RAM tough???
 

A 2020 1 ton truck. :eek:

I took an eight week trip around the country with a brand new 1995 3/4 ton Chevy extended cab with a slide in Lance camper. Never had any issues.
Don’t know if his frame bent or broke but it shouldn’t have done either.
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...8&d=1671213061

Looks to be a pretty big camper, wonder how much it weighs? But ya shouldn't have done this.
Have seen this on other sites, just wondering if real or?

Looking at other forums, this isn't out of the question.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...39457ba688.png

https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar..._o-jpg.661373/

https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar..._n-jpg.661375/

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1671218817

Similar situation Ford

https://www.ramchargercentral.com/at.../2-jpg.455546/

Looks like the Dodges would we OK for hauilng around some of those large trash bags, full of leaves.......maybe :)

Here's a newsflash: Do a 2 second Google search and you'll see similar pics for ALL brands of trucks...

I did just that, looking for a C3500HD, 1991-2002, the ones that have a filler between the front bumper, and the grille, the kinda ugly, one ton trucks that have a 15,000# GVW rating. Without independent front suspension, they have a solid beam axle with longitudinal front leaf springs. I haven't found any pics/video of a broken one yet.

I own a 95 3500HD box truck, and I doubt any camper, is going to break those frames, one tough truck. I also own 2, K3500 dualies (93, and a 97), they're nowhere near as strong as the 95 3500HD chassis is. Notice in the second picture, the double frame from the center of the cab to the rear spring hangers, right in the area all trucks frames commonly fail.

https://i.ibb.co/2ybh0JN/red-C3500-HD.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/L0HmSNP/c3500-HD-frame.jpg

The 3500HD is a one ton truck, with a two ton double chassis.
Of course in their infinite wisdom, GM stopped making those trucks in 2002, and went back to the single frame that does break. :Ithink:

Overload any truck, and you'll start finding the failure points pretty quickly.

I have a Ram and love it. I've hauled thousands of pounds with it over thousands of miles, and it's been rock solid.

You see a good amount of those dodge ram thingsover here as well. I refer to them as plastic pickup trucks...

I wouldn'd mind a 1976 dodge w200 though, those look tough..

Does JC. Whitney have the Gusseted midframe option?

I figure they are cheaper for a reason.
I’d love to have a Cummins engine, but the bodies, Ummm….no

From what I've seen from some of newer trucks pulling trailers and hauling and bowing in the middle I'll stick with my 87 Ford 6.9 dually.

There's a good reason that many people swap the 5.9 Cummins into the GMT 400 chassis (88-98 chevy, and GMC). That's a fairly popular swap if you look on the net.

I have 2 GMT 400 trucks that have the 6.5 TD, and one with the 454 gas, which I really don't like. I know the 6.5 isn't near the power of a 5.9 Cummins, but they suit me fine. I can see after owning the 454 truck why many people opted for the 6.5, the mileage sucks. About 8 miles per gallon with gas, compared to 15 with the 6.5.

Plastic trucks?


Hardly.

The 12V installs in older Chevys & GMC's mainly stems from "GM" guys trying to keep their square body & GMT400 chassis 3/4 & one tons on the road. First witnessed that swap over 25 years ago with several Chevy bracket racers. First picking up cheap partially stripped 4door duallies that needed an engine. Each one of them found a heavily wrecked Cummins Dodge to gives up its engine & trans then parted out the rest of the Dodge. That longtime GM owner "anti Dodge truck" sentiment often sees liitle basis in fact, just hyperbole, "can't drive a Dodge, doesn't fit with my rep..." LOL

Hasnt been hard to find solid 2nd Gen Dodge 2500 bodies/chassis down here. There's not a spec of rust on my Cummins & its only been garaged indoors (my building) for a few months in its life. Late 98 12V ext cab 12V, NV4500, HD clutch, Dana80.

Neighbor up the road sold his clean super solid '01 Cummins Dually quad cab last winter. Buyer gave 23K, & the AC needed recharge, if it had been 4wd, could have brought another 5k.

