[HBarlow]

I had reason to hook up and move my 5er a few yards forward from grass and deep ruts onto my backyard pad yesterday. I was pleased to observe two things.

One, the rear end of the cab and chassis only squats 2" under the 3500# king pin weight of my fiver. My previous '06 3500 DRW squatted 4" - 5" and I had to have the rear springs rearched eventually due to permanent sag, even with Timbrens installed.

Two, the Aisin 6 speed allowed the truck to pull the heavy 5er out of deep ruts in soft ground and up over the edge of the concrete pad as easily as if I had started the load on level concrete.

The two observations above were the reasons I bought a cab and chassis instead of another dually.

IMHO the rear springs of Gen III duallies are simply too soft to carry their rated weight. If I drove over one of the common interstate highway dips when loaded mine would bottom out then rebound violently. Not a comfortable feeling.

The primary reason I decided to buy a new Ram, pickup or c&c, was I grew tired of the lousy old MOPAR 48RE grunting and groaning and producing driveline vibration when starting the load rolling when loaded to GCWR. Even with a full DTT upgrade it would heat the transmission fluid when backing up a slight driveway ramp to park the trailer. I studied klenger's spreadsheet and decided I liked the gearing of the Aisin a little better for my application.

I'm looking forward to my first real tow with the new truck.