Ram Trucks

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All good info, thanks for the comments. I have found it interesting to see how oil has been changing over the last few years and getting better....a lot of vehicle brands are recommending oils like 0w-20/0w-30 and claim better mileage due to less engine friction and less engine wear cause the thinner viscosity flows to the cylinders and valves a lot faster, yet is still heavy enough to protect the engine once warmed up. I have 2 trucks (16 Chevy and 19 Ram) and a car (16 Chevy) that all use the 0w-20 Pennzoil Platinum. In my 2019 Ram, I switched the oil to the 0w-20 platinum at 1000miles and noticed that engine smoothed out MUCH faster after startup and no "valve tick"....rather than hearing it smooth out approx 30 seconds after startup with the factory oil (and this was summer months), it was more like 5 seconds or less with the 0w-20 full synthetic. I also switch my generators over to a 0w-40 in wintertime and its noticeable how much easier they start when cold, they also run smoother a lot quicker with that oil in them when temps are below 40-45 degrees outside. I know this is much more important in the Northern areas where it gets significantly colder, but a good thing to consider no matter where you live.

Rotella has been running rebates on the T5 and T6 synthetic oils, Rebate offers end on 12/31/18. $7 rebate per gallon and $17.50 rebate for the 2.5 gallon. On the T6, I can get a 2.5 gallon jug for $53 right now at Advance Auto, getting a rebate back for $17.50 (up to 4 rebates per household), takes the total cost to $36...making the end cost at roughly $14.50 per gallon, which is less than a gallon of the Rotella T4 at WalMart which normally sells for around $20. "Normal price", is up to $30 for a gallon of the T6 full synthetic.

I found out the Motorcraft FL-1A filter is a 20 micron which is pretty good and no need to get synthetic specific filter, especially with oil changes happening so frequently.

Anyway, I think I am going to make the switch. Cost will end up being more down the road (tho I just bought enough T6 to make it thru the next 2 years) but with how these engines are run, spending another $10 per oil change is nothing and since I intent to keep this boat for quite a while, anything that will keep the engine happier, makes me happy!

I saw this video this morning that someone posted to the Centurion/Supreme facebook page....very interesting! Posting the link below for anyone interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWiQ...cg7tqhI3L9j1Ic

Not trying to hijack, but I’m curious about how you Ike your 19 Ram? I’ve never been a Dodge man, but lately I find myself thinking about a Ram. I currently have a 2014 GMC, but will need a new truck when our oldest starts driving in 2 years.

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Not trying to hijack, but I’m curious about how you Ike your 19 Ram? I’ve never been a Dodge man, but lately I find myself thinking about a Ram. I currently have a 2014 GMC, but will need a new truck when our oldest starts driving in 2 years.

I have always been a GM guy in the past but have been hearing good things about Ram the last few years. I had pretty much made up my mind on a new GM after looking for a couple months, but decided to stop by Ram to check out one of their new trucks before I pulled trigger and figured I may able to use the Ram to negotiate a better price on the GM. At that time, I was not seriously considering the Ram, just figured I should check out everything to make the best decision and get the best price.
I was extremely impressed with what Ram has done. The trucks look really sharp, the interior fit and finish is head and shoulders over any other truck brand right now, it looks and feel luxurious The truck rides/drives as smoothly as my wife's car, the 5.7 Hemi engine has excellent power, makes my 5.3 GM feel like a bicycle and easily rivals the power of the optional 6.2 GM engine and the 8 speed trans is silky smooth and you can option the trucks up to over 12k of towing. I looked at the 18 leftovers and the 19's....but honestly the discounts where so good on the 19's
On my truck: I got the Laramie 1500 package, Crew Cab with the 5'7" short bed, 4x4, 5.7 hemi (without e-torque), I got the 3.92 gears with 20" rims and the GCWR is 17,000lbs...payload of 1,840 and 11,340lbs towing (which includes 300lbs of driver/passenger weight). So perfect for pulling my 24ft boat and I am within all legal limits even with my family in the truck and a reasonable amount of gear for a week long excursion. I have had the truck close to 4 months now and so far am VERY happy with everything. Tows and handles my boat much better than the 2016 Silverado in all areas.....the power is excellent and you barely know the boat is there when taking off from a stop light, the most noticeable difference for me though that makes me very happy is that the braking is night/day difference. The Chevy was not bad on the braking, the Ram is just that much better IMO. They upgraded the rotors for 2019 and even tho its a new design, the engine and trans is basically the same (with a few upgrades) so it did not worry me that it was going to be a 1st generation truck on that aspect, tho that is one of the reasons I did NOT opt for the etorque package. I did drive one and honestly it felt almost exactly the same but I am still not crazy about the start/stop technology even tho in that truck its was seamless feeling. Supposedly you gain 2mpg with that option, but real world numbers (so far at least) on the forums are not showing that.
One thing I really liked about the Ram....is they have an optional extended lifetime warranty that is backed by Chrysler/FCA and they pay dealer directly for all repairs. You are also able to do all maintaince on your vehicle (which I prefer to do)....and I was able to set up on online account so every time I do oil change, etc....I can upload the information and receipts so its all online and I do not have to keep files at house or on my laptop and worry abut losing them....such a cool option for a DIY guy like me.
Obviously you can get less time on extended warranties....but I intend to keep this truck for 10yrs plus and will likely pass it on to my 12yr old daughter at some point, probably when she leaves for college (my 15yr old just started driving and will get my wife's car when she turns 16). Anyway....I normally don't get extended warranties but after research and the fact that I plan to keep this truck and with how everything is run by computers....it made sense to me. They "advertise" the lifetime warranty with$100 deductible (as long as the title is in my name, regardless of how many miles are put on the truck) at over $4k....but after some forum research I found that I could get it for $1,800. This warrant literally covers everything possible (over 5000 items) including shocks and only excludes specific "wear items" like brake pads etc. Anyway....I bought the warranty and also found a local credit union who did 100% financing 1.9% for 84 months, so it only made sense to finance and keep my cash. (MSRP for the truck I got was a little over $55k and with discounts and rebates, I got the truck for $43,745 before taxes and warranty). I have since added step bars, tonneau cover and some other misc things.

