Silverado vs. Ram

[NOS2006]

I'm trying to convince my dad to get a Silverado instead of a Ram. When asked what he wants he replied, "4x4 Quad Cab with a Hemi and Towing Group."

So, I'm sitting here and decided to price a Silverado and Ram...

• Both models are 1500-Series.
• Both models are 4x4.
• Ram has a Hemi (345/375); Silverado has a Vortec 5.3 (315/338).
• Ram has five-speed-auto with OD; Silverado has four-speed-auto with OD.
• Ram is priced with a 3.92 rear-end; Silverado is priced with the 3.73.
• Ram isn't priced with ESP; Silverado is priced with Stabilitrak
• Ram has four wheel disc brakes; Silverado has drums in back.
• Ram has ABS for the rear wheels; Silverado has four-wheel ABS (my dad doesn't care though)
• Ram has standard cruise control with its package; Silverado does not.
• Ram is priced with Remote Start; Silverado is not.
• Ram has AM/FM with CD player; Silverado to the best of my knowledge doesn't have it in the 1WT package.
• Ram has 4 speakers; Silverado has six. (Although my dad could care less)
• Silverado has tire pressure monitoring system; Ram doesn't (Again, my dad doesn't care)

Final price for both of them are $31,040 without discount and all that.

Well, looks like the Ram racked up 7 points while the Silverado has 4. However, 3 of the poins that the Silverado got are from stupid things that my dad could care less about. Now, how the hell would I convince him to get a Silverado over a Ram when the Ram has all these benefits?

And, please, don't tell me about how much more smooth the ride is in the Silverado or stupid stuff like that.

[FAPTurbo]

Does your Dad care about rock solid reliability? Does your Dad care about having a vehicle that'll not give up or quit?

My Dad does, and that's why he buys GMC.

[NOS2006]

What if I were to tell you he's only going for a 2-3 year lease? I don't know of any vehicles that have just crapped out in 3 years.

[ocnblu]

*Reliability

*Fuel mileage, Ram has notoriously poor gas mileage

*Manageable size

*Easier ingress/egress, lower step-in

*Rear drum brakes are more economical and have proven more reliable in pickups

Also, are you pricing a Ram Quad Cab (extended cab) to a Silverado Crew Cab? Big difference. The Chevy has a fullsize backseat with 4 fullsize doors, Quad Cab has 2 little doors in back.

Further, which trim level are you pricing out? You mention Silverado 1WT, is your dad looking for a bare-bones truck? What trim level is the Ram you priced?

Edited October 22, 2006 by ocnblu

[Northstar]

If it's lease, why does MSRP matter? Is he going for a Classic Silverado or the new one? He should be able to get some awesome deals on the Classic with the new one coming out.

The F-150 is far better than the Ram if you can't convince him to get a Silverado.

If it's the new Silverado, you can probably get a better deal on the Ram.

If he doesn't care about ABS, why does he care about discs? Wasn't it proven that the Silverado w/rear drums stopped shorter than one with rear discs anyways?

Finally, what does he intend to do with this truck? I'm not sure he would even need the Hemi if its just something for work (or the 5.3 for that matter). The 4.8 is still a good engine, and I'm not sure the 5.3 is worth $600 for just 20hp and 33 lb-ft.

If you go with the 4.8 instead of 5.3, you get the CD player (Silverado also has XM standard I guess?), G80 locking rear differential (see newbie's video of the Ram not being able to go up the same ramp as the Silvy), and cruise control, the total is $30,935. If you drop the Hemi from the Ram it's still cheaper, but then you're left with a POS engine.

Finally, I think he needs to go test drive them and see which one is really better before making a decesion.

[Intrepidation]

Uh...well put that way why get the Sliverado? The new one is great and all, but the Ram has it beat in the important areas your dad is interested in. The Ram is nice truck anyway. The Ram also feels agile for the class and has responsive steering. The Ram also has, from what I've heard, solid build quality. SO why not go for the Ram?

Although I agree with Northstar, he should test drive them both and see which one he likes.

