The Hemi is no more. It was a nice enough truck, but I was shocked at how low the tow rating was, 6,400lb. The Hemi was willing but the gearing didn't allow it. The new Mrs. Jeb6294 has talked about wanting to get a camper. A giant take the whole family camping type camper that could be up around 10-12,000lb. Obviously the Dodge wasn't going to cut it.
With 102,000 miles on it, the Dodge felt like it was getting to the point that it was going to start needing some repairs too. The front passenger wheel bearing had to be replaced not to long ago, but it was starting to sound like the driver's side was going south too. The tires were definitely due to be changed too. Right there would've been at least $1,500. The paint right above the rear wheel was starting to bubble up so I hit it with some rust inhibitor but apparently it is common. From what I've heard, it's pretty typical of a lot of Dodges...the engine still runs perfect, but everything else starts to fall apart.
This time I decided to go the other direction and just went ahead and got something that'll tow anything. Including my house. 2011 F350 with the Powerstroke. It was optioned out with most of the stuff I wanted and it had a hair under 80,000 miles on it which is just getting started for a diesel. I was actually rather surprised with their trade-in offer for my truck and I got them down a couple thousand on the Ford...the whole deal ended up taking about 15 minutes. Paperwork took about an hour after that.
The Hemi was fun, but how can you not love 400hp and 800ft-lb of torque?. Once I hit 100,000 miles and the warranty is up I might have to put a new exhaust and a tuner on it and have some real fun.