2018 2500 - My first diesel

[FrozenDEF]

Hello Everyone,
I've just pulled the trigger on a 2018 Ram 2500 Cummins, Laramie trim, crewcab shortbed, with the Sport Appearance package. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, and will be pulling toys (not heavy for diesel, mostly a 2000 lb dual-axle trailer for snowmobiles, or a Side by side and ATV in summer), and carrying a fairly light slide-in camper (1200 lbs wet).

I got a few things thrown in (not free, haha) with dealer installation: camper tie-downs, B&W flip-hitch gooseneck, Ram 5" oval aluminum step bars, powder coated black, and traded the stock tires for a set of stock size BFG All Terrain KO2 tires. I really liked the look of the Sport package, and noticed that includes Bilstein "sport tuned" shocks front and rear. This truck didn't have the factory installed LED bedlights, so got those added and the sales code programmed in.

So:
Does anyone know which Bilsteins Ram uses? I really liked the 5100 series I had on my Chevy 1500...Not interested in changing anything out initially but just curious.
What other accessories am I missing?
What mudflaps do folks like? I live down a mile of road (really, a trail) that is way sloppy during a lot of non-winter.
Are the coils versatile enough for a nice ride empty and still carry a 1,800 lb water tank a few times a month in winter and a few times a week in summer? I could add airbags or even replace the coils with factory airbags and an aftermarket controller for the best of both worlds.
From reading the forums, I'll probably immediately remove and seal the cell antenna and the 3rd brake light...
I may look into HIDs for the headlights. Interior Alaska is really dark half the year, and I commute 20 miles one-way, often making 10 miles without seeing another car in the morning.
I'll add a trans pan and oil pan heater, and change out antifreeze for a -60F protection point after getting it... That's how I came up with the username here, haha...

I'm pretty stoked about this. It's my first brand-new truck (last one was close, 6000 miles when I got it). Its my first diesel. Its my first Ram.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas holiday. I look forward to hanging out in the various Ram forums for a few years!
Dan

 

[Jim W]

Welcome to the forum first!
Geno's Catalog states that the 5100 Series Bilstein shocks will fit the 2017 model trucks so, I would think that they should fit the 2018 also. To be sure call the Geno''s Garage folks at 1-800-755-1715 to be sure. Not sure on what shock the factory installs in the sports package.
I would added a winter front this helps a lot plus a block heater cord if not already equipped, engine should have the block heater already installed. You may want to add an Edge Insight CTS2 to monitor some of the engine parameters. See page 8 of Geno's catalog. Also they offer a A/C condenser guard which if you travel a lot of gravel roads this will come in handy. Another Geno's feature is the Quick Grill Release kit that allows access to the radiator and A/C Condenser for cleaning. To name just a few items.
Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Wayne M.]

Welcome to the TDR!
X2 on Jims advice- especially the winterfrot- Even I have one in mild NYC. Sounds like you're making all the right moves! Please fully join the TDR to get the magazine, and Geno's catalogs. I would advise dealing with them- especially for the Fleetguard filters. Do stock up on filters- especially fuel filters. There are some Diesel etiquite you'll pick up on, but most importantly, ensure you're taking the best quality fuel and DEF you can get.
I look forward to seeing and reading about your neck of the woods, so feel free to tell us and please throw up some pictures!

 

[FrozenDEF]

Thanks guys, the factory installed "cold weather group" included the block heater and cold front. It's rare to find any vehicle up here that doesn't have a block heater installed and I was happy to find the dealer I used in Idaho orders it on all their trucks.
Up here the local dealer adds $899 more to the window sticker for winterization. That includes taking the antifreeze to 60/40 instead of 50/50, adding an oil pan heater, transmission pan heater, battery heater, and 4 way plug. I'll do that myself for about $100 and about an hour or two.
I've seen threads about the EGR clogging up the grid heater, but not sure how big a problem that really is...