I am sure you can find examples of problems with all the brands, but as a GM guy, I have to admit those pictures give me a chuckle! LMAO.:D

I transport with 2 Durmax diesel trucks that are basically almost the same....'02 Chevy 3500 & '03 GMC 2500 HD. I love them both & each has well over 600,000 miles on the original engines & trans. I am just now putting heads on the GMC. I would not trade them for any other truck, now I have to admit that since my stuff is washed constantly & is stored in a building that never gets below 55 degrees & humidity is also controlled, the chance of rot affecting the structure is slim!

I am also using a 97 GMC Sierra 1500 as my winter/bar parking lot truck that has 640,000 miles on it & has only had ONE engine change!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

Great trucks!
 

I have a 94 C3500 with the 6.5 Diesel. I love this truck. It weighs 6400 Lbs with no tail gate, spare tire and a 1/4 tank of fuel. The last time I went to the dump with broken concrete I crossed the scales at 10,500 lbs.

If ford weren’t so ugly, maybe then………
They keep that swoopy side window going year after year after year.

Pic posted for my brother Roger, Ole pinion head

Didn’t read through this thread but based on the pics guessing it’s. A. basher ! My first dodge all my dodges have always towed like crazy always a trailer hanging off the back always good trucks

THanks Jeff!
Gotta set my phone up where can post on PY with it.

Just noticed in the pic of my ol Cummins. Was taken 2years ago, was waiting on wheel spacers for the rear. Had just mounted 2018 Ram alloy wheels & new tires, but had yet mounted them on the rear axle. Ecoboost F-150 is my son's.

If you both to look at the picture of the truck with the OKanagan camper pulling a trailer you will see it is not a Ram.

Sorry that should be "bother"

Owning one particular truck doesn't really give you a perspective of how well they are designed and built. If you work on them for a living, you really see which ones hold up, and which ones don't.

When I owned my own garage, and worked on any, and all brands, my most worked on truck was dodge, followed by GM, and ford, was likely the least worked on. Just my own observations, YMMV.

I do know one thing for sure, they all cut the frame strength down from what it was back in the 70s, I used to see 1/2 ton wreckers back then, you'd never get away making any of the brands 1/2 ton trucks into a wrecker now. Back in the 70s and 80s seeing a truck bowed or broken behind the cab was almost never seen. Now 1 ton dually bend, and break fairly regularly. Now they have 4500 and 5500 series trucks if you want to use one for hauling heavy loads. That series before was the separation point between a light duty truck, and a medium duty truck.

In 1988, a GMC buick dealer, I used to work for took a brand new 1/2 ton GMC truck, and installed a plow on it. The first time they raised the plow, the gap behind the cab opened up an inch or two. An 87 or earlier 1/2 ton would never have that happen. They called the factory, the person they talked to told them that the 88 1/2 ton GM trucks were not rated for mounting a plow, they'd need at least a 3/4 ton chassis to use a plow on.

I've seen the trucks since the 70s become less, and less suited to using as a work vehicle, and more towards an image vehicle. This is the exact reason I only buy 1 ton duallies. I want to hang a plow on one, or if I want to put a 2 ton load in it, or haul a 30 foot fifth wheel trailer I have enough truck.

I used to have a 3/4 ton Jeep, that had a plow on the front, and a wrecker boom on the back. I hauled cars, and pushed snow with it for years, the frame never was in question for the 20 years I owned it. The engine sucked in it (360 AMC), and I repowered it with a Pontiac 455, best truck ever!!

https://i.ibb.co/qMfBTPq/Jeep-Truck.jpg

The caption below the picture notes it as being a ford.

WAY too much tongue weight on that pickup.
Wouldn't matter what brand of pickup it was.

Early 00's, the most weight in the bed of my relatively new Cummins Dodge was little over 3700 lbs of Pontiac shortblocks, bare blocks, including over a TON of 6X-4 heads alone. All but 2 428 blocks i dropped at Len's after a 4 hr trip up from Texas. Year ago, in Wichita loaded near two pallets of freshly cut fescue/KY bluegrass sod. After rough guessing the weight at 30lbs a roll, and then actually weighing & the average roll coming in at 47 lbs, thought it smart to unload near 30 rolls from the bed. If I'd known that sod was going to be so heavy, would have brought a trailer.

