RAM Dealers That Service Isata 5

[Widebody]

I suggest you leave a message in the RAM Owners portal of the RAM web site to this effect. List the names of all the dealers you have contacted. They may (as they did for me) twist the arm of a dealer to take your vehicle. But note, they have no "obligation" to do this; nor does the dealership network have an obligation to equip their shops to handle anything that someone (like Dynamax) wants to hang on the back of their C&C products. When Dynamax chose this product, I suspect they were given the assurance of a nationwide network of dealers only no one thought to check into the height, weight, length issues because most 5500s are serviced by fleet shops owned or contracted to the 5500 operators.

Ford is a bit different in this respect having sold RV/Ambulance combos for longer and to more smaller operators or individuals than Dodge over the years. And Ford "invented" this version of the Super C as RVs have been built on their F550 C&C at least since 2013. GM does not yet have an RV product on their C&C. So dealers generally have little incentive to build their service facilities to accommodate us.

If you fail to get a response from RAM/Dodge/Stellantis, then I suggest you do the rounds of the commercial truck service businesses in your area and see what they can do. Warranty will have to be handled by reimbursement and your documented attempts to find a dealership will be needed to support your claims.

Thank you. Looks like that is what I will have to do. I've called every dealer in the Las Vegas area. None of them will do it. Hard to believe in a larger city like this.

 

[bclemens]

You have to fill out this form. Email it in.

 

[vlamgat]

Thank you. Looks like that is what I will have to do. I've called every dealer in the Las Vegas area. None of them will do it. Hard to believe in a larger city like this.

Not really that difficult to believe. There is no business reason for dealer to build 16 foot+ high doors and provide lifts for 20k lbs and 240"+ wheel bases. Not enough are sold that need these requirements to be justified by one dealer let alone across 48 states. That some can is a function of decisions that are difficult to guess the background but clearly the original architect briefing was to be able to use the building for something other than RAM C&C build double size builds.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall during the Dynamax meetings when the decision to go with RAM vs Ford was made and to have heard how this element of the supply chain was ignored.

 

[bclemens]

1. Why would they need a 16' door?

2. You are mistaken...RV's are just a small portion of the Ram 5500 sales. The vast majority are wreckers, ambulances, telecom units. The chassis is rated at 19,500lbs....sooooo if it is rated as such, then they should have a lift for such. Telcom vehicles have a boom/cherry picker. So they are neither light, nor short. The way the "Business Link" works for Ram, is if they sell the ram 5500, they need to be equipped to service the upfits of the 5500, OR allow a sublet to a shop that can. Certainly, they have let some locations slide...but that is not what was presented.

3. You know what they say when you assume. This element was not ignored. It was discussed (see business link note above). In addition, we discussed the issues at the time regarding Ford. At the time...you could not replace the engine on the Ford without removing the Fiberglass front cap on the vehicle. So pray you never have to replace an engine on the Ford. We have had a couple on the Ram and they were able to pull the engine with the RV section intact. In addition, we were big fans of the Cummins engine...that is what we used on all our other vehicles. Ford was having issues with their engines at the time and some supply issues, before we even heard of Covid. So there is no "perfect world", but we weighed all of the items at hand. Frankly, if people are having issues, we have given them the email to send in, and it normally gets resolved pretty quickly after that.

 

[Desert Boat]

...There is no business reason for dealer to build 16 foot+ high doors and provide lifts for 20k lbs and 240"+ wheel bases. ...

Hmm, wonder why Hendrick invested $9M in a 16 bay facility, each bay capable of servicing the largest Isata chassis? Some folks consider Rick Hendrick a somewhat successful businessman.

I suspect this is one area where a forgotten technique is required - you have to do "good phone." Someone at each dealer prolly knows where to send the big boys. Just gotta sweet talk until you get to the person that knows. It took me several calls until I got to Hendrick, then another call or two until I found the big truck service manager.

 

[vlamgat]

Hmm, wonder why Hendrick invested $9M in a 16 bay facility, each bay capable of servicing the largest Isata chassis? Some folks consider Rick Hendrick a somewhat successful businessman.

I suspect this is one area where a forgotten technique is required - you have to do "good phone." Someone at each dealer prolly knows where to send the big boys. Just gotta sweet talk until you get to the person that knows. It took me several calls until I got to Hendrick, then another call or two until I found the big truck service manager.

Few dealers are as "connected" as Hendrick, his organization is abad example of the corporate typed that make these decisions. And since all the dealerships in the DFW area are owned by these corporations, they form a better population set than Hendrick owned shops. Not one dealer in the 75 mile radius around DFW airport has doors, lifts or weight capacity to service these Isata chassis. Not even the 28ss.

I repeat, its not a need because the users of these chassis have their own shops; dedicated non dealerships or just never get that work done that requires housing.

 

[vlamgat]

1. Why would they need a 16' door?

Because they are not going to build a door set by one population of RVs that need 12'6". 13 feet is too close. So ok 14-16 feet then would be the decision.

