Traded my 2021 2500 in for a 2021 3500

[Herrred]

After a two week trip with a 36' 8k TT, i was impressed by my 2021 2500 Laramie. Tons of power, passing everything in the Great Smokey Mountains, and averaged 12-13 mpg. However a 2100lb payload and dreams of a 5th wheel was a constatnt regret. So last week I got on the interwebs and started researcing and looking for a Ram 3500. Found a used 2021 Ram 3500 Laramie and traded up. So far no towing, just 300+ highway and city miles. Here are my opinionated and unskilled thoughts:

- HO has significant hesitation when acceleating from a full stop through the first two lower gears. Read about this at several forums so not shocked, nor is it as bad as I read about (descriptions like"life threatening" and "died between gears" were common). Hopefully it will learn my habits quickly.
- HO Got 20mpg highway which was on par with the SO.
-Engine brake is much better than the SO power plant. SO brake stopped at 25mph, HO continues to brake well below that.
-2500 had air leveling, I may miss that, especially the alternnate tow height and lowering for hooking up.
-Payload went from 2500 to 3589. Now looking at 5th wheels.
-Ride is stiffer, but not "kidney bruising" bad (again internet forum terms like "bleeding kidneys" and "telescoping spine" were common). Went from a 1500 with full air ride to a 2500. Had I gone directly to the 3500 I may had worried a little.
-2500 steering was fingertip easy, absolutely no resistance. 3500 is a little stiffer. Not a deal breaker, but feels more like the electric steering in my daughter's RAV4.
-Options were very close between the two: Big differences are I lost air leveling but gained Snow Group with Aux Switches and dual alternators, and I went to front buckets from a bech seat. Tons more storage with the buckets.
-Went from black that showed every GD scratch to bright red that makes it look like a fire department vehicle. Kept my black ARE Z Series Cap and it looks pretty nice.
-Has wireless charging. Seems to be somewhat worthless. Had my pnone on it for 2 hours and it charged 20%.

Absolutly glad I upgraded to a 3500, with no regrets for getting the 2500. Life is constant learning.

 

[gimmie11s]

After a two week trip with a 36' 8k TT, i was impressed by my 2021 2500 Laramie. Tons of power, passing everything in the Great Smokey Mountains, and averaged 12-13 mpg. However a 2100lb payload and dreams of a 5th wheel was a constatnt regret. So last week I got on the interwebs and started researcing and looking for a Ram 3500. Found a used 2021 Ram 3500 Laramie and traded up. So far no towing, just 300+ highway and city miles. Here are my opinionated and unskilled thoughts:

- HO has significant hesitation when acceleating from a full stop through the first two lower gears. Read about this at several forums so not shocked, nor is it as bad as I read about (descriptions like"life threatening" and "died between gears" were common). Hopefully it will learn my habits quickly.
- HO Got 20mpg highway which was on par with the SO.
-Engine brake is much better than the SO power plant. SO brake stopped at 25mph, HO continues to brake well below that.
-2500 had air leveling, I may miss that, especially the alternnate tow height and lowering for hooking up.
-Payload went from 2500 to 3589. Now looking at 5th wheels.
-Ride is stiffer, but not "kidney bruising" bad (again internet forum terms like "bleeding kidneys" and "telescoping spine" were common). Went from a 1500 with full air ride to a 2500. Had I gone directly to the 3500 I may had worried a little.
-2500 steering was fingertip easy, absolutely no resistance. 3500 is a little stiffer. Not a deal breaker, but feels more like the electric steering in my daughter's RAV4.
-Options were very close between the two: Big differences are I lost air leveling but gained Snow Group with Aux Switches and dual alternators, and I went to front buckets from a bech seat. Tons more storage with the buckets.
-Went from black that showed every GD scratch to bright red that makes it look like a fire department vehicle. Kept my black ARE Z Series Cap and it looks pretty nice.
-Has wireless charging. Seems to be somewhat worthless. Had my pnone on it for 2 hours and it charged 20%.

Absolutly glad I upgraded to a 3500, with no regrets for getting the 2500. Life is constant learning.

Great review! I'll say your trans will learn and adapt to your driving. The lazy pedal and hesitation on shifting goes away pretty quickly... within a few weeks.

Truck looks great, congrats!