 

[Jim W]

On your model year truck that should not be a real big issue. The newer trucks from 2013.5 and on have less EGR than the trucks built from 2007.5 to 2013. In fact the EGR cooler on your truck no longer needs to be serviced.

I would spend the $35.00 a year for full membership. This will allow you to access the digital online quarterly magazine that TDR publishes. You maybe able to order a back issue 80 which explains the changes made to the engine in 2013.5.

I have been a member since Nov 2007, and this is the best $35.00 I spend every year for my truck.

 

[CMB]

Welcome to TDR! You will certainly find the site to be an amazing resource.

Regarding your mud flap question- check out " Duraflap ". Super easy no drill installation, very very durable, provides more coverage than most others. I've been running them for 2 years and they still look new.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[FrozenDEF]

I've been reading about the cabin filters too. It looks like a coupon for a $49 cabin air filter and installation came with the purchase of the truck. Do these have the provision for the filter, but not include it? That's one of the things I really missed going from my '99 GMC to a 2009 Chevy - the cabin air filter disappear sometime between those years. It really helped keep the interior dust down.


Edit: I see Geno's has the cabin filter for about $15 and once I get the truck I'll check for the door. Easy enough, and I won't throw an extra $30 at the local dealership.

 

[PT02063]

Welcome! I grew up in Alaska (Anchorage and Fairbanks) and know the conditions well. You must have purchased from Gene's in Fairbanks - my was a salesman there in the late 60's/early 70's back when it was located 1804 South Cushman...their building is now the Fairbanks Collision & Glass dealer...and he sold some of the original muscle cars.

My recommendation for mudflaps are the WeatherTech 110026-120026 Mud Flap which are no drill and hold up very well even with the snow/ice freezing to the fender. They do a good job keeping everything off the paint job unless you're heading out in to the wilds and throwing mud everywhere. They will set you back about $78 on Amazon and are a simple twenty minute install but do one heck of a job.

My only other piece of advice is to always carry a spare set of fuel filters under the rear seat or one of the floor compartments, and keep each one in a zip lock baggie to keep the moisture out. There is nothing worse than being up in 40 mile country or up past Fox with a fuel filter issue at -40!

As for the cabin air filter, you should check first to see if there is one in there as my 2017 came with one in the slot already. And don't forget to plug that baby in when those temps drop below 10 - the worst sound in the world I've ever heard was when some of the military guys who transferred to Wainwright or Eielson would forget to plug their trucks in and start them up the next morning at -30. Then again, there was nothing like the cussing I heard when one of the used a pan full of charcoal under the engine to warm it up instead - and it was a little to hot - and ended up with a fire from all the melting components.

 

[FrozenDEF]

I grew up in South Central, in Soldotna, and have been in Fairbanks now about 10 years, all of that about 6 miles past Fox, so the cold is nothing new, but owning the diesel is.
Plugging in the block heater isn't an option for me, I'm living off grid and that much electric load, while possible means I'd be running the generator too often. It'll be plugged in at work, and in the 50-60*F garage at home!
Pretty excited to get out with it, and appreciate everyone's advice. At the moment I'm boarding a plane back from Seattle, it was cheaper to fly down, drive it a few hundred miles, put on the barge to Anchorage for $2000, and still save a few grand over any Alaska dealers. Genes is still (maybe back) on S. Cushman, right at Van Horn.

 

[PT02063]

I lived in Kenai for eleven years in the 90’s so know what you came from and moved to...that is where I had my 2001 Ram 2500 CTD. Great state for a diesel! Enjoy!

