4th gen Rams, are they good trucks?

nhl_bullitt · Dec 24, 2016

Owned 1 GM truck and 4 Super Duties.... In the market for a modern tow rig and keeping my options open. Considering a brand new 6.4 Ram OR a 1-2 year old Cummins. How big of a pain is the Cummins up keep? I take it there is DEF with them now. To be honest, the 3rd gens don't have the best reputation, sure they seem to run good.... But for how new they are, they rust like they are from the mid 90s, have death wobble worse than an $800 cherokee, and people claim they are not comfortable, so I don't know. I have concerns.

People can state opinions on whatever tow rig they feel like talking about. I'm not going to be spending over 40k though. Actually 25k can get a pretty dang nice 6.2 Ford.

creepycrawly · Dec 24, 2016

I flat out love my 14 Cummins. Gets 21mpg with a bone stock motor and a 2.5" leveling kit and 35's. Don't see what the fuss is about def. I put 2.5 gallons in about every 2500 miles. Costs $12 at Walmart. My biggest complaint is the $100 fuel filters every 10k miles. It drives great and pulls even better.

nhl_bullitt · Dec 24, 2016

creepycrawly said:
I flat out love my 14 Cummins. Gets 21mpg with a bone stock motor and a 2.5" leveling kit and 35's. Don't see what the fuss is about def. I put 2.5 gallons in about every 2500 miles. Costs $12 at Walmart. My biggest complaint is the $100 fuel filters every 10k miles. It drives great and pulls even better.

Cool man. I stopped by the dealership on Thursday and liked what I saw. Was too late to take any on a test drive but they definitely have my attention. I've never spent this kind of money on a truck, and I would like to keep it for the next 10 years if I can help it. Just gets to my nerves a bit.

creepycrawly · Dec 24, 2016

nhl_bullitt said:
Cool man. I stopped by the dealership on Thursday and liked what I saw. Was too late to take any on a test drive but they definitely have my attention. I've never spent this kind of money on a truck, and I would like to keep it for the next 10 years if I can help it. Just gets to my nerves a bit.

I know exactly what you mean. Most I have ever spent on a vehicle. It's also my favorite I've ever owned. One thing I will add is don't feel like you have to buy the top of the line truck to get a nice one. Mine is a tradesman and still has power mirrors, locks, windows, XM radio, etc. The only things it doesn't have are remote start, heated seats and a backup camera. None of those are deal breakers. It's a super nice truck.

sleepsontoilet · Dec 24, 2016

If you haven't had emission issues yet, you will. I personally had a 14, and there are 4 other people I know with constant CELs. I've never owned anything that triggered one every other tank of fuel. Traded it in with 40k on it, with completely clogged cats, DEF filter, leaking rear diff, and a radio that would lose signal every overpass.

Another friend just bought a 14 dually fully loaded with around 64k on it. She's had it back for emission issues 4 times in two months.

A coworker just traded his in after it sat at the dealer for 6 months with a back ordered faulty DEF pump. Dealer gave no rental, but was kind enough to allow him to skip payments until it was fixed.

I loved the truck, but they have the crappiest emissions I've ever seen. I only know of two people without problems, and they're both deleted.

onepieceatatime · Dec 24, 2016

Re:

I don't have much experience with diesel pick up trucks but I know that the harder you work a big truck the less emission problems you seem to have from my experiences.

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xjmarc · Dec 24, 2016

I drove a 16 a while back for work and it was pretty nice. I like my 3rd gen, no death wobble, but honestly the 4th was more comfortable. The rear coils seemed real bouncy but I'm guessing they take a while to break in and the 3500s don't have them anyway. I was honestly considering one but found a good deal on my current 3rd. Mine has the same 6.7 minus the def and mines deleted and the 16 seemed to have about the same power as mine if I turn off my programmer.

Jcampbell54 · Dec 24, 2016

I've owned two 3rd gen and 1 2nd gen cummins. Ive never had any issues with death wobble. Good parts up front (moog) and zero issues. My current one is a 06 3500 and no complaints. No rust, no injector issues like the internet says they have. I've kept away from all the emissions stuff because it seems like a headache. My 3500 rides better than my 2500 did. I have no complaints on 3rd gen trucks other than the front end which is easily fixed. I'm assuming aside from emissions the 4th gen trucks are the same. Personally I'd stay away from emissions trucks.

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sleepsontoilet · Dec 24, 2016

Also forgot, I think I read there's a trackbar ripping off issue on them that has a recall.

tubehead · Dec 24, 2016

I've had way to many trucks over the years. I've had 2 4th gens, a deleted 2012 and a bone stock 2015. I just sold my 2015 and went back to a 2004.5. I love a 3rd gen. The '15 was a great truck though. I had zero issues out of it and would buy another o e if I was in the market. I just prefer the 5.9 and the NV5600. Go drive one, I think you will be happy.

