Never say never AGAIN

[Teamster4life]

I'm a retired Teamster truck driver. I drove all sizes of diesel trucks for 40 years. The last 5 years before I retired in 2016, EVERY diesel truck the company purchased, from the 1 tons up had continuing regen problems. When we bought our 1st TT, because I said we would never have a 5th wheel, I realized pretty quick our plush riding 1/2 ton really wasn't up to towing a 34 foot long 11 foot tall wind sail efficiently and comfortably. I decided I would get a more capable truck, BUT it would never be a long wheel base or a dually and certainly not a diesel. Bought a Ram 2500 with the 6.4 hemi gas engine and all was good towing our 34 ft plus TT averaging 8-10 mpg. I was pretty pleased with my decision knowing I wouldn't have to deal with any regen, DEF or fuel filters or other diesel issues, plus I saved $9100 of the cost for the diesel engine knowing it would take well over 100k miles in the small fuel savings to ever justify the added expense. After a couple of trips out west and driving through some real mountains, I did miss the torque of a diesel engine pulling at much lower rpm's than my hemi that would sometimes pull at 4800 loud rpms for a mile or more at a time (even knowing that was where the engine made it's power.) I was still pretty happy with my choice because I was never going to get a bigger trailer and NEVER a 5th wheel. Well here we sit in our campsite on beautiful Lake Ouachita looking for a new 5th wheel for my new 2020 1 ton Ram Cummins diesel LWB dually to travel the country with. I have relearned two things. Never say "never" and you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. If you see some guy on the road pulling a 5th wheel with a LWB diesel dually with egg on his face that will probably be me especially if he's wearing a big grin from all that low rpm power produced by a new diesel dually. Happy camping everyone!

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Great story, Welcome from New Jersey.

[Robbie D. Camper]

Ya know what, driver? I've seen some 5ers being pulled by full on HDTs.

I dare you say "never"

[dblr]

We got a older Kenworth no regen issues here

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by Teamster4life

. I have relearned two things. Never say "never" and you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. If you see some guy on the road pulling a 5th wheel with a LWB diesel dually with egg on his face that will probably be me especially if he's wearing a big grin from all that low rpm power produced by a new diesel dually. Happy camping everyone!

Nice! Please post a picture when you get that new 5th wheel.

[CurtPutnam]

NEVER and ALWAYS are two words you should always never say.

[Jack350]

You will not have any problems with regens and DEF. The new trucks work great and as you said, have tons of power. My truck is almost 4 years old and has only needed regular maintenance. I did have my dealer add the ability to manually regen and have done that a few times when a long trip was not in the cards.

[Brother Les]

I have a pre EPA Smoker.....



A few years back my Brother-in-law said that he needed to get some muffler fluid. Muffler fluid???? I told him to take the dang muffler off. He said that it would void every thing and his wife would get mad. I said to not get his wife mad and not let her look under my truck.

[DrLewie]

Originally Posted by Jack350

You will not have any problems with regens and DEF. The new trucks work great and as you said, have tons of power. My truck is almost 4 years old and has only needed regular maintenance. I did have my dealer add the ability to manually regen and have done that a few times when a long trip was not in the cards.

The smoke from the regen on my '08 F-250 (pre-DEF) diesel is embarrassing. Although most of my 132K miles is pulling my 5th wheel (I LOVE it in the mountains) I also do a lot of local driving, so once in a while it puts out clouds of white smoke when cleaning the exhaust filter. Dealer has done what I assume is a manual regen in the shop when I've complained about the fog, but never mentioned the option of a manual manual REGEN I could do myself.. What's that all about?

[Jack350]

On the 17 diesel the manual option is available from the factory on XL and XLT models. I found out the dealer can turn on certain items if they want to. I had def % full turned on and then the manual regen. When the truck gets to 100% full, you can park in a safe location and set brake and do a regen. It takes 30 minutes and burns it back to 0%. Manual regens last longer than driving regens until the next regen. Very happy with this option and would not buy a new truck without this ability. Dealer likes to know you know what you are doing before this mod since you could cause some damage or injury if you are not careful.

[PenJoe]

Great post! It's refreshing to see folks poking fun at themselves. Our son has been chiding us to get a semi. We have been known to haul a lot of stuff around.

[lazyjj]

My F250 diesel is old. 1999 but for the price of even the new gassers I will keep her.

[PenJoe]

Originally Posted by lazyjj

My F250 diesel is old. 1999 but for the price of even the new gassers I will keep her.

That was our thoughts until an elderly lady changed out minds. Our low mileage 2013 Silverado was absolutely mint-not even a paint chip or door ding. We had frequent compliments from strangers. Yesterday morning, she came through a stop sign, across two lanes and broadside us-never touched the brakes. We swerved over a full lane and still got hit. We were driving at about 30 MPH. When we spun 180 degrees, the curb took out the two rims and tore the transmission pan open. Damage to the front was from raking past a sign post. Fortunately, no serious injuries. Problem is, as you say, "the price of even a new gasser". We will buy new because we don't want somebody else's problems. Money we really don't want to spend.