By the way the F-150, while a nice truck, has lesspower and is short a gear compared to the Ram.

Edited October 22, 2006 by Dodgefan

[FAPTurbo]

I don't know of any vehicles that have just crapped out in 3 years.

207330[/snapback]

Our ol' Mercedes S, but that's another story...

Edited October 22, 2006 by Captainbooyah

[NOS2006]

Yeah, I'll just have him and my mom test drive both of them. Oblu did bring up a few good points.

And, yes, he's pretty much looking for bare bones with a good towing capability. And he won't buy a Ford.

[Northstar]

NOS, where did you get the pricing on the Ram? Are you sure you checked everything correctly? An ST 4x4 Quad Cab with the Hemi and nothing else is $32,755. If you add a rear differential (which would be ideal for towing), 3.92 gears, and the trailer tow package (not sure what he's towing, but it might be needed), brings it to $33440. For $32,080, you can get the 5.3, Z85 (trailering suspension), trailering package (note if you don't need this then the Ram's is $335 and the Silvy's $350), G80 locking rear, CD player, and Cruise control on the Silverado, and the Ram still doesn't have and stability control system, which is another $830. So basically, you would be paying about $1400 for a remote starter, which you can pick up at Best Buy for like $200, as well as the Hemi, which really isn't going to be much faster than the 5.3 and it will get about 10MPG.

[NOS2006]

What trim level is the Ram you priced?

207332[/snapback]

Well, that's retarded. I just looked at the Ram again and just for a ST Quad Cab 4x4 w/ a Hemi and it's coming up as $30,340 just to start instead of with any options.. it was cheaper than that earlier. How retarded.

[Northstar]

NOS, where did you get the pricing on the Ram? Are you sure you checked everything correctly? An ST 4x4 Quad Cab with the Hemi and nothing else is $32,755. If you add a rear differential (which would be ideal for towing), 3.92 gears, and the trailer tow package (not sure what he's towing, but it might be needed), brings it to $33440. For $32,080, you can get the 5.3, Z85 (trailering suspension), trailering package (note if you don't need this then the Ram's is $335 and the Silvy's $350), G80 locking rear, CD player, and Cruise control on the Silverado, and the Ram still doesn't have and stability control system, which is another $830. So basically, you would be paying about $1400 for a remote starter, which you can pick up at Best Buy for like $200, as well as the Hemi, which really isn't going to be much faster than the 5.3 and it will get about 10MPG.

[NOS2006]

NOS, where did you get the pricing on the Ram? Are you sure you checked everything correctly? An ST 4x4 Quad Cab with the Hemi and nothing else is $32,755. If you add a rear differential (which would be ideal for towing), 3.92 gears, and the trailer tow package (not sure what he's towing, but it might be needed), brings it to $33440. For $32,080, you can get the 5.3, Z85 (trailering suspension), trailering package (note if you don't need this then the Ram's is $335 and the Silvy's $350), G80 locking rear, CD player, and Cruise control on the Silverado, and the Ram still doesn't have and stability control system, which is another $830. So basically, you would be paying about $1400 for a remote starter, which you can pick up at Best Buy for like $200, as well as the Hemi, which really isn't going to be much  faster than the 5.3 and it will get about 10MPG.

207364[/snapback]

Like I said one post above, I don't know what happened.. but I priced a Ram 1500 ST 4x4 Quad Cab SWB with the Hemi and other options and it came to $31,040. How stupid. I did recheck, before you posted, and that number was off.

[Northstar]

Wow, this host sucks. How did I post twice 3 minutes between each other? I hit "post reply" and it goes to an "internal server error" page, so I figure I lost everything, but rather, it's posted twice? Oh my...

Anyways, back to the trucks.

[Flybrian]

Tell you dad that Ram drivers experience miniturized shrunken nut syndrome, or MSNS.

[GMman]

Tell him I said the Chevrolet is better. Because it dosen't have any of the "german-American" engineering stuff like the Dodge does....