 

[FrozenDEF]

I've got the truck home. I had a successful drive from Dave Smith in Kellogg, ID, to Seattle about 10 days ago. Made it through Snoqualmie Pass right after one road closure and before another, in a couple hour window apparently. Roads were open to AWD with traction tires or chains. Truck handled well, although the 80 psi rear, 65 psi front was a bit harsh in the ice chopped up by big rig chains. I made it to the shipper in Tacoma 45 minutes before they closed on Thursday, spent the night in Seattle and flew home early Friday.
Picked the rig up in Anchorage the following Friday (two days ago) filled up with fuel in Anchorage and drove home to Fairbanks. Now have about 800 miles on the truck. The brand new motor got a hand calculated 17.6 mpg from Anchorage to Fairbanks at speeds of 70 or so in daylight and 55-60 in the dark after 5pm with a lot of blowing snow. The dash shows 19.6mpg for both the 365+ mile trip from Anchorage and the 700+ mile trip from start, so it's optimistic like most.
Yesterday I got the trans pan and oil pan heater pads installed, and they're tied in with the factory block heater. Total is around 850 watts, even though the block heater has "1250WATTS" right on a tag on the plug. Boo. Measured load on the block heater is just a tad over 500W. I also removed the grill and got the winter cover put on correctly with all clips and installed the snaps.
Dropped tire pressures to 55 front, 45 rear. EVIC is telling me to air the fronts up to 80 and rears to 65, which is backwards from the door sticker.

Temps dropped here from around 0 to -20F overnight. Truck is in garage, so took it to town (~20 miles each way) to compare heater output and warmup time to my Chevy with an all aluminum 6.0L V8. Obviously the Chevy warms up faster. A LOT. I expected that since the Cummins is so much heavier, lots more metal in there. The Ram warmed up fine, and had significant heat in about 5 miles, but never as hot out the heater as the old Chevy. Parking at the office for half an hour, it was also clear it holds the heat a lot longer than the aluminum V8 did. Both have cold-front/grill covers/whatever you call them. The Chevy also has electric fans, which helps by not blowing any cool air over the engine or radiators unless needed.

I really need to get the mudflaps ordered, as the roads here are graveled not sanded, and I can hear that crap on my new paint. I think I'll go with the Duraflaps, they look like good coverage and those who have them seem to like them.

I'm going to the Seattle Boat Show next weekend, so I guess my first towing test might be the following weekend for a quick snowmobile trip, plus it should warm back up to around 0 by then. While at the dealer I picked up an 8" drop Weigh-Safe 180 hitch, so I have the drop I need for either the 2" or 2-5/16" ball, all rated to 8000 lbs on the 2" ball or 14,500 lbs on the 2-5/16. I've got trailers that use both.

 

[TMyers]

Enjoying this thread! Great truck purchase story.

 

[FrozenDEF]

Well, I figure it's time for an update:
My hand calculated mileage for the second tank I've tracked is about 12.9 mpg. That sounds horrible but it's a step up from my 2009 Chevy 1500, which in similar weather (-20F at home, -30F in town) was getting about 11.8 mpg commuting. Also, I've been using the high idle w/ exhaust brake on during warmups. Axle lube is thick at these temps. It's a balmy -7F this morning, and the dash shows 17.x mpg for one round trip home and back to work. I'm wondering what the factory diff fill is. As long as I can keep the lube capabilities I'll probably put a thinner synthetic in it after a break in period.

My Duraflap order showed up last night. They look pretty beefy, but before I can put them on I need to clean up the fenders.
I'm only about 5'4" tall, so anything in the bed is hidden from me, but not from those tall Tom Cruise and taller types. That said, I bought an Amp Research Bed Step to get into the back, and a BAK Revolver X2 semi-rigid rollup tonneau. Last night's project was to put the tonneau on. It was a straightforward install until the very end. Upon trying to close the tailgate, I find the tonneau rails stop the tailgate with about 1.5 inches left to go. A little loosening of the rail clamps and filing the (very) sharp rear edge of the rails into a smoother, slightly rounded edge and it works smooth now. I rolled the tonneau up and tried to attach the straps that hold it in the open position for traveling with taller cargo. When I tried to tighten the first strap, the snap-in buckle snapped... Damn. Now, it's not from cold, as I did this in a 60F heated garage. It's a clear design flaw; any tension on the strap, either from tightening or from the rolled up cover trying to unroll puts stress on the buckle 90 degrees from its intended use. It should have been mounted on a 90 degree bracket, and it would be fine. I guess this will first be a warranty claim, and then I'll just make something better, even just reattach the buckle's stationary part to a small 90 corner bracket painted black... The tonneau was advertised as having a 400 lb "distributed load" capacity on it, but by feel, I'm afraid to put a 70 lb inflatable kayak on it in its bag.

