The 5th (ish) Gen Ram HD love/hate thread

ripperj

Explorer
Seems to be a lot of new Ram HDs here lately.

I just got a ‘21 3500 Crew Cab long bed 6.4 Hemi 4x4. It’s my 4th Ram/Dodge.

Kinda by accident I went from a ‘10 1500 to a ‘12 2500 to the ‘21.(I had a beat up Dodge in the ‘80s)

I love the new truck, I actually really enjoyed the 2500 that I had for 10 years., but needed more bed and load capacity.

So for me, I overall really like the truck.
It’s quiet, it rides well(for a truck) even empty (I have 50psi in the stock rear tires)

The transmission seems really smooth and the gear ratios seem right(I haven’t towed or hauled yet). My truck has 4.10s, but with a 8 speed tranny, it doesn’t rev high unless you stomp on it. I’m very impressed with how little road noise there is at 70.
When the truck goes into Eco mode, you can feel(car guys can anyway) the engine doesn’t run as smoothly, but it’s not a problem .
I don’t even have 1000 miles on it yet , but the computer says 13.5ish if I stay 65 and below.

My truck is a Tradesman, but the interior doesn’t seem cheap or cheesy(the parking brake release maybe a bit light :)) and looks good.

The seats(60/40 bench with folding console) are very comfortable for me and my family, but we all have similar builds( 5’7” +- and slender )

I love that the dash controls are the same as the last decade, I hate relearning basic stuff- me and my buddies complain about auto engineering constantly, (stuff like the radio turns off when you go in reverse etc on his wife’s car)
For the most part the new 3500 operates like it should.

My truck has the manual transfer case lever, I’m old school and was actually excited about this. You have to follow directions to get it in 4lo, but it’s easy once you know how( coast 2 mph ish, throw tranny in neutral and then move lever to 4lo) . My buddy makes fun of all this , but I’m good with it.

There are a few things on the truck that I can’t believe were designed (or at least allowed to leave the factory)

1)There is some idiot interlock that puts the tranny in N (or maybe park) if you back up with the door open(I was backing onto ramps and watching the tire on the ramp)
The truck only had 100miles on it at this point and I was getting seriously pissed off before I realized what was going on)

2)Even though the cab looked identical to my 2012 2500, they must have changed something with the doors. All four doors fill up with water when it rains if you are parked on any angle, and it doesn’t drain until you open the doors or drive. There are big drain holes , but they are not right at the corners.
I noticed this when fluid filming my doors thru the drain holes.
Once I noticed this , I did some research and it’s a common complaint.

I actually notched out the lower rubber door gasket at the drain holes(this is below the actual door bulb seal that goes 360 around the door) because some people were saying that with doors that don’t get used much(my case the rear pass) the rubber sticks to the hole and prevents drainage. Real issue or not, I didn’t see harm in doing it.

Not sure what’s going on, but it seems like a good way to rot your doors(or everyone else’s doors , I got carried away and used 12 cans of PB Surface Shield on the exterior frame and panels, and another 9 cans of Fluid Film in the frame and other cavities) :)
I park on a slight grade in two directions, maybe flat ground eliminates this, but seems like a crap design.

3) On the Tradesman , if you fold up the rear seat, there is under seat storage, but it has no lids and is narrow. They make a Folding Load Floor, that’s an option or can be added later for $1000ish. The rear is kind of useless without it, I don’t know they would even ship the truck without it.

I guess that’s it for now

Kind of curious what others think about their trucks , likes/dislikes


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Explorerinil

Observer
your truck is not commonly referred to as a 5th gen like the 1500’s, it’s called a 4.5 gen becuase it uses the same old cab unlike the 1500 that now uses a new cab. As for the water in your door, that’s not common, that’s a problem, something is wrong take it to the dealer. The reason the 6.4 shakes during eco mode is the hemi MDS, that’s your truck running on 4 cylinders.
 

