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First ever Dodge (after 35 years of Ford)

J

JimmyMS

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Location
MS Gulf Coast
I've had just about every Ford combo imaginable over the past 30 years, from learning to drive in dad's 1969 F100 360cid 3-on-the-tree, to my own first truck in high school (a 77 F-100 351), to little Ford Rangers and a few 1-ton 7.3L diesels. I've been in an F-150 the past 6 years, and then my wife and I finally got tired of the Alaska cold, so we kicked the last kid out of the house, uprooted ourselves, sold almost everything (including AK vehicles) and moved to the MS Gulf Coast. I bought a little Tacoma to get around town and our plan was to get a Class C RV for "retirement life" of driving around and seeing the kids each summer (5 of them scattered around, with another 7 grand kids tossed into the mix). But, of course, then you gotta have a toad vehicle to move around once you've parked the new home. After looking around at RVs for a while, and gagging at the price tags, we finally figured it was just cheaper overall to get another nice new pickup and tow a travel trailer. So, I went looking. And "nice new Fords" are just as expensive as large Class A RVs!! I don't THINK I was brand loyal - it's just always worked out that way. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, anyway... found a 2021 Power Wagon that wasn't too off the charts and now off to look for that towable house. Never owned a Dodge before, so lots to play with!
Dodge Power Wagon.jpg
 
Congrats on the new truck. Hope you aren’t planning on a large travel trailer. Towing capacity and payload aren’t great on a power wagon.
 
Ewoodard said:
Congrats on the new truck. Hope you aren’t planning on a large travel trailer. Towing capacity and payload aren’t great on a power wagon.
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Nothing super large. My specs say about 1500 payload and 10k towing capacity, and I like to stay below about 80% of each. We picked out a few campers we liked before looking for the truck to make sure I got what I would need. Considered a few 1-ton diesels for a bit, but we weren't looking to haul the whole kit, just the kaboodle, so this meets the needs of the weight as well as the budget.
 
You can tow plenty of trailer with the Power Wagon. It’ll just be a 2 bedroom house vs Mike Tyson’s mansion.

Congratulations on the truck and my consolations on the increased fuel bill.
 
With the softer off-road suspension, it wouldn't hurt to install some airbags.
 
JimmyMS said:
I've had just about every Ford combo imaginable over the past 30 years, from learning to drive in dad's 1969 F100 360cid 3-on-the-tree, to my own first truck in high school (a 77 F-100 351), to little Ford Rangers and a few 1-ton 7.3L diesels. I've been in an F-150 the past 6 years, and then my wife and I finally got tired of the Alaska cold, so we kicked the last kid out of the house, uprooted ourselves, sold almost everything (including AK vehicles) and moved to the MS Gulf Coast. I bought a little Tacoma to get around town and our plan was to get a Class C RV for "retirement life" of driving around and seeing the kids each summer (5 of them scattered around, with another 7 grand kids tossed into the mix). But, of course, then you gotta have a toad vehicle to move around once you've parked the new home. After looking around at RVs for a while, and gagging at the price tags, we finally figured it was just cheaper overall to get another nice new pickup and tow a travel trailer. So, I went looking. And "nice new Fords" are just as expensive as large Class A RVs!! I don't THINK I was brand loyal - it's just always worked out that way. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, anyway... found a 2021 Power Wagon that wasn't too off the charts and now off to look for that towable house. Never owned a Dodge before, so lots to play with!
View attachment 80108
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Absolutely the nicest looking PW ever made! (In my humble opinion) Congrats!
 
Beautiful rig, my story is very similar to yours. Im a life long Ford guy and actually still have a F350. I have nothing bad to say about them and in fact they have always treated me well. The problem is how expensive Fords are now....which is how I ended up with the 2500. I also wanted something relatively simple with live axles. My only complaint so far is cab visibility vs the Ford. I don't mind the cab and overall truck being slightly smaller because that has its advantages also. Regardless what you buy they all will have their issues but so far I'm extremely happy. I had the truck rust proofed a week after I bought it because honestly that's one of the things that scares me most about these Rams. My other concern is the "tick" so I've adjusted my maintenance routine to combat that. Hopefully these preventative steps will help down the line. Anyways enjoy your Ram!
 
enem178 said:
Beautiful rig, my story is very similar to yours. Im a life long Ford guy and actually still have a F350. I have nothing bad to say about them and in fact they have always treated me well. The problem is how expensive Fords are now....which is how I ended up with the 2500. I also wanted something relatively simple with live axles. My only complaint so far is cab visibility vs the Ford. I don't mind the cab and overall truck being slightly smaller because that has its advantages also. Regardless what you buy they all will have their issues but so far I'm extremely happy. I had the truck rust proofed a week after I bought it because honestly that's one of the things that scares me most about these Rams. My other concern is the "tick" so I've adjusted my maintenance routine to combat that. Hopefully these preventative steps will help down the line. Anyways enjoy your Ram!
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Wow - interesting how much your story parallels mine. I too have always been a Ford guy, and bought a 3500 last July because of the price difference.

I too still have my old F350…and it’s a good thing, because two weeks after I bought the 3500, I hit a deer on the interstate at 75 mph. The truck is STILL in the body shop, with no ETA on the last couple of parts.

I bought it because my old Ford has 260,000 miles and a few niggling issues were cropping up. I also knew the emissions can was probably close to full. But since I’ve been without the Ram for 5 months, I ended up having to fix all issues on the Ford, and may/may not have gotten it deleted. Runs better than new. Loved the Ram for the two weeks I had it, but now regretting that I ever made the purchase at all.
 
Unleaded said:
Wow - interesting how much your story parallels mine. I too have always been a Ford guy, and bought a 3500 last July because of the price difference.

I too still have my old F350…and it’s a good thing, because two weeks after I bought the 3500, I hit a deer on the interstate at 75 mph. The truck is STILL in the body shop, with no ETA on the last couple of parts.

I bought it because my old Ford has 260,000 miles and a few niggling issues were cropping up. I also knew the emissions can was probably close to full. But since I’ve been without the Ram for 5 months, I ended up having to fix all issues on the Ford, and may/may not have gotten it deleted. Runs better than new. Loved the Ram for the two weeks I had it, but now regretting that I ever made the purchase at all.
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Damn that’s really unfortunate that happened so early on but it forced you fix your other rig so eventually you’ll have two. I’ll most likely do something similar and fix the small issues with my F350 and use it as work truck, plowing duties, etc. It has a utility body so that will be perfect. Do worry when you finally get your Ram back you’ll really enjoy driving it. They seem to be great trucks…Cheers
 
enem178 said:
Damn that’s really unfortunate that happened so early on but it forced you fix your other rig so eventually you’ll have two. I’ll most likely do something similar and fix the small issues with my F350 and use it as work truck, plowing duties, etc. It has a utility body so that will be perfect. Do worry when you finally get your Ram back you’ll really enjoy driving it. They seem to be great trucks…Cheers
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Yeah that’s exactly what I’m now thinking - I’ll just hang onto the Ford as a work truck. And absolutely- you’re right! Once I get the Ram back I’ll be back to enjoying it.
 
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