Geez you're right, I didn't even notice the 6 speed automatic was a no cost option when I was "building my ram" on their site. Why would anyone want the 6 speed over the 8 speed? I've seen a number of videos with guys critiquing the 2019 diesel Rams and they all seemed to complain that only a 6 speed was available, however playing around on the Build your Ram site, I see the 6 speed is standard and it shows the 8 speed as a no cost option when speccing out a diesel.

It has been good reading! .. to the point that I was considering canceling my 1500 short bed/ regular cab order and getting a 2500 6.4 instead. I just feel the 8 ft bed regular cab looks like a "work truck " and I really dont need a quad or crew cab. My enclosed trailer is only 20 feet even if I upgrade in the future it will be another 20 foot. If I had a bigger heavier trailer I would get a bigger truck , even with my trailer loaded it will be around 1,000 lbs under the 9,000 lb limit of my new truck. I just really like the looks of a short bed / regular cab!!! So I am staying with it. I can't wait to take delivery and see how it tows I think with the 3.92s and the 8 speed its going to be great! I am very happy they are making a short bed / regular cabs again otherwise I probably wouldn't be upgrading but how cool would a 2500 6.4 short bed / regular cab be!!!

Good to see you made your own choice, after reading the pros/cons.

Reminder:
1) Any trailer over 5,000 lbs needs a weight distribution hitch.
2) The RAM 1500 regular cab and short bed has soft rear springs. They ride nice, but putting air bags in the rear springs is a benefit when towing. Some people who tow a lot with that truck change rear springs and live with the slightly stiffer ride without a trailer. I have AirLift 1000 bags, and that is all you need, IMO.
Link

Thanks Jim, I have a had a weight distributing hitch with bars for years as well as air bags, already have them picked out for the new truck.

Right now my tow rig is a 2011 1500 with a 6.4 SRT8 Short block including cam and such and 3.55 gears, vararam ram air intake, 20" wheels and i tow my 7000lb trailer that is frequently overloaded and it is a beast power wise even with "just a 5 speed auto". It easily will get into way more trouble than the 1500 4 door 4x4 truck can handle if your not careful. No you don't need to rev the motor hard and MPG is great when empty (20 MPG is not hard to achive)and bad (12 MPG is normal) when loaded. It has a higher tow rating than my friends 99 cummins truck and pulls a load easier power wise. I am currently watching copart to find a 2010 up 2500 with a bad 5.7 or 6.4 to stick my spare motor in and sell the 1/2 ton but only because it is a 1/2 ton and I am needing to haul a bigger trailer not because any lack of power.

I would not get the 4.10 gears but that's just me.

I'm sure this gets said in every towing thread, but having towed with 1/2 ton regular cabs, 1/2 ton van, 3/4 tons, 1 ton crew duallies, the more truck you have, the more confidence you feel. A 20' enclosed with a car in it towed with a 1/2 ton short bed would be pucker inducing for me, having the experience of how much better a bigger truck does. Not that it can't be done, just depends on how comfortable you want to be when going down the road.

It's got the ZF 8-speed.

Idk abour mileage sucking, really. It does better than my '01 1500 Off Road edition did at any time. 12 mpg all the time. Unless it was towing. Then 8-9. Does better than my. '06 1/2 ton did, or at least similar until there was a trailer behind it. I guess it sucks, but not as bad. Lol.

Don't get in a hurry? I don't get that. Climbing hills in PA and the Carolinas it would accelerate with no trouble on any of the grades. Maybe with more payload it wouldn't, though. The most I've towed was a full size 2wd Ram extended cab, so maybe 6500 pounds with the trailer? I don't know this for a fact, but I've heard the mileage on the new Cummins isn't impressive at all unless you spend the $1500+ to do all the deletes. I couldn't see how the extra $12000 in price along with $1500 in deletes would get absorbed in the fuel savings in the life of the truck as long as I own it. I know, I know. Resale. Anyway, I'm rambling. Carry on.

