going way overkill with this? I feel like 90% of trucks I see towing big RV's around here are 2500's. I can only assume they're all over the payload rating. I'm a little nervous about how bad the ride will be as a daily driver when empty. I'm looking forward to the diesel in the mountains though not only for the power but for the exhaust braking. I'd love to hear any opinions or confirmation that I'm making the right choice here before jumping back into a big car payment. We are planning on keeping this truck for at least 6 or 7 years and imagine we'll put 150k - 200k miles on it in that time. If you made it this far I appreciate it!

Nick (inColorado),

No I don't think you are going overkill with this. You are playing the identical game my wife and I are playing...I want an 250RDS Titanium from Outdoors Mfg. In planning our future trailer setup my wife and I decided that we would have more truck than necessary to ensure we did not need a bigger truck later. If and when we got an even larger trailer.

So unless you are getting a 5th wheel I believe most of the trailers are max 11,000 lbs. Given your estimate of 10 to 15 percent tongue weight, you should have approximately 2,500 lbs for cargo capacity. If you have not found it yet...every truck's weight is different. For example my 3500, 4x4, SO, CC, Laramie will weigh less and not just because of the cab. I don't have air suspension, nor am I getting the Laramie Level B, I went Level A. All of the extra features in B will add weight...for example 17 speakers over 9 speakers.

My recommendation is to get the 3500 Mega as you want. When you get it go fill the tank and have it weighed at a scale.

My 0.2

Be safe,
Randy

 

[Birton]

FYI, my previous truck was 2008 RAM3500 EGR system. Great truck but this one is definitely better!

Bought the 2021 Limited 3500 High Output, 8ft bed, 50gal, air sus., crew, etc.... last year. The truck is a marvelous beast!

Pulling a ORV 24RKS and carry quad or R1250GSA bike. My payload rating is approx. 3600lbs, tow 25k. Took delivery in April, now have 6000 miles, 3200mi towing to New Mexico and back.
The 50gal tank is excellent, I drive approx 350miles / day. When towing my mileage is approx 11.5 mpg. So I can easily make the next stop, drop the trailer and then fill up at stations, without the trailer, I like this!

No trailer on the highway I've seen 20mpg. Town it's about 17mpg.

The air ride is excellent. Run the rear tires, no trailer, 65lbs.

This is my first DEF system. Burn rate is 300-400 while towing. Take extra DEF on trips.

Accelerator take a little practice. A bit of the delay before the "jet" engine kicks in - LOL. You'll get use to that.

Love the truck and the POWER!

 

[NickinColorado]

FYI, my previous truck was 2008 RAM3500 EGR system. Great truck but this one is definitely better!

Bought the 2021 Limited 3500 High Output, 8ft bed, 50gal, air sus., crew, etc.... last year. The truck is a marvelous beast!

Pulling a ORV 24RKS and carry quad or R1250GSA bike. My payload rating is approx. 3600lbs, tow 25k. Took delivery in April, now have 6000 miles, 3200mi towing to New Mexico and back.
The 50gal tank is excellent, I drive approx 350miles / day. When towing my mileage is approx 11.5 mpg. So I can easily make the next stop, drop the trailer and then fill up at stations, without the trailer, I like this!

No trailer on the highway I've seen 20mpg. Town it's about 17mpg.

The air ride is excellent. Run the rear tires, no trailer, 65lbs.

This is my first DEF system. Burn rate is 300-400 while towing. Take extra DEF on trips.

Accelerator take a little practice. A bit of the delay before the "jet" engine kicks in - LOL. You'll get use to that.

Love the truck and the POWER!

View attachment 20421

Thank you! Great looking truck btw!

 

[Jacob]

FYI, my previous truck was 2008 RAM3500 EGR system. Great truck but this one is definitely better!

Bought the 2021 Limited 3500 High Output, 8ft bed, 50gal, air sus., crew, etc.... last year. The truck is a marvelous beast!

Pulling a ORV 24RKS and carry quad or R1250GSA bike. My payload rating is approx. 3600lbs, tow 25k. Took delivery in April, now have 6000 miles, 3200mi towing to New Mexico and back.
The 50gal tank is excellent, I drive approx 350miles / day. When towing my mileage is approx 11.5 mpg. So I can easily make the next stop, drop the trailer and then fill up at stations, without the trailer, I like this!

