Was functionaly truckless - now 4th gen again

[tim7139]

Been lurking for a while, and finally signed up to view some pics and attachments.

I have a 1957 Fargo for around 40 years that's become largely ornamental. No clear plans for it.
I've had a 2003 1500 Laramie Quad that was written off due to hail a few years back. Didn't do anything notable to it, bought it used with lifter issues and drove it for a few years.
I've got a 2015 1500 SSV Crew with RamBoxes that's recently been written off due to hail waiting to be picked up. Bought it new, and did a few common mods (heated rebel wheel, 7" cluster, auto dimming mirrors, etc.).
Also have a beater Mercedes 560sel that's overfue for retirement, and a wife mobile taking up room in the driveway.

With my last job I got to drive a fair number of trucks and rental cars. I help out friends with their trucks once in a while. No fab, just mods like seat and radio swaps, running boards, hitches, brakes and wheels.

Probably going to get a 2021 Big Horn level 2 with RamBoxes , even though I find the chrome ugly and I really want the 360 cam which seems very expensive and involved to add later.
For $5k more I could get a Sport level two with tech package and swap the console for a seat in the future, but that is fairly involved.
For $10K more I could get a Limited with all the options I want, but $10k could also buy a used convertible, a used electric, parts for the '57, or food...

 

[tim7139]

Someone who had much better plans for the Fargo than I did has found me, and I've agreed to sell it.
Still not ETA on when the insurance company is collecting the 2015.
Still undecided on the 5th gen being hydra blue or flame red. Played with grill, sidestep, and wheel options.
After having a few people surprised I was not looking for leather seats for cleanup and resale. Reviewed how different trims of 2011 and 2015 have held their value. Thought about how I was looking to upgrade my 2015 seats to leather before coming to appreciate the cloth not getting too cool or too hot much of the time.

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

If you do get the Big Horn, definitely go for the Premium Lighting Group. The LED headlights are vastly superior to the halogen, and for $995, its hard to beat their performance without doing a complete custom housing (that will most likely cost more than $1000). And that's not even counting the LED fog lights you'll get with that group as well.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Maybe a big aluminum tent over it since everything gets hail totalled?

 

[tim7139]

Maybe a big aluminum tent over it since everything gets hail totalled?

Several area dealerships have had good results with protective nets and tents. I don't think I could afford a tent that could stand against tennis ball sized hail hitting at 60 miles an hour, even if it was possible to setup and secure when parked on the street. A few neighbors had vehicles damaged in garages due to flooding, or failures of roofs, windows, and doors.

If I had been parked facing any other direction it probably would been repairable, but the amount of water and debris that got blow in when the back window caused them to treat it as a flood car.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-hailstorm-costly-damage-1.5642317

 

[tim7139]

If you do get the Big Horn, definitely go for the Premium Lighting Group. The LED headlights are vastly superior to the halogen, and for $995, its hard to beat their performance without doing a complete custom housing (that will most likely cost more than $1000). And that's not even counting the LED fog lights you'll get with that group as well.

I keep flip flopping on it. It's not dark till after 9pm, so I have not been able to drive them back to back in the dark. I've been leaning towards skipping and installing after markets in the future based on the IIHS tests showing the low beam LEDs loosing 50 feet of forward visibility over the halogen, and being very disappointed with the LEDs in the wifemobile. Seems too early to tell if one is a clear advantage as a starting point as an upgrade to Laramie adaptive.

2020 Ram 1500 Crew cab pickup

2020 Ram 1500 Crew cab pickup - large pickup

www.iihs.org

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

Everyone that has had both or at least tried both has said the LEDs are superior.
And although the left side of the high beams loses a bit of forward distance according to that test, look at the right side output. LED adds roughly 50 feet to it vs the halogens.

 

[bgmshrm]

biggest hail ive ever seen at my house ? dime size . forget that stuff !!!

 

[tim7139]

Everyone that has had both or at least tried both has said the LEDs are superior.
LED adds roughly 50 feet to it vs the halogens.

I've driven 5th gen RAMs with both a few times and did not see a clear winner, but it was not back to back(months apart). I was a bit disapointed in both. I like to dim the gauges quite low when driving in rural areas, based on forums for the vehicles it seems the others who do that are may be likely to prefer halogen over the LEDs.

The majority of my city and highway travel is with low beams on. The charts show some low beam improvement on the right side, but deterioration on the left, and significant deterioration directly ahead. Unfortunately deer and moose like to pop up from both sides and directly ahead, so Laramie or aftermarket FTW in a few years I guess.

 

[tim7139]

biggest hail ive ever seen at my house ? dime size . forget that stuff !!!

I did speak to my wife about moving, it's nuts. We've had dozens of minor hail events this year too. Before this golf ball was the largest I'd seen.

Could be worse, my niece was walking when the storm hit with no nearby shelter. Her arms were just one solid bruise.

 

[Biga]

I really like the LED lights on my big horn, defiantly the best option box I checked when ordering my truck. That said these trucks come stock pointing nose pointing down which probably affects the forward beam projection.

 

[tim7139]

I chickened out. With no promos, no ETA, and pricing way above Fords it seemed too risky to factory order. I looked at a 2019 Laramie at another dealer and a 2020 ST Classic my dealer had on their lot. Figured I had less to loose with the 4th gen if I trade it in when pricing normalaizes, and I can handle more economic uncertanty with cash in hand vs. value in truck. I may look into keeping the 4th gen for a few years if I can manage a box swap, but for now the hope is to flip it before the summer comes around.