I've had nearly this exact truck since 2006 (it's an early 2004). Bought a '21 Ram 1500 Crew Laramie on New Year's Eve 2020 because interest rates + factory incentives + end of month + end of year etc. coupled with my need for a better ride quality. The '04 was relegated to pretty much just towing duty (20' open) long before the new Ram came along. The '04 got over $4,000 worth of maintenance/upgrades to haul a 21' toy-hauler from ID to AZ and back in the fall of '21. It was quickly decided that we needed more room for long trips like that so a '17 Ram CTD Laramie Mega Cab was located in spring 2022.

The '21 and '17 are head and shoulders above the '04 when it comes to amenities, comfort, road manners etc. There is simply NO comparison.
The '04 is rated to tow 13k.
The '21 1500 is rated for 11k (but squatted pretty bad bringing that toy-hauler home when first purchased).
I think the '17 is rated for 18k. The torque of this thing is WAY more than the '04 and the extra 2 gears helps a lot as well.

Having said all that, the '04 sits here with just 150k on it, the 2023 tabs never even made it onto the plates and it only gets driven when I need to move it out of the way of something else. I know it needs to find a new home but I'm finding it hard to get it listed for sale. Like yours, it's just been a fantastic rig and I hate to see it go. If the "old" truck is comfortable enough and you're good with it's options or potential upgrades I'd say start putting the "new truck" payment away every month and have one heck of a down payment for the day you actually do need to buy something else.