Snow-birds don’t tow with 1500s.... 2500/3500 and anything in the era of your 01 “off road” (same weak suck as my 95 1500 I had... you at least had the 4.10 gears) would have been a Cummins or a V10. The ones I’ve talked with have come from the Cummins. Now I can’t say for sure which ones... the 8-12 era required deletes in my eyes. The 13 was the intro into the DEF era and to be perfectly honest I’d love to have a 13-15 truck. We haven’t had a huge prob with the def system and the reduced use of the egr valve on those trucks have extended the oil life + great mpg. It’s just the prices of these things even used is shocking!

Figured I would throw my 2 cents in here. I have an 18 power wagon and use it to tow my camper (probably around 11k). A typical trip is from 1100 ft about sea level to 7000 in an hour and a half. I camp year round so temps vary but the hemi has never got hot. Neither had the 6 speed (I know you would have the 8 speed). I would consider this to be somewhat extreme since I go pretty much straight up the mountains and the grades are all over the place. It gets about 9 mpg but I am on 33s with 410s. I would not hesitate to grab a gasser with 3.73s. I have an 06 cummins mega and my 18 is way more comfy and I am not staring at my pyro all the time.

I sold my 06 Cummins last year and picked up this 19. Similar to some of the posts above: My 06 had 120k on it and holding its value. Ram offered 0% on the remaining 2019s last year. Sold the 06 on CL in a matter of minutes.

IMG_5191 by Greg Ault, on Flickr

The pre DEF/emissions diesels are very sought after right now. Not surprising at all that yall's mid 2000's Cummins trucks w/ low miles sell like hot cakes and still bring good money. I couldn't find one I was happy w/ when I was looking a couple years ago. Forget a mega cab...those things must be gold plated, lol.
I ended up buying a 2006 Duramax and have had more people ask if it was for sale than I ever expected. Even the '01 Cummins I had before sold in less than 24 hours on Craigslist for $1k less than I paid for it 7 years earlier.

If all I had was an open car trailer, I'd just have a gas truck to pull it with. An enclosed trailer is a whole different ballgame...I much prefer the power of a diesel for that.

I am going to order new truck saturday, staying with 3.73 gears. Will sell 2006 Diesel myself.

I hear ya! the dealer offered me a good price on trade on my 08 H.Q.C. but I think I can sell it for more especially with only 58,000 miles , pm me if anybody is interested .

Looks like you should be giving a review of how that 6.4 works compared to your old truck.



I guess if this is turning into a "truck for sale" thread, might as well list mine:

11,000 miles, bone stock, 25 grand.

Looks like he’s got a 6.7L ISB, not a 6.4L. I spy with my little eye a Cummins badge on the fender.

Sorry .. I just wanted to see if there was any interest that’s why I didn’t put a price but why not... $15,000 or B.O. ...I am going to post it in the classifieds soon .. nice truck you have there .. love the reg cab / short beds ! Can’t wait for my new one to come it will be my third but first with 4WD . I still have my 92 I bought new

Good eye, MasterShake340, thanks!

On a related note, if you take the picture far enough away those new Dodges don't look too bad.

Even though I was working to keep the tab down on my new truck order, I opted to get the “Sport” package for its color keyed grille and bumpers. The Ram along with the current GM and Ford pickups grilles are huge are too obtrusive to me when chrome. Make it color keyed, and it tones down the front end then it look great to me.
Funny quirk in ordering; there is a no cost decal delete option which I wanted, to get rid of the “Sport” decals on the quarters, I tried to check that box but it wouldn’t allow it. Only works with some other feature combination ordered. What the heck?
Oh well a little time with a heat gun and I can delete the Sport decals myself...

You are right mastershake! some of the options and packages are strange. I ordered mine a week ago.. I built it on the Ram website for reference... the color I wanted said available on my configuration : Timberland Green when I went to the dealer to place the order they said it wasn't available and they checked it to confirm: not available on a Hemi regular cab/ short bed only a 6 cylinder or 8 ft bed. I ordered a middle of the line chrome package that comes with 17 inch aluminum wheels that look nice .. I wanted to upgrade to the 20 inch chrome clad ones and only way to get them was to upgrade the chrome package to another for $2895 plus another $1595 for the wheels! the fog lights and dual exhaust in the package would have been nice but for that price I can do with out. I did get a bed liner which I expected to be a lot more but was only $300. I also like that it comes with the trailer brake controller built in one last thing I have to install myself. The air suspension isn't available on my configuration either but at a $1700 option on other models I can install my own for $300.