My dream truck

[Grizzly]

I still say if DC felt there was a market, they do it. They do their homework, they know. DC are a little slower then Ford and Chevy to jump into something that may not produce enough profit for them. Even thou size of 5er is personal preference, DC knows that most RV's prefer the size of 5er that can be pull with a 3500 or less and that's the way it's going to be until their market analysis shows otherwise. Grizzly :-{}

 

[kah68]

I still say if DC felt there was a market, they do it. They do their homework, they know. DC are a little slower then Ford and Chevy to jump into something that may not produce enough profit for them. Even thou size of 5er is personal preference, DC knows that most RV's prefer the size of 5er that can be pull with a 3500 or less and that's the way it's going to be until their market analysis shows otherwise. Grizzly :-{}

"DC are a little slower then Ford and Chevy to jump into something that may not produce enough profit for them. " Are you serious ? The P/T Cruiser , Viper , Jeep Rubicon, Jeep Unlimited , Prowler , SRT 10... ... ... among others. D/C has no issues with taking chances. Would seem to be a reasonable risk to venture into the 4500 market with something along the lines of a Ford 450 or 550.

 

[RustyJC]

Grizzly,



Being in Albuquerque, I'm amazed that you don't see what we see here in Houston. I can drive about 1 mile from my office to a local Ford dealer and pick from probably half a dozen or more F-450s and F-550s that are set up for gooseneck towing for the "horsey crowd". These are typically crew cabs with leather, etc. and a custom towing bed, and they sticker out in the low to mid $60K range the last time I checked. They sell a decent number of them here in the Houston area. Within the last year or so, the GM dealers have decided to compete with Kodiak models set up for horsey or RV towing service.



Go through just about any RV park and you'll see lots of 5th wheels (including mine) that are really too heavy for 1-ton duallies. The tendency is for (1. ) 5th wheels to get longer and heavier with as many as 5 slideouts available today and (2. ) more and more RVs to be sold as the Baby Boomers hit their peak earning and/or retirement years.



Between the "horsey" and RV crowds, there's a market for tow vehicles larger than the Ram 3500 dually but smaller than the FL-60 or FL-70 Sportchassis. Right now, Dodge has chosen to ignore the truck market for anything larger than a 3500. By doing so, they are making a conscious choice to abdicate this market to Ford and GM. That's their choice, but when replacement time comes around, I will be voting with my checkbook!



Rusty

 

[Grizzly]

Grizzly,



Being in Albuquerque, I'm amazed that you don't see what we see here in Houston. I can drive about 1 mile from my office to a local Ford dealer and pick from probably half a dozen or more F-450s and F-550s that are set up for gooseneck towing for the "horsey crowd". These are typically crew cabs with leather, etc. and a custom towing bed, and they sticker out in the low to mid $60K range the last time I checked. They sell a decent number of them here in the Houston area. Within the last year or so, the GM dealers have decided to compete with Kodiak models set up for horsey or RV towing service.



Go through just about any RV park and you'll see lots of 5th wheels (including mine) that are really too heavy for 1-ton duallies. The tendency is for (1. ) 5th wheels to get longer and heavier with as many as 5 slideouts available today and (2. ) more and more RVs to be sold as the Baby Boomers hit their peak earning and/or retirement years.



Between the "horsey" and RV crowds, there's a market for tow vehicles larger than the Ram 3500 dually but smaller than the FL-60 or FL-70 Sportchassis. Right now, Dodge has chosen to ignore the truck market for anything larger than a 3500. By doing so, they are making a conscious choice to abdicate this market to Ford and GM. That's their choice, but when replacement time comes around, I will be voting with my checkbook!



Rusty

Rusty, you make a good point. I'll agree with you on the need for a 4500 and 5500 Dodge to compete with the F450 and F550. I do see more and more larger Fords in NM and surrounding states hauling construction equipment, horse trailers and large RV's. Question is will Dodge do it? Or a better question is when will Dodge come up with a larger hauler? I still say Dodge is a little slow providing the needs of it's consumers. Look how long it took Dodge to come up with a true Quad Cab, 2003. Dodge didn't even offer leather until 96 or 97. My thought is that maybe Dodge just doesn't have the resources for innovative retooling ideas that Ford and Chevy have. After all Dodge only produces about 400K trucks per year where Ford is upward of 700K units and Chevy/GMC are some 550K units. I don't know the exact numbers, however Dodge is small potatoes compared to Ford and Chevy. Can you imagine how far down Dodge would fall in sells if they lost the Commins and Ford picked it up. Grizzly

 

[EBottema]

Well said Rusty.



DC does not make it because it would be too expensive to come up with the truck and few would buy it. Many people on TDR would but in the real world, Ford and Chevy really has that large truck market cornered. Maybe one day but for now, an F550 with the Cat diesel would suit my needs just fine. Plus, you think more than 1 person at each Dodge dealer is capable of working on a big truck like this? Not really, millions of dollars would go into training the techs. Costs are high and profit is low. Dodge would rather sell family cars like the neon, magnum, etc. More market for those. And another thing, it seems dodge is always late when coming out with a product, such as the mega cab. You would think it would look better than the ford or chevy version since it was the last to come out. Well, no, it looks worse IMO. I would hate to see some of the shotty stuff dodge would put on the truck. You know your dreaming of that eaton? Well it will only be a dream, you get stuck with a MB transmission.