 

[Herrred]

After a two week trip with a 36' 8k TT, i was impressed by my 2021 2500 Laramie. Tons of power, passing everything in the Great Smokey Mountains, and averaged 12-13 mpg. However a 2100lb payload and dreams of a 5th wheel was a constatnt regret. So last week I got on the interwebs and started researcing and looking for a Ram 3500. Found a used 2021 Ram 3500 Laramie and traded up. So far no towing, just 300+ highway and city miles. Here are my opinionated and unskilled thoughts:

- HO has significant hesitation when acceleating from a full stop through the first two lower gears. Read about this at several forums so not shocked, nor is it as bad as I read about (descriptions like"life threatening" and "died between gears" were common). Hopefully it will learn my habits quickly.
- HO Got 20mpg highway which was on par with the SO.
-Engine brake is much better than the SO power plant. SO brake stopped at 25mph, HO continues to brake well below that.
-2500 had air leveling, I may miss that, especially the alternnate tow height and lowering for hooking up.
-Payload went from 2500 to 3589. Now looking at 5th wheels.
-Ride is stiffer, but not "kidney bruising" bad (again internet forum terms like "bleeding kidneys" and "telescoping spine" were common). Went from a 1500 with full air ride to a 2500. Had I gone directly to the 3500 I may had worried a little.
-2500 steering was fingertip easy, absolutely no resistance. 3500 is a little stiffer. Not a deal breaker, but feels more like the electric steering in my daughter's RAV4.
-Options were very close between the two: Big differences are I lost air leveling but gained Snow Group with Aux Switches and dual alternators, and I went to front buckets from a bech seat. Tons more storage with the buckets.
-Went from black that showed every GD scratch to bright red that makes it look like a fire department vehicle. Kept my black ARE Z Series Cap and it looks pretty nice.
-Has wireless charging. Seems to be somewhat worthless. Had my pnone on it for 2 hours and it charged 20%.

Absolutly glad I upgraded to a 3500, with no regrets for getting the 2500. Life is constant learning.

Great review! I'll say your trans will learn and adapt to your driving. The lazy pedal and hesitation on shifting goes away pretty quickly... within a few weeks.

Truck looks great, congrats!

Figured as much. I'll chirp in later down the road if there is an improvement.

 

[Firebird]

First off, Pedal Commander or Banks pedal monster will help a bunch. You will love the 3500! I too may jump up to a 5th wheel soon, so went 3500 also. Having almost 6000 pounds of payload is just plain awesome!

 

[Brutal_HO]

After a two week trip with a 36' 8k TT, i was impressed by my 2021 2500 Laramie. Tons of power, passing everything in the Great Smokey Mountains, and averaged 12-13 mpg. However a 2100lb payload and dreams of a 5th wheel was a constatnt regret. So last week I got on the interwebs and started researcing and looking for a Ram 3500. Found a used 2021 Ram 3500 Laramie and traded up. So far no towing, just 300+ highway and city miles. Here are my opinionated and unskilled thoughts:

- HO has significant hesitation when acceleating from a full stop through the first two lower gears. Read about this at several forums so not shocked, nor is it as bad as I read about (descriptions like"life threatening" and "died between gears" were common). Hopefully it will learn my habits quickly.
- HO Got 20mpg highway which was on par with the SO.
-Engine brake is much better than the SO power plant. SO brake stopped at 25mph, HO continues to brake well below that.
-2500 had air leveling, I may miss that, especially the alternnate tow height and lowering for hooking up.
-Payload went from 2500 to 3589. Now looking at 5th wheels.
-Ride is stiffer, but not "kidney bruising" bad (again internet forum terms like "bleeding kidneys" and "telescoping spine" were common). Went from a 1500 with full air ride to a 2500. Had I gone directly to the 3500 I may had worried a little.
-2500 steering was fingertip easy, absolutely no resistance. 3500 is a little stiffer. Not a deal breaker, but feels more like the electric steering in my daughter's RAV4.
-Options were very close between the two: Big differences are I lost air leveling but gained Snow Group with Aux Switches and dual alternators, and I went to front buckets from a bech seat. Tons more storage with the buckets.
-Went from black that showed every GD scratch to bright red that makes it look like a fire department vehicle. Kept my black ARE Z Series Cap and it looks pretty nice.
-Has wireless charging. Seems to be somewhat worthless. Had my pnone on it for 2 hours and it charged 20%.

Absolutly glad I upgraded to a 3500, with no regrets for getting the 2500. Life is constant learning.

HO/ASIN has a deeper 1st gear.
HO/AISIN will engine brake down to 900RPM, disengage and drop to 1st. About 12MPH on my truck.
Since it's a used truck, you may want to look into how to do a quick relearn so it learns your driving style instead of the PO.
Never going to get rid of that slow 1st gear start but mine pulls hard once it hooks 2nd gear. The power loss due to torque management 2-3 is noticeable but 3rd comes back on hard after the shift as well.
Payload seems light. My 2020 Limited has 3707 with air ride so theoretically yours should be higher lacking the weight of the air suspension and other Limited stuff.
Air ride would have a softer leaf pack. Still leaning towards mostly glad I have it. Aftermarket would have more control, but harsher ride unloaded.
Wireless charging is mostly useless though it comes in handy for infrequent passenger friends with apple phones as we have no apple cables.

