So I am providing a bit of an update on my 3500. So far it has a hair over 13,000km on it. Lots of highway trips and lots of towing, in fact nearly half this mileage is with a trailer. I ran the numbers, hand calculated I am averaging 14.6L/100km. In the last 3 weeks it has put on over 2000km of towing. As well I have used 7.5 gal of DEF.
My old 1500 could barely get 14.6L/100km on the highway, doing the speed limit in ideal conditions. Its unloaded combined average was 17-18L/100km.
So for a heavier, taller truck with over twice the torque I am getting substantially better fuel mileage. Yes this will be offset by some of the maintenance costs such as fuel and CCV filters but I ran the numbers and my oil change costs will be wash with the gasser.
My Sask insurance is only slightly more expensive than my 2011 Ram 1500 was. I think the difference was about 60$ a year and that is taking into account the fact that I added substantial weight onto the 3500's insurance. It is about 100$ per year more than what my old 2006 TB currently is.
My wife and I are still very happy with this purchase and will recommend this truck to anyone in the market for a HD diesel. For those that are looking at an HD gasser, all I can say is this: Once you tow heavy and use the exhaust brake you will be converted. A month ago I had a load of hard core round bales, total weight with hay and trailer was nearing 20,000lb. The exhaust brake scrubbed all my speed on demand and I only needed service brakes while inching up to a controlled intersection. I never felt that amount of control on any trailer on any vehicle I have ever used. I now run the exhaust brake every time I drive my truck.
The Aisin has not skipped a beat either, of course most people report the 68 shifts just fine as well. It has a nice deep 1st gear and requires little throttle to get the heavy loads going. In fact this truck is quite boring while towing.
Fluid temps while unloaded and even loaded are absolutely boring to watch. Coolant and oil temps never exceeded 98 C, trans never exceeded 73 C.
I am still glad I bought the mega cab. The amount of leg room, behind the seat space is enormous. I plan on using this truck now for much more trips/vacations. Its ride is very reasonable for a 1 ton, I have no plans to air the rear tires down to improve the ride at this point.
My only real gripe, which was similar with my previous Ram is the manual shift feature. I like to shift my trucks myself. I prefer the GM and Ford way, which you drop the column shifter down a cog and then you can use the rocker switch for gear selection. The Ram you just have to keep toggling down until you reach your gear and then toggle up to get out of the feature. The display is small and to me seems counter intuitive. Is it a deal killer? Not in the least. Just first world problems. I have not had any of the dead pedal problems either.
Great truck so far and no regrets!