Power Wagon, need your opinion

[ec_co]

I think people want them 'cause they look cool, who cares how they use it....and are the factory ones "really" built for serious off-roading ?

yes, the Raptor and new TRX (T-Rex) Rebel are both VERY capable off-road beasts ... capable of running a Baja 1000 in factory trim just fine. try that in any other truck and it will fall apart

[Msbaugh440]

Arguably VERY capable Offroad. Full under body armor, disconnecting sway bars, front and rear locking axles, warn 10k winch, and incredible travel with the articulink suspension, etc. incredible truck for off-roading. The biggest problem is that it's huge and very heavy! Approach and departure angles are good but it's too long to hit most Jeep trails. It's very purposely built for an intended purpose and you can put 35s on it stock without any rubbing.

Problem is that it has less towing/payload capacity than most 1/2 ton trucks and you could expect real life gas mileage to be around 10mpg. It also, surprisingly, has a small capacity fuel tank which makes That even worse. A little better on the newer trucks that now have the 8 speed auto, but still not great.

Just my opinion, but buying one for the graphics and status symbol is pretty silly. If you live somewhere where you can take advantage of the features and Offroad capability I would say go for it, it's an extremely capable truck. But if it's solely a pavement queen, it's a pretty useless purchase. This is coming from someone who lives in Utah though and regularly does some pretty extreme off-roading and has seen these trucks in action.

Here's a picture of my brothers when he slid off a slick road towing a heavy trailer and almost went into a canal. That winch sure came in handy! I normally don't care what anyone else does with their money, but laugh when I see someone driving one of these commuting and has never taken it off the pavement. Take it for what it's worth, just a utilitarian opinion that no one needs to listen to. I also despise mall crawlers and lifting vehicles for no reason other than to look cool, so that's probably not a very popular opinion.

[jimynick]

Murray, why not buy a normal 4X4 and then the decals and a set of tires and make your own?! Nobody you drive by will be able to tell and you can use the $20-25k that you'll save for insurance and fuel for your fleet, plus a few judicious upgrades here and there, eh?   

[blown motor]

Murray, why not buy a normal 4X4 and then the decals and a set of tires and make your own?! Nobody you drive by will be able to tell and you can use the $20-25k that you'll save for insurance and fuel for your fleet, plus a few judicious upgrades here and there, eh?   

Spoken like a true Scotsman.   

[jimynick]

Murray, why not buy a normal 4X4 and then the decals and a set of tires and make your own?! Nobody you drive by will be able to tell and you can use the $20-25k that you'll save for insurance and fuel for your fleet, plus a few judicious upgrades here and there, eh?   

Spoken like a true Scotsman.   

Och aye, ye damn ol' bog trotter ye! 

[cuda hunter]

50-70K.  that's a down payment on a rental home that would bring money in. 
Buy a 5 year old used truck for 15K and beat the crap out of it. 

Cool truck though. I have a friend who owns one and uses it in the mountains.  Quite capable. 
heavy, long and expensive are it's only draw backs. 

[anlauto]

.....oh he's got the money....heck...he buys empty oil cans just for fun...


Oops...I have to correct this post....The cans of oil are full, just not intended to be used

[blown motor]

Lol, you're a funny guy Alan.

[anlauto]

Just go buy the truck already Murray, those things are beautiful

[blown motor]

I've decided I don't really need it. I could get another e-body driver for what they're asking but I don't need that either. 

[anlauto]

Life is short

[GrandpaKevin]

I looked at few Power Wagons during my used truck search but just couldn't justify a daily driver gas truck with 4.10 gear so I went with another oil burner.

[dodj]

but I don't need that either. 

Boil life down to what you 'need'...and the list is pretty short.

You're retired, do whatever you 'want' within your means. Don't limit yourself to what you 'need'. 

[Msbaugh440]

Despite my comments above, this man has a point!!

If you don't want to spend the money on a power wagon, but find that you really want/need all the power wagon options you can look into finding a used or new tradesman Ram 2500. You can build a tradesman bear bones Ram these days and pay the extra money to add the power wagon package to it. Last time I was playing around building one it came out to a pretty decent cost savings. You don't get all the fancy comfort and technology features though...

[blown motor]

Oh I hear you. I dribble money away on little things easy enough but when it come to dropping large amounts I get more serious about it. It's a cool looking truck but that's the only part of it that appeals to me. I'm sure I can do better on gas mileage and ride comfort in a truck that will handle everything I need it for and for much less money. Then I can dribble away what I save on little things.