MoparMan · Dec 24, 2016

I have personally owned two 4th gen Cummins, a 2010 and 2011. The 2011 I bought brand new and put 110k miles on it in 15 months and only had one emissions problem with it. Around 70k the egr controller went out but it was fixed under warranty and only took half a day. I bought the 2010 in November 2015 with 94k miles on it. It was all stock when I bought it, but I fully deleted it around 96k miles. I traded it in with 105k miles. I had no problems out of that truck whatsoever. All that being said, all late model diesel trucks can and will have emissions problems. But on the bright side my work has 2 different 4th gen Cummins that I drive pretty regular. One is a 2010 with 14X,XXX miles, the other is a 2012 with 13X,XXX miles and neither one has had an emissions problem yet.

86chevota · Dec 24, 2016

I put 89k on my last 3500ram diesel. It was a POS. Mutiple E mission problems. Recall on the heat/cold switch. It ****ing sucked having no heat half the time. Some times it worked and some time it didn't . Shity when your taking your little girl to school with no heat. They never got the heat issue fixed. Got tired of trying different dealers. Than the last couple mouths were horrible. Every time it rained any amount the back seat and storage compartment boxs under the back seats would fill with water. They never could fixed that either . It was a lemon. It did tow ok!

MoparMan · Dec 24, 2016

Sorry, I missed the part where you mentioned a 6.4 HEMI as well. It is a great motor with plenty of power. The 5.7 HEMI is just as good and not too far behind the 6.4 on power.

If you get a 4th gen Cummins I would plan on deleting it if you don't have emissions testing in your area.

MoparMan · Dec 25, 2016

86chevota said:
I put 89k on my last 3500ram diesel. It was a POS. Mutiple E mission problems. Recall on the heat/cold switch. It ****ing sucked having no heat half the time. Some times it worked and some time it didn't . Shity when your taking your little girl to school with no heat. They never got the heat issue fixed. Got tired of trying different dealers. Than the last couple mouths were horrible. Every time it rained any amount the back seat and storage compartment boxs under the back seats would fill with water. They never could fixed that either . It was a lemon. It did tow ok!

What year model was it? Did you buy it brand new or used?

nhl_bullitt · Dec 25, 2016

Thanks for all the replies.

Also did not want to offend anyone. I think the rust is more of an issue up here than most of where you all are at. We get the salt trucks only about 3 times a year but it does a number on wheels and truck bodies here.

86chevota · Dec 25, 2016

MoparMan said:
What year model was it? Did you buy it brand new or used?

2012 I bought brand new just to pull my equipment trailer. Never a daily driver

86chevota · Dec 25, 2016

nhl_bullitt said:
Thanks for all the replies.

Also did not want to offend anyone. I think the rust is more of an issue up here than most of where you all are at. We get the salt trucks only about 3 times a year but it does a number on wheels and truck bodies here.

Salt is a killer

Dirt700 · Dec 25, 2016

I went with a 2012 Cummins, so I didn't have to do def. Drove halfway cross the country to get one with low miles. This is the second 6.7 cummins I have had, first one never gave me any problems, sold it at 100k, only ever had to change oil and fuel filters. My 12 now has around 55k been great so far, just deleted dpf today. I drove a few 15's before I got this one, couldn't tell much difference in performance, but they had a few more bells and whistles, but I didn't want to deal with the def

the_white_shadow · Dec 25, 2016

'14 Ram 2500 here. Bought new. ~60k total now. Went with the lariat to get all the bells and whistles. Love it. Been at the dealer twice. Once to get a new driveshaft (balance ring came off at the t-case) and 2nd was for the emission NOx sensor. Both covered under warranty. Once i hit 100k, i will be deleting the DPF and putting a moderate tuner on it. As it sits its completely stock other a set of 35" toyo MTs on the factory 18s. I get about 16.5 mpg average and about 10 towing a 30ft gooseneck with my crawler on it. Cant wait to pay it off though to free up some cash.

POR · Dec 26, 2016

I personally would stay away from Rams, I've had 3 a 96 360 gasser 3/4 ton (that was an awesome truck!) Bought it with 120k traded it in with 360k on it, only had to fix a cateletic converter. Bought a brand new 2002 cummins it has been the most expensive pos to keep on the road. That whole truck should have been a recall lol. It's had at 5grand a year put into it since 80,000 miles it. now it has 275k.. I thought that was a fluke truck lol, now I've bought an 09 dodge dually. It has 160k on it now. I've put 20k on it since buying it and have already had to put 5 grand in it. I've started telling anyone who asks, buy a Ford or chevy... and I hate fords!! Lol.