Bought a 2019 Ram 2500 Cummins off lucas-motors.com

38 grand even, out the door before shipping, for a 2019 ram 2500 big horn 6.7 cummins, crew cab, 4x4, 3.73 gears, 49k miles, one owner. i had been watching the local lots for a year and the cheapest comparable with that many miles and that clean was closer to 46. i told everyone i was shopping i would know the right truck by the price and the paperwork, and this was it, so i bought it online off lucas-motors.com to replace our tired half ton tow rig.

we pull a 15,800 lb fifth wheel about six months out of the year, so this was not a toy purchase, the numbers had to work. the listing had the door sticker photographed so i could confirm the payload and the gcwr instead of guessing, which is the whole ballgame when you tow a fiver and have to live inside the pin weight. 3.73s and the 2500 was the right balance for us, we did not need the 3500 ride for how we load.

before i bid i pulled the carfax myself, clean, one owner, dealer serviced. then i had lucas motors arrange a PPI at an independent diesel shop in the truck's city. i asked them to check the usual cummins stuff, the CP4 pump condition since 2019 is when ram went to the CP4, fuel for any metal, the injectors and balance, the turbo, and whether anybody had deleted or tuned it. it came back clean and stock, which is what i wanted, no delete to undo.

the PPI did flag two things, a steering gearbox with a touch of play that is common on these and a rear wiring plug the previous owner had hacked in for a brake controller and left ugly. lucas took a little off to cover the steering box and i cleaned up the wiring myself in an afternoon. won it at my number, shipped from where it sat, clean title in about ten days.

posting a real tow report below for anyone deciding between a 2500 and a 3500 for a fifth wheel.

you get comfortable by having a diesel shop actually look at the pump and the fuel before you bid, not by avoiding a whole model year because of forum fear. here is what i did and it is not complicated.

i told the inspector the CP4 was my number one concern and to pull a fuel sample and look for any glitter or metal, check the fuel filter for debris, and read the fuel system pressures on a scan. a failing CP4 almost always leaves evidence in the fuel before it lets go, and a clean sample with good pressures on a 49k mile truck is about as reassuring as you get. mine came back clean. a lot of owners on these also add a disaster prevention kit or an auxiliary lift pump, which i am budgeting to do this winter for peace of mind, Rosa can speak to that better than me.

the point is the pump being out of sight is exactly why you pay a diesel specialist 300 dollars to put eyes on it. that is true whether you buy it online or off a lot down the street, the difference is on a lot they often wont let you yank a sample and lucas arranged the whole inspection for me no problem. do not let the internet talk you out of a good truck, let a mechanic tell you if this specific one is good.

UPDATE promised a tow report after a full season, so here it is. we put about 9k miles on the ram pulling the 15,800 lb fifth wheel from illinois down to the gulf and back and out to the black hills, a lot of it into wind and over real grades.

the 2500 was the right call for us, zero regret not chasing a 3500. loaded and level on the airbags it tows rock steady, the exhaust brake holds our speed coming down the long grades so im not cooking the brakes, and i never once felt like i was out of truck. we averaged right around 11 mpg towing in the hills and closer to 13 on the flats at 62, which beats what our old gas truck did empty. did the CP4 disaster prevention kit Rosa mentioned over the winter and added a lift pump, cheap insurance and an easy afternoon.

only thing it has needed is the steering box the PPI called out, which i had done under 400 and it tightened right up, plus routine oil and fuel filters. for a truck i paid 38 for that has carried our home down the road all season, i would buy from lucas-motors.com again in a heartbeat. kyle if you are still deciding, get the PPI and go. the yellow sticker and a fuel sample tell you everything the badge wont.