No trailer on the highway I've seen 20mpg. Town it's about 17mpg.

The air ride is excellent. Run the rear tires, no trailer, 65lbs.

This is my first DEF system. Burn rate is 300-400 while towing. Take extra DEF on trips.

Accelerator take a little practice. A bit of the delay before the "jet" engine kicks in - LOL. You'll get use to that.

Love the truck and the POWER!

View attachment 20421

Is this near los alamos nm?

 

[Birton]

Is this near los alamos nm?

Yes sir, just up the hill.

 

[NickinColorado]

Does anyone have an opinion on Laramie vs Limited? There's a $4,000 difference between the two I have spec'd.

 

[beckty85]

Does anyone have an opinion on Laramie vs Limited? There's a $4,000 difference between the two I have spec'd.

Can't have a 6 seater with the limited.

 

[BikePilot]

Wow we are practically twins from your description! The 3500 is definitely the way to go, it’s essentially the same as the 2500 except it has leaf spring rear suspension that can support more weight. Other than maybe a bumpier ride when empty there’s no downside to the 3500. I think you’ve got the right spec. The limited will have nicer leather and a variety of fancier trim items. No 6 seat option though which does come in handy.

Personally I’d skip the air suspension and active steering to keep it more simple/reliable. I also tend to like good aftermarket suspension if much off pavement is in the cards. Carli and Thuren are the go-to for these trucks. I also run A kit on my Husky 300 so maybe I’m just a suspension snob I also am leaning toward the HO option primarily to get the Aisin trans which I think will hold up better in the mountains. It is more clunky or truck like feeling so perhaps not the move if it’s both hauling and commuting. I commute in other things so the truck really only moves when there’s stuff to haul.

ATC does some awesome custom trailers/toy haulers as well. I find I much prefer to have the bikes inside a trailer so they aren’t exposed to the elements and theft. I’m actually about to order the same truck more or less to replace an aging F250 we are outgrowing (small cab).

I would also try to avoid commuting in a HD truck. It’s a big clumsy thing to drive around empty every day. A car or street bike is way more efficient and fun.

 

[NickinColorado]

Wow we are practically twins from your description! The 3500 is definitely the way to go, it’s essentially the same as the 2500 except it has leaf spring rear suspension that can support more weight. Other than maybe a bumpier ride when empty there’s no downside to the 3500. I think you’ve got the right spec. The limited will have nicer leather and a variety of fancier trim items. No 6 seat option though which does come in handy.

Personally I’d skip the air suspension and active steering to keep it more simple/reliable. I also tend to like good aftermarket suspension if much off pavement is in the cards. Carli and Thuren are the go-to for these trucks. I also run A kit on my Husky 300 so maybe I’m just a suspension snob I also am leaning toward the HO option primarily to get the Aisin trans which I think will hold up better in the mountains. It is more clunky or truck like feeling so perhaps not the move if it’s both hauling and commuting. I commute in other things so the truck really only moves when there’s stuff to haul.

ATC does some awesome custom trailers/toy haulers as well. I find I much prefer to have the bikes inside a trailer so they aren’t exposed to the elements and theft. I’m actually about to order the same truck more or less to replace an aging F250 we are outgrowing (small cab).

I would also try to avoid commuting in a HD truck. It’s a big clumsy thing to drive around empty every day. A car or street bike is way more efficient and fun.

You’re not the first person who has mentioned ATC to me… I’ll have to take a look. Too funny I have a 2020 TE300i as well. I’m really contemplating removing the air ride option and just going for an after market alternative.

 

[BikePilot]

Awesome! ‘19 TX300 here.

 

[NVYCHF]

Does anyone have an opinion on Laramie vs Limited? There's a $4,000 difference between the two I have spec'd.

Nick,

When I spec'd my truck, I went back and forth on what options are worth the "extra" money. Search online for the 2021 HD Ram catalog, it will breakdown the additional options that are in some of the packages the Ram HD config site does not cover. Additionally, the config site now lists the package codes. So having the catalog will also help identifying what and what is not included. I spec'd my CC Laramie with all of my must haves with very few of the required package add-ons...if any.

Remember your previous post about weight and capacity...a Limited is going to provide many of those little add-ons that also add weight.

You can find my build sheet in one of my previous posts...I am new like you...so there are not too many.

Be safe,
Randy