Seems bizarre for that 2020 1ton to break the frame with that camper on the back. The older Ford in the pic further down was at least pulling an enclosed trailer also. Never know what abuse the truck had in it’s previous life though.

My old 68 IHC 3/4 ton crew cab was a camper special, was designed for a big pickup camper just like that.

We hauled a load of batteries for scrap in our dodge dually that the batteries weighted in at 5500 lbs about 70 miles away. That was a LOT! We have a cummins in dodge’s 97, 03, and and 08. Biggest loads we pull are 47’ triple axle enclosed trailer with a gooseneck, and our 11K+ lb Deere track loader with a bumper hitch.

As much as I wouldn't hit a dog in the @ss with a Doge or a Ford Truck...The biggest problem is with the owners having NO idea what they own! See picture below of a Ford pictured by someone who claims to know what he is doing, but clearly has NO idea about trucks, trailers or cars for that matter & spends most of his time riding in a "Greypooch" Buys an old junk Ford 7.3 & the 1st time he uses it the frame which was obviously rotten out breaks! LMAO!!!!

Back in the 90's when Dodge came out with the bodystyle that looked like an antique...I thought, Damn that looks really cool, until I would see lots of them on fire climbing up a hill pulling a trailer! I NEVER laugh at someones elses misfortune, because that brings Karma back on me, but it seemed like ALL the Dodge One Tons with the Cummins were burning up on the side of the road back then!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

In the 90's, I was on the road a ton, & when the '94 Dodge Rams came out, my brother, through the oil company he worked for, had a 7.3 Ford that wasn't getting the job done. The company ended up equipping him with the first '94 Dodge Cummins dually sold in OKC. That one ton Cummins ended up being worked hard near every day, eventually all over about 10 states, hotshot hauls. During that time, the company went from 2 warehouses/yards to 13, & my brother was literally the thumb in the dike. Turned up & no muffler & particulate trap, that Dodge sounded like a giant bumble bee/ very annoying. That particular Dodge was also the first diesel one ton in the state that had to get DOT rated @ Great Dane. Was placarded at 31,500lbs GWVR on the doors.

Both of us were on the road hauling so much back then, & I sure can't remember any 2nd Gen Cummins "burning up on the side of the road". The only weakness we eventually noticed on that '94 Cummins dually was the automatic transmission. Originally, the oil company he worked for had ordered a dually with a NP4500 5spd, but when the first '94 Cummins Duallys hit Lynn Hickeys dealership, they were all automatics. In a hurry to put a new truck in service, it was bought, & went a hard 122,000 miles in less than 18 months when the trans had to be rebuilt. Then it went back to work.

When I was casually searching, then finally on a serious hunt in '00 for a used 3/4 ton Cummins Dodge, it had to be a ext cab, a 12 valve, a 5 speed, & white. Crazy thing was I was in a local crusher yard in 8inches of mud hauling off a cartrailer stacked load of processed partscar sheetmetal. The fellow behind me on the scale watched me as i pulled through the slop in 4L in my XJ Cherokee. Later he & I start talking trucks, & by sheer coincidence, he had the exact Cummins Ram I was looking for :)

[QUOTE='ol Pinion head;6394045]

Both of us were on the road hauling so much back then, & I sure can't remember any 2nd Gen Cummins "burning up on the side of the road". The only weakness we eventually noticed on that '94 Cummins dually was the automatic transmission. Originally, the oil company he worked for had ordered a dually with a NP4500 5spd, but when the first '94 Cummins Duallys hit Lynn Hickeys dealership, they were all automatics. In a hurry to put a new truck in service, it was bought, & went a hard 122,000 miles in less than 18 months when the trans had to be rebuilt. Then it went back to work.





