Which truck to pull?

[Michael&Janel]

I am fairly certain we are set on the truck we are going to use to pull our 380TH.

Dodge Ram 3500 MegaCab Dually with the 6'4" bed and 850ftlbs tranny.

I am not a fan of this brand or truck but the MegaCab is the only cab that allows our children the room in the back with room to spare.

But I am open to suggestions and recommendations of what you know and love or hate...

What are the must haves and nice to haves in the truck to pull a large toy hauler?

Any regrets?

Any OhMyGosh I didn't think it mattered but now that I have it.....

TIA

Michael & Janel

 

[chris-MGRV]

I have that trailer and the SRW mega cab. The only thing I MIGHT change is to go with the 3.73. Otherwise I love my truck, and I love my trailer. It is the lowest stress towing I've experienced in 7 RV's.
Ct..

 

[Michael&Janel]

Thanks Chris! Is the 6'4" bed an issue at all?

 

[WhittleBurner]

One to consider for towing something that big is a medium size truck. Freightliner makes a pickup called the sportchassis. It is a pickup with a pickup bed on it.

 

[Allang17]

We have the 2014 ram 3500 only difference is our is a crew cab with a 8ft bed. Pull the same trailer 380, have log 5,000+ miles with the two and it pulls like a dream...would not change anything... upgraded to a 20,000lb hitch, 16,000lb hitch made a lot of noises. Love the engine brake, tons of power, maintains speed up and down any mountains on the east coast.. Good Luck.

 

[chris-MGRV]

I use a slider, so no issue. I don't always use it, but I do each time I pull in and out of my drive way. I make a 170 degree uturn as I back into the driveway. Love my truck.
Ct..

 

[wrp75_CO]

Not that our opinion is well informed (new to RV'ing) - but I think you just described our TV, and we're hoping to order a 380TH this weekend! (We need the mega-cab for our big dogs.)

 

[Eaglehead]

I tow a 303RLS with a 2014 Ram 2500 diesel and there are 2 things that are a big negative with the truck ;
1. The truck bed sits too high and causes the nose of the camper to ride 6" high.
2. Uses way too much diesel exhaust fluid and it's not cheap. I have 7k miles on my truck and have towed 4k of that and have used 7 gal. of fluid.
Oh yeah, my truck came with the 5th wheel tow package and by design is a bad design.

 

[thompsons 369rl]

I tow a 303RLS with a 2014 Ram 2500 diesel and there are 2 things that are a big negative with the truck ;
1. The truck bed sits too high and causes the nose of the camper to ride 6" high.
2. Uses way too much diesel exhaust fluid and it's not cheap. I have 7k miles on my truck and have towed 4k of that and have used 7 gal. of fluid.
Oh yeah, my truck came with the 5th wheel tow package and by design is a bad design.

7 gal of DEF in 7000 miles doesn't sound too bad. That's more than my F350 uses but not by much. Mine uses more when driving around town vs highway driving. At about 4 bucks a gallon, it is pricey. It's not the first time I've heard that bed height on some of the Dodges can be a problem when towing a 5th wheel.

 

[luckeyd1]

Why don't you use the DEF pumps at truck stops, Pilot, Flying J, etc to refill the DEF tank when on the road with trailer. I use about 2.5-3 gal on a 3000 mile mixed pull/empty trip I make a few times a year. At Pilot I know that DEF is about half the price or less per gallon compared to the boxes. So it looks like your usage per 1000 miles is about average for mine also.

 

[Bamaman]

Michael: I've had 12 years' great service out of my F250 SuperDuty 7.3. I also like that there are so many more Ford dealers to obtain parts and service from, and their dealers' quality has improved so much over the years. (I worked for Ford Motor Company for 24 years.)

And my truck's still quite beautiful in spite of the driver. When I moved from Atlanta, I carried a full dining room suite--in the back seat. It's huge.

It's also nice that so many F250's were sold that there are plenty in salvage yards to obtain parts from. As long as diesel pickups last, junk yards are the economical way to keep'em on the road. Except for fuel injection parts, even new Ford parts are not that expensive for my truck.

 

[krisbc1]

Personally, I would ever tow a fiver with/out an 8ft box supported by a set of duals, I am partial to Duramax, but any of the big 3 have a more than satisfactory truck

 

[chris-MGRV]

The bed height is high, but I have been working with my pin box and hitch and have it dialed in. I like knowing that it's hard for people to see in the bed of my truck. As for the DEF, Have the dealership check on an update. I burned a lot of DEF early on, and after one of the RRTs that was applied, my def usage went down dramatically.
Ct..

I tow a 303RLS with a 2014 Ram 2500 diesel and there are 2 things that are a big negative with the truck ;
1. The truck bed sits too high and causes the nose of the camper to ride 6" high.
2. Uses way too much diesel exhaust fluid and it's not cheap. I have 7k miles on my truck and have towed 4k of that and have used 7 gal. of fluid.
Oh yeah, my truck came with the 5th wheel tow package and by design is a bad design.

 

[TucsonJim]

Eaglehead - I consume about 1 gallon of DEF every 1000 miles in my Ford F350. So your consumption sounds about right. Compared to the price of diesel fuel, it's pretty inexpensive per mile. Just don't ever get distracted and put it in your fuel tank. I did, and it was a very costly mistake.

 

[apulido]

what would happen if the DEF ran out? just asking!

 

[huntr70]

Truck goes into limp mode until shut off, then will not restart until filled again.

 

[Eaglehead]

The thing with the Cummins is that they burned clean enough they didn't make the switch to DEF till 2 years after Ford and Chevy did and I would bet it was only cause Ford and Chevy complained to the EPA that they need to level the playing field. That's just me talking--------

 

[offtohavasu]

The thing with the Cummins is that they burned clean enough they didn't make the switch to DEF till 2 years after Ford and Chevy did and I would bet it was only cause Ford and Chevy complained to the EPA that they need to level the playing field. That's just me talking--------

That's not entirely true. It was a cap and trade deal. Cummins was able to buy enough "credits" to get them through the design phase to add DEF to their system. It was costing too much money to buy the credits and were forced to add DEF to the engines.

 

[Bamaman]

DEF is here to stay on diesels.

Navistar bet the company on being able to design and manufacture a heavy truck engine without DEF, and they flat fell on their faces. They've never recovered financially and are having a very difficult time existing. I look for them to not be around in future years under the current business entity.