Explorerinil

Observer
I had a 19 power wagon and sold it, it was a good solid truck but I couldn’t stand the MDS or the small back seat, the new interior(5th gen interior) takes up allot of space in the old cab. The fuel economy was also a problem, I bought a 2021 f250 tremor with 4:30 gears, 35 inch tires and a 7.3 big block without the MDS garbage gets better fuel economy and has a ton more room.
 

Jacobm

Active member
My 300 has the 5.7 with MDS, and every now and again I'll notice when it's in eco-mode, the sound grabs my attention and makes me think something's wrong until I see the little green light on the dash. Not a huge fan of it but not enough to spend the money on a delete kit yet.
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
I had a 2018 4th Gen PW and I now have a 2021 4.5 Gen 3500. My complaints are the smaller cab in comparison to the 2017+ Super Duty, the FOV out of the windshield aka the angle of the windshield, and the cheaper feeling plastics. All in all I am very happy with the truck, I still find the cab space and interior design/layout of the 2017+ Super Duty to be preferable, but I am quite pleased with the performance of the CTD in comparison to the PSD. I don't plan to buy another diesel anytime soon and I am aiming to build this truck to not only serve as a tow rig but also to tackle off-road opportunities when necessary.
 

gillbrak

Active member
I had a 19 power wagon and sold it, it was a good solid truck but I couldn’t stand the MDS or the small back seat, the new interior(5th gen interior) takes up allot of space in the old cab. The fuel economy was also a problem, I bought a 2021 f250 tremor with 4:30 gears, 35 inch tires and a 7.3 big block without the MDS garbage gets better fuel economy and has a ton more room.

Ditto. Sold my 19 power wagon and held out for a clean low mileage diesel mega cab. Ended up buying a 2016 w 40k miles.


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ttengineer

Adventurer
Water in the door means the gasket at the bottom is clogged with crap. Clean the rubber gasket at the bottom and the water will pour out. It’s common on vehicles not parked in garages.


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ripperj

Explorer
Water in the door means the gasket at the bottom is clogged with crap. Clean the rubber gasket at the bottom and the water will pour out. It’s common on vehicles not parked in garages.


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The drains are not clogged, it was doing this with 25 miles on it . The water runs out as soon as you open the door. I cut a small square of gasket away in two spots per door at the drains just to eliminate the possibility that the gasket sealed the hole when the door was shut.
Edit- the water is getting in at the window gasket (i assume the horizontal one at the bottom of the glass)and stays in the doors because the drains are a couple inches in from the corner of the door, so the corner is a low point if the truck is not level.
As I mentioned in the OP, it took me about 2 minutes to find other people with the same issue and some took it to the dealer.
I’ll mention it at my first service ,but unless the dealer gets direction to drill the corners, there is not much they can do.

I’m not sure I understand the small back seat comments, my ‘21 has the same space/ seat size as the 2012( I didn’t measure it, but looks the same). Maybe it’s different on higher trim levels?
If anything I think it’s too big- an extended cab option would be awesome, like the Ford SDs.
I guess that’s what’s great about options and opinions, everyone can do their own thing :)


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Last edited:

ripperj

Explorer
I had a 19 power wagon and sold it, it was a good solid truck but I couldn’t stand the MDS or the small back seat, the new interior(5th gen interior) takes up allot of space in the old cab. The fuel economy was also a problem, I bought a 2021 f250 tremor with 4:30 gears, 35 inch tires and a 7.3 big block without the MDS garbage gets better fuel economy and has a ton more room.

What kind of MPG are you talking about. 13.5 or more seems good compared to what I had. This is on the computer, not calculated. I have a couple hundred mile road trip tomorrow, I’ll try and remember to get better numbers.


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ripperj

Explorer
My 300 has the 5.7 with MDS, and every now and again I'll notice when it's in eco-mode, the sound grabs my attention and makes me think something's wrong until I see the little green light on the dash. Not a huge fan of it but not enough to spend the money on a delete kit yet.

