It totally feels ( as well as sounds ) like driving a manual trans in 5th gear at about 20mph. Mine would come on all the time and just gives the truck a sluggish feeling and it affects reaction times for the engine to downshift since it needs to reengage all cylinders first. You can notice it big time with the 3.92 gears. And agreed, disabled it with tuner and using the custom trans schedule to even make the shift points more aggressive as well as it just holds a gear a bit longer during casual driving. Suites my driving style much better !

 

I havent made a choice yet but the new rams I tried out still bring back bad memories so it looks like im going to pass on them this go around. As for the challenger out of 35 R/T's in the area none are standard the 6 speeds they get sale out almost immediately (hmm wonder why) and 3 of the 4 srt 8's that are in the area within the 100 miles of me all have so much junk added to them they bring the price up to about 50,000 for that money I could buy an RT and put a supercharged crate in it so that dream is dead as well.

As for the eco boost I did some research and it looks pretty good. if yall wanna see more on it look up ecoboost torture test on you tube and it will answer your towing concerns cause it out tows a dodge hemi hauling the same 9,500 trailer.

 

Get whichever one you want more. Personally I think a lot of your issues with your 09 could be attributed it to being a first year production of the 4th gen. I always wait to buy 2nd or 3rd year production vehicles because that's when they start to work out a lot of the bugs. If you want a truck get a truck. You don't have to be towing to drive a truck. I prefer the way trucks drive and handle and I constantly have the ability to do work and move things when need be. If I need to haul a trailer I have my truck. They are good all around vehicles that serve a purpose other than just simply getting your from point a to point b.

Obviously if you are just looking to haul ***** then the Chally is your best bet. It's ultimately up to you though. You're the one paying for it. Get what you want, and what you are going to enjoy. Don't make the mistake of buying something because of opinions. Go with your gut instinct and make sure your purchase is the one that makes you happy because you're going to be the one behind the wheel having to make the payments.

Oh and before we go getting all lovey about the Ecoboost please understand those "Torture Test" videos are made by Ford. They are nothing but propaganda to make Ford look better. Basing your decision on manufacturer videos is a bad idea. Get out and test drive one to determine what you like for yourself first.

 

I just talked to an old coworker who just got into an ecoboost in 2009, He likes it for the most part but he misses his chevy vortec. Apparently the truck is nice at cruising speeds, but he pulled his 25ft holiday trailer and he says he would not do it again. It has no pickup on the line, once your up at cruising speeds he says it works good. Hes upset of the fact that the motor has to get really high up there in RPMS before it starts providing REAL power. I guess there are no redlines on this motor too??? Hes nearing the 150K mark and he says hes got turbo whine, and he figures hes probably going to have to put a new one in by 200K. Bottom line he still wishes that he went back with a V8, He says he would not sacrifice the needed power for 6MPG again. He says he did not get anywhere near the 30MPG mark, he was getting 27 at best. He says he was getting 22 in his vortec.

 

Im not trying to pull anyone away from any motor, but I just hate the fact that soo many people are sucked in by this propaganda that companies are putting out. Without as you say getting in one and driving it for a little bit, or even looking at facts (none of this test drive stuff, or "New best truck" awards because you know FORD, GM, Dodge all has some kind of money in that) But by the people who have driven the truck! I just think its all a way for these companies to earn more money. Seen too many people like this buddy now who were sucked in, and now has to come up with payments to a vehicle that he does not enjoy as much. Just don't want to see that happen to other guys, especially dodge guys getting sucked in!

 

I tried going back to a car after having a truck for a DD for about 10 years. The car lasted a year and I was back in a truck. The only thing I would dump the truck for would be a Wrangler.

 

I wouldn't ditch either of those if I had them, especially the SRT. LOVE those!

 

I could live without a truck if I had a full size van or something of the like but nothing beats having a bed. I had an 81 E150 Conversion Van back in High School (POS Ford) and when the brakes went out causing an accident I ended up in a 1990 Lebaron GT for a few months in college. Drove me nuts not having something big enough to haul stuff around when needed. Even when I had the van I had an urge to get another truck because the beds are so damned useful.

As for the ecoboost discussion I'm not sold on it to say the least. I have a coworker who drives an 11' F150 with the new 5.0. He went out with the intent to buy an Ecoboost but after test driving both decided to go with the 5.0. He said when he was driving the Ecoboost it didn't feel like he was driving a truck. My main issue with the Ecoboost is the problems that could go wrong with it down the road. I can't imagine it would be cheap to replace a turbo if something went wrong. I would rather have the simplicity of the V8 by itself even if the Ecoboost has a bit better MPGs.

 

i had a challenger in the seventies. got it cheap when i was 17. first car and i loved it. i still think it was, as are the new ones, the best looking car ever made. long story short, my father drove it one morning, was enjoying the power, he commuted to work in a vw bug, and came to a quick stop and all these empty beer cans came rolling out from under the seat and that was it, he sold it and took my liscense for the rest of the summer. then i ended up with a beat up el camino. the point of this story is once you are use to the versatility of a truck, you won't be happy with anything else. i found this out with in 1990 to 1991, less than 11 months when i bought a gmc jimmy. nice suv, but not a truck. i have been driving p/u's since.
i would get my truck fixed if i were you, cheaper than trading in. for you to be bending stuff, steering knuckle and or frame stuff tells me you might be doing some rough driving and the challenger will die a quick death. unless you can find a clean used heavy duty ram with the 5.9 diesel, you should go with the 2500 hemi. the 6.7 cummins are not the care free engines the diesels used to be. tks to the epa. as for other brands, "roll the dice and take your chances".