Anyone considering a 2014 (or newer, I understand) Dodge 3500 Laramie as a TV.....They are too tall to accommodate 5th wheels. At least the one we purchased to haul our 36rl is too high. Less than an inch clearance . Real bummer, especially after considerable research! 🙁 We are replacing the truck with a Chevy, which measures enough lower. :cheer:

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Anyone considering a 2014 (or newer, I understand) Dodge 3500 Laramie as a TV.....They are too tall to accommodate 5th wheels. At least the one we purchased to haul our 36rl is too high. Less than an inch clearance . Real bummer, especially after considerable research! 🙁 We are replacing the truck with a Chevy, which measures enough lower. :cheer:

I have a 2011 Dodge RAM Laramie, 4x4, long bed, crew cab. The bed rail height (not loaded) sits at 57 inches; when loaded, bed rail height is 53 inches. There is 7 inches of clearance between the coach nose and bed rail. I would not want any less than that clearance. With this setup, my 2012 Reddwood 36RL tows level.

Did someone flip the axles on your Redwood? Or, has RAM increased the bed height? Or, do you need to adjust hitch settings?

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Depending on the brand of hitch you are utilizing you should be able to adjust and get more clearance. I have a B&W hitch in my 2015 3500 Ram 4x4 and ride level with plenty of clearance. I would double check or try adjusting before spending money on a different truck.

My previous truck was a Ford, so I can share that the Ford and Ram 1-ton 4x4 trucks run really close in ride heighths.

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We had a 2011 Ford F350 and my B&W hitch was at it's lowest position and had about 7" clearance. We swapped out the Ford for a 2015 GMC 3500 and I had to raise the hitch to the highest position. Seems like the auto makers are not thinking of 5th wheel towing.

Steve

I would however check out the torque, HP and transmission ratios of the Chevy if you intend to climb a lot of mountain ranges...

Also compare towing capacity and payload. Some here choose Chevy. I'm not going to debate it. I just did side by side comparisons and pulled the specs on all. At the time (and things can change), the 2014 Ram had distinct advantages. Whatever you choose, do your math. Don't push the TV to near capacity. Try to use 80% to 85% or less as a benchmark.

Not to start the truck debate, but if your Ram does a better job in the mountains than the Duramax/Allison then it's one helluva truck. We've been in the mountains since mid April, constant 6-7% grades & still passing vehicles on the way up & holding steady on the way down without any problems & still getting 8.5-9.5 mpg.

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Regarding the specifications, are we able to compare apples to apples, or is each manufacturer still developing their own specifications?

For the F-150 series of trucks, I believe the big 3 and most foreign brands now utilise the J2807 standards. However, in the super duty models not all of the big 3 have adopted the standard. Ford's position has been that it adopts the standard when models are updated. Therefore, I assume this will be included with the introduction of the 2017 model year.

In the absence of standardised tests, I have to question the relevance and validity of comparing specifications across manufacturers. Once all 3 implement the J2807 standards then I can see a point in comparing specifications, but for me, this would still only be 1 component of the overall selection process.

All 3 manufacturers make trucks that will pull our RW, so my 3 biggest selection criteria, in order of importance are - DW likes it, customer service and total cost of ownership. 🙂

What are your criteria when selecting a new TV?

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It is really funny how the manufacturer of the big 3 keep upping their payload figures using the same equipment. They have no standard that they are held to. Same as torque and hp Has any of you actually put your new truck on a dyno to see if it has what the manufacturer state's .
The answer to what do I look for in a new one is what new options are on the new GMC's

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