 

[Herrred]

HO/ASIN has a deeper 1st gear.
HO/AISIN will engine brake down to 900RPM, disengage and drop to 1st. About 12MPH on my truck.
Since it's a used truck, you may want to look into how to do a quick relearn so it learns your driving style instead of the PO.
Never going to get rid of that slow 1st gear start but mine pulls hard once it hooks 2nd gear. The power loss due to torque management 2-3 is noticeable but 3rd comes back on hard after the shift as well.
Payload seems light. My 2020 Limited has 3707 with air ride so theoretically yours should be higher lacking the weight of the air suspension and other Limited stuff.
Air ride would have a softer leaf pack. Still leaning towards mostly glad I have it. Aftermarket would have more control, but harsher ride unloaded.
Wireless charging is mostly useless though it comes in handy for infrequent passenger friends with apple phones as we have no apple cables.

Thanks for the info, completly makes sense.

It may already be learning as when I went to test drive it, somehow the CarMAx had drained both batteries. They replaced the batteries and all is well. I would assume (yup, dangerous word) that a full battery swap would revert most stored settings to factory.

Payload is confirmed by both RAM VIN Payload/Towing Verifier and the door sticker. GVWR is 11.8k, so there may be options it has that I'm not fully aware of as CarMax had no real clue what they had. That's one reason a jumped at the trade as they didn't know how to sell it to their customers (mostly a sedan/SUV place) and the sales staff and service crew were pretty clueless about it. During my due-dilligence research prior to trading up, I was able to go down the Google rabbithole and find a build sheet. Chrome Group, Cold Weather Group, Towing Group, Protection Group, 5th Wheel Prep, Laramie Level 2 all eat into the magic number.

 

[TXGeorge]

Haha, this Jan I trade a 19 3500 to a 21 2500.
I’m not towing so much so a 2500 is ok.
When I need a 5th, I think I will come back to 3500.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RAM_Dad]

Thanks for the info, completly makes sense.

It may already be learning as when I went to test drive it, somehow the CarMAx had drained both batteries. They replaced the batteries and all is well. I would assume (yup, dangerous word) that a full battery swap would revert most stored settings to factory.

Payload is confirmed by both RAM VIN Payload/Towing Verifier and the door sticker. GVWR is 11.8k, so there may be options it has that I'm not fully aware of as CarMax had no real clue what they had. That's one reason a jumped at the trade as they didn't know how to sell it to their customers (mostly a sedan/SUV place) and the sales staff and service crew were pretty clueless about it. During my due-dilligence research prior to trading up, I was able to go down the Google rabbithole and find a build sheet. Chrome Group, Cold Weather Group, Towing Group, Protection Group, 5th Wheel Prep, Laramie Level 2 all eat into the magic number.

Pop your VIN in here if you want a complete equipment listing

FCA RAM

fcacommunity.force.com

 

[Herrred]

Pop your VIN in here if you want a complete equipment listing

FCA RAM

fcacommunity.force.com

Already did, Thanks!

 

[Snaps3500]

I am a proud owner of a RAM 3500 mega with the HO package. I have owned this truck for a year and a half and agree with others about the hesitation and lag issue. I took action and cured the problem, I purchased a banks pedal monster.

This fixed the problem right away. If you research this product you will be amazed on how well it operates. Very simple install. It only took 10 minutes to do. Their are 3
Groups,( City,Sport and Track). with 10 settings in each. I have mine set on the city setting at line 5. It took away the hesitation and pull out lagging. The truck operates and drives totally different and was well worth the 300 dollars. This item will not void any warranty and can be removed at any time you would need to. It’s a simple plug and play device.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gimmie11s]

I am a proud owner of a RAM 3500 mega with the HO package. I have owned this truck for a year and a half and agree with others about the hesitation and lag issue. I took action and cured the problem, I purchased a banks pedal monster.

This fixed the problem right away. If you research this product you will be amazed on how well it operates. Very simple install. It only took 10 minutes to do. Their are 3
Groups,( City,Sport and Track). with 10 settings in each. I have mine set on the city setting at line 5. It took away the hesitation and pull out lagging. The truck operates and drives totally different and was well worth the 300 dollars. This item will not void any warranty and can be removed at any time you would need to. It’s a simple plug and play device.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who doesnt like their pedal monster. Most say it does an awesome job.

