Luke S

A pick up box is not simply a bolt on deal for a cab & chassis. Like the previous poster said the C&C has a 34" wide flat frame, the pick-up has about a 42" wide frame and has many dips and humps. The C&C has a 60" cab to axle the pick-up has a 56" cab to axle. The C&C has a narrower rear axle that the pick-up also. These dimensions are not just common to Dodge, GM and Ford do it the same way. Cab & chassis are not designed to be pick-ups, that is not the point of them. There are companies that specialize in making beds to fit the dimensions of the bigger cab& chassis, like the Ford F450 and F550 and the GM 4500/5500, I am sure they will do the same for Dodge.

Luke S

The 4500/5500 will come out with standard with 19.5" wheels and tires. The 4500/5500 will share a lot of parts with the 3500 C&C, but the frame, axles, suspension, and brakes will all be heavier. I don't think you'll see mcuh change is gauges over the 3500 C&C because remeber, most of the guys who are gonna be driving these trucks are hired employee's who have no idea what those gauges mean anyhow. And as far as the looks, the cab is gonna be pretty much identical to the current Ram pick-ups and the 3500 C&C.

RustyJC

From all appearances, I can walk into a Ford dealer and buy an F-450 pickup. Not many RVers with large, heavy 5th wheels are going to build their own truck - they will fork over their money to the local Ford dealer who can offer them a 26K GCWR/13K GVWR solution sitting right on the showroom floor.

Rusty

Luke S

With all do respect, good luck with that. Do you really want to walk into a Ford store and buy their clapped together 6.4L? Most of the 450 Fords you see all ready running around witht he pick-up conversion are running air ride suspension, because they will shake you teeth out without it, and they are selling for $60,000+ on the lots. I doubt you'll be able to touch a new factory made F450 pick-up for under 50 large, and it'll still ride like crap. Medium duty trucks don't make for good daily drivers, even with air ride rear suspension which cost a ton of money to add. I know you guys think Dodge is crazy, but I am telling you it is not a big piece of the market. I'd say at least 90% of the people considering these trucks are going to use them for dump bodies, service bodies, flatbeds, hauler beds, bale beds and other commercial purposes, not personal use. Ford always wants to have a dog in every fight, but they still lose their backside financially. I am considering buying a couple of them. But we will use them for business. They'll be 5500 reg cab, 4x2, automatics with 84" cab to axles with skirted flatbeds used to pull 53' low profile car trailers.

Luke S

And also, we plan on having many of these trucks set up all ready so the customer can walk in and buy it with a custom hauler bed all ready installed so they can go to pulling the same day.

RustyJC

Luke, step back and take a deep breath. I'm taking a 30,000 foot view of the marketplace - I never said that's what I was going to do, just what a lot (most?) RVers who need a truck of that capacity would do. They're going to take the path of least resistance and buy a factory-built truck that will meet their needs. The fact that Ford offers a crew cab, long bed F450 pickup with the TowBoss package just means that they have recognized this market and built a vehicle for it - Dodge hasn't.

Rusty

RustyJC

I'll take mine with the B&W Elite-series bed, thanks.

Rusty

jaysyl

GOOD POST.

ptgarcia

It's a niche market. I don't expect to see the F-450 pickup available for more than a handful of years.

RustyJC

A pretty big niche. Take a look at the RVing statistics - especially the number of new RVers who are typically under 50 years old with families and buying large toyhaulers.
With all respect, that sounds like a brand loyalist "whistling past the graveyard". I think sales results will determine that.

Rusty

Luke S

I just don't think it is going to be a very big market. They cost 50 large or more, they are gonna ride like you know what, and need to have a $6000 air suspension put under them, and it will still have a crappy engine. I think the people who can spend 50-60 big ones will just step up to a sportchassis and drop 80-100 grand and have a real truck with 22.5 rubber and a big Cummins or Cat and an Allison 3000 tranny with air ride.

RustyJC

If I were a betting man, I'd take a piece of that action. As a moderator on an RV forum, I know for a fact that a lot of people have been waiting for a product like this. I guess all we can do is to look at the sales statistics a year from now and see what the market does.

And, in many cases, Momma don't wanna drive a MDT or HDT to go shopping.

Rusty

D.Wiggs

And now that they have been out for awhile, they can pick up a 1 or 2 year old one for $60-70k.

RustyJC

Google me up a 1 year old FL-70 Sportchassis crew cab with full air ride, leather, etc. for $60K.

Rusty

ptgarcia

[quote=RustyJC;1329779]A pretty big niche. Take a look at the RVing statistics - especially the number of new RVers who are typically under 50 years old with families and buying large toyhaulers.

And how many people is that? And how many of those will want/need an F-450? Sure, they all say they want one, but how many will actually buy one? Remember, unless they buy a new one off the showroom floor it doesn't benefit Ford any.

I'm not brand loyal to anything. This is my first Dodge and may be my last, I don't know. But at the time of purchase it was the truck that best fit my needs, better than the F-350 or the Chevy (which I don't like anyway).