22 Ram 5500 reviews

[AH64ID]

It's new for '22. Hopefully it will become a setting in the BCM and we will be able to disable it with AlfaOBD, but until then we are stuck with it.

 

[Blythkd1]

Hmmm, I never had trouble locking a GM with it running, just hit the door locks and when it popped the driver's door lock back up, pushed it down manually and shut the door. I just like always knowing where the "key" is. When there's a tumbler, the key is in it. With the push button, I'm always moving the fob because it's in the way in a cupholder or something like that. Then it gets thrown down in the console abyss and I have to dig for it when I get out of the truck. With a key, I always knew where it was. In a perfect world, I have both fobs with me, throw one in the abyss and keep one in my pocket.

I guess we all like different options, that's why we have options. Different strokes for different folks. I assume I'm in the minority and will just have to get used to keyless fobs.

 

[flan]

Lots of vehicles do it. Wife’s explorer does. Durango’s do. I wonder if it’s a new requirement through one of the alphabet soup govt agencies?

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Ya i dont understand it none of my previous rams did it. They only beeped once when you locked it while running. For me anyway having key fob/push button start since 2015 i came to take it for granted. When i had that 19 gmc drw denali for 6 months while i waited for this 5500 that was one of my biggest pet peeves was going back to a keyed ignition, not being able to leave the truck running and locked while i go in to get kids for daycare etc. hated the keys!

The only time i had issues was on my 17 eco diesel half ton i had for commuting, batteries died in fob but just needed to hold fob close to button and it started. That eco diesel was a brutal winter starting vehicle

They did it for the 22s

Hmmm, I never had trouble locking a GM with it running, just hit the door locks and when it popped the driver's door lock back up, pushed it down manually and shut the door. I just like always knowing where the "key" is. When there's a tumbler, the key is in it. With the push button, I'm always moving the fob because it's in the way in a cupholder or something like that. Then it gets thrown down in the console abyss and I have to dig for it when I get out of the truck. With a key, I always knew where it was. In a perfect world, I have both fobs with me, throw one in the abyss and keep one in my pocket.

I guess we all like different options, that's why we have options. Different strokes for different folks. I assume I'm in the minority and will just have to get used to keyless fobs.

i carry my keys on a carabiner on my belt loop so the push button is nice never needing to grab the key but i do miss the simplicity of a key

 

[Pressure_welder]

So decided to pull over the scale on my way out of the mine yesterday to see what i weighed currently, granted it likely wasnt the "best" test as we just recieved a pretty massive snow storm, no snow on the truck as its parked inside every night but it did have some slush on it, the underside wasnt horribly coated but even if we said conservatively 300lbs of slush? Anyway drove onto scale and she read 5860KG with me in it, or 12,919lbs. Again just poking at numbers but if i wasnt in the truck, and we removed the slush number i forsee the truck sitting at around that 12,500lb mark, and this was with 3/4 tank of fuel. So this is still with a relatively light tool load, only really carrying essentials right now for jobs as i am still waiting on my aluminium drawer stacks to go inside my main tool box. As well, i have yet to fab my aluminium slip tank that sits in its own compartment in the middle of the main tool box which will be between 35-40 gallons. So still guessing but once all the tools/drawer stacks are in, slip tank installed and full of fuel i guestimate being in that 13-13,300lb range.

Base weight of truck is 8663lbs, so rough calculations saying i put just shy of 4000lbs on the truck between the bed and welding equipment which is about what i figured with my math previously. I know i dont exactly have the lightest welding bed on the planet, but i dont feel there would be a ton of savings, or ENOUGH savings with a custom aluminium one to get me into a 3500 dually, and still have the ability to pull a trailer of substance. A 4500 likely wouldve fit the bill, but i think i wouldve still be stressed about payloads, 4500 wouldve given me roughly 3500lbs remaining, whereas i have about 6500lbs with this 5500. For the extra 2000$ at time of order i believe i made the right decision, and certainly appreciate all of your help with the decision making as its not an easy one. Ill of course weigh it when everything is on it and its a little colder here

 

[AJ608]

Yes Bradford seems to do a good job, for a production bed anyway. Atleast they dont cut corners and actually weld them…. The welding is a bit to be desired but far better than CM. The few welds that are actuLly on a CM are either missing the joint or full of porosity.

I've got a customer that has 3 CM beds and they all look like ****. The 3ft of weld on the entire body look like a little kid did it, porosity all over filled full of the cheapest paint know to man. I really wanted one I like the looks but it's junk in a few years. The oldest one is 3 years old and has rust spots all over it.

