Tradesman vs Big Horn

[gimmie11s]

Is your elbow doing ok...You know resting on the crappy plastic door liner!!

Mine is fine, i can see it being an issue if your a twig with boney little elbows lol

Hardie har har har!

 

[Christofo]

I forgot to add (very important--to me at least) is the 2016 tradesman I had came with a god awful crappy rubber steering wheel. Super annoying to me that they put that wheel inside a $55k truck.

I noticed that "Leather wrapped steering wheel" is included with the Safety group on Tradesman

 

[gimmie11s]

I noticed that "Leather wrapped steering wheel" is included with the Safety group on Tradesman

Get it!

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I’m a “twig” with “bony elbows” I suppose I’m used to it but just about every door panel “hurts” my elbow if I don’t change arm positions on road trips. Still Wouldn’t spend more money on a truck to get nicer door panels.

 

[Dmbecke]

I got the tradesman with the options you mentioned and I think saving the $5k is the way to go. The main thing you want is the 8.4 inch screen

 

[Squatch]

Yeah there are a lot of different cosmetic things the Bighorn has that the tradesman doesn’t. I compared the Bighorn to and XLT Ford and it blew the Ford out of the water. I liked the center console, led lights, and rear sliding window. Those were the selling points for me over the XLT and Tradesman.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sliding window is available on the tradesman

 

[Poor man's PW]

Just bought a 21 tradesman. Came with sliding rear window, 8.4 inch screen, spray in bed liner, 5th wheel gooseneck prep, rear wheel well liners, chrome bumpers and wheel to wheel running boards. Not all tradesman's are stripped down work vehicles.

Some dealers know how to order and some order to get people to pay more for things they don't necessarily want or need. I have a tradesman with pw pkg and is 10k to 15k less than a "Powerwagon" but it has everything I was looking for and with they way things are right now that was pretty slim.

 

[Mike67]

I think the acoustic glass makes a difference especially if traveling long distances frequently.
I prefer the Alpine system from my 1500 to the tradesman lvl 2 system.
I'd definitely spring for the 8.4, skip the nav as it leaves much to be desired. Already several years out of date and expensive to update.
The upgraded dash screen is definitely nicer than the tradesman one.
In floor bins can be added to tradesman as there is just a block off over the hole in the floor.
Quality of some interior pieces may be different too, soft vs hard plastic etc.

Remote start and remote tailgate release are not available on tradesman but purchasing the keyfob and having the dealer program can give you the capability
A significant amount of the addons can be added at a later date if you wish, it will just cost more.

Remote start is an easy DIY with an aftermarket kit on Amazon, remote tailgate is built into the key fob, just need to solder in the button. Slipped a silicon cover over the key fob with the correct symbols on the buttons and called it a day. About $170 total with your own labor. Dealer was quoting me $500 plus parts. The Tradesman already has active noise cancellation built into the cab so road noise is not a problem, quieter than my wife's Lexus even with the AT's tires. But as you mentioned, definitely go with the 8.4 as I did and tow brake. I do like the halogens as it did give me the option to add LED's that are brighter than factory LED's. Also added aux switches to add in the fog's (on LED switchback LED bulbs), hidden light bar and in bumper diffused lights so I can see when hooking up the trailers. Went with Black Oak LED's for the light bar and in bumper reverse lights. Couple of things that I do would like to have had are an electrically adjustable driver's seat and the cargo cam. I'm a shorter guy and would like to raise the seat a bit. I have a "fix" plan to do this weekend, Ohio Diesel makes a seat riser you can add for 1 or 2 inches. Etrailer just cam out with a third brake light camera package I'm looking at. We'll see how it goes.
Most expensive part I added that you could get stock probaly will be the thrid brake light cam. Somewhere around $178 to $350 depending upon what package you get. I'm not counting the tires, rims, light bar, bumper reverse lights or Diamondback bed cover I added as these are never a dealer option.

 

[copcarguy]

I ordered my Tradesman and to be honest, the only thing that annoyed me was not being able to get fog lights as a stand alone option that wasn’t included in a package that I didn’t want.

I found a thread on here, ordered all the parts, and put them in myself for under $300. Only the people reading this will know the truck didn’t come with them lol.

Basically the door panels are the biggest day to day difference IMO. If you can live with that then it’s not a big deal. Couldn’t have they put SOME kind of cushion for your elbow though?? lol

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I ordered my Tradesman and to be honest, the only thing that annoyed me was not being able to get fog lights as a stand alone option that wasn’t included in a package that I didn’t want.

I found a thread on here, ordered all the parts, and put them in myself for under $300. Only the people reading this will know the truck didn’t come with them lol.

