Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Picked up a 2015 3500, SLT, 4x4, long bed, auto, 5th prep, crew, this week. This truck replaced my 1995 2500, club cab, 4x4, SLT with 270,000 miles on it and will be used mostly to tow a 10,500# 5th wheel. Did a nice test drive in the Olympic National Park, up the mountain to Hurricane Ridge. A total of about 150 miles, round trip from my place.
A few observations from my first week:
This truck is a BEAST. Had it weighed and it's a full 1200+ pounds more than the '95. I'm guessing that 25 pounds of that is all the extra RAM badges, 50 pounds for heavier springs, and most of the rest is emissions control stuff. It will take some time to get used to where the edges of the truck are; the front hood appears to be at least 4" higher that the '95.
The exhaust brake is great. Barely touched the brakes the whole way down the mountain. Even in 'auto mode' it's a bit aggressive for me in normal driving, but the 4 wheel discs are way better that the '95 brakes, which was maybe the worse feature of that truck.
Super quiet! Not just the motor, but driving down the road at 55mph it may be quieter than my 2014.5 Camry.
Plenty of power. The real test will be when I hook up the 5th wheel, later this week, and pull a few local hills and try out the integrated brake controller.
Tow mirrors don't appear to be that good and they make the truck 7" wider than the '95 (99.5"), which means I'll have to fold them it at some drive-up ATM's, but at least they fold in electrically. Mostly just need to get used to them.
I do worry about future maintenance costs. I did almost all the work on the '95. Fuel filters are about 3 times the cost and there are twice as many, and they will need more frequent changing. My yearly cost just for fuel filters will go from about $17 to well over $200. After looking around a bit, the new truck fuel filters may actually be easier to change than on the '95; that would be nice.
Dash gauges are nice. Many choices to display, including the usual stuff plus oil temp, trans temp, turbo boost, trailer brake info, and more.
Rear camera is great. I can see the rear stinger and put the ball within a 1/2" of where I want it. It is also a help in parallel parking.
A few observations from my first week:
This truck is a BEAST. Had it weighed and it's a full 1200+ pounds more than the '95. I'm guessing that 25 pounds of that is all the extra RAM badges, 50 pounds for heavier springs, and most of the rest is emissions control stuff. It will take some time to get used to where the edges of the truck are; the front hood appears to be at least 4" higher that the '95.
The exhaust brake is great. Barely touched the brakes the whole way down the mountain. Even in 'auto mode' it's a bit aggressive for me in normal driving, but the 4 wheel discs are way better that the '95 brakes, which was maybe the worse feature of that truck.
Super quiet! Not just the motor, but driving down the road at 55mph it may be quieter than my 2014.5 Camry.
Plenty of power. The real test will be when I hook up the 5th wheel, later this week, and pull a few local hills and try out the integrated brake controller.
Tow mirrors don't appear to be that good and they make the truck 7" wider than the '95 (99.5"), which means I'll have to fold them it at some drive-up ATM's, but at least they fold in electrically. Mostly just need to get used to them.
I do worry about future maintenance costs. I did almost all the work on the '95. Fuel filters are about 3 times the cost and there are twice as many, and they will need more frequent changing. My yearly cost just for fuel filters will go from about $17 to well over $200. After looking around a bit, the new truck fuel filters may actually be easier to change than on the '95; that would be nice.
Dash gauges are nice. Many choices to display, including the usual stuff plus oil temp, trans temp, turbo boost, trailer brake info, and more.
Rear camera is great. I can see the rear stinger and put the ball within a 1/2" of where I want it. It is also a help in parallel parking.
When they're up, they're a bit narrow for my liking, particularly with the dually hips and I tend to mostly use the blind spot mirror, except when going around corner where I will use the upper glass more. That's a run-on sentence but I'm tired and too lazy to re-word it. haha