 

[Pressure_welder]

Yep, the problem is your general consumer has no idea. They see a shiney black bed and think it looks awesome and will run it. But its one of the worst built beds construction wise as far as iam concerned. Like impressive how little welding is on the bed. But i guess they do this for speed… time is money. But they still want a premium for it. I just checked and its 12,000$ cdn for an SK skirted bed. Which is reasonable for todays prices… if it wasnt junk. Actually you can get them just from factory built and sandblasted. If i was looking for a cookie cutter id do this…. Get it home and properly weld it/repair defects. Have it blasted again, chemical cleaned, and then powdered

 

[AJ608]

Yep, the problem is your general consumer has no idea. They see a shiney black bed and think it looks awesome and will run it. But its one of the worst built beds construction wise as far as iam concerned. Like impressive how little welding is on the bed. But i guess they do this for speed… time is money. But they still want a premium for it. I just checked and its 12,000$ cdn for an SK skirted bed. Which is reasonable for todays prices… if it wasnt junk. Actually you can get them just from factory built and sandblasted. If i was looking for a cookie cutter id do this…. Get it home and properly weld it/repair defects. Have it blasted again, chemical cleaned, and then powdered

Yeah it would cost 10k extra to have the bed fixed/built correctly For 25k you can buy an actual work body that is bomb proof

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

I've got a customer that has 3 CM beds and they all look like ****. The 3ft of weld on the entire body look like a little kid did it, porosity all over filled full of the cheapest paint know to man. I really wanted one I like the looks but it's junk in a few years. The oldest one is 3 years old and has rust spots all over it.

Thats why i am thinking of just making my own aluminum deck for my shop truck you cant buy quality anymore

 

[Pressure_welder]

So! thought id give another slight update for those who may be interested. We just arrived home last night from our christmas trip up north, truck had a chance to stretch her legs a bit, roughly 2600KM round trip. Typical manitoba weather.... drove through blizzard conditions for a majority of the trip, blowing snow, and bucked a good head wind almost the entire way. As usual the 300KM of gravel at the last leg was actually the best section of road. So i had a chance to see how these XDS2 tires responded in some extremely cold, icy, snowy conditions, ambient on our way up ranged from -25 to -38 at the end and the tires i feel responded very well for a hard commercial tire. I wouldnt say as good as my previous good year duratracs but very close. I felt confident on the road with them on the ice, the only time i required some pretty serious concentration was sections of slippery highway where it was subtly rutted up by semi traffic and the wide track couldnt pick a rut per say. But of course slowing down and driving as per conditions aleviates this, but! could be very dangerous if not expecting it as you pop in and out of the track, compiled with the ice makes for a very uneasy front end. Comfort wise i have to say ram has always fit me very well to begin with, both my wife and i love the seats hands down best in the industry as far as i am concerned. But at the end of the day 16 hrs in any seat and your going to feel it. My wife got a chance to play around with the uconnect a bit to discover all the features, pretty awesome. Bravo to the heated seats/steering wheel.... top level on these kick in very fast and become far to hot in no time at all. Also, WOW are these headlights simply amazing from factory... low beams and high beams both... unreal. So when we got to the inlaws, we basically just parked the truck, unpacked, and i left it sit outside for 3 days without being plugged in, and temps ranged from -25 to -45 ambient, one evening father inlaw and i decided to test its cold weather starting ability and just go park it in his 80 x 100 shop for the rest of the holiday, truck read -32, i ran the grid heater cycle twice, and it fired right up after about 4 cranks, impressive! i know obviously not recommended and we dont do this all of the time as their always plugged in. But at the same time we like to know how capable they are of cold weather starting. Ride quality consensus, my wife is fairly indifferent when it comes to ride quality, however i asked for her serious opinion on the matter and she said she noticed it to MAYBE be a touch stiffer than our 3500 dually, but only if she was physically looking for bumps. On decent highway it behaves as well as our durango r/t. Our 2 yr old and 5 yr old didnt have a comment on said matters. Weight wise, i estimated around that 13,500 ish mark, the toolbox is split into 3 compartments.... two outers are 39" tall x 28" deep x 26" wide, inner compartment is 20" x 20" x 39" but it dosent have the slip tank yet, so this box was jam packed, my side was full of welding gear, and other two were luggage/presents/sledding gear etc. so i suppose you could say we were loaded down... ish? for a 3500 anyway lol. If i had one complaint about the truck, and granted its maybe not a fair complaint but you have to find some negatives.... would be the mileage, obviously going up in a head wind and horrible winter conditions MPG shouldn't really even be a factor but i was seeing around 10.5 to 12mpg at between 100 and 110kmh depending on road conditions and visability, and this was in some cold temps -38 being lowest, winter front on etc. However yesterday, was relatively ideal conditions nice and warm -28 in the morning, and warmed up to -10, basically no wind and maintained an easy 110kmh the whole way on the highway and 80-90kmh on the gravel. For most of the day i was seeing about 11.2 to 13.8 mpg, so an average of about 12mpg well say for easy figures. I felt this was reasonable for a truck this heavy, but always nice to get the best mpg you can of course, especially at todays prices. Costs me just over 400$ to fill this tank from empty. One way to aleviate this would be to knock the KMH down to 100 which seems to have me at around 1800RPM, on a trip that long though that would add almost another hour to it, and certainly not worth the savings with two kiddos in the back seat.

