Members StratGuy22 Posted September 17, 2013 Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 Well it was time to upgrade. Had an 03 Dakota quadcab, with a V6 that I was using to pull my gear trailer. I liked my Dakota but with the V6, it just was not happy pulling my gear trailer. Not bad around town, but up some hills at a gig a couple weekends ago it was really feeling it. So I thought screw it. I can write off a portion of it as a business expense. So i decided on a 2010 Dodge 1500 Laramie, 32,300 miles on it. Loaded except for no sunroof. Yeah, it's got a 5.7 Hemi. 20" wheels. Heated front & back seats. Air conditioned front seats, alarm, remote start, pulls almost 10,000lbs. My gear trailer weighs 3300lbs when fully loaded so my new truck will pull it no problem. The 5.7 Hemi is actually as efficient as the V6 in the same truck when not hauling, on the highway. 4 of the cylinders shut off when it's at cruising speed. Heavy duty transmission oil cooler, backup camera, class 4 hitch, built in 7 wire outlet and controller. All the important things are covered for towing. The rest is a treat to myself. My Dakota is pretty plain Jane so I went for something a little more fancy, a treat. I'm pretty stoked! Just drove home from the city, 200 miles, full at the dealer, and it cost me $63 to fill up in my home town. That's how much my Dakota cost to go one way to the city! So I'm pretty happy with that. I was expecting $80 or so. http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/E45595D4-890B-4BC2-8434-CFA6C7172D1B-21265-00000DF375516094_zps7853da39.jpg http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/E0343369-2E2C-4686-8481-FF98D98FEE29-18607-00000C291E73330E_zps8bb76676.jpg http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/615F66C2-E51E-4CF8-9A5D-D61FE0BF95FC-18607-00000C294039BF8F_zpsa6375b47.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted September 17, 2013 Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 Well... as much as I bad mouthed them a few years ago: My "new to me" primary gear hauler over the past few months has been a 3500 Sprinter van... and I'm pretty impressed. Especially with the 27 mpg it's getting (while hauling a ton+ of gear) and how it drives (really nice), and the "ease of mantainance"... and all the stuff that's seemingly really well thought out... and it "just goes" (seemingly no lack of power and legs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 Nice!! I considered one of those back when I was thinking of a trailer. Too expensive at the time and still would have left me with the no ramp situation and then no way to park it inside my garage. Envious of the headroom though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 lol yeah really! I wasn't sure which hitch to buy so I bought a 6" drop and an 8" drop. The store said keep the receipt and bring back the one that doesn't work. So that's good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted September 17, 2013 Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 I went with a RAM 1500 a little over a year ago, picked up a dealer owned 2011 with 12k miles on it for $16k.It's not four wheel drive, has the normal V8 in it, but it is loaded with all kinds of goodies. The most comfortable driving truck I have ever driven.. rides as smooth as a caddy!Had to change out the rear coil springs with some that I had a local shop custom make for me to hold the constant weight, but even that only cost me $750. Truck averages about 15.2 mpg. Which is better then the truck it replaced! My 93 Ford F150 would only get about 10.5mpg on a good day!.http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/139vinny/DSC00243.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pro Sound Guy Posted September 17, 2013 Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 Nice truck!Your set for towing for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted September 17, 2013 Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 The Ram trucks do ride nicely. I looked at the new V6 one. I rarely buy new though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Koopdaddy Posted September 17, 2013 Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 We have a 2011 Nissan Titan V8. Mileage sucks (about 10mpg fully loaded) but it has decent power...just not a lot of towing capacity. Would love to trade it in for a diesel and 1 ton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members B. Adams Posted September 17, 2013 Members Share Posted September 17, 2013 Nice looking truck. There's definitely an advantage to having a 4-door pickup. My dad has an 03 Ram, and he really likes it (other than the mileage). The new ones get much better mileage than his does. Since we're on the subject of new truck, I'll post a pic of mine. It's not exactly new, since I bought it late last year. It replaced a '97 4.6L extended cab F150 that had 256,000 miles on it when I junked it due to blown head gaskets. That old truck was way too small to be pulling what I was pulling, which is probably why it blew up. Here's my '08 F350 Lariat 6.4L diesel, that now has about 130,000 miles on it. It's got a nice big receiver on the back and a gooseneck in the bed. It'll pull anything I need to pull. It's really nice inside, and with the tuning that I have in this things it's got serious balls. And it gets better mileage pulling a trailer than my dad's 1/2 ton Ram gets unloaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted September 18, 2013 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2013 My next gig is this weekend. The same place my old truck had a helluva time handling so it will be good to see how it is with the new truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members djiceman1575 Posted September 18, 2013 Members Share Posted September 18, 2013 Good luck! I have a show this weekend at a riverfront amphitheatre, and whoever laid it out should be kicked, I have to back the trailer down a STEEP hill, and when I come back out, there's about a 170* turn, and I have to drop it to low gear to make it without slipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted September 19, 2013 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2013 No kidding hey. Some guy at a computer probably thought it looked "neat" -facepalm- I just uploaded a bunch of music via USB it's pretty slow ripping from disc so I'll rip the rest of my go-to CD's and install them via USB as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted September 21, 2013 Author Members Share Posted September 21, 2013 Old truck: http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/9FDB5284-730A-489B-94DC-4B961C05273E-27481-000012281182A895_zps18c936df.jpg New truck:http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/069E066F-185E-42CF-9E63-8F4260E63F35-27481-00001225ECAACB0A_zpsde17d51a.jpg http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/FD78F7D3-9033-41A1-A0D5-30FAFFE74918-27481-00001225FA255CA0_zps8ef34cff.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted September 26, 2013 Author Members Share Posted September 26, 2013 Took the trailer out for a spin. Pulled it no problem, I really like it! I'm sure the mileage isn't as good but I'm keeping all my gas receipts and at tax time it will be a percentage of all the expenses. (Payment, insurance, gas, maintenance) instead of the 42 cents a km. most of my gigs are around town so far, so mileage isn't a huge issue. Plus it classes up the operation a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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