Cirrus has no slide-outs. I like their exterior but the interior doesn't look cozy. If interested in cirrus size campers with no slide outs, take a look at Northern Lite or Bigfoot 2500 series, both are similarly designed with fiberglass shell and very light weight vs similar size and optioned-out campers, they're also less likely to leak due to their construction.
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3500 Dually with 6.4L? HEAVY truck camper question.
- Thread starter PotvinSux
- Start date
TroyMcClure
Active Member
I hated the 6.4L in the mountains with an 865 AF, stoked to have the 6.7 diesel now.
Just pulled the trigger on an Arctic Fox 1150
Pick it up the week after Thanksgiving in Idaho Falls. Road trip!
2022 RAM 3500 DRW HO (rear air-suspension)
Will share experiences and pics of the "Skipper" on "Ginger" as this story continues to unfold.
Roadmaster rear anti-sway bar going on tomorrow, will share pics of that little necessity as well.
Pick it up the week after Thanksgiving in Idaho Falls. Road trip!
2022 RAM 3500 DRW HO (rear air-suspension)
Will share experiences and pics of the "Skipper" on "Ginger" as this story continues to unfold.
Roadmaster rear anti-sway bar going on tomorrow, will share pics of that little necessity as well.
Nick
Well-Known Member
I am trying to understand where all these outrageous repair costs come into play when owning a diesel . Oil and filter changes at 15 k that is about it outside of the other fluid changes . A 94, 06, 14 and a 20 all cummins . That doesn't even include the other 5, 15 liter Cummins I owned. Nothing ever broke on any of them . Outside of factory recalls zero . That is not luck that comes from owning a solid motor . All dealers and shops have the same per hr rate whether you show up in a gas or diesel .
All the reasons previously mentioned for owning a diesel are solid . I average 10 pulling a 15 k 5th wheel . With a 5 k camper you should average 12 to 14 . Just make sure u get the 50 gal tank . Get a fuel card or join Mud Flap for fuel saving at the pump . The Aisin tranny is the ticket . I have had both and would not go back to a 68 RFE . The factory air ride suspension for 3500 works great ! Most people looking for a used Dually will be looking for a diesel you will not lose a dime on the price difference when u want to sell it . Good Luck on your purchase .
All the reasons previously mentioned for owning a diesel are solid . I average 10 pulling a 15 k 5th wheel . With a 5 k camper you should average 12 to 14 . Just make sure u get the 50 gal tank . Get a fuel card or join Mud Flap for fuel saving at the pump . The Aisin tranny is the ticket . I have had both and would not go back to a 68 RFE . The factory air ride suspension for 3500 works great ! Most people looking for a used Dually will be looking for a diesel you will not lose a dime on the price difference when u want to sell it . Good Luck on your purchase .
I used to haul an 11ft truck camper around on an '07 GMC with a 6.0L gas and had zero regrets. It did just fine with a truck camper. I'd be looking to avoid today's new diesels with all the extra cost and maintenance if all I intended to do was haul a camper. Sure I switched from GM to Ram to get a Cummins engine but they still have more issues than the diesels of yesterday. Just fuel filters alone are $150. How often do you even put a fuel filter on a gas truck? I have a diesel out of necessity for the hauling that I do not because I want one. My last gas truck would be considerably cheaper to operate with a truck camper. The fuel mileage wasn't that much worse plus gas is way cheaper and no DEF.
I had to chuckle when I read a post about somebody whose father used to load up a truck camper on a '75 Ford, the absolute worst time in history for power. What did that thing have? 150HP? How on earth did he ever get around with it? Now we have 400HP in gas trucks.
Sure diesels are cool with all the power and the exhaust braking and everything, they just won't pay for themselves when you're only lightly working them. They're made to pull the snot out of them.
As far as being able to sell it if need be, I wouldn't worry about that. Local dealer just told me that many of the older generation are leaning back toward gas trucks and shying away from diesels for towing campers. He said a few years ago, HD trucks were probably 70/30, diesels to gas. Now he says they're 50/50. Gas HD trucks have just as strong of resale value as anything lately.
That's just my point of view. I'm probably wrong.
I had to chuckle when I read a post about somebody whose father used to load up a truck camper on a '75 Ford, the absolute worst time in history for power. What did that thing have? 150HP? How on earth did he ever get around with it? Now we have 400HP in gas trucks.