I don't have any decent floormats yet, as shipping is prohibitively expensive or, in the case of Amazon, not allowed to Alaska. Why they can ship me 3 gallons of oil for free but not floormats at all, I don't know.

I've been running the tires at 55 front, 45 rear. The small bumps and road surfaces are pretty reasonable now, but I'm noticing the tires' sidewalls breaking in a bit, so I might bump that up a bit. Also, with it so cold out, when I set the pressures "cold" in the garage, I'm down to about 49/40 when leaving work.

This morning, when I started the truck, I got a message on the EVIC "Active Airbox malfunction, see dealer" so I'm going to let it cycle through a few starts before taking it in, since the local dealer doesn't have a very positive reputation. A bit frustrating with only 1170 miles on the truck. I managed to get an error before I got license plates, LOL.

So, my impressions at this point:
I love the exhaust brake.
I love the low end torque.
The seats (Laramie w/ Sport appearance group) are comfortable for 350 miles.
The comfort heat stuff is... ...ok. I really like the heated wheel but wish it was adjustable, even if just hi/lo. It gets warm then backs off, and I can turn it off and back on, and it gets warmer again. The heated seats are just OK, but not near as warm as any other vehicle I've had them in. I find myself checking to see if they're even on.
The Alpine "9 speaker" and UConnect 8.4 radio is also just OK. I wish there was more adjustability, and for an 8" sub in the back, it's pretty darn weak. The Harmon Kardon in our Mini Cooper is even less adjustable (it just has bass/treble and fade/balance) but WAY better sounding. It's also stock and has a tiny sub in the very back of its fairly spacious interior; its not the tiny Mini it's the Countryman 4-door. Given the comparison I'm fairly disappointed.

Overall I'm happy, and I'm pretty sure once I get a trailer hooked up and start using the truck where I was frustrated with the Chevy, I'll be thrilled. I was tired of it shifting down all the time on any slope with a 3000 lb trailer. This truck is rated with only 3 hp more but the diesel torque curve should really fit the bill better for long distance and hilly area towing.

I have the filter and oil sitting in the garage for a break in change. I'm thinking around 3000 miles, I'll get the original out and some new Valvoline 5-40 syn. in.

 

[BigDawg72]

I'm just jealous of your location. I've been to Seattle and have had the opportunity to hike in the Cascades. I'm dying to go to Alaska though! Good luck with your new beast, I love my Cummins.

 

[FrozenDEF]

Got this from BFG this morning, sorry I'm not sure how to format the chart so it'll line up correctly:
We appreciate your preference in our BFGoodrich products and the opportunity you have given us to answer your question today. Following this message we will include the information pertaining to the PSI and load carrying capabilities of the LT285/65R20 All Terrain T/A KO2 tires as you requested. We hope this informaiton is of assistance. Have a great rest of your day.
LT285/65R20
PSI 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
LBS 2180 2390 2600 2835 2990 3175 3415 3540 3715 3860

So, I won't be running 65/80, that's for sure! Maybe I'll get to the scales at lunch today or tomorrow.

 

[FrozenDEF]

I have over 2200 miles on it now, and I've been tracking with Fuelly.com. The EVIC said 16 mpg on the last tank, but fuelly.com shows actual of only 13.5. I'd been making a point to drive it very conservatively, so I'm a bit disappointed. I knew I had idled a fair amount one day (new puppy in truck, and cold out), and hauled 200 gallons of water home one day, and it's a hilly 20 mile each way commute. Still, my 6.0 gas Chevy 1500 was 11.5-12mpg for this type of work, but I was hoping for even better.

