New 2015 38GK

[DWSW2012]

A few days ago we had an unexpected great outcome to a dangerous trailer towing issue that will, or should, change how dealers calculate pin (hitch) weight towing capacities for new truck buyers. We had traded our 2012 Ford diesel for a new 3/4 ton Dodge Ram Laramie Longhorn diesel pickup truck three months ago for it's high towing capacity compared to Ford and Chevrolet. The Ram dealer we bought the truck from, and many other dealers we had spoken to before, all claimed that a single rear wheel 3/4 ton Ram diesel could tow the heavier trailer we were preparing to buy without any problems. We couldn't find any valid information to the contrary at that time so we bought the truck based on their collective recommendations.

While recently preparing to buy a new, much heavier 41' Redwood GK trailer, which we did this past week, we began calculating the trailers hitch weight specifications and discovered it "dangerously" exceeded the capacity of our truck. It could tow it O.K. for awhile but the truck tires, springs and perhaps rear axle would each be significantly overloaded and therefore too unstable to control it in any high side winds or sudden accident avoidance maneuvers etc. and could overturn the trailer and perhaps even the truck if severe enough. When we notified the dealer of this situation and asked to switch our truck for a 350 dually as it was bought only three months ago, they said our truck value dropped over $10,000 in value which we would have to pay that difference.

My wife Sherry immediately contacted the Ram President and CEO through email about this issue and we immediately heard back the following day from a female assistant, Pamela, on a Saturday, which was the Forth of July. She opened a file on it and a few days later had spoken to the dealer who we bought the truck from. After confirming the facts of the issue, Ram notified us a couple days later that they would contribute $5000 and the dealer would contribute $2500 towards a new Ram Dually 3500 that matched our existing truck upgrades and trailer color combination. We immediately accepted the offer and contributed the remaining $2,500 to close the deal. Being 500 miles away from our location at that time they had the new truck delivered to us at a halfway point and transferred our new hitch to the new truck. It was obvious they understood the high potential for a catastrophic situation and wanted to correct the problem immediately and will most likely change how their dealers handle this safety issue with prospective buyers!
Ram and the dealer were both outstanding to deal with considering the circumstances.

[mstan]

I am happy that they made good on the trade of your Ram 2500 toward a 3500. You are truly blessed and lucky. I am amazed at the lack of knowledge and information at the dealerships of both the RV industry and the Light Truck dealers. RV salesmen have a deer in the headlight look when you ask questions concerning ratings of tires and suspension. Nearly all of your RV's are sold with tires not truly rated for for their real world weight. Ram, Ford, Chev. all will sell you a truck that is improperly rated for your towing situation. In all fairness that vast majority of the RV owners have no clues either. Some salesmen will tell you "oh you have a F-250 diesel? Oh yeah no problem." But they have no clue of the gear ratio your truck has and they are not taking inconsideration the actual weight of the Pin or tongue weight. It is every ones responsibility to know the actual ratings of what they are buying. DO not take some salesmen word for nothing. For the most part they are just trying to make a living and sell sell sell without consideration of the purchasers lack of knowledge.

[Shane Wood]

Cograts on the new setup.It is nice to see a company step up to the plate for their customers like dodge did.

[atom ant]

That is fantastic!

I have never heard of that kind of response from an automaker before. You will certainly appreciate that dually while towing!

[piper guy]

The local dealer who does my service (when I can't or more than I want to get into) has been an RV dealer for more than 40 years. Still owned by the same family and enjoys a very good reputation. They are a Crossroads dealer and also sell Landmark. I was talking to one of the sales people the other day when I stopped in for a part. He looked at my Dually and asked what I tow. Told him a Redwood and he said that they have a policy in the dealership that before the deal is done on a towable of any type, the customer must show them the vehicle so that they (the Sales person ) can verify that it has the capacity to tow the unit.


He said besides the safety aspect, they as the dealer do not want to have any chance of being part of a suit brought because they knowingly sold something that was unsafe or overweight. He said some deals have fallen apart at that point. Impressed me.

[travelin' texans]

I would bet money that 9 out of 10 truck/rv sales people have not a clue if asked about tow ratings, but will be for certain you can handle it. That also applies to probably 50% of rv owners as well!! My DW just told me to hurry & go around a guy with a huge truck camper on a 1500, he was all over the road & swaying horribly, only driving 30 mph & no wind, but he had the Airlift sticker on the rear of the truck so he was good to go?

