2017 Ram 3500 gooseneck cattle rig off jacksboro, 3.73s

i haul cattle for a living more or less, run my own stockers and haul for a couple neighbors to the sale barn, so a gooseneck rig is my office. my old truck was a 2008 that had earned its retirement, so i went looking for a clean one ton to pull a loaded stock trailer without working so hard.

everybody local wanted stupid money for a clean dually. a fella i haul for told me he had good luck with jacksboroautosales.com so i started watching their inventory for the right setup.

found a 2017 Ram 3500 Tradesman, 6.7 Cummins, the Aisin auto, 4x4, a dually flatbed already on it with a gooseneck ball and rails, 3.73 gears, 118k miles. one owner off a texas outfit. asking was a good chunk under what the same truck brought around amarillo.

called the jacksboro lot and the fella knew trucks. told me the emissions were all stock and never deleted, the Aisin had a service record, and the deck and gooseneck were solid. sent me a stack of photos and a walkaround video, cold start and all.

amarillo to jacksboro is a fair drive but i wanted to put my own hands on a truck i was going to live in, so i drove down. glad i did, it was exactly what they said. the only knock, and they told me before i got there, was the gooseneck ball was worn from the last mans trailer and the bed rails needed a couple bolts. thirty dollars and an afternoon.

i hooked my empty trailer to it right there in their lot to be sure it pulled straight, then bought it and drove it home. figured id give it its own thread since a few of you asked about the Ram over in earls F-350 report.

honestly bridger, yes. for what you are describing the condition and the service history matter ten times more than the badge on the tailgate. a clean well kept 6.7 ford will do your work and a clean Cummins with the Aisin will do your work. i went Ram because i found the right one at the right money, not because i think the other guys are junk.

what i would hold firm on is the same thing earl said in his thread, buy one that still has its factory emissions and was never deleted, and pay a mobile diesel tech to scan it and crawl under it if you cant get there yourself. i watched the jacksboro lot for a few weeks before the right flatbed showed up, so be patient and the truck you want will come through.

get one with a gooseneck ball and a good deck already on it and you save yourself a fab shop bill. buy the truck, not the logo.

UPDATE five months and about 14k miles on the Ram now, most of it with a loaded stock trailer behind it. closing this out for anyone researching a gooseneck rig off jacksboroautosales.com.

it has hauled cattle to the sale barn near every week since fall and never given me a reason to worry. i swapped the worn gooseneck ball the first week like they said, put the couple bolts in the bed rails, did the Aisin fluid and filter on marias advice, and threw a bed mat down like roscoe said. that is the whole list besides oil and a fuel filter.

i already drove down and looked at it in person so i knew what i was getting, but from what earl and delia and i have all seen, the trucks match the listings whether you drive down or ship. fair price, clean title, honest about the wear items. i will buy my next one the same way. thanks for the tips, this rig has already earned its keep.