For you who have a similar truck:
How far off are your EVIC vs hand-calc mpg numbers?
How many miles do most of you expect from a tank?

Also, a couple weekends ago, I had an "incident" with a tree while avoiding a head-on on our narrow 1 lane road on a blind corner. I was headed downhill and towing a 3000 lb trailer, and neighbor was coming up the same hill, fairly fast. We both took the snow bank / ditch but my side had a tree. Made me sick.
Didn't get the headlight, and there was still light between the fender and hood. Will get repair estimate next week.

#ad

 

[jgillott]

It's hard to tell you not to worry about the little dent on the fender cause stuff like that just makes you sick on a new truck. But it's not a big deal and many of us have had similar things happen to new trucks. I backed in to a compressor wrong the first week I had my former 2001 and smashed in the bottom of my bedside by the exhaust pipe. Made me sick to the stomach then but things happen.

Best of luck with your repair.

 

[JR]

Very interesting thread, thanks for sharing your experiences!

RE poor heat output - I couldn't agree more. The heat output in -20F weather is dismal, and the lack of blower speeds in my Tradesman compared to upper end models makes the deficiency all the more noticable. I'm also disappointed in the AC during the hot humid months. My 98 truck had better performing AC.

Regarding your fuel mileage you've got two things working against you. One, a new engine that's not even close to broke in, and winter fuel. I'm not 100% sure but I'd wager your running #1 fuel or at least a good mix of #1/#2 both will hurt your fuel mileage. Dirt/gravel roads and snow covered roads and running in 4x4 also drag mileage down, I know you are likely comparing your current mileage to your Chevy gasser but just remember you've got a much heavier truck. Once the weather warms and your local fuel stations switch back to #2 you'll see an increase in mileage. It'll also get a little better as the engine breaks in.

I do have one question for you, and it is purely out of curiosity as I have not travelled to your part of the country (although it is most definitely on the short list)
Why did you ferry your truck up to Alaska and fly home rather than drive? Was it because of the time of year?

One last thing, I see you are concerned about stone chips. That's always been a problem for me too as I drive a lot of gravel roads. On my truck I took it to a Line X dealer and had them spray the bottom section of the truck. They followed the body line around the wheel wells and even sprayed the lip in the wheel wells where stone chips are most prevalent. Their premium version is pretty smooth, UV resistant so it won't fade and they have a lot of colors to choose from. My truck is black so I just stuck with that. Can post pictures if interested.

 

[FrozenDEF]

I ferried from Tacoma to Anchorage for three reasons. First, I had a reckless driving conviction 20 years ago and my entry to Canada is, at this point, up to the border guard I meet unless I apply for rehabilitation with the Canadian Gov't. I haven't gone through that process. Second, an un-winterized truck through the Yukon in January is probably not a good idea, and the possibility of extreme cold before I knew the vehicle turned me off. Third, for Xmas, my dad offered $1500 toward shipping so I could have a lower mileage truck at home for a bit and lower the travel risks. Shipping cost me a tad over $500 out of pocket and I got to visit a few friends in WA so it was a mini vacation.

I considered not even talking about mileage in this thread. We are indeed on pure number 1 fuel, my commute is hilly, and it has been snowy here lately. I try not to odle much and i still run the hwy in 2wd. I do compare it to my Chevy, but GVWR is 2700 lbs more, empty is 2200 lb more, and the ride while hauling is much more relaxed. It's a better tool when i need to haul water or carry the popup camper and still tow toys.

 

[FrozenDEF]

A quick update:
Temperatures have warmed up (highs in the +30F range) and the miles per gallon have increased which makes me happy. I also bought a Kiwi3 OBD2 adapter and with the Torque app on my phone I can now see DPF Status. I haven't observed a regen yet, it's only been on there a day.

My dad didn't like that Ram only offered 3.42 gears in the SRW applications, so this time he went Ford. I can see why he didn't like them; his top speeds empty would barely get him into 6th. I go a little faster and find them very well suited to an empty truck.