2. You are mistaken...RV's are just a small portion of the Ram 5500 sales. The vast majority are wreckers, ambulances, telecom units. The chassis is rated at 19,500lbs....sooooo if it is rated as such, then they should have a lift for such. Telcom vehicles have a boom/cherry picker. So they are neither light, nor short. The way the "Business Link" works for Ram, is if they sell the ram 5500, they need to be equipped to service the upfits of the 5500, OR allow a sublet to a shop that can. Certainly, they have let some locations slide...but that is not what was presented.
I agree with what they should have done but my comment was directed to a guess at what was asked by Dynamax/FR during the contracting process; and/or the double talk response received.

3. You know what they say when you assume. This element was not ignored. It was discussed (see business link note above). In addition, we discussed the issues at the time regarding Ford. At the time...you could not replace the engine on the Ford without removing the Fiberglass front cap on the vehicle. So pray you never have to replace an engine on the Ford. We have had a couple on the Ram and they were able to pull the engine with the RV section intact. In addition, we were big fans of the Cummins engine...that is what we used on all our other vehicles. Ford was having issues with their engines at the time and some supply issues, before we even heard of Covid. So there is no "perfect world", but we weighed all of the items at hand. Frankly, if people are having issues, we have given them the email to send in, and it normally gets resolved pretty quickly after that.

I did not know that about the Ford. Does that apply to the other Ford chassis users too. If so no one is talking about it on the Thor site for example so its fairly infrequent and certainly far less frequent than the RAM recalls and the alignment needs. I do agree that the Cummins has a better reputation than the Ford PSD although I get the sense that the Ford developed its reputation during the earlier years of the 6.7 which was a huge improvement from the earlier 6.0 and 6.4 varieties. Were there any ISO discussion around MTBF analyses or whether there were any internal (at least) TBO standards for either drive train?

 

[TrailWayz]

There is dealer right near where I live. They have a commercial truck service center with several bays and lifts and alignment capabilities. The problem is they only have 12 ft. doors. Stellantis even tried to send me there until I let them know they had already turned me away. They service plenty of non-rv type 5500s to keep the shop always busy. 12 ft. is plenty for most vehicles to get in the shop. I'm sure there are other RAM truck service facilities with similar restrictions.

The shop that ended doing my service work did it outside even tho they had a bay and lift capable of handling the RV. They had a 14 ft door but the RV would have blocked off too much of the service area to justify bringing it in. Dealers are making the investment in commercial truck service for the typical 5500 upfits. Many dealers are just learning about the RV market - so I've learned.

I've also been to Hendricks. It's a beautiful facility and those in the area are fortunate to have a place like that nearby. We made an alignment appointment with them when we had plans to pass through the area several years ago.

 

[Widebody]

You have to fill out this form. Email it in.

Thanks Brian. I'll let everyone know once I get a service complete. I did contact RAM through their regular portal and they stated the RV portion needs to be removed first lol.

The challenge I see from personally visiting a couple of the local dealers is fitting the RV into their bay. The Dynamax would have trouble making the turn into the garage doors and if they did, once inside, the length of the RV would block the drive lanes.

I've been involved in dealership design and construction 20 years ago, and a traditional bay set up would not work. I'm sure the design has changed over the years to better suite larger vehicles in newer facilities.

 

[Wheelin4Life]

Anyone had any success finding a dealer in the North Western part of Washington State?

I see there is nothing on the cool map that was made only some dealers near Portland, OR

 

[Desert Boat]

We had a wonderful two years, 30K miles, with our Isata, but have now sold it to build a cottage in Mackinaw City. Looking for someone interested in taking ownership of the Isata service map. Transfer has to go to a @gmail.com account. PM me if interested.

 

[Widebody]

You have to fill out this form. Email it in.

Brian, this ended up not working. After emailing this sheet in, a couple of days later, Stellantis response was to send to a dealer, and listed all 5 dealers I already contacted in my area. I responded back to them that I already contacted them all and they wouldn't take me in. Waiting on a response back still.

This shouldn't be this hard to schedule a service. Any other suggestions?

 

[bclemens]

Brian, this ended up not working. After emailing this sheet in, a couple of days later, Stellantis response was to send to a dealer, and listed all 5 dealers I already contacted in my area. I responded back to them that I already contacted them all and they wouldn't take me in. Waiting on a response back still.

This shouldn't be this hard to schedule a service. Any other suggestions?

That is how it went for the last customer as well and then they came back with accommodations from one of the dealers.

If they sell the 5500 they need to service it, or sublet it. Stellantis has their process.

 

[vlamgat]

Brian, this ended up not working. After emailing this sheet in, a couple of days later, Stellantis response was to send to a dealer, and listed all 5 dealers I already contacted in my area. I responded back to them that I already contacted them all and they wouldn't take me in. Waiting on a response back still.

This shouldn't be this hard to schedule a service. Any other suggestions?