I LOVE the NV4500 5 spd trans! I did a little customizing & put one in my 74 GMC square body 1 ton dually . I built the truck in '94 & put 850,000 miles on it before I retired it. The NV4500 was only the 2nd trans the truck had as I started with a 700r4 from premier performance in California. It worked great, but only lasted 200K. The NV4500 lasted 600K & I had just replaced it with a Jasper reman 30K before I retired the truck, so the trans is here in my shop...One of these days I will list it for sale along with the dually rear axle which I had rebuild at the same time I changed the trans. Should have retired it a few months earlier, it would have saved me some money!:D

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

My father bought a new 1965 GMC 1/2 ton with an 8' bed,3spd V6 for $1875.00. One day he asked me to get a load of bricks from 1st ward area of Latrobe. They were removing brick sidewalks,replacing with concrete,the urban renewal projects. My cousin and I 'loaded' a load of bricks.When I pulled out onto St Mary's hill I shifted into 2nd gear,I couldn't steer the truck,i guess front end off the ground,I had to keep it in low gear. When my dad saw the load he was not happy.

Brad, I have been inside several hundred 6.2s and 6.5s. They really aren’t bad engines. The normally aspirated ones are a bit gutless. The biggest problems we saw were the thickness of the head decks( one or two millings and the valve seats would actually move when you torqued the head) and cracking in the number one main journal into the number one rod journal in the early 6.2 nodular cranks. The fuel injectors weren’t the most reliable but the injection pumps were bulletproof. The best 6.5s were the 6.5Ts installed in the late HUMMVs. 210hp, 500+ ft/lbs of torque.

I bought my first truck with a 6.5, in 2010, (93 K3500 dually) the engine still runs great, roughly a year ago, at 270,000 miles the 4L80E decided it was done. I replaced it with the 97 with a 454 in it, I'm not impressed with the 454 at all. I'd much rather have a 6.5, but a year ago when I was looking to replace the 93, I couldn't find any 6.5s that were priced reasonably. That was at the height of truck scarcity, and people were stupid on their pricing, so I ended up with a 454.

I'd trade the 454 truck for a 6.5 if I could find extended cab 4X4 in good shape.

I also have a C3500HD, 6.5 box truck I bought that is getting compression into the cooling system. I've tried every stop leak that there is to seal the small leak, none have worked. I might just pull the engine out of the 93 and stick it in, I know the heads are prone to cracking, and headgaskets can also leak. It's a fairly low mile reman engine, so who knows what is leaking. Pulling the heads in chassis is not going to happen, so I might just swap engines, but it's too tall to get inside of my garage. I'm still debating on what I want to do with it.

Had Rams since the late 90's and never had an issue.

The problem is yahoos overloading their trucks. 'My truck is tough, it can haul anything!' mentality. Everything has its limits. I bought a fiberglass handled shovel. The idiot working for me said, you should have bought wood, fibreglass breaks. I disagreed. Guess what, 15 minutes later he came back with a 2 piece shovel. I have had one in my use for 20 years now and never had a problem, although I know I could break it in a couple of seconds if need be.
I have mostly driven Fords and still do. I think they are great trucks. I dont think there is as much difference between brands now like there was 40 years ago. They are all built the same way, and full of electronics. The big difference is styling. Dad bought a Dodge in 93 I think (when they came out with the new front end) with a cummins. That truck ran for almost 400k miles until yet another yahoo employee decided to wrap it around a pole. Motor still running strong. My older brother always had Super Duties, he traded on a Ram last go round for the diesel motor. Had enough with the Fords needing a rebuild at 250k miles.

i think you have the only 6.5 still running in existence. mine started going bad when it had around 6k miles on it. biggest piece of garbage i ever owned. that is why ive been driving fords ever since.

There's a bunch of 6.5s running to this day, I have 2 that are running quite well, the most major repair was a worn out injection pump.

I agree! The Dodge's seemed pretty tough minus the trans back then. They would have band failure in the trans. The other thing I would mention is the corrosion.

If you have a 93 6.5, IMHO..you have the best 6.5 made.. It was the last of the fully mechanical injection pumps used on the 6.5 before they went to the electronic controlled mechanical injection pump. I would not be afraid of one of those 92-93 6.5s at all. My cousin had a suburban that era with a 6.5. I think it had over 400K miles on it before it got parked, a lot of towing too.