[Bhrava]

For the longest time I didn't want another diesel. Had a 99 F350 Dually, loved it, but a maintenance hog due to age and rust. Got rid of it for a 2012 F150. Regretted it within a week. Eventually though I finally discovered a good use for a 2014 F150, towing a travel trailer. The 3.5 EB is an amazing engine. It pulled just as good as my old 7.3 oil burner did. The down side, even with a 2018 now replacing the 14(not by choice), the small 7600 GVWR, 6400 pound wet, trailer we had was the limit for the truck.

Considered getting a gas 3/4 ton. What I could find, were Ram, with rust, a lot, IL/WI border area eats Ram for breakfast lunch and dinner. I have had bad luck with GM, and will never go back, and that you can take to the bank, only vehicle ever to leave me stranded with a flat tire that required a tow home because the perfectly good spare could not be released. SO that left Ford. Could not find a decent 6.2 250 or 350 anywhere, but found a good deal on a 12 F350 King Ranch. Runs really good, has a little rust, but 8 years in WI, what doesn't, and it is all underneath or on the front bumper, some Fluid Film took care of that for now. So I am back into a diesel. I had figured in DEF costs, regen consumption and all that.

So after a thousand miles or so, I am wondering if it has a DEF gauge, nope, but it had a tuner hooked up to it, and thinking nothing of it at the time when I bought it, didn't even look underneath. Yeah, complete and full delete. No smoke either, so the tune must be a good one. I don't know if that is a bonus or what, but highway empty MPG is 19 and change and towing is 11.7-13 depending on speed, the 11.7 was 70 MPH towing the Coleman we used to have. As long as there aren't emissions testing I will be OK, but to replace all the systems must be expensive, and would hate to have to replace it all. Guess if I have to do it again, should really know what to look for, all I saw was a big fat exhaust pipe, thought it was stock, guess not. OOPS.

Well, now we too have a 5th wheel, picking it up next week. Never thought we would go to one, like the OP, a conventional pull with a half ton was all we ever thought we would do.

[Lins]

Very nice truck. Diesel emissions are getting quite reliable now.

[EdJunior]

So we got the story of the truck...I'm guessing that you finally caved in for the diesel for the towing in the mountains. Fair enough. What about the 5th wheel. Why "never", then the change of mind?

By the way, that's a nice looking truck. I'm not a Ram guy, though the couple I did drive, I loved the way that Cummins sounded when you gave it a bit of pedal. Good luck with the search for the 5th wheel.

[Teamster4life]

Originally Posted by EdJunior

So we got the story of the truck...I'm guessing that you finally caved in for the diesel for the towing in the mountains. Fair enough. What about the 5th wheel. Why "never", then the change of mind?

By the way, that's a nice looking truck. I'm not a Ram guy, though the couple I did drive, I loved the way that Cummins sounded when you gave it a bit of pedal. Good luck with the search for the 5th wheel.

We are thinking of going closer to full time and boss lady want's more room with a 2 sofa & theater seating setup.The only setup like that we've found are all 5th wheels.Bonus is 5th wheels pull better than travel trailer

[Bhrava]

Originally Posted by Teamster4life

We are thinking of going closer to full time and boss lady want's more room with a 2 sofa & theater seating setup.The only setup like that we've found are all 5th wheels.Bonus is 5th wheels pull better than travel trailer

We are thinking along the same lines once the kids are out of the house in a few years. We just bought our first 5th wheel, happens to be a mid bunk model, but has the exact seating you are looking for. That was a big selling point for me over a smaller mid bunk model. We want to be able to sit and look directly at the TV and not have to crane our necks or sit sideways. Downside though, majority of trailers that have this type of seating and room to sleep more than 2 people are the larger models.

On the plus side, once the kids are out, and we are on the road I have a place to have a workshop. I build and fly RC planes, and instead of triple towing my RC hanger trailer with my planes, I now have a place to store them when not flying. The mid bunk can easily be converted into a workshop or office by just removing the sofa. The above bunk loft is large enough I can store all my planes there, and just remove the mattress and laminate the plywood to keep it clean, and good place to store. If/When it is time to sell, easily put back to factory specs by putting the sofa and mattress back in.

I like trailers that have potential. Our first trailer did what we needed, got us into camping to see if we would enjoy it or not, no bells, no whistles, just a plain jane light weight bunkhouse, Coleman 274BH. It actually exceeded our expectations, was trouble free. I was considering when I first got it of a mural on the back of a hole in the road with money being thrown in, and glad I didn't because over 4 years I don't think I spent more than $100 for repair parts. Fingers crossed we can continue that with our new one.

Good luck finding the exact trailer you like, we did and are eager to try it out.

[upflying]

Odd mentioning the regen, I don't think I even know when mine is doing it.

[samTummo]

I drive a diesel school bus when I can’t camp, it regen’s a couple times a a week in 150 miles a day. I have a F250 2017 6.7 diesel tow package jake brake.2600 lbs cargo cap. It drinks plenty of DEF when towing, but I have no regen switch or light. I have driven it 30,000 miles towing and never new it was doing it. 9000lb 5er and 9900 TT.

Does it?

Samtummo