Buying a 3500, looking for advice

[jemrich]

Well unfortunatly:-laf our Ford shop truck got stolen and I have to buy a new truck.

Im going back to Dodge now that they have the new auto transmission.

Im looking at a 08' 3500 4WD dually. I want to run 22. 5 wheels and tires. I am going to put a flatbed on it.

Dealer has one on the lot (with 22. 5's) cloth interior, and we are negotiating around 41K.

Daily driver, Tow 5th wheel and trailers up to 12K.

Questions:

Any issues out there with wheel adapters and the big tires, any recomendations?

Truck has 3. 73 gears, should I look for 4. 10's?

Any other thoughts, I have been out of the dodge seen for a few years.

 

[HBarlow]

IMHO a Dodge with 3. 73 gears and 22. 5" tires would not be a fun driver. It would be a dog starting out with a heavy load and overdrive would be useless when towing heavy.



If you want larger wheels and tires I'd recommend a Ram 4500 or 5500.

 

[Grizzly]

All the ride and handling characteristics of the 3500 DRW you are considering were designed by the Dodge Engineers with the wheels it originally came with. I don't believe that the 22. 5 wheels tires originally came with the truck from the factory. Altering the size of wheels changes everything about the truck. Besides handling you change braking, steering and safety of the vehicle. As Harvey said, if you want something different, get a different truck that was designed the way you want it from the factory. Altering wheel size could also effect your warranty.

 

[jemrich]

I agree with all the above and assume I will pay the price for the larger tires in some ways. I have thought about a 4500 but I also read lots of posts regarding the harsher ride of the 4500 and 5500. I liked the idea of the dealer installed 22. 5's because of the warrantty issue.

The tires are 36" tall, I know there are lots of people running this size or bigger. I think a lot of issues from "big tires" are related to lift kits, higher vehicles and reworked steering geometry rather than tire diameter.

The truck is not lifted, although Ill probably lift the front 2" or so to level it. I drove both stock trucks and this one and there was suprising little difference in braking, handling, acceleration between the two. I was very concerned about all the issues you brought up.

Any more feedback on ride quallity of the 4500 out there? Fuel milage from the 4500 rigs?

Thanks for the responses.

 

[RVTRKN]

I would strongly recommend you buy the 3500 C&C, if your installing a flat bed. It has slightly less HP but the frame is solid and the 50 gal. tank is great when towing, because you don't have to get fuel in the smaller cities were it costs more. But if your going to run the larger tires you will need the 4:10 or higher gears. Also the rear springs are setup a lot better and you wont have the rear end squat that you get with the regular 3500 truck. Also the Aison trans is a lot stronger with a 180K warranty. The emissions are better on the 6. 7 C&C which are not 2010 compliant. The DPF has no issues unlike the reg. pickups. The truck you have mentioned needs the 4:10 rear, other than that it sounds great.



Welcome back to Dodge and TDR

 

[jemrich]

Sorry to sound stupid, DPF?

When you say the C&C does not have the same emissions does that mean there is not the power upgrade issues?

Do the stiffer rear springs ride rougher?



Great to be back, I forgot how much I missed my dodge.

 

[HBarlow]

The cab and chassis trucks are detuned to produce 305hp/610tq and are set up to meet 2007 emission standards.



Pickups produce 350hp/650tq and are 2010 emission compliant which means more potentially trouble-prone hardware.



Chassis cabs have a stack of about ten rear spring leaves and stiffer frames and suspension and completely different solid front axle suspension. They don't sag under a modest load like pickups do and don't require air bags to carry king pin weight.



C&Cs also have stronger frames and offer the Aisin 6 speed automatic instead of the MOPAR unit.



When I bought mine a few months ago pickups were offering big rebates, C&Cs were not. Plus you'll have to buy or build an aftermarket bed for a C&C.



I made my choice knowing all these things and am well pleased with my C&C. I don't want another softly sprung dually pickup.

 

[RVTRKN]

Sorry to sound stupid, DPF?

When you say the C&C does not have the same emissions does that mean there is not the power upgrade issues?

Do the stiffer rear springs ride rougher?



Great to be back, I forgot how much I missed my dodge.

All 6. 7 engines have the DPF (diesel particulate filter), but they are different from the C&C vs regular pickup. The emissions setup is also different as mentioned before and are less restrictive. The DPF for the C&C is larger and due to less HP the soot is a lot less so there are less problems with them. A good article to read is on the Home page of TDR which will explain the issues and the problems related to the new emissions systems.



My truck weighed #9050 with the B&W Elite series bed on it without the tools so its hard for me to compare the ride to my other truck. If you buy the C&C 2WD it will have a solid front axle, in which the axle is a gutted out 4X4 axle. Since I only own 4X4's I can't compare them.

 

[Cattletrkr]

I don't think 22. 5's is a very good idea. I have 19. 5's on mine and they're the same dia as the factory tires. 36" would be miserable with 3. 73's. The double overdrive of the Aisin gets the rpm low enough with 4. 10's and stock tires.

My '04. 5 had 2 extra leafs on each side, 2 extra overloads for a total of 4, plus airbags. It still sagged more than my C+C. With 7k-8k tongue weight it still only sags about 2", the C+C that is. It is a terrible ride empty and the 19. 5's don't help that any. I haven't done a direct comparison, but I think the spring setup on the 3500 and 4500 are quite similar.

Tell us more about the truck you're looking at. I bought my '07 new off the lot in April of '08 and paid $32,600. It is a reg cab SLT with basically no more options than what come with the SLT. $41K sounds high unless it a fully loaded quad cab. Even then it's pretty steep. What's the sticker price?

 

[jemrich]

Thanks for the info on emissions.

I know 36' is a lot of tire but I'm going for the look and willing to sacrifice a little.

My towing is relativley light and or infrequent compared to most of you guys.

I tow my tractor 10K 20 miles here and there once in a great while.

I tow my 5th wheel 10K 300 miles 3 times a year.

I tow a box trailer for work 7K max 10 60 miles once a week. Otherwise the truck will be my daily driver to work and appointments and light deliverys around town.

If need be I'll change the ring and pinions to 4. 56 or lower.

I would rather squat a little for the infrequent HEAVY tow than ride badley

all the time

Im at 41k for a 3500, diesel ,4x4, SLT, Quad cab, cloth with 4. 10's which includes the 22. 5 tires and wheels the dealer put on. So 37k without. The dealer does not seem to want to move from here he has let me walk twice.

Sticker is 48k.

I cant find many trucks with the 4. 10 gears out there in my area.

I like the idea of the 22. 5's installed by the dealer because of potential warranty issues?

 

[Forrest Nearing]

they'll take less than 41k for that truck

 

[RVTRKN]

I noticed you are going with the 4:10 now and thats a good thing with the large tires you want to run. I don't think you need any higher gear ratio than that. Good luck with your purchase and make sure you post some pics. The reg pickups are nice and and if it wasn't for the service bed I needed, I would have bought the 07 W/5. 9 CTD back in late 06. It is the same except for the 6. 7 CTD. I don't like auto trany's so the 6sp auto would be a non factor in my decision.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

agreed, 4. 10's and 36's should be fine