I-3 to I-5... anybody move from Mercedes Sprinter to Dodge Ram Chassis?

[Rkloud9]

We have been spending about 6 months a year for the last 3 years in our SunSeeker MBS 2400W. Brian Clemens’ offer to create a 30’ I-5 with a fixed queen bed, pass through storage, 4 season capability, and a W/D option is intriguing to us. Have any of you moved from the Sprinter to the Ram? Clearly there is more power and carrying capacity, but how do ride, engine noise, and handling compare? What about fuel mileage? It seems that modern pick up trucks drive more like cars, which, in the case of the Sprinter, would be an improvement. The Sprinter is pretty quiet and handles well, but expansion joints and washboard roads are pretty rough. Pulling a small toad (Chevy Spark), we get about 13.5 mpg @ 55-62 mph. Wouldn’t mind being able to cruise faster on the interstate, and be able to go longer than 200 miles b4 fatigue sets in. Thanks in advance!

[Zoey]

I moved into a dynamax Isata 5. 30 fW from a sprinter View and so far like it a lot better more power and little less mileage. However i had a lot of emission related issues with the sprinter spent a lot of time a Mercedes Dealers and a lot of Money. 30 k over about 200K miles i use my unit a lot

[Pod2Vibe]

I just did the same and it was the best upgrade ever.

The RAM is much more comfortable seating wise and driving position. It is quieter and the power is amazing. With the Sprinter, I was WFO throttle on grades a lot. Not anymore, so much more power.

Other benes are larger fuel tank, larger DEF tank that is not under the hood, a real DEF gauge, better seats, UConnect, Android Auto, WiFi, exhaust brake, larger fresh, gray and black tanks, AGS, the 8k diesel generator option that is very efficient, just to name a few.

On a 1200 mile trip with my toad, I averaged 9.7MPG with about 13 hours of generator use, included.

Do It!

[Skh]

Originally Posted by Rkloud9

We have been spending about 6 months a year for the last 3 years in our SunSeeker MBS 2400W. Brian Clemens’ offer to create a 30’ I-5 with a fixed queen bed, pass through storage, 4 season capability, and a W/D option is intriguing to us. Have any of you moved from the Sprinter to the Ram? Clearly there is more power and carrying capacity, but how do ride, engine noise, and handling compare? What about fuel mileage? It seems that modern pick up trucks drive more like cars, which, in the case of the Sprinter, would be an improvement. The Sprinter is pretty quiet and handles well, but expansion joints and washboard roads are pretty rough. Pulling a small toad (Chevy Spark), we get about 13.5 mpg @ 55-62 mph. Wouldn’t mind being able to cruise faster on the interstate, and be able to go longer than 200 miles b4 fatigue sets in. Thanks in advance!

I bought an Isata 3 planning to wait for the heavy duty Dodge update which became available this fall-winter. The half tons have been out for awhile. What Bryan Clemens is proposing makes them sound more what I want. Have been thinking about a Force recently for a washer dryer. I'd like to see a little more ground clearance though. We chip both ram 3500 and Ford F350's and I think we could get the mileage about the same as the MB.

[Rkloud9]

The Sprinter is somewhat infamous for its finicky emission control systems and pricy dealer service. How does the Ram compare? Do you find that most Dodge dealers can service the Cummins engine and handle the motorhome in their shops. I have noticed more MB dealerships are upgrading their shops to better handle the Sprinters, including the class c configurations.

[Winger1]

I would have considered the 5 over the 3 but did not want the cabover bed. If they offered an entertainment ctr, would have seriously considered it

[jdebevec]

We had a Jayco on the Sprinter chassis for less than a year. Knew right away it wasn't for us... we downsized too much. The Sprinter was nice but our top 3 complaints were: Plumbing and basement not insulated or heated; combination of being lightweight, narrow, and tall was severely susceptible to wind and getting blown all over the road; and meager towing ability.

Our Isata 5 checks all of those boxes... actually it blows away the boxes. Wish I had known the I-5 existed before we bought the Sprinter.

Got great service from the Mercedes dealer; they had a big dedicated Sprinter department.

Have not had to take our I-5 to Dodge and I am not sure I would. They don't have service bays big enough. Cummins in Denver has a dedicated RV department, so I would probably try them for any drivetrain related issues.

We've done 8000+ miles so far in our first year with the I-5 and our only complaint is the harsh ride on rough pavement. There have been a few suggestions on other threads about ways to improve that, so it's a work in progress. The best thing has been the ability to travel in cold weather. We stay warm, the plumbing doesn't freeze... and when the wife stays warm, we're all happy.

[Zoey]

The change to Isata 5 has been great i don’t normally tow a toad and been getting about 11MPG I have the 4X4 chassis and don’t mind the ride seems to be very well built. I have not tried to take to a Ram dealer however i did talk to one about servicing it and they said they could not handle it. Cummins has quite few dedicated service shop for motor homes and most truck shop can work on Cummins engines.

[Rkloud9]

Originally Posted by Winger1

I would have considered the 5 over the 3 but did not want the cabover bed. If they offered an entertainment ctr, would have seriously considered it

Regarding the cab-over bed, it looks like the I-5 version starts at a lower level, with more headroom. The cab area seats must be at a lower level than the I-3... is it harder to move from the cab to the coach?

[caseymyers]

Originally Posted by Rkloud9

Regarding the cab-over bed, it looks like the I-5 version starts at a lower level, with more headroom. The cab area seats must be at a lower level than the I-3... is it harder to move from the cab to the coach?

Much harder to move from your seat to the coach than a Force or DX3. But you can scramble up out of there OK, my wife is old like me and she does it while we are traveling down the road.

[rskeans]

I have about 50,000 miles on my '14 RAM dually. I have used it to carry a 5000 lb slide in camper and tow a 20,000 lb 5ver. Never a problem with the truck. All the dealer ever had to do was recalls (software updates) and oil changes every 12000 miles. It just purrs like a kitten all the time. With the DX3 we don't need it anymore, but DW refuses to sell it as she loves to drive it. If the I-5 had space for a washer/dryer we'd be driving that today. The I-5 is the way to go.

[Zoey]

I have the 30FW plan with the cab over bed i never use it and it is not in the way use for extra storage with some storage bins. It is harder to go to the back from the front seats however once you do it for a while you kinda figure what works and it not too bad at all. Overall i like the coach a lot better than my sprinter view rear corner bed coach.

[Isatago]

We started out in the 2016 Winnebago Via25T and moved to the 2018 Isata5 36ds 4x4. I loved it. Easy to drive** plenty of power. The only downside was CCC, and the single payne windows camping in the snow. I am selling the I5;( it is on consignment at DeMartini) and have ordered a 2020 DX3 TS. The main reason is the way we camp. I would boondock more, the DW not so much. We mainly stay in nicer RV parks. So I'm going all-electric-aqua hotD and will add alot more solar for the few times we will have to boondock, and will have all the CCC I'll ever need for all our toys and stuff. DW is over the moon with the DX3 except for having to wait till june to pick it up.

[Slolane]

We traded our Roadtrek CS (extended Sprinter) for an I-5 36 DS.No comparison on the power of the Mercedes vs the Cummins. We pull our Wrangler JKU with a bunch of add-ons (around 5500 lbs) The Sprinter struggled to pull it, the Ram pulls with no effort. Maintenance on the Ram is much cheaper than the Sprinter. The only downside is mileage went from 16 to 9.5.