[Intrepidation]

Tell him I said the Chevrolet is better.  Because it dosen't have any of the "german-American" engineering stuff like the Dodge does.... 

207464[/snapback]

Unless I'm mistaken the Ram is all-American in it's engineering.

[FAPTurbo]

Unless I'm mistaken the Ram is all-American in it's engineering.

207477[/snapback]

On Dr. Z's website, it mentions that the Ram's exterior mirrors have a water trough developed by German engineers which is also used on the ML 320.

Which likely means it makes the Ram only a little less sucky.

Edited October 23, 2006 by Captainbooyah

[DetroitNut90]

Dr. Z was also eager to point out that the Germans invented ESP.

Edited October 23, 2006 by DetroitNut90

[Justin Bimmer]

i thought the silverado came with rear discs ever since 99 when they redesigned it..... hummmm

also, when i went thru training from a DCX trainer he told me that so many accidents could be avoided if ESC was standard on all vehicles.... its a MAJOR feature that should trump almost any other saftey feature.

Edited October 23, 2006 by CadillacKing3

[bobo]

i thought the silverado came with rear discs ever since 99 when they redesigned it..... hummmm

also, when i went thru training from a DCX trainer he told me that so many accidents could be avoided if ESC was standard on all vehicles.... its a MAJOR feature that should trump almost any other saftey feature.

207508[/snapback]

The Silverado did have four-wheel discs in '99, but the rears got changed to drums in '05 because of excessive wear and poor feel.

[Intrepidation]

Personally, as long as it's the 07 Silverado you're talking about, either one is a fine choice I think...if it's the pre-`07...get the Ram.

[NOS2006]

Well, last night I researched a little further for a couple hours... And this is what I came up with:

Although the Silverado has a less powerful engine (the 5.3 vs. the Hemi), the Silverado has more towing (10,500) and payload (1629) ability than the comparable Ram's towing (8300) and payload (1210) ability. Furthermore, the Silverado has better gas mileage at 16/20 vs. the Ram's 14/17. Those are two good points that the average customer doesn't see when just looking and saying, "Damn that Hemi is potent.. almost 400 ft/lbs of torque!" This just shows that GM and Chevy have better technology once again...

Then, there is more head and leg room (both front and rear) in the Silverado than the Ram. The bed is about 5" shorter, but it still can handle more payload. The Silverado has more road clearance and is shorter.

However, I can't find any acceleration charts to see which is quicker which I'd really like to. Either way, it'll be worlds quicker than our '05 4.7 Durango.

It really pays to really look into what you're comparing than to just look at the base facts.

*All numbers found at Edmunds.com

Edited October 23, 2006 by NOS2006

[Intrepidation]

Well, last night I researched a little further for a couple hours... And this is what I came up with:

Although the Silverado has a less powerful engine (the 5.3 vs. the Hemi), the Silverado has more towing (10,500) and payload (1629) ability than the comparable Ram's towing (8300) and payload (1210) ability. Furthermore, the Silverado has better gas mileage at 16/20 vs. the Ram's 14/17. Those are two good points that the average customer doesn't see when just looking and saying, "Damn that Hemi is potent.. almost 400 ft/lbs of torque!" This just shows that GM and Chevy have better technology once again...

Then, there is more head and leg room (both front and rear) in the Silverado than the Ram. The bed is about 5" shorter, but it still can handle more payload. The Silverado has more road clearance and is shorter.

However, I can't find any acceleration charts to see which is quicker which I'd really like to. Either way, it'll be worlds quicker than our '05 4.7 Durango.

It really pays to really look into what you're comparing than to just look at the base facts.

*All numbers found at Edmunds.com

207649[/snapback]

I find that pretty impressive that while short a gear, the Silverado gets better estimated gas mileage. I think the towing/hailing capability is quite impressive and may make the difference. Still, I'd advise a test drive of both.

[NOS2006]

I find that pretty impressive that while short a gear, the Silverado gets better estimated gas mileage. I think the towing/hailing capability is quite impressive and may make  the difference. Still, I'd advise a test drive of both.