 

[Herrred]

2,000 Mile Update: After putting a quick 2k on my 3500 HO, the last being 1k in 2 days, here's an updated update to my last update:

1. Averaged 18mpg at 75-80mph. Dropped down to 17.2 when I goosed it to 85. Dropped down to 15mpg when the temperature dropped like a hooker's panties in a biker bar, which was expected when it hit 31f outside. Did a straight 314 mile run and had 3/8 of a tank left (31 gal tank), with mixed driving.
2. Shifts have definitely improved. The Aisin is learning well. Still slightly hesitates and it's not an issue. It does drop into reverse heavily at times.
3. Ride continues to impress. To those whom are on the fence about leaf springs - these are not your dad's or grandad's trucks. The leafs absorb very well. Running the rears at 80psi per sticker. May drop it to 65 if my spine starts to revolt.
4. Mentioned before the steering is not as effortless as the 2500. No change here. Haven't dug to deep, but I'm assuming that the 3500 has a different steering box.
5. Towed a large utility trailer with about 3k in it. I swear I heard the truck laugh. Decided to toss in tow mode to check the shifts and engine brake. Wow...no need to touch the brake. Can't wait to get my fifth wheel.
6. Nothing to do with operation: but found the VSIM (2 sets) and Auxiliary Switch cables at Ebay for $35.00. Mine didn't come with them as it was slightly used.
7. Passenger side mirror sticks down after reversing sometimes. My 2500 did that as well. It's a minor PITA. I'm so damn spoiled.
9. Truck cab heats up quickly. I mean oven-like. Wife loves it. Add the seat heaters (aka hotplates) and it's like summer on the asphalt in the cab. Never really got to see the AC in action. Hoping it won't be a wimp like my 2500 was.

Hope this helps those whom are on the 2500/3500 fence.

 

[Firebird]

2,000 Mile Update: After putting a quick 2k on my 3500 HO, the last being 1k in 2 days, here's an updated update to my last update:

1. Averaged 18mpg at 75-80mph. Dropped down to 17.2 when I goosed it to 85. Dropped down to 15mpg when the temperature dropped like a hooker's panties in a biker bar, which was expected when it hit 31f outside. Did a straight 314 mile run and had 3/8 of a tank left (31 gal tank), with mixed driving.
2. Shifts have definitely improved. The Aisin is learning well. Still slightly hesitates and it's not an issue. It does drop into reverse heavily at times.
3. Ride continues to impress. To those whom are on the fence about leaf springs - these are not your dad's or grandad's trucks. The leafs absorb very well. Running the rears at 80psi per sticker. May drop it to 65 if my spine starts to revolt.
4. Mentioned before the steering is not as effortless as the 2500. No change here. Haven't dug to deep, but I'm assuming that the 3500 has a different steering box.
5. Towed a large utility trailer with about 3k in it. I swear I heard the truck laugh. Decided to toss in tow mode to check the shifts and engine brake. Wow...no need to touch the brake. Can't wait to get my fifth wheel.
6. Nothing to do with operation: but found the VSIM (2 sets) and Auxiliary Switch cables at Ebay for $35.00. Mine didn't come with them as it was slightly used.
7. Passenger side mirror sticks down after reversing sometimes. My 2500 did that as well. It's a minor PITA. I'm so damn spoiled.
9. Truck cab heats up quickly. I mean oven-like. Wife loves it. Add the seat heaters (aka hotplates) and it's like summer on the asphalt in the cab. Never really got to see the AC in action. Hoping it won't be a wimp like my 2500 was.

Hope this helps those whom are on the 2500/3500 fence.

Awesome! Sure wish my dually could get that kind of economy

 

[DeepH20Driller]

You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who doesnt like their pedal monster. Most say it does an awesome job.

I’ll chime in with another lover of Pedal Monster. Made a world of difference on my 2020 2500 CTD SO!! Super easy install. I’ve had the Pedal Commander on a 1500 and it was good, but mine was a little glitchy. So far, no issues with Banks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Myfast70]

Banks does make some impressive stuff for sure! Can't wait to try mine out soon too!

 

[IndyRamMega]

Yup...my pedal monster will go in as soon as it comes back from tinting and ceramic coating....

 

[Southernspeed]

20 mpg! oh how I dream of 20 mpg My '21 3500 dually never gets over 16 something, even when I'm driving Miss Daisy. Generally it's in the 14s. Wanna trade?

 

[Herrred]

20 mpg! oh how I dream of 20 mpg My '21 3500 dually never gets over 16 something, even when I'm driving Miss Daisy. Generally it's in the 14s. Wanna trade?

Give me about 2 years....that's when I talk myself into my next upgrade!

 

[Firebird]

20 mpg! oh how I dream of 20 mpg My '21 3500 dually never gets over 16 something, even when I'm driving Miss Daisy. Generally it's in the 14s. Wanna trade?

Our dually's don't hit those mpg numbers, but man are they stupid stable when towing!!!