RAM 2500 Mini Review

"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg)
07/09/2020 at 10:11 • Filed to: None

One of these babies was going to be mine!

I needed to get the Brick from Aremme’s house in PA back to my house in VA and it certainly wasn’t going to drive itself (or let me drive it that far). I wanted to get a tow dolly and drag it home with the Terrain, but that would be pushing the limits of the Terrain’s 3500 lb. towing capacity and UHaul wouldn’t let me have one. I weighed some options and figured the best thing to do was go all in and rent a full size truck and car trailer.

If you want to rent a truck to tow, it seems like the only options are U-Haul or Enterprise Commercial (but not regular Enterprise) . U-Haul trucks have a flat fee plus mileage rate which was going to work out to be $177 for the truck alone. I could get a 3/4 ton truck from Enterprise commercial for $89* for the day. A tow dolly is $45* from U-Haul, and that would require me to disconnect the driveshaft on the Volvo. A drive on/drive off (in the marine industry we have RORO, so DODO?) double axle hauler was only $10 more, so it was a no brainer.

I ended up with a 2020 RAM 2500 Big Horn 4x4. It was a beast of a truck with a 6.4L Hemi with 410 HP and 429 ft-lbs. It pulled the empty car hauler from VA to PA with ease, I mean I had to be careful because I couldn’t tell the thing was back there. I think U-Haul lists the trailer weight as around 25 00 lbs unladen. The ride home was only a slightly different story, as the 245 Wagon only weighs about 3,000 lbs, so I was only pulling something like 5,500 lbs, or only a bit more than 1/3 of the Ram’s rated towing capacity. Handling wise it felt nice and stable but I could feel the truck slightly struggle a couple times when I asked for brisker acceleration, such as highway on ramps, or up steeper grades. Overall it still managed just fine.

Bigly truck is big!

Driving and towing aside, this is your typical American big truck that screams “I’M A BIG AMERICAN IN A BIG AMERICAN TRUCK, LOOK AT ME BUT ALSO GTFO OF MY WAY!!!” It reminded me of when I was 2, and my dad would let me stand on the seat and “drive” our minivan down the long lane to my grandparents house. Here I am, a grown adult, and I felt like what I would imagine a child feels like sitting behind the wheel of a normal car . In other words, it is quite bigly.

The truck takes multiple opportunities to remind you that you’re in a RAM, with a large RAM’s head on the steering wheel, RAM printed on the instrument cluster, and above the radio. Speaking of radios, for as big as everything else on this truck is, it has a comically small infotainment screen, like smaller than my Galaxy S9. I normally don’t complain about such frivolities , but the juxtaposition is funny to me. It also kind of sucks. It’s slow and clunky, but it plays music when you can eventually get it to talk to your phone, and the stereo isn’t half bad. I even put it slightly ahead of the “premium” Bose system in our Terrain Denali, though that’s not saying much because I hate Bose and hate the Terrain stereo.

I owned a 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 between 2007 and 2009 and this truck hit my nostalgia hard, but not in the best way. Namely the interior felt just as cheap and shitty as my old Ram. Maybe that’s just the base trim, I’d hope so for the kind of money the high end trucks fetch, but it seriously makes my crappy GMs, oft derided for their interior quality, feel like fine European luxury vehicles by comparison. It also had the same numb feeling brakes. They worked, oh boy did they work well, but they felt so numb, especially on the initial bite (or lack thereof).

Overall, it completed the mission admirably, namely hauling Swedish bricks long distances. I have towed a number of times over the years with various diesel trucks (Sierra 2500 6.5L, 3500 Duramax, Ram 2500 Cummins) but only a few times with gas trucks. Diesels feel effortless with all their bottom end grunt, and also get return better fuel economy numbers* whether unladen or towing. I f I was towing heavy loads and/or towing frequently I’d want a diesel, but for the occasional jaunt the gas engine Ram was just fine.

Truck doing truck things instead of pretending to be a family sedan.

*Note 1: Enterprise Commercial’s website says the 3/4 and 1-ton trucks can tow, but a fee “may” be applied. It most definitely is, though its only $20. My total for truck rental after taxes was $121. At least they were nice enough to provide the 2.5" to 2" hitch adapter. U-Haul charged $55 for the trailer, which after taxes was $69. I also needed a hitch. Dummy me didn’t bring the hitch from the Terrain because I thought it wouldn’t have enough drop. I assumed any bigly truck I rented would be too tall for the U-Haul trailer and they could provide one with the proper drop. Remember what assuming does, kids. Turns out I needed the exact same hitch I already have, but I didn’t want to waste 45 minutes going home to get it. So I ate $25 and bought another one. The extra fees and addition of the hitch put me at $215 total.

