I have 265,000 on my 05 Ram (hemi) and almost 20,000 miles on my 2017 Ram (hemi) New one is stock, 05 heavily modded. I still like the 05 better, it's more "tricky" BTW, I have 355,000 miles on my hemi Magnum wagon.

 

I had an 03 with a hemi, and when I had a custom trailer built that was 11 ft tall, that truck just could NOT pull it without a struggle, and it got less than 5 MPG doing it. So I upgraded to the Cummins, same trailer, no sweat. And 15 MPG towing. Big difference. I have never looked back. My son bought a new 2017 with the bigger engine. I still prefer mine.

 

my truck

 

OBTW, although I don't have any problem with the 9,000 custom work trailer, I also have a Raptor Toy hauler that is way heavier and it does let it know it is there. The funny thing about this Cummins is it really likes to pull heavy. The heavier it is, the better it runs.

 

I have towed a 35' fifth wheel Coachman , 10,000 lb travel trailer with the 05. It did ok. It has an extra rear leaf, front torsion bars cranked, Rancho 9000's, rear HD sway bar, a very hot cam that peaks at over 6,000 rpms. Headers, no cats, cut outs for drag racing and a 3,000 rpm stall converter., 3:92 gears. It runs 14.2 sec/95 mph in the quarter mile. Not bad for a 6,000 lb tank. Yes, I'd love to have a Cummins with 6 speed manual modded to heck, but out of my pocket book's range.People like to crap on Dodge, but in my 66 years, I've never owned a better vehicle, 265,000 miles, nothing broke, still runs and looks like a million bucks! BTW, Dragginbutt, your's looks nice too!

 

You miss interpreted my comments on the 03 Hemi. It was over-matched for what I was towing. We were OK weight wise, but because of the height of the trailer, it was a white knuckle experience. Plus the transmission would keep shifting up and down with every gust of wind. Moving to the Cummins diesel was the best thing I ever did, and I am a die hard Ram owner. It was just a case of putting the right vehicle in place for the job at hand. And I made a mistake with the 03. When I bought the 06, I was actually purchasing a duallie. Then I discovered it had minor body damage, and after speaking with my brother in law, he talked me into purchasing the single rear wheel version. Which I have regretted ever since. I am now looking for a heavy haul model that can tow in the neighborhood of 30,000 lbs. (Excavator on a goosneck). Might have to go the route of a 5500 and throw a dump bed on the back to complete the package... Will have to see where that goes. but please don't think I was crapping on Rams. On the contrary I am a big advocate of them. Those of us that own a cummins have a saying. there are two kinds of truck owners out there. those that own a Cummins, and those that wish they did. I would not however give a 1500 another look at the prices they demand these days. But that goes for any brand. They are all too expensive.

 

not bad looking for a 12 year old truck ... She cleans up real nice.

 

Thanks, Dragginbutt. There are things that you can do to the Dodge transmissions, a few guys know how to tune em. I have line pressure raised and shift points raised to 6,300 rpms. Also have a huge Mag Hytec transmission pan from the 68RE to increase capacity. The 545 RFE has somewhat of a bad rep, but it's caused by the factory tuning, to make it shift smoothly. My tuner guy has a bunch of supercharged "Pull Trucks" that shift over 7,000 rpms and are in the 600 rwhp range. My diesel, is on the trailer= Arctic Cat 700 SD, so, at least I can get my diesel "fix". 30,000 LBS, you might still be ok with a 3500 dually. I don't know if you can get away with it, but first thing that I'd do on a 6.7 Cummins= Delete quickern Hillary's emails.

 

Thats impressive. Have you had any major repairs?

 

Is that a 5.9 Cummins?