I finally did it! The ol' red Dodge was getting tired and needed more space behind the driver seat for gear and needed more load capacity. I thought about a 3500 Ram and even looked briefly at Fords but since Ford dealers did not respond to my requests for quotes on F450's they have lost a large sale. That's fine though, this Ram is a beast of beast's!!

I wanted red again but they had this white one on the lot just how I wanted it. Cloth interior, 4 door, 6.7 Cummins, Aisin Automatic, power group, 4500 beastie! I did not build the bed, time once again is an issue. Have to be geared up and ready to work on Tuesday morning so I found a bed local, a CM bed, skirted sides, toolboxes, smooth sides, no stinkin' diamond plate(yuk!). The bed is huge! Got the welder on there, my boxes and still have plenty of space for tanks, reels, hose wrap, extension cord and can still connect a gooseneck, although I've never had a gooseneck to connect! If I do though I have the option at least! I bought some stainless simulators the day I signed my life away, plain steel wheels are so ugly! The simulators made the white color not so bad especially with all of the chrome on the truck already. We got ready to load the welder on the bed last night and bolt it down and decided to take a measurement off the back of the bed, 43-1/4" off the floor to the top of the bed. We set the welder down and I didn't feel the truck squat at all. Another measurement and it dropped 3/8 of an inch!! 1100 pound machine and the truck simple looked over it's shoulder and said, "did you put something back there??". My old truck raised up an inch and a half if not two when I pulled the welder off! The Timbrens were about two inches off the springs! I still have tanks to put on, hoosier pole, and the extension cord, hose wrap but in total I'm guessing the bed will have dropped a half in, maybe 5/8!

My thoughts on the 4500 so far? Wow!! What a truck! Although derated engine power from your consumer available 3500(385hp/850tq) the 4500 is rated at 325hp and 750lbft of torque. It pulls the truck around likes its not even loaded with my junk. I like the interior, comfortable, clean and edgy. Seats are nice, still wish somebody would put spring or air ride seats in these trucks for us long driving road fools. The four full doors with huge back seat area, enough to fit a family of 5, if I had a family of 6 they would fit too! A son at almost 6 feet tall was comfortable in the back seat. I got the standard Uconnect 3.0 radio with free Sirius for a year. Radio sounds pretty good, not like the Kenwood I had in the old truck but auxillary jacks(USB/Aux cord in the center console) will make Pandora available if I get bored of Sirius. Multiple power outlets, two in the dash, one in center console for your phone, gps and other gadgets and you can plug your laptop in with the USB connector, another fine option when you're the only guy on the job with a copy of the prints! The suspension, frame, undercarriage on this truck is amazing! The rotors look like they are the size of econobox car tires! Fiat 500, the tires are my rotors! Four piston calipers all around a Spicer rear differential and a spring stack that looks like it could support a house!

The Aisin so far is awesome! I've always been one to "row the gears" but after many mornings stuck in Nashville traffic and in the city I have not missed my last day without the old clutch and stick. Selectable gears on the shift lever, manual as they told me give you options to choose what gear you'd like to be in. Tow/haul mode, trailer brake built in and it can be controlled from your steering wheel on your display. This model has the old school four wheel drive, pull the handle on the floor board back and you're in 4 high, few forward and four low. It also has traction control, don't know if that is good or bad but I'm sure I will soon find out as winter draws near. Also on the front end a set of tow hooks of which I have never seen before! Monsters! I'm glad they are there though, I'm sure they will be put to the test somewhere when this heavyweight sinks in the mud as the old one did in Mississippi!

The mighty Cummins, what can I say about this workhorse? They now have the DEF, just more deductions in my minds eye. Whatever works I guess. If you're tall enough you can actually see what is under the hood, at 5'9" it looks like I'd need a ladder to check the oil!!! The engine, super quiet. After 7 years of turning off the engine to place an order at the fast food joint or walking 15-20 feet away from the running truck to have a normal conversation this silence is quite nice actually. Standard super quiet exhaust out the back, don't hear much of anything, also a new change that I am finding to be rather nice.

Looking at the body lines at first I was not sure about the design. After looking seriously at these trucks they have grown on me. You look at it(at least I do) and I see a monster, ready for work, tough, stout......a beast. Although climbing into this truck after a good lunch a few times or a longs days work I see will be a problem. Nerf bars or running boards are in my future for certain. My daughter is around 5' tall and she laughed last night because the floor in the back was at the top of her thighs!

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase, as much as it was!! Sure am ready to get her on the highway loaded down and put her to the test on a long drive. If you're looking at a truck I highly recommend one. With a max GVWR at 24,600lbs it will bump your insurance into a new class, added around $300/year on mine. The 3500's are capable but the way we load them down they could be overloaded then you have to mess around with Timbrens, airbags and what have you. This truck here, Timbrens and bags are a thing of the past, if I get pulled over by DOT or have to run the scales, no worries, just smile, not overloaded here!!

Here are a few pics I took last night, still need to get my running boards, windows getting tinted on Monday morning and a few other little things.