*Note 2: I started with a full tank and burned approximately 3/8 on the way to PA. I burned 4/8, which is equivalent to 2/4, or 1/2, for those of who like to reduce fractions (and 8/16 for those who like to expand them), on the way home . I refilled the truck before returning it, which set me back $53 at $2.10/gal. That means I put 25.2 gallons back in, 1/8 of a tank is 3.6 gallons, so I burned 10.8 gallons on the way up and 14.4 on the return trip. It’s about 165 miles each way, so I averaged about 15.3 MPG on the way up with an unladen trailer and 11.5 MPG on the way home. It also means I spent a total of $268 between rental and fuel.

DISCUSSION (23)

Sovande > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 10:16

64,000/128,000

Tripper > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 10:27

Nice writeup! My best friend had a a big ol truck for a little while. He was a stone mason at the time and picked up this lifted F250 diesel with most of the brodozer engine mods. The cockpit felt really small in the best kind of way, I really liked how it drove (for a huge lifted truck). I gave it the beans on the on ramp and actually uttered , “BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH” as that fucking thing crackled louder than it has any right to. lol

I was like, please don’t ever let anyone see me in this but like super cool truck man.

He had all the problems with it (surprise surprise) and had his eyes opened by the expense of that huge diesel engine.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 10:32

I used a U-Haul car hauler to get my car back from Oklahoma when my mom passed. We rented a truck to bring back the things we wanted to keep and pulled the car hauler with the truck. The only problem we had with the rental was the truck - we requested a smaller one. The lot didn’t have that size, so they gave us the biggest one on the lot for no extra charge.

Kinja'd!!!

Gone > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 10:35

Had a 2020 Ram 2500 Crew 4x4 Hemi/8spd LONGbed in Canada earlier this year. Got 16.7mpg out of it in mixed driving, including time in 4Hi/4Lo and doing snow nuts lol . Kinda surprised at that. Good power, great trans logic - liked the powertrain and quiet inside . It’s been awhile since I owned a 3/4 ton (12V and 24V Gen2 Rams) and t hought the interior was nice enough, but admitte dly not picky about it. Better than my ZR2 in some ways. Still debate whether I should have gone to a PowerWagon instead.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/09/2020 at 11:58

That is a big boi truck!

I suppose I should have talked a bit more about the car hauler, but it was great. Easy to load and unload, held the car perfectly. The low angle meant I had no problem getting the car on and off, despite how low it sits. UHaul gets top marks for the hauler.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 12:20

It is the biggest thing I’ve driven for more than an hour! The only downside was driving on the Indian Nation Turnpike. The combination of the light load in the box, the spacing of the expansion joints, the trailer on the back, and the speed we were going created a resonance that had us bouncing in the seats for several hours. When it first started, we were laughing our asses off. It wasn’t long before it wasn’t funny any more.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 12:51

Diesel is the answer. Pulled a Jeep Grand Cherokee last weekend with a 18 D uramax 3500. If i didnt look in the mirrors i would have no idea i was pulling it. My 05 Powerstroke you can tell a bit more but even then its hard.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/09/2020 at 13:00

I had a similar experience where they gave us the HUGE one when we moved. We were only moving across town, like 8 miles, so w e had planned on making a few trips and doing it over the course of a day. Nope, did it all in one shot because bigboi has so much space.

I’ve also experienced the resonance thing up in New England. Parts of I-95 were concrete but have been paved over, but the expansion joints have all shifted and depending on speed and wheelbase you can get some interesting effects.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Tripper
07/09/2020 at 13:08

I had a 2001 Ram 2500 4x4. It was an extended cab, long bed, and the P.O. had lifted it a bit and put a loud ass Banks exhaust. I added a CAI and light tune, and then modified some Hummer H2 wheels to fit along with some 36" tires. I like to think it was a “tastefully modded 4x4" and not a full on “Brodozer”.