The only thing this truck does worse than my Chevy....is fuel consumption. I do about 50/50 highway/city driving and was averaging 18.5 mpg (no mods) on the Chevy for the 1st year n half. When I put BF Goodrich A/T tires on the truck, my average dropped to approx 17mpg over the last year (surprised me that the tires effected the mileage that much, same overall size as factory, the only difference was the factory tire tread was more for highway while the BF Goodrich is more of a mud/snow tire. The tires are also not wearing to well, so in future I would use a Nitto tire, I have heard very good things about the Nitto Terra Grappler tires. On the Ram, I likely will not change them for a year or 2.
Anyway...the Ram has been averaging 16-16.5. Basically city driving is 14-15 and highway is 19-22 depending on what the area is like you are driving so really not bad at all and I would happily give up that extra 1mpg difference with how much better I am liking this truck so far.

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Great write up on the Ram! Thanks. What kind of bed cover do you have? Did you get a better deal on the Ram than the Chevrolet dealer was offering? My hardest decision about moving away from GMC would be dealer service. I used to do all my own maintenance...until I bought my GMC. My GMC dealer picks my truck up while I’m at work, they change the oil, rotate tires, and top off fluids, and return the truck to me for $65. I don’t have to miss out on any income at work because time=money in my business. And that’s an 8 quart synthetic oil change. I can’t even DIY it that cheap!

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I see you are in SC, I live in Denver, NC on Lake Norman and bought the truck at Lake Norman Chrysler, just North of Charlotte off 77....they are a volume dealer and the best Ram prices I found without going several States away (Actually, the State of IL was the only place at that time that I could have gotten similar pricing), tho now that its almost into 2019, pricing will likely get better all around. Ram has been setting sales records left and right since Sept/Oct. I got double the discount getting the 19 Ram VS what they wanted to discount a leftover 18 GM (I was looking at Chevy and GMC trucks since I have owned several) and the GM dealer that I have bought at least 8 vehicles from in last 20yrs could not come close....not to mention that to get a comparable GM truck with all the options I have on the Ram, plus the 6.2 engine with 8 speed trans (with size of my boat, that combo was only way I could get to legal tow ratings), $65k was the average msrp for the Denali's or High Country packages, with no one wanting to go below $58-$60k on 2018 discounts. So GM had an msrp of $10k more, on 2018 models and frankly the interiors look cheap compared to how the new Ram's look. At that point, GM only had a couple 2019's on the lots and were offering basically nothing on discounts cause they were pushing to get rid of the 2018's. That was a big reason I started looking elsewhere to begin with.

The good thing about buying trucks, is its not like a boat where a dealer is gonna put you last in line if you do not buy from them BUT you obviously have a good relationship with your dealer and picking up your truck like that is obviously a nice perk...would just depend on your local Ram dealer if you can get similar setup. As far as price, they do have extended service contracts where you can buy "X" amount of pre-paid oil changes up front (called "essential care"), the more you buy, the cheaper it is. I opted out of that, but they did provide me with some pricing and I believe buying between 6-10 brought price down to roughly $45 each. The 5.7 engine takes 7 quarts and I think the factory uses a blended synthetic (just like GM), in 0w-20. You can buy 5 quarts of 0w-20 Penz Platinum full synthetic for about $20 at WalMart, add in oil filter and cost is probably around $40 with tax, so its a good deal they offer. Personally, I do it in the evenings and have nice garage setup at home and also dont have the time during day to take it too the dealer, I do know that they have an extra large service area at LKN Chrysler with "drive thru" and loaner vehicles.

The bed cover I bought is called a Lomax "Professional series" (with the diamond plate)....Lomax also has a black one (no diamond plate) which was a bit cheaper and very comparable to a popular bed cover called a "BAKflip". I found a place in the NC mountains that gave me a great discount on the Lomax, like 30% off the $900 msrp and they shipped it too me for free. Fits and looks excellent....approx 400lb rating with "weight equally distributed" so I probably would not want to put too much on there, tho I do intent to install a few tie-downs on it so I have that option if the need arose. My brother has a bed cover on his 2500HD called a "Diamond Back" that you can walk on and holds over 1000lbs, you can load a 4-wheeler on it, etc.....but those are more like $2-$3k depending on how you option it, really sweet looking! Just not what I needed since I am using this truck for towing my boat and personal and kept the 2016 Chevy for everyday driving and work.

Anyway, if/when you decide to look into one, I am happy to give you contact info for the best pricing I found on the Ram's, as well as where I found the best accessories so you can compare. I added a bunch of misc things to the truck and just not show in that picture, like HDX step bars, factory tow hooks, splash guards for tires (helps keep debris from kicking onto the boat when towing), bug defector, etc... that pic with boat was maybe a week after buying it. I did a high intake filter (factory box is already "cold air intake" that provides good air flow connected to front scoops) and at some point will also add a better flowing exhaust system with 5" tips. I also like that Ram has a "Mopar" factory lift kit for the 1500 (think its 2" lift)....allows you to install 3" tires and you retain full factory warranty, so tasteful without making it look like a monster. I may do that down the road since I like my trucks to be a bit bigger, but have outgrown having trucks you need a ladder to climb into, lol.

Totally de-railed this thread, sorry guys!!