This is me, the first time it happened I wondered what was up, but it’s certainly not a problem for me (unless it’s much more noticeable on other gear/tire options, I can’t see selling the truck over it, but that’s just my take on it)


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Explorerinil

Observer
The drains are not clogged, it was doing this with 25 miles on it . The water runs out as soon as you open the door. I cut a small square of gasket away in two spots per door at the drains just to eliminate the possibility that the gasket sealed the hole when the door was shut.
Edit- the water is getting in at the window gasket (i assume the horizontal one at the bottom of the glass)and stays in the doors because the drains are a couple inches in from the corner of the door, so the corner is a low point if the truck is not level.
As I mentioned in the OP, it took me about 2 minutes to find other people with the same issue and some took it to the dealer.
I’ll mention it at my first service ,but unless the dealer gets direction to drill the corners, there is not much they can do.

I’m not sure I understand the small back seat comments, my ‘21 has the same space/ seat size as the 2012( I didn’t measure it, but looks the same). Maybe it’s different on higher trim levels?
If anything I think it’s too big- an extended cab option would be awesome, like the Ford SDs.
I guess that’s what’s great about options and opinions, everyone can do their own thing :)


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The 5th gen interior takes up more space in the old cab vs the 5th gen cab on the 1500’s, there is less leg room, I had a 12, 14, 16 and a 19 ram. As for the door leaks, my work truck which is an f150 had the same issue, the dealer per ford drilled a hole in the bottom of the door and replaced a gasket, no more problems. My 19 ram nor my other rams never had this issue, I would say you got a problem.

miliage on my f250 has been 14.5 average hand calculated.
 

ttengineer

Adventurer
The drains are not clogged, it was doing this with 25 miles on it . The water runs out as soon as you open the door. I cut a small square of gasket away in two spots per door at the drains just to eliminate the possibility that the gasket sealed the hole when the door was shut.
Edit- the water is getting in at the window gasket (i assume the horizontal one at the bottom of the glass)and stays in the doors because the drains are a couple inches in from the corner of the door, so the corner is a low point if the truck is not level.
As I mentioned in the OP, it took me about 2 minutes to find other people with the same issue and some took it to the dealer.
I’ll mention it at my first service ,but unless the dealer gets direction to drill the corners, there is not much they can do.

I’m not sure I understand the small back seat comments, my ‘21 has the same space/ seat size as the 2012( I didn’t measure it, but looks the same). Maybe it’s different on higher trim levels?
If anything I think it’s too big- an extended cab option would be awesome, like the Ford SDs.
I guess that’s what’s great about options and opinions, everyone can do their own thing :)


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Might want to pull the door panel then and take a look inside. There could be debris blocking the drain holes that was overlooked during assembly.

The door is designed to handle small amounts of water through the gasket at the window, as all cars are. The same with sun roofs. But if the drain holes get clogged you can get serious issues with electronics. My mothers car had a clogged sunroof drain, water then shorted out the vehicle and would not unlock the doors. She’s claustrophobic and freaked out, called 911, and had a panic attack. I told her all she had to do was pull the door lock pin and open the door. In her panic state though, she thought she was trapped.

Definitely take it to the dealer though if it’s not a clogged drain hole.

Are you parking nose down or nose up? I park nose down, maybe 10% grade every night, and have had water in the door before, but solely due to a clogged gasket.

I hate it for you though. There is little worse than paying these prices for vehicles, and then not having a 100% functioning product. Truly chaps my ass.


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jadmt

ignore button user
my 2020 never has had an issue with water in the doors and it has been in some torrential rains for days. also not going in reverse with the door open is a safety thing as they need to make these for the lowest functioning humans. Some humans were backing up with their doors open and fell out and got run over or squished between the garage door frame and truck. if your seat belt is buckled you should be able to back up with door open at least I can on mine.
 

jadmt

ignore button user
I have been impressed with my 6.4L 4.10 gears and 35's mpg wise. if I keep it 65-70mph I get 16-17mpg consistently. If I drive 80mph it drops to that 12-13mpg range. My biggest beef is lack of payload but I knew that when I wanted a Power Wagon. I think if the OP lowers the tire psi he will have a better ride. no need to run 50psi on e rated tires if empty. Go to a CAT scale and see what your weight is on the rear axles and probably find out it is less than you think. I can run about 25psi in my back tires altho I run a bit more.


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