Basically the door panels are the biggest day to day difference IMO. If you can live with that then it’s not a big deal. Couldn’t have they put SOME kind of cushion for your elbow though?? lol

Don’t wait! Call now!

 

[MtnRider]

When I saw that elbow pad the first thing I thought of was Dusty Rhodes!... Lol (he may be before many of you guys time)

 

[Cpenn481]

Order has been placed for my Tradesman, I think i'll love it and have a bit more money in my pocket. Thanks everyone!

You will be very happy with the tradesman and those options. I bought a 2021 off the lot no ordering required with the same equipment plus chrome equipment group and side steps and absolutely love the truck. Oh I have upgraded interior ( cloth and carpet) as well. Couldn’t be happier with the truck. It listed for 50015 but at the time there was a 6k rebate with the 6.4 so I paid 44015. I have no idea why there was a rebate in the middle of a pandemic but I didn’t argue. The Big Horn was not worth the extra considering everything I got on the truck. At least not to me. An unexpected pleasure was gas mileage. Just returned from a 600 mile round trip from South Georgia to Nashville and got 19.4 mpg with cruise set at 72. Made same trip a month ago pulling my 21 ft Bass boat and got 13 mpg again running 70 mph. Totally didn’t expect those numbers but super happy to have them.

 

[Sturmgewehr792]

when I was shopping trucks I Looked at both. Once I found a tradesman level 2 with 8.4” screen the difference was basically a center console, fog lights and body color bumpers for the extra $5k big horn. I like the bench seat better so it was a no brainer.

I bought the tradesman, added fog lights and painted some chrome and I’m happy as a clam.

what fog lights did you go with? thanks in advance

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

what fog lights did you go with? thanks in advance

Baja designs squadrons in factory bezels

 

[RV_Goose]

I don't think my Tradesman with the level 2 package is nicely equipped. And every "upper trim" trucks all had sunroofs, whech means I do not fit in those trucks.

Ive seen Big horns less equipped.

And the GPS in the 3500 is about useless hauling a 5th wheel camper, or tall equipment on a goose neck. That routing is for cars.

 

[RV_Goose]

It's a nicely equipped Tradesman. My suggestion is to add wheel well liners.

Isn't that part of level 2 trim?

 

[b307a1]

Isn't that part of level 2 trim?

It's a separate option.

 

[gimmie11s]

Basically the door panels are the biggest day to day difference IMO. If you can live with that then it’s not a big deal. Couldn’t have they put SOME kind of cushion for your elbow though?? lol

Proof im not the only one!!! lmao

 

[WXman]

So I looked at two trucks today that are priced within $3k of each other. One was a 2020 Tradesman that has a lot of options, the other is a 2022 Bighorn with ZERO additional options. Both are within 15,000 miles other each other on the odometer and both have a good amount of factory powertrain warranty left.

What surprised me is that the only issue with the Tradesman is the door panels. Like some others said in this thread the door panels are TERRIBLE. Other than that the Tradesman is the nicer truck. Sliding rear glass, power inverter, in-bed lighting, spray in bedliner, etc. The Carfax shows zero accidents and a few service records. It does however show FOUR outstanding recalls one of them being the fuel pump issue.

The Bighorn being a 2022 shifted more crisp and seemed to drive a little better. Could that just be due to newer software? I did love the Bighorn door panels but otherwise I'm really liking that Tradesman truck. I think a guy could easily swap a Bighorn door panel onto the doors and solve that issue.

Anything I need to watch out for on a 2020 Cummins with 68RFE and 77k on the clock? If I buy it I will try to get the dealership (they are a dedicated Ram dealer) perform all of the recalls they can before I take delivery.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

So I looked at two trucks today that are priced within $3k of each other. One was a 2020 Tradesman that has a lot of options, the other is a 2022 Bighorn with ZERO additional options. Both are within 15,000 miles other each other on the odometer and both have a good amount of factory powertrain warranty left.

What surprised me is that the only issue with the Tradesman is the door panels. Like some others said in this thread the door panels are TERRIBLE. Other than that the Tradesman is the nicer truck. Sliding rear glass, power inverter, in-bed lighting, spray in bedliner, etc. The Carfax shows zero accidents and a few service records. It does however show FOUR outstanding recalls one of them being the fuel pump issue.

The Bighorn being a 2022 shifted more crisp and seemed to drive a little better. Could that just be due to newer software? I did love the Bighorn door panels but otherwise I'm really liking that Tradesman truck. I think a guy could easily swap a Bighorn door panel onto the doors and solve that issue.

Anything I need to watch out for on a 2020 Cummins with 68RFE and 77k on the clock? If I buy it I will try to get the dealership (they are a dedicated Ram dealer) perform all of the recalls they can before I take delivery.

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Id go the t-man any day.. all i would do is service the fluids if needed