Sure diesels are cool with all the power and the exhaust braking and everything, they just won't pay for themselves when you're only lightly working them. They're made to pull the snot out of them.
As far as being able to sell it if need be, I wouldn't worry about that. Local dealer just told me that many of the older generation are leaning back toward gas trucks and shying away from diesels for towing campers. He said a few years ago, HD trucks were probably 70/30, diesels to gas. Now he says they're 50/50. Gas HD trucks have just as strong of resale value as anything lately.
That's just my point of view. I'm probably wrong.
No one's ever said gas trucks have bad resale value, but gas truck owners like to make themselves feel better mentioning this nonsense X-hundred thousand miles needed for the diesel truck to pay for the upfront cost of a diesel engine, they never bring into discussion the resale value of a diesel engine.
I don't personally even think of the resale value of anything, I buy things based on what I need/want not slightly even considering what I get back when I sell it. I needed a 1 ton 4x4 truck, I wanted a diesel and a Limited trim. To me diesel is just an option just like a trim. Will I get back what I spent in extras on Limited vs going with a Tradesman or Bighorn? Probably not, don't care, just like I don't care about spending extra on a diesel engine which to be honest, I will never utilize to its full potential. Bought this truck to haul a slide in camper by the way, not towing anything super heavy.
Yeah actually there were comments about gas truck resale. I don't worry about it much either, like you, I pretty much just get what I want.
You'll be getting around in style with a truck camper!
Must be nice to have money to buy everything you want regardless of cost.
Rockcrawlindude
a rock crawlin’ dude
Diesel is $2.00 to $2.10 more per gallon it’s silly to even try and mention the fuel mileage of the diesel as a selling point
Money is not a point, my thinking was I keep my trucks for a very long time so may as well get what I want. Was actually deciding between a fully optioned out Bighorn and LTD and I wasn't saving a whole lot considering some of the options I wanted were not available on Bighorn so had to pay for aftermarket right off the bat.
There are folks out here that would buy a top of the line Limited with every option available but would get a gas engine arguing the diesel is too expensive. Really???
I'm in Alberta, Diesel is roughly the same price as Premium and it's been like this for a while. It's you guys South of the border that always had really cheap fuel and the recent price hikes sound like a lot, but we've been paying higher fuel prices in Canada forever.
And yes diesel gets better fuel mileage, maybe it's a wash now with higher diesel prices but it's much more enjoyable and less stressful to drive
tchur1
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$2 a gallon more? That’s brutal. Where I live diesel is the same as 89 in Lake Tahoe.
I bought a diesel because I wanted the towing power. I dont use it to its full potential but I love it when pulling anything.
It's closer to $2.50 difference here. There's sub $3 gas not far from here and diesel is more like $5.39. That was part of my point. It's cheaper to drive a gas truck around here unless you're working the dog snot out of it. Of course, if both fuels are about the same price in your area, it's a moot point.
NC Rebel
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I have owned diesels from the big 3 over the past 20 years. I loved the extra pulling power and low end torque but my next truck will be a gasser... quite possibly a "Ford". With gasoline being $2.00 to $2.50 gallon cheaper than diesel in my area doesn't make sense to me since I don't tow heavy anymore. But buy whatever you want, it's your money.
aaronedmonton
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Maybe less stressful to tow but I would be worried about being stranded considering all the emissions garbage they have on the new diesels. I’ve seen threads and threads of issues on here and other forums for the newer trucks. Unfortunate what the EPA has done to the auto industry.
Unlike you I have not seen that many threads with emissions issues. Most I've seen are DEF issues due to freezing (doesn't bother me as I don't drive my truck in Winter time) and other issues are all on 2022 trucks.
Drove it to the Arctic Ocean this past Summer, the only thing I was somewhat worrying about was the CP4 pump but that got done already.
A shot from Tombstone territorial park in Yukon on a way back.
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aaronedmonton
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I have too much time on my hands apparently.
Look through the Problems/TSB section of the forum
I check different forum sections every now and then. Just went through the whole 10 pages in Problems/TSB sections and there's only a handfull of emissions related topics so I'm not sure where all those issues you're talking about are.
From reading some other forum sections there are some emissions with 2022 as I mentioned and with 2020 which has had the Y78 recall done (HPFP and software update), I'm guess these later issues are software related and still there aren't as many to claim these newer trucks have emissions issues.