All in all, still very happy with the truck and still feel it was the right purchase, i hope over time i see the mpg increase slightly, OR fuel go back to a reasonable price.... 2.00$ a litre for diesel is nothing short of a junk punch.

 

[AH64ID]

Awesome report!

I don’t think you need to cycle the grid heater twice thou. Ram has the grid heater on time preprogrammed based on IAT for a single run, and running it twice just depletes the battery and slows down the cranking speed so you could do more harm than good.

 

[Great White North Eh]

So! thought id give another slight update for those who may be interested. We just arrived home last night from our christmas trip up north, truck had a chance to stretch her legs a bit, roughly 2600KM round trip. Typical manitoba weather.... drove through blizzard conditions for a majority of the trip, blowing snow, and bucked a good head wind almost the entire way. As usual the 300KM of gravel at the last leg was actually the best section of road. So i had a chance to see how these XDS2 tires responded in some extremely cold, icy, snowy conditions, ambient on our way up ranged from -25 to -38 at the end and the tires i feel responded very well for a hard commercial tire. I wouldnt say as good as my previous good year duratracs but very close. I felt confident on the road with them on the ice, the only time i required some pretty serious concentration was sections of slippery highway where it was subtly rutted up by semi traffic and the wide track couldnt pick a rut per say. But of course slowing down and driving as per conditions aleviates this, but! could be very dangerous if not expecting it as you pop in and out of the track, compiled with the ice makes for a very uneasy front end. Comfort wise i have to say ram has always fit me very well to begin with, both my wife and i love the seats hands down best in the industry as far as i am concerned. But at the end of the day 16 hrs in any seat and your going to feel it. My wife got a chance to play around with the uconnect a bit to discover all the features, pretty awesome. Bravo to the heated seats/steering wheel.... top level on these kick in very fast and become far to hot in no time at all. Also, WOW are these headlights simply amazing from factory... low beams and high beams both... unreal. So when we got to the inlaws, we basically just parked the truck, unpacked, and i left it sit outside for 3 days without being plugged in, and temps ranged from -25 to -45 ambient, one evening father inlaw and i decided to test its cold weather starting ability and just go park it in his 80 x 100 shop for the rest of the holiday, truck read -32, i ran the grid heater cycle twice, and it fired right up after about 4 cranks, impressive! i know obviously not recommended and we dont do this all of the time as their always plugged in. But at the same time we like to know how capable they are of cold weather starting. Ride quality consensus, my wife is fairly indifferent when it comes to ride quality, however i asked for her serious opinion on the matter and she said she noticed it to MAYBE be a touch stiffer than our 3500 dually, but only if she was physically looking for bumps. On decent highway it behaves as well as our durango r/t. Our 2 yr old and 5 yr old didnt have a comment on said matters. Weight wise, i estimated around that 13,500 ish mark, the toolbox is split into 3 compartments.... two outers are 39" tall x 28" deep x 26" wide, inner compartment is 20" x 20" x 39" but it dosent have the slip tank yet, so this box was jam packed, my side was full of welding gear, and other two were luggage/presents/sledding gear etc. so i suppose you could say we were loaded down... ish? for a 3500 anyway lol. If i had one complaint about the truck, and granted its maybe not a fair complaint but you have to find some negatives.... would be the mileage, obviously going up in a head wind and horrible winter conditions MPG shouldn't really even be a factor but i was seeing around 10.5 to 12mpg at between 100 and 110kmh depending on road conditions and visability, and this was in some cold temps -38 being lowest, winter front on etc. However yesterday, was relatively ideal conditions nice and warm -28 in the morning, and warmed up to -10, basically no wind and maintained an easy 110kmh the whole way on the highway and 80-90kmh on the gravel. For most of the day i was seeing about 11.2 to 13.8 mpg, so an average of about 12mpg well say for easy figures. I felt this was reasonable for a truck this heavy, but always nice to get the best mpg you can of course, especially at todays prices. Costs me just over 400$ to fill this tank from empty. One way to aleviate this would be to knock the KMH down to 100 which seems to have me at around 1800RPM, on a trip that long though that would add almost another hour to it, and certainly not worth the savings with two kiddos in the back seat.

All in all, still very happy with the truck and still feel it was the right purchase, i hope over time i see the mpg increase slightly, OR fuel go back to a reasonable price.... 2.00$ a litre for diesel is nothing short of a junk punch.

