2015 F450 vs 2015 Ram 3500

WestPat

Member
I have been researching for a bit, and based on my towing wants(24k+), quality, and price, I have narrowed down my tow vehicle wish list to these two vehicles. 2015 450 had the 2nd gen 6.7, and I am fine with a 13,14, or 15 Ram with the Aisin trans and Max Towing setup. I would be looking for a 4.10 rear or the 4.30 for max towing ability. I am not worried about mileage, more about beastly ability of the truck. I welcome all pros, cons, and anything in between.
Thank you,
David
 

jayc

Texas-South Chapter Leaders
Let me say that I'm a Ram guy, but the Ford will out turn the Dodge. The wide-track Ford wins this battle.
 

Remastoy

Member
Let me start out with I am a Ram fan, the reason for that is the Cummins Engine! I currently drive a 2019 Ram 3500 Laramie crew cab with Aisin Transmission and the 4.10 dually rear end. I have taken 2 long mileage trips with it. Both trips were out west, mountains and high deserts. My cyclone runs about 19,400 pounds give or take a 100 pounds loaded. Average mileage towing is 9 miles to a gallon. and climbing steep grades is like climbing a mole hill so much power. Max towing for my rig is 34,000.

2020 trip was 8000 miles and 27 campgrounds, on that trip I saw more Rams towing big rigs then Ford or Bow Ties combined. I did a lot of research on heavy duty trucks before I bought my HD Ram, it boiled down to Ford virus Ram. Ford lost because of their engine, it's a maintenance night mare compared to the Cummins. Well that's my 2 cents worth of thoughts. Go with the Ram much better truck.:cool::cool:
 

Flick

Well-known member
Let me start out with I am a Ram fan, the reason for that is the Cummins Engine! I currently drive a 2019 Ram 3500 Laramie crew cab with Aisin Transmission and the 4.10 dually rear end. I have taken 2 long mileage trips with it. Both trips were out west, mountains and high deserts. My cyclone runs about 19,400 pounds give or take a 100 pounds loaded. Average mileage towing is 9 miles to a gallon. and climbing steep grades is like climbing a mole hill so much power. Max towing for my rig is 34,000.

2020 trip was 8000 miles and 27 campgrounds, on that trip I saw more Rams towing big rigs then Ford or Bow Ties combined. I did a lot of research on heavy duty trucks before I bought my HD Ram, it boiled down to Ford virus Ram. Ford lost because of their engine, it's a maintenance night mare compared to the Cummins. Well that's my 2 cents worth of thoughts. Go with the Ram much better truck.:cool::cool:

Hmmmmm!!
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
I’ve always purchased trucks & cars based on my preference in appearance that fit my wallet. Of course, right capacity is necessary.
 

WestPat

Member
Let me start out with I am a Ram fan, the reason for that is the Cummins Engine! I currently drive a 2019 Ram 3500 Laramie crew cab with Aisin Transmission and the 4.10 dually rear end. I have taken 2 long mileage trips with it. Both trips were out west, mountains and high deserts. My cyclone runs about 19,400 pounds give or take a 100 pounds loaded. Average mileage towing is 9 miles to a gallon. and climbing steep grades is like climbing a mole hill so much power. Max towing for my rig is 34,000.

2020 trip was 8000 miles and 27 campgrounds, on that trip I saw more Rams towing big rigs then Ford or Bow Ties combined. I did a lot of research on heavy duty trucks before I bought my HD Ram, it boiled down to Ford virus Ram. Ford lost because of their engine, it's a maintenance night mare compared to the Cummins. Well that's my 2 cents worth of thoughts. Go with the Ram much better truck.:cool::cool:

Hard to argue with empirical data.
Thanks,
David
 

RickL

Well-known member
I guess I’ll preference this with I have a Ram. In the 35,000 miles towing the only maintenance outside of “normal” I have had is replacing the coolant tank. Other then that it’s been recalls or oil/fuel/tires/batteries. Pulling Eisenhower even with 3:42 gears, total GCWR of just under 28,000 lbs, hasn’t been an issue. While that seems to be the standard, pulling up to Park City UT, I feel is even a tougher pull. But I can maintain my speed. As to fuel economy, until this year staying out west more, I had averaged 10.2 MPG. But now my lifetime has dropped to 9.9 MPG for over the 3 years we have full timed.

As to a Ford, my brother in law has a F-350 dually and has the same amount of maintenance done as I have had. Quite frankly I believe all of the trucks in this area are just a horse a piece. Moving to the F-450 or the Ram 5500 definitely will improve your turning radius. Don’t kid yourself, that comes in handy more then you can imagine.

it’s a tough decision and comes to one’s preferences and pocket book.
 

centerline

Well-known member
personally, I am a fan of the RAM and Cummins engines. I havent owned a ford since the failed 6.0 engine, and because the engines ford used after the 6.0 was not much better, I went to the chevy/duramax, and it had its own problems, but much better than the 6.0 ford was...
and after that, I got the RAM that I currently own....

I have a lot of experience with the cummins engines (both industrial and light truck), as we work on a lot of them and can say they will have the longest overall life, IF taken care of properly....

and even though im NOT advocating for delete of the emissions, (which is illegal most places anyway) I have enough experience that I can expertly warn you of what will happen when the emissions are removed, which CAN be avoided.

the cummins emission package is a bolt on apparatus, that can be totally removed in about 6hours, and then the computer needs to be reprogrammed so it knows what has happend and can operate as it needs to....
from all one reads, one would think this is all that it takes to add power, increase mileage, and save money over the long term, and so a LOT of people do this after the warranty runs out.
this may be fine for general street use, but if you plan to tow with it, its NOT all that needs to be done, and will be very expensive if it isnt ALL done at the same time the "delete" is done...

for towing, it also will need a water bypass loop added for cyls 5-6, head STUDS to replace the head bolts, and an upgraded bridged exhaust manifold installed. (a bridged 2 pc manifold is preferred)...

the extreme heat and pressure generated from producing more power will cause the head bolts to stretch, which will cause the head gasket to fail, and usually causing the head to crack between cyls 5 and 6 (if not the first time it blows, it WILL show cracks the second time it blows the headgasket).... adding the water bypass kit will help for light towing, but the more robust head studs AND the water bypass kit, will prevent it from happening during heavy towing.

...and the extreme exhaust temps will warp the exhaust manifold causing the #1 and #6 port manifold bolts to break, causing exhaust leaks, which then causes a loss in boost pressure, which causes more than a simple loss in power, as its an electronic engine that uses the boost pressure as the baseline for all the other things the computer does for the engine..

leaving the emissions STOCK is completely safe, however desirable it may or may not be, but the emissions will still need to be cleaned periodically, at a cost of about $1400 every 70,000 miles....

ford has lost my respect and business due to the way they handled their many failed engines at the customers expense.... but the automatic transmission they use behind their pickup engines is one of the very best....

and although the chevys are the most comfortable to drive, they are more overpriced than the Rams are...
 

ILH

Well-known member
I'll give you my two cents worth... I've been a GMC guy for many years. In fact, older brother worked and retired from GM. Two years ago I got mad at GM (and my local dealer) and made the switch RAM.

I bought a 2018 3500 dually with all the bells and whistles. I absolutely love the truck. It is the most trouble-free vehicle I've ever owned.
 
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