I need some advice / opinions. This is my daily driver, upgrading my 2016 Rebel which has the air suspension. Have 2 candidate 2019 Rebels, almost identical.
Local option: All the options without the 12A (so vinyl / cloth seats), no sunroof, no 33-gallon tank. With the air suspension.
4-Hour away option: All the options with the 12A (so leather seats), has everything else (sunroof, 33-gallon tank, etc) except NO air suspension, but comes with tubular side steps.
Basically same prices.
Looking to keep for a long time. I like the air suspension for getting young kids in and out of car seats and it being the daily driver. I am leery about future maintenance to the air suspension.
What would you guys get? How much am I going to miss it from my 2016? How worried should I be about it breaking and costing $$$ in repairs?
I had a Generation 1 Rebel.
Fell in love with fullsize trucks, with the Ram brand, with the rebel look.
Here it is in the dealer lot, as I was ordering the 2nd Gen rebel, 2019 5th Gen Ram.
I was wary of the air suspension in the long term. I was. I never got over it, there wasn't a "magic bullet" fix for the issues guys in the COLD-cold climates were having. It did not let me down, but the air suspension did get very slow/had issues in cold snaps/snow at times. I didn't want to take a chance. The doorsticker on my truck was under 1000lbs payload. It may or may not have leveled 100% perfectly with an undisclosed amount over that! Was very pleased with how the air suspension worked, when working, but I wasn't willing to bet a lot of money it would work perfectly forever. I have the same rationale about Ford's ecoboost family, but that's another discussion.
I went to the 5th gen without air suspension. Ride quality wise? I don't miss it. If you blind folded me and somehow tricked me into not noticing the 4th and 5th gen interior differences, I might have a hard time picking out which was which. The 5th gen has less body roll, I would rate it as better overall, but I LOVED the ride of the 4th gen. Very good ride.
I haven't gotten much of a chance to payload test it, but as I'm going to springs, I expect it will NOT look as level when it has an equivalent load. That's what was special about the air suspension in the first place.
The 5th gen suspension is supposedly be progressive rate I believe - meaning it's soft at the top, and as you start loading it up it gets firmer.
You can also see the reservoirs. It's a well thought out system.
Would I get anything other than a 33gal gas tank?
No. But that's just me. I drive it like a younger guy, in a mostly non-highway environment, and on the highway - it's an excuse to hear the magnaflow in a speed limit legal way!
Do I miss being able to lower it? Only for parking garages. I've found the step rails are more than fine. Ye,s being able to lower it was a perk, but it's not been a deal-breaker.
The payload increase was dramatic. About +450lbs worth. That means more room for people and cargo when towing, as well as mods if you want to go that route, all while staying safely within the doorsticker numbers.
It retained the 5.7 Hemi loved and trusted, and the 8speed ZF transmission. IMHO the transmission shift points are better on this generation.
I had a little bit of a hard downshift situation on the last one, coming down to 3rd gear when decelerating. This truck does not do that.
Oh, and the small overlap crash testing on the 5th gen is very good, as is the roof strength supposedly. I would trust it more in a collision.
I loved the 4th gen truck for a bunch of reasons. Once upon a time I might have been considered a Ford guy, this one brought me to Ram, I've never considered going back. But I do think the 5th gen is a better buy. Features wise, construction wise, longevity wise.
I believe they put the aluminum over the wheel wells, where rusting out happens to every makers trucks. Very smart placement
