Well, here we are at Post #3 in the continuing series of, “Should we trade our Ram 2500 gas truck for a Chevy 2500 diesel?”
If you missed the beginning, start with my 2024 Ram 2500 6.4 HEMI towing review, then read the gas vs diesel fifth-wheel towing discussion that followed.
At this point, I’m considering applying to Netflix because apparently this has enough drama for a limited series.
After reading through all the comments on the first two posts, I discovered something pretty amazing: quite a few people actually read the question AND answered the question I asked.
You folks are the real MVPs.
Others apparently saw “Ram,” “Chevy,” and “diesel” and immediately decided that whatever question I actually asked was no longer relevant. After dealing with students for more than 20 years, I’ve learned that staying on the intended topic is sometimes treated more like a loose recommendation than a requirement.
To be fair, some of the comments were interesting and made good points.
They just had absolutely nothing to do with my original question.
But today… WE DID A THING.
We traded our 2024 Ram 2500 Big Horn with the 6.4 HEMI gas engine 410 HP, 429 lb-ft of torque and about 36,000 miles for a 2025 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Custom Z71 with the 6.6 Duramax turbo diesel.
The Chevy has 26,300 miles and puts out 470 HP and a whopping 975 lb-ft of torque.
For those keeping score at home, that is 546 MORE lb-ft of torque than the Ram.
That’s not a little bump.
That’s more than DOUBLE the torque.
And before somebody starts comparing horsepower numbers, when you’re dragging a fifth wheel down the highway, torque is the number I care about a whole lot more.
Horsepower gets all the glory because it sounds good in commercials.
Torque does the grunt work.
Torque is what gets roughly 17,000 pounds of truck and camper moving from a stop without the engine sounding like it just received divorce papers.
Torque is what helps when you start climbing a long grade and gravity decides it would really prefer that your camper stay at the bottom of the hill.
Horsepower certainly matters, especially as speed increases, but for towing, that massive low-RPM torque from the Duramax is exactly what I wanted.
Then there’s the other side of the hill.
The Duramax gives us an exhaust brake, which means instead of riding the brakes coming down a long grade and silently negotiating with the laws of physics, I can let the truck help hold everything back.
That alone is something I’m really looking forward to.
Payload was also VERY important.
The Chevy has a door-sticker payload of 3,633 pounds, which gives us a good buffer with our Grand Design Reflection 295RL.
Yes, I know…
“You should have bought a 3500.”
Thank you. I was concerned Facebook might forget to mention that.
I’m also expecting:
“The Power Stroke is better.”
“You should have stayed with Ram.”
“You should have bought a dually.”
“You’ll regret owning a diesel.”
“My uncle’s neighbor’s barber had a Duramax once and the radio quit working.”
And my personal favorite:
“You don’t NEED a diesel.”
Correct.
I don’t NEED a fifth wheel either.
Technically, I could stay home every weekend and stare at the wall. But where’s the fun in that?
Another nice bonus is fuel capacity. The Chevy gives us roughly 5 more gallons of diesel onboard than we had fuel capacity in the Ram. When you’re towing, another 5 gallons isn’t just extra fuel it’s the ability to drive past a truck stop charging ridiculous interstate prices while feeling just a little bit smug about it.
And finally, perhaps the most technically important specification of the entire truck…
IT’S BLACK.
I love a black truck.
Yes, I know black stays clean for approximately 14 minutes after washing it, shows every speck of dust within a three county radius, and apparently attracts pollen simply by existing.
I don’t care.
It looks GOOD.
So now the experiment officially begins.
We’ll get the hitch situation squared away, hook up the 295RL, and see how much difference going from 429 lb-ft of gas-engine torque to 975 lb-ft of Duramax torque really makes.
Something tells me the first big hill is going to answer that question pretty quickly.
Hope to see everyone out on the road or sitting around a campground soon.
If you see the black Chevy 2500 pulling the Reflection 295RL give us a wave.
And if you’re coming over to tell me I should have bought a 3500…
Take a number.
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