207653[/snapback]

Oh yeah, that's a definite. After I get out of my next couple classes, I'm going to search inventory around home (there are at least 3 Chevy dealers close to home) for a 4x4 LT 5.3 Crew Cab Silverado and try to see if I can set-up a scheduled test drive (can you even do that? lol) sometime Friday because I'm going home for the weekend. Then, we'll head over to the Dodge dealership who always has a huge assortment of leftover Rams and testdrive a comparable Ram with 4x4, Quad Cab, and a Hemi.

[CARBIZ]

G80 G80 G80 G80 G80 Better build quality (check out how many pieces the bed section is made from in the Dodge, then compare the Chevy.) G80 I am 6'2" and I can't touch the bed floor over the side rails of the Dodge, yet the Chevy has higher road clearance. G80 Did I mention G80?

[BuddyP]

First off the newer 5.7 HEMI dropped it's rating to 330hp, and the comparable GM engine would be the 6.0 (345 hp). The 6.0 package also includes a trans cooler and 9.5" HD rear end. Go with an extended cab and add the 6.0 package and the price should be the same or similar.

My brother-in-law has a 2500 RAM with a 5.7 and aftermarket exhaust, while I know it's more powerful that my 5.3 Avalanche, after driving the "HEMI" it didn't feel any quicker by "seat of the pants". Although I know it would pull a load better.

[NOS2006]

Looking online, even the LTZ (the highest model) is equipped with the 5.3. I don't see an available 6.0 (unless that's maybe the Sierra?)

[Northstar]

You should be able to get the 6.0L on the LTZ, but I don' know if it's really needed. I just searched for it on GMBuypower and couldn't find it though, so maybe it's not available at the start. For some reason you can get a Sierra with the 6L on GMBuypower though. It's a $1700 option; definetly not worth it, IMO.

On a side note, I don't know why anyone would buy a Silverado LTZ when the Denali comes out. The Denali won't be much more, and you get the 6-speed and 6.2L.

[NOS2006]

Alright, so I was just talking to my mom on AIM a little bit ago and sent her some pictures of the Ram and Sierra... one of each from the dashboard, front seats, rear seats, and front end of the trucks. She preferred the Sierra in every picture and pretty much said that the Sierra's interior is badass. Then I started telling her about how the Sierra gets better gas mileage and can tow better than the Ram and she was pretty much sold.. I told her to tell my dad about how great the Sierra is compared to the Ram, and I know she definitely will lol. Sweet!

[FAPTurbo]

Alright, so I was just talking to my mom on AIM a little bit ago and sent her some pictures of the Ram and Sierra... one of each from the dashboard, front seats, rear seats, and front end of the trucks. She preferred the Sierra in every picture and pretty much said that the Sierra's interior is badass. Then I started telling her about how the Sierra gets better gas mileage and can tow better than the Ram and she was pretty much sold.. I told her to tell my dad about how great the Sierra is compared to the Ram, and I know she definitely will lol. Sweet!

208296[/snapback]

If you ever happen to be riding with your Dad in his new Sierra or Silverado, just say,

"i pwn j00"

[NOS2006]

haha No kidding..

This site right here is amazing for helping me:

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/gmc/

[Newbiewar]

just tell him about the Eaton Locking differential...

and the limited slip makes the dodges 30k a waste of money...

take a look at that... and i've got another on the way...

also check out this one...

Edited October 25, 2006 by Newbiewar

[pow]

Tell him Dodge resale value sucks.

[RJNavarrete]

The Chevy looks better.

/discussion.

hehe.

But in all seriousness, I can't stand Dodge or their Ram.

[bTW, isn't dodge ram an oxy-moron? If you dodge something you can't possibly ram it... lol]

[rosserman]

The silveradao can only pull the 10,500 lbs when properly equiped. This means the 6L and the max towing group. With the 5.3l, it has a tow rating much closer to the ram's. The big thing to me is the brakes. the Ram nosedives worse than any other vehicle i have ever driven under heavy braking while the new silverado stops smoothly