More Commercial Rams

[Joe Turbo Diesel]

I like the old style ram and the new one(hope to own one day) but I have a few questions about it's use in the commercial market.

(A)What makes the current design compete with the Ford and GM heavey duty models. Is the Ram fram tough enough for the type of use that the GM and Ford have?

(B)I see a lot of Powerstrokes and the 6. 5 liter diesel and in the future we will see the Duramax diesel. Why is'nt there more Cummins rams used in the tow truck/recovery area. I also see Powerstokes and the 6. 5 used as ambulances.

Is the Dodge ram just as capable as the Ford and the GM trucks. The transmission in the GM trucks are Allisons and Ford with help from Eaton/Fuller will have their own 5 speed auto. For me my next truck will have a 6 speed rather than a boring auto.

Can a Ram/Cummins combo last and work as hard as the other two companies do. Joe :--)

 

[RottnDogue]

Do a search or just Browse some old posts I think You'll find your answer.



Darren

 

[FL70CAT]

Pricing.





Ford has a heavy focus on fleet sales, dodge does not.





The most popular choice for line haul hotshot work is dodge/Cummins.

 

[JHerrlich]

Ford sell the right body styles (like the ambulance package). Dodge doesn't. Another bad marketing deal like the crew cab.

 

[Snow man]

All the new ambulances are E450/F450 or bigger,the Dodge 3500 CTD has so little payload,its to small for an ambulance. The F450 is 15K GVWR. It will handle and stop much better in emergencysituations, with its 19. 5 tires. Ford is also very agressive in the tow truck/recovery market here too,and once again,the 3500CTD doesnt have the payload to tow cars with wheel lifts,the wheel lift puts a lot more load on the tow truck,and would overload the 3500CTD,the GM C3500HD,and F450/550 are much better choices,they both are 15K GVWR,ahve 29. 5 stock,and much larger frames,and brakes. and the only legal choice ,which is important when your hooking up to cars,trucks with the DOT,and State police present. I dont know how a lot of guys hotshot with the 3500 CTD,and stay under the 11K GVWR with a 15K trailer,Dodge is really missing a lot of sales,and exposure IMo,every tow company would rather hvae Cummins powered tow trucks,and if dodge made a 5500 with 15-17. 5K GVWR,Idont think they could build them fast enough.

 

[DiTrani]

Around town here I see lots of diesels but very few Cummins. Lots and lots of DT4(44/66)s (school buses, delivery and trade trucks) and tons of PSDs (ambulances, trade and tow trucks), and a good number of 6. 5s (USMail trucks mostly). Even on the road I look for badges on the big rigs and don't often see Cummins. I think I've seen 4 Cummins Rams in the ~3 months since I got mine.



But I'm sure I see trucks that are running Cummins and just aren't badged, and I'm really curious to know what the MBTA buses are running (sounds like a fairly big I6).

 

[Wirenut]

I see a lot of B5. 9's around here in school busses, delivery trucks, city busses, Ford F-650/750, and tons of CTD Rams! Theyre everywhere!

 

[Snow man]

here its probably 10 PSD's to 1 Cummins,i am definetely a minority here. There are more 6. 5 TD's than Cummins,too. Big stuff mostly have Cats,or series 60 DD, in them,rarely do i see a Cummins powered tractor or bus here. 95% of school buses are DT466,or PSD,the other 5% is 1 ton 6. 5 Gm VAns

 

[FL70CAT]

Stevens transport, CFI , j-mar & j-mar express are some big ones I can think of that heavily use cummins(n-14's and ISX's)



There are alot of fleets running Cummins but the DD-60 seems to be the most popular fleet engine, I'm not sure if I'd want a detroit under the hood. The old 2-strokes and 6. 2-6. 5 contract motors scare me away from their engineering skills... ... .....

 

[Snow man]

The series 60 has been a great engine according one of my best friends who used to work as a peterbuiolt mechanic.