Thumbs up on the update.
Ya you know it’s winter when the gravel is better than the black top. I too dislike the Big rig rut in the slow lane as it is always greasy/ slippery. As far as the grid heater …twice is nice! especially when the polar vortex is up your @$$. It’s also good to check the cold start performance once in a while so you know what see will do in a pinch

 

[Pressure_welder]

Hahahaha well that didnt take long, 7500km on the clock. This could get expensive!

 

[Pressure_welder]

andddd just got my de-rate on the way into the shop this morning, dealer cant even get me in until next monday! delightful. While it dosent make me feel a ton better, diesel mechanic did say i am the 8th 5500 owner to call in the last week. He figures since tank was thawed, its likely level sensor with crystals on it. So who knows, my def tank is sitting at half a tank right now, so i am going to go bring it upto 3/4 and see if that added def may "rinse" or soak off the crystals, disconnect battery cables and see if i can atleast get a reset "de-rate" so i can limp it to and from work.

Sent a message to ram care, see if anything comes of it, id be shocked if it did. lost out on the remainder of a welding contract this morning and pissed off a loyal customer, as i cant make it back to site for minimum a week and job needs to be done by next friday. So that's a touch over 12,000$ out of my pocket. If it were the old days it would be going directly to my buddies diesel performance shop for a full delete.

I know i am only one of MANY, but sorry 7000km and already issues, on a 100k + truck is entirely unreasonable.

 

[Pressure_welder]

well had battery cables off for an hr, and that didnt work. Buddy is going to try and erase code at his autobody shop. Hopefully that will reset the de-rate countdown. Atleast then can drive it until monday

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

well had battery cables off for an hr, and that didnt work. Buddy is going to try and erase code at his autobody shop. Hopefully that will reset the de-rate countdown. Atleast then can drive it until monday

It will not reset the count down

 

[Pressure_welder]

Yep for sure, buddy just put his code reader on it egr related sensor and another one i forget. Erased codes, warning came back almost immediately and countdown remained the same. Looks like shes parked till next week.

 

[Pressure_welder]

Small update if it is even one, started a case with ram care canada, appointment is on tueaday for the truck. Ended up having to drive it for job couldnt turn down for good customer. Anyway 5 min down the road de rate message went away and stayed away for maybe combined 60-70km then came back yesterday morning. Although de-rate did not reset the range. Then on the way back to house yesterday message went away again. Iam still taking truck in on tues as somthing is still clearly wrong.

 

[Pressure_welder]

Well, decided to make my call to "ram care canada" today to see how that would go. In a round about way basically got told to pound sand. Explained dealership told me to keep truck inside due to de-rate and drive it in to the dealer when my appointment came up "tomorrow". Told them that i will have had a rental for what will be almost 2 weeks by the time its fixed to the tune of almost 2500$+ She said the truck would've had to been at the dealership over night or for an extended period of time for me to qualify for a rental. I tried to explain to her that the dealership told me to keep it in my possession until my appointment date, ontop of which i have over 50,000$ worth of equipment on the truck so there's no way in hell its sitting in a dealership parking lot. She stuck to her guns, so i just said ill need a phone number to continue up the chain then i guess, and all her response was " this is FCA's position on the matter" i can escalate it if you like and it will go to a supervisor, but if the decision doesn't change you wont receive a call back. There was a severe (language barrier) so it was difficult to understand, but anyway.

who knows! maybe i am out of line...... and feel free to tell me if i am fellas/ladies

- just finished scribbling a 105,000$ checque to ram
- 7500KM on the clock and already down for emissions equip, dealer cant get me in for a week and a half due to other rams down with emissions equip, and it dosent sound like they have a solution to the problem, rather just a fix and hope it dosent happen again.
- Have to rent a vehicle to get by for almost 2 weeks, while my 105,000$ brand new truck cant move
- Ive literally lost thousands in business, had to give up the remainder of a welding contract to my compeition as i couldnt make it to site to finish the job, and losing money every day and falling behind


Id be far more understanding if the truck had 20,000+ KM on it, but 7500km? seriously? To date my 5.9 cummins w/ G56 with 450,000KM on it has been more reliable!

Iam still extremely happy with the truck, and i know it dosent matter on the brand at this time emissions is junk on all of them. Ive never used RAMs warranty before as all my trucks have been deleted except for this one..... Weather i stay with ram long term i think will be 100% dictated on how i am treated here. Iam a pretty reasonable guy, but i must say i was quite promptly dismissed today by Ram.

 

[Great White North Eh]

Unfortunately it almost takes a back up unit to stay in business. The problem with your needs it’s a major expense and hassle to have even a second unit even equipped with the bare minimum. Deleted unfortunately is the only 100%solutoon for cold climates.