More questions if anybody can help, I would like to know how the factory Navigation is. Is it worth it from the dealer, or am I better off buying one of those aftermarket diesel tuning kits that also has a navigation unit in it. I saw one on the "Trucks" show on t.v. and it looked like a good unit for both aftermarket performance and navigation use. Also as far as the questions on the ride quality, has anybody put in aftermarket shocks to soften up the ride a bit. I appreciate the help guys, its getting closer and closer to buy time, and I just want to get the best deal for my money. I just turned 30, and this will be my first brand new vehicle Im buying, so I wanna equip it right, I plan on having it for a while!! Thanks again

 

I put Bilstein 5100's on my truck and they did improve the ride quality a bit, but I would still consider it harsh on concrete freeways. The navigation option through Dodge is $1750. You can pick up the "RB1" nav/radio on ebay for about $700-$800 brand new. You might be able to sell your stock system there for a couple of hundred bucks as well. I dont have the nav, so I can't comment on that. Good luck with your purchase.

 

"tschwab" You mentioned to contact tommygun for an excellent price. I was just wondering, an excellent price on what are we talking about, lol

"Mike67rs" Thanks for the info on the 5100's, good to know you had a positive experiance with smoothing the ride with a shock change. I'll def. look into them. Just wondering, in your profile, says "4 bad ball joints" whats that about if you dont mind?

All the info Ive gotten so far, looks like Im gonna get some aftermarket shocks, and prob get a tire thats around the 305 size, and it would be nice to try and get something with a little wider footprint that would fit on the stock suspension with no problems.


I really appreciate the help with the ride quality from all of you's. The subject is important to me with my problems, and you all have been very helpfull!!

 

I just jumped out of a 2002 C3500 Silvarado Dually and bought a 2005 Ram 3500 Duallie...

So I guess I am somewhat qualfied to give you my opinion for whatever it's worth...

The GM 3500 Series had a much better seat in my view, with a larger cushion area and not as tight or contoured with support in all the right places for a long trip. ( I travel over 20,000 miles a year across the country with a race car trailer) This is not to say that the GM rode that nice however. The Chevy 3500 bucked like a horse on rough terrain when it was unladen and I thought that it was something I had to live with for a 1 ton truck. With a 1500lbs load of a 5th wheel trailer or equipments, it behaved really nice though... and felt like a sedan at that point.

Now the Dodge Ram 3500 (1 ton) has a much better damped ride when unloaded and I can definately say that overall is a more comfortable truck chassis. However, it probably has a softer suspension setup and probabaly needs air-bag or added leaf spring assist if you are thinking of heavy loads. Which is only a few hundered dollar addition if you need that carrying capacity and not have the truck sag in the back... Air Lift and Firestone makes great aftermarket air bag systems for less than $500 installed.

One complaint then for the Dodge is that seats seem much stiffer and are dimensionally smaller. I'm a 130 lbs guy and I fit fine in the Dodge seats but I am sure that a lot of larger people would wish for a larger cushion... both seatback and lower bench.

In summary, I would go sit in a Dodge truck for 10 minutes at the dealer and if your back seems OK with the seats, I would highly recommend the Dodge. It's quiet and thoughtful cabin is intuitive, rides like a car, and MSRP is thousands cheaper than similar truck from Ford or GM after rebates. (at least in Southern California where I live). The Dodge definately rides better over bad pavement and handles like a car with rack and pinion steering.

Only other complaint with Dodge is it does not offer a FULL SIZE Crew Cab... The Quad Cab is still a bit short on space for people back there on long trips. For that, I miss the Chevrolet which basically had a living room in the back!

Dodge vs. GM... even point tie and it really depends on what you value in a truck...

 

Warning and Advice... (though this mistake was ultimately my fault...)

The factory option (pre-installed) on the 2005 Ram, I was excited to get a satellite GPS Navigation on the radio. My new 2 week old truck the supplied RB4 radio's GPS worked fine. The complaint though, is that in all the photos of the catalog, shows a dealer installed RB1 radio which is vastly different than the factory RB4.

So what's the difference?

First of all the RB4 (that is on my truck) costs $765 from the factory and it cannot display a map view. It simply has a directional arrow and list of streets. It does what it’s supposed to, which is navigating you with arrows, turn by turn... But without a map view, you don't exactly know where you are in the city...when you simply get lost and don't necessarily have a specific destination. For it to guide anywhere, you must have a specific destination programmed... It's CD based and not much information is on it as far as local services are concerned.

The (RB1 $1700 dealer option) has a map view that places a point marker on a map that moves across the screen. It acts much more like a true navigation systems of aftermarket Automotive AV systems and those on PC's. With a real map view, you can choose your intersections, see dead end roads, and find all gas stations or other services without having to sift through menus or having to program the destinations each time. DVD based and as such it should be pretty helpful with loads of seach and local services listings... I would probabaly have bought this RB1 unit at the dealer if I knew the difference!!!

What did I do?

I just happened to have Pioneer AVIC505 navigation (aftermarket) that I pulled out of my old truck so I simply removed the factory navigation radio for the nice Pioneer one that has a real map on a 7 inch screen, and as bonus can play DVD and host of other AV features that can be added optionally.

For $1800 MSRP the new Pioneer, Alpine, Eclipse and (or other) automotive aftermarket AV/ NAV systems are much better money spent than Chrysler OEM one for either $1700 or $760... One can find an older model Pioneer AVIC series navigation for less than $1000 complete on Ebay or local used stereo stores...

Oh and I do not personally like to do it PC laptop method because it is bulky, takes time to fire up each time, and you can't safely type while driving... PC's are for desktops or laptops... and not dash tops...

A nice navigation is REALLY helpful because I tow a 42' trailer and turning into a dead end street can simply become a 2 man job to back out! Plus it can find all the gas stations on the freeways so that I can plan and budget my time easier on cross-country jaunts into uncharted territory.

BTW: Chrysler should properly inform the fact that Dealer installed systems and factory installed navigation systems are VERY different!!!! I would not have bought the $765 option if I knew it was useless to me!!

Anyone want to buy my factory RB4 radio with nav?