Regardless, it was a stick truck with 4.10 gears and that thing would scoot a lot faster than you’d expect for such a big vehicle. The problem was that i t was an ISB Cummins with the VP44 electromechanical pump . It was rated at 245 HP / 505 TQ and with the mods it might have been like 300 HP / 550 TQ (est.) but the pump wouldn’t support much more than that.

The best parts of that truck were everything not made by Dodge, meaning the Cummins, NV 5600 transmission,NP241 transfer case, and Dana axles. The frame / suspension were fine, I guess. But the body and interior were utter shit. It was a rust bucket, dash cracked up bad, shit like door latches would fail, etc.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
07/09/2020 at 13:15

I completely agree. Like I said, for this one time jaunt the gas was fine, but if I did any kind of towing on a regular basis, or was pulling heavier loads, I’d want a diesel. My parents had a Sierra 2500 with the old 6.5L TD that did admirable, probably about the same as this RAM did. But my old 01 Ram diesel was awesome, and my parents current 06 Duramax is fantastic. And it amazes me how much MORE power the newer trucks have than their 06.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Gone
07/09/2020 at 13:18

It’s definitely not a bad truck by any means. And the interior thing doesn’t bother me a ton other than these trucks cost a lot of money, I feel like it should be a bit nicer. But I guess if you are just planning to use them for work it doesn’t matter much . Also, 16.7 MPG isn’t bad and seems to be inline with my results.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Gone
07/09/2020 at 13:18

Gone > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 14:20

And the interior thing doesn’t bother me a ton other than these trucks cost a lot of money, I feel like it should be a bit nicer.

Ugh. Don’t get me started . I’ve finally succumbed to it’s what they cost and you get what you get now - happened when I bought my ZR2 . But massive disappointment at truck prices vs interior amenities .

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 14:30

I was a bit concerned when they showed me what I was going to get. My mom’s driveway was a winding path which made a tunnel through the woods. Some of the trees were really low and I had selected the smaller truck in part because of my concerns about the trees . So, I bought the extra insurance just in case. I didn’t do any damage to the box, but a bunch of branches left country pinstriping across the roof.

i86hotdogs > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 15:38

I think if I were to op for a heavy duty truck, I’d go gas over diesel. I don’t plan on towing an entire house or whatever they advertise on commercials. Plus, I like the sound of that 6.4 over a diesel whistle anyday.

Almost all Mopar I’ve owned have been base trim models: 200 L imited, Renegade Sport. The base level infotainment stinks. Takes an eternity to connect to bluetooth, touch screen seems to delay. I hopped in my dad’s fully loaded charger with the latest infotainment, and that things is smooth as butter.

Nibby > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 19:18

ram 2500 and mini in the same sentence... ? :P

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Nibby
07/09/2020 at 21:59

The review was mini, the truck most certainly was not!

Snuze: Needs another Swede > i86hotdogs
07/09/2020 at 22:05

I’d only get a diesel if I needed to tow a lot of weight and fairly often. When I had the car on the dolly I could feel it. It wasn’t bad, never felt dangerous or anything, but I knew it was there. This is totally spitballing here, but I think I’d feel comfortable with another ton or so on there, so maybe up to 8,000 lbs. Basically if I was towing 8k+ on a regular basis I’d go diesel, otherwise for towing up to about 5-6k often and a bit more every once in a blue moon, the gas truck is just fine. I also love the purr of a Cummins, but also like the Hemi noises, so that’s a toss up for me.

Im glad to hear the up-trim cars are nicer, because this base model really was lackluster.

i86hotdogs > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 22:21

It’s night and day difference. UConnect always gets praised by critics, but they always are reviewing vehicles with options ticked. The only option I picked for both of my mopars were all weather floor mats (and manual trans option in the Renny).

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/09/2020 at 22:23

Yea almost 1000lbs tq in stock form is just insane. I cant wait till i can afford a 6.7.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
07/09/2020 at 22:37

I think the 2020 Rams are rated for 1000 tq. That’s completely bonkers. The 5.9 Cummins, especially the later common rail engines, were fantastic, and the 6.7s are simply amazing.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/10/2020 at 12:45

I was referring to a Powerstroke cause i like to keep the trans alive. I love cummins motors but hate the trucks they are in

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
07/10/2020 at 12:52

Sorry. I forgot Ford also makes a 6.7 diesel. And I would agree with your sentiment, I love the Cummins but hate the truck they come in.