The later 6.5s that are 94 and newer with the electronic controlled injection pump are a nightmare, tons of sensor and injection issues. You have to relocate the ecu if you want any chance of keeping it running. The oil sensor turns on the lift pump, and like to fail and not start. One thing after another on those. I would count my self lucky to have a 97 with a 454 over the 6.5. All the later 6.5s I know of end up in the shop and have mega bucks in them sorting out injection issues and sensors. These days, unless your a total DIY mechanic, it isn’t easy to find a shop that can work on those later 6.5s, they are kind of odd.

My uncle bought a low milage 98 Chevy service truck with a 6.5 because it was cheap and he wanted a quieter running Deisel, that 6.5 engine is quiet compared to the other diesels of that era. But that truck is always at the shop getting worked on, they have a fortune in shop bills keeping it running with sensor and injection problems.

I use to help a guy that was a die hard GM diesel owner, started with 6.2s, and eventually bought a new 02 Duramax, and semi retired his very nice 97 6.5. It was hilarious when he first bought the Duramax. All of a sudden that 86 year old guy was driving his pickup like a 18 year old kid. Looking back in the rearview mirror at the cloud of black smoke with a big smile on his face. Lol.

My 93 was all screwed up when I bought it, I fixed everything on it when I bought it. Yes, the oil pressure switch was cooked, I just used a hot wire with ignition to run a relay for the lift pump, problem fixed. The injection pump was pulling the fuel without the lift pump so after about 20,000 miles later, it failed, replaced it. The transmission didn't shift consistently, found some bad sensors on the engine and replaced them, however it still wanted to default back to limp mode, (only had second gear intermittently) I finally found the TPS switch had a dead spot in it, that fixed the shift problem.

I made my living for 50 years spinning wrenches, I've worked in dealerships many of those years, and I know that the 6.5 has a ton of electronic issues, especially on the 94 and later electronically controlled injection pump. If I ever feel so inclined to the 93 and earlier mechanical pump, and lines can be retrofitted to the later engines, solving the things that can fail on the later pumps.

The 95 has already had the PMD relocated, but even with it relocated, it still failed. It didn't fail 100% though, sometimes it works as it should. If it doesn't work tapping it with a block of wood gets it to work again. It needs a new PMD, but because I use it only a few times a year I haven't bought a new one. The oil pressure switch has failed, so I just pull the relay out and jumper the lift pump to get it to run in the under hood electrical panel.

I've run into just about every electrical snafu that commonly happens with these trucks, I know what I own, and am perfectly capable of finding any problem, and fixing them. To get double the fuel mileage of that crappy 454 I'll gladly put up with the idiosyncrasies of the 6.5.

The 454 was formerly owned by a truck puller that half assed most everything under the sun, I spent a couple months just getting it to run and start properly. I took out the plastic distributor, had to reset the timing with my scanner, new wires, cap, rotor, the oil filter adapter needed new O rings, because it was leaking badly. The dipstick was just shoved in between the manifold and the block, because the bottom of the tube was rusted completely rusted off. He removed both catalysts, then welded the downstream O2 sensor into the exhaust system, of course it doesn't work any longer.

The injectors are shot in it, and he replaced only 2 of them. After all the work to get to them under the plenum. Now it need to be pulled back apart to fix the rest of them. That engine is harder to work on than the 6.5 by a long shot, the engineer that designed that plenum system with the injectors under it was a genius. I was never a fan of any BBC, this one just solidified my bias. I'm half temped to put a 455 Pontiac in it, it couldn't get much worse mileage than the chevy does, plus it would simplify the whole emission system because half of it missing, it sure isn't going to ever run properly with everything crutched together. I've seen a lot of mickey mouse fixes after over 50 years of working on cars, and trucks, what the former owner screwed up on that truck has to be in the top 5%.

I can appreciate your concern, but I'm well aware of what I own, and how to get them running properly. It'll just take some money, and time, being retired I have the time, money, not so much, so I choose wisely when I do spend it.