[GA1817]

You were lucky on that one as I am shocked they offered to trade back. Let's face it, it is the owners responsibility to determine what truck you need to tow with. Heck there are people on this forum who would have told you that you were good to go with the 3/4 ton SRW. I will also add if you do not watch what axle ratio you get with the new DRW one you could still have issues Get the upgraded Asin transmission and you will be good whatever axle ratio you get. You will love the truck

Please do yourself a favor and study the charts!

https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/tow...ing_charts.pdf

[mstan]

Dean,

I am currently considering the purchase of a new Ram 3500 DRW. I currently have the 2012 3500 DRW. I have loved mine thus far. What is the real difference with the Asian Tranny? I have not be able to drive one to know the difference in the way they shift. I know my current tranny in my opinion never shifted at the right shift points prior to my loading a H&S shift tune. I done a DPF delete and the shift kit tune and have had zero problems since. I know I drove a new 2015 with normal 6 speed trans and it seemed to shift much better than mine with the shift tune loaded on it. Just curious. Also do I really need to go to the 4:10 gears? I thought I had ordered the 4:10 on my current one and it came in with the 3:73. It pulls fine in my opinion. I don't know what the real difference in MPG's between the two.

[GA1817]

Originally Posted by mstan

Dean,

I am currently considering the purchase of a new Ram 3500 DRW. I currently have the 2012 3500 DRW. I have loved mine thus far. What is the real difference with the Asian Tranny? I have not be able to drive one to know the difference in the way they shift. I know my current tranny in my opinion never shifted at the right shift points prior to my loading a H&S shift tune. I done a DPF delete and the shift kit tune and have had zero problems since. I know I drove a new 2015 with normal 6 speed trans and it seemed to shift much better than mine with the shift tune loaded on it. Just curious. Also do I really need to go to the 4:10 gears? I thought I had ordered the 4:10 on my current one and it came in with the 3:73. It pulls fine in my opinion. I don't know what the real difference in MPG's between the two.

The Asin tranny is the Ram equivalent to the Allison. It is a Japanese tranny that has been used on the Ram Comercial trucks for years. It is considered bullet proof and the Cummins as you know is legendary ! I do not think it was an option on 3500 until 2013. Look at the Ram towing charts and you will see that the Asin tranny is well worth the extra money. With it they boost everything on the engine as far as HP and torque. Without the Asin you will likely have to go with the 4:10. Please look at the charts and make an educated choice. I have the 4:10. The max trailer towing on mine is about 22,000. My truck with Asin would be 29,000. I think Titan Guy got the Asin after burning the transmission on his 2500 SRW by towing too heavy. I love the truck and have nearly 40,000 miles without having to put it in the shop.

[danrn]

Excellent choice. We love ours and can't get enough of it. Can't wait until we retire.

[ChristianM]

Originally Posted by piper guy

The local dealer who does my service (when I can't or more than I want to get into) has been an RV dealer for more than 40 years. Still owned by the same family and enjoys a very good reputation. They are a Crossroads dealer and also sell Landmark. I was talking to one of the sales people the other day when I stopped in for a part. He looked at my Dually and asked what I tow. Told him a Redwood and he said that they have a policy in the dealership that before the deal is done on a towable of any type, the customer must show them the vehicle so that they (the Sales person ) can verify that it has the capacity to tow the unit.


He said besides the safety aspect, they as the dealer do not want to have any chance of being part of a suit brought because they knowingly sold something that was unsafe or overweight. He said some deals have fallen apart at that point. Impressed me.

How dealership SHOULD handle that situation! Good to hear!

[Lanny Ptacek]

We are beginning to look at a new 5th Wheel and the Redwood looks good. What are the top 5 "stumbles" Redwood is making? How do they/their dealers respond to problems?

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Lanny Ptacek

We are beginning to look at a new 5th Wheel and the Redwood looks good. What are the top 5 "stumbles" Redwood is making? How do they/their dealers respond to problems?

Welcome to the forum! You should probably start a new thread with your topic, as we are still congratulating Titan Guy on this one

[Titan Guy]

Stumbles? Not sure, they are more design and/or being cheap. Axles, there is no reason for 7k axles on these units and the upgrade to 8k is $3,000 when the price difference in a 7k and 8k is less than $300. Disc brakes should be standard, upgrade price is $3,000 when the actual pricing differential is less than $1,500. Insulation/vents/AC, poor air flow and cooling in the 38GK front Bedroom.

[5th_Time]

There are countless stories on here about people who try to save money by trying to "get by" with the 3/4 ton. Why?

When you encounter your first Redwood during the sales cycle, don't people walk away saying "I need a dually to tow this safely". People, it's not a travel trailer...,

[atom ant]

The numbers don't support a dually for all models, but I believe in most all configurations a 1 ton is minimum, however, the truck payloads keep changing.

[5th_Time]

People are always trading up. Why limit your option to change your mind. In the meantime, you may have a little too much of the HD features, but you wont have to be running all these scales & factory spec calculations like many are doing on here.

[atom ant]

Ya but not everyone likes a dually, like me!
My SRW truck used to be a daily driver, now this dually sits unless it's towing. It just is not compatible with life in the big city, and DW won't touch it.

[mhs4771]

On the other hand, there are those of us that the Dually is our only vehicle and takes us everywhere, including some pretty tight Bank Drive Thrus.

[Shane Wood]

Has anyone weighed there tow vehicles lately. I just had my new one weighed with all accsesary's, hitch and all, dry weight and it came out at 8950 lbs.