Same thing happened to me in DFW area. Give them a couple of weeks (perhaps longer, its Summer) and you should get an email. If not repeat. I did that 3 times before I got a helpful response. Our problems are clearly not a priority to Stellantis, Dodge, RAM or their service organization. Think about it...we are not even their customer, just a second owner with warranty cover. I can just hear the service admins discussing this at one of those "corporate Monday morning" review meetings.

 

[Widebody]

That is how it went for the last customer as well and then they came back with accommodations from one of the dealers.

If they sell the 5500 they need to service it, or sublet it. Stellantis has their process.

I'll patiently wait. I do love the Ram/Cummins platform but in my opinion this service needs major improvement. The sprinter chassis I had before was warned it would be tough to service, but inhad no issues.
They have dedicated Sprinter repair shops throughout the nation.
Something rarely talked about.

Still love my ram chassis and hope to keep it that way but after seeing some of these service shops, I can see the issue. Perhaps something Dynamax has to visit.

I almost considered a Ford platform RV but prefer the Ram/Dynamax combo. And for Ford, there are more service centers to choose from based on larger e450 service as well as the longer 750's.

Just throwing 2 cents out there.

 

[bclemens]

I'll patiently wait. I do love the Ram/Cummins platform but in my opinion this service needs major improvement. The sprinter chassis I had before was warned it would be tough to service, but inhad no issues.
They have dedicated Sprinter repair shops throughout the nation.
Something rarely talked about.

Still love my ram chassis and hope to keep it that way but after seeing some of these service shops, I can see the issue. Perhaps something Dynamax has to visit.

I almost considered a Ford platform RV but prefer the Ram/Dynamax combo. And for Ford, there are more service centers to choose from based on larger e450 service as well as the longer 750's.

Just throwing 2 cents out there.

I have been here long enough to know when MB was not so great. When they stopped the co-branded Dodge Sprinter, they cut their service locations in half. It took them several years to get their service locations established again.

 

[vlamgat]

I almost considered a Ford platform RV but prefer the Ram/Dynamax combo. And for Ford, there are more service centers to choose from based on larger e450 service as well as the longer 750's.

Just throwing 2 cents out there.

Ford is no walk in the park either. I had anF550 RV before this Cummins and struggled to find a dealer willing to change the starter motor. Same stories: too high, too heavy, too long, not allowed to go underneath, not allowed to work outside etc etc.

This is a refrain on the Thor owners page too. The manufacturers have double talked the RV industry into "believing" that a national franchise means they can actually service the vehicles on the same basis as they can their pick up trucks. And technically they are correct because they can service any of their trucks as long as the length and height do not exceed the dimensions that they sold. The moment you get Moryde and others into the picture, I hear them saying, "its not my problem"!

 

[Widebody]

Ford is no walk in the park either. I had anF550 RV before this Cummins and struggled to find a dealer willing to change the starter motor. Same stories: too high, too heavy, too long, not allowed to go underneath, not allowed to work outside etc etc.

This is a refrain on the Thor owners page too. The manufacturers have double talked the RV industry into "believing" that a national franchise means they can actually service the vehicles on the same basis as they can their pick up trucks. And technically they are correct because they can service any of their trucks as long as the length and height do not exceed the dimensions that they sold. The moment you get Moryde and others into the picture, I hear them saying, "its not my problem"!

From the little that I know, Ford has actual truck centers throughout the nation. I know they have one in Vegas and can handle f750s. I think that is the confusion out there. Many people think they can bring it to any dealer. I knew that was not the case from previous experience.

But my main issue is that Vegas being a large town that has more Ram dealers than Ford dealers, it is surprising. As Brian stated, of they sell a 5500 cab chassis, then they should service it. And as you noted, having it extended by more Ryde causes another issue. I've done a lot of searching now, and see that there are not many long/extended Ram platforms.

Seems RAM just need service centers dedicated to commercial trucks in more areas (I assumed they did already) due to all the hot shot trucking rigs out there, but in fairness I have not seen any other RAM extended as big as the I5.

 

[Wheelin4Life]

From the little that I know, Ford has actual truck centers throughout the nation. I know they have one in Vegas and can handle f750s. I think that is the confusion out there. Many people think they can bring it to any dealer. I knew that was not the case from previous experience.

But my main issue is that Vegas being a large town that has more Ram dealers than Ford dealers, it is surprising. As Brian stated, of they sell a 5500 cab chassis, then they should service it. And as you noted, having it extended by more Ryde causes another issue. I've done a lot of searching now, and see that there are not many long/extended Ram platforms.

Seems RAM just need service centers dedicated to commercial trucks in more areas (I assumed they did already) due to all the hot shot trucking rigs out there, but in fairness I have not seen any other RAM extended as big as the I5.

Ford has the same problem with F550 and F650/750 platform. The dealers that have shop space big enough to service them are few and far between. However I will say its been easier to find locations to service that than the Ram.

 

[Widebody]

Ford has the same problem with F550 and F650/750 platform. The dealers that have shop space big enough to service them are few and far between. However I will say its been easier to find locations to service that than the Ram.

They also have commercial FORD truck centers (not a regular ford dealer that may or may not have service capability).