I looked up the specs on the Camper in original post. It appears to be a Eagle cap. I took the specs from what I believe is there heaviest camper. I came up with 6200 pounds with water and propane. Maybe someone could figure out GVWR of Dodge truck and Payload.

I looked up the GVWR and payload of a 2022 GMC 3500HD dually. Curb weight is 8300 pounds. Payload is 5662 pds. GVWR is 14000 pds. So this camper would be to heavy for this truck?
https://media.gmc.com/media/us/en/gm...2022.tab1.html

Wow! Those campers are freaking heavy!

Some friends that do repowers have come up on what they call the "right truck", which is a cummins powered F350. Cummins for the engine, ford for the front suspension.

Those GM 3500HD "cab and chassis" combos have that spacer between the bumper and grille because thats the difference in frame height between a standard frame and an HD. I had a HD with an extended cab, was a 6.5 truck. Sold it to a guy who was gonna repower it with a cummins (that would be damn near indestructible), and it sits to this day exactly where the wrecker delivered it to him. What a shame. An ext cab HD is a bit of a unicorn.

What a monstrosity!
if a RV company product designer wanted to layout the heaviest most massive Brick of an inbed camper, overload the truck's chassis, have the absolute worst coef of drag & absolutely kill MPG, he succeeded.

I did a little more research. I don't know the Dodge trucks platform. I drive the GMC brand and are more familiar with them. So I came up with the Dodge payload max for Crew cab 4x4 at 6700,5850 or 5590 depending on engine. Crew cab at 6630, 5670 and 5400. Only other Dodge platform in Crew cab 4x2 drive is 7050 pounds.

In my opinion too much weight of camper for truck. One large dip in the road would test this unit.

https://www.ramtruck.ca/documents/ra...rochure-en.pdf

When we hauled 5500 lbs with our 97 dodge dually it was pretty much bottomed out on all 4 corners!

In addition to the 97 Dodge dually we also have a 97 F350 dually with a 7.3 Powerstroke. There is basically no difference in load capacity between our Ford and Dodge that I can tell. Both have 5 speeds and 300K miles. The Cummins is turned up and has at least 150 HP on the 7.3. All of us here wish the Ford was a Dodge, the cab and interior much nicer and roomier on the Dodge, and the Powerstroke 7.3 versus the cummins is not in the same league. Right now the 7.3 barely runs and needs $1200 worth of injectors.

I don’t think any of the 350 trucks other than these current trucks probably 5 years old or newer would handle those 5K+ Lb campers, and I am pretty skeptical that is a a good idea even on those new trucks that have enough payload rating. We also have a 88 F450 diesel, I think it would hold up those big campers, but it is a 450. It’s suspension and frame is built like a tank. Lol…it also rides like one. It rides so rough empty you get bruises from the lap belt when driving across across rough roads. I get a knot on my head from wearing a ball cap from my head hitting the roof. :) We have replaced the pop metal bracing under the dash several times because it rides so rough it can’t hold the steering column up, fatigue cracks all over the cab. Ford tough. Lol

Brands
 

Before all the regen and def the dream truck was a Cummins Engine "Ram" , Ford Cab and Chassis with a GM interior. I own a 2006 Dodge 2500 Cummins powered megacab since new. Thought about selling it a few times. Its never let me down.

Bent
 

In the mid to late 90's I used to often replace chassis in the 3500 dually GM for just this reason. This is before they added those reinforcing plates to the chassis.

Problem is, trucks have turned into luxury family sedans with tiny beds. If they’d put the money into making real trucks again instead of all the “frills”, maybe these things wouldn’t happen.

We have 2 of the 3rd gen Rams with the Cummins both first year 2003 models. Dodge advertised that the new frame was stiffer than the old gen 2 trucks.

First year of hydro formed fully boxed (not C channel) 50 KSI steel IIRC.

I would not want a newer RAM Cummins because these have no emission system other than CR injection.
No regen, DEF, DOC, Cooled EGR, CAT, or DPF. 2003 only year built that way

Both trucks have been great so far mine just passed 165k

Yeah, try finding an 8’ bed. They’re out there but getting rare.