Need help choosing my first Cummins
 

I need advice on what year should I get if I wanted to buy a ram 3500 (SRW) to tow a 5th wheel that I'm going to purchase, and what year is best if I wanted to modify it?

What modifications do you want to do and what is your budget?

$40,000-$50,000 . I'm not sure what modifications I want to do yet ; but most likely my first modifications would be Beefing up the engine and transmission. Any recommendations?

Id say go with a 5.9 cummins so anything from 1989 to 2007. With your price range you can almost buy a brand new truck. But with the newer common rail systems you just need to pay attention to fuel quality, to avoid scoreing the cp3 and injector nozzles. If you decide you want a newer 2007 up truck, keep in mind that the aftetreatment system, the dpf, and if its a 2010 engine you will have a DPF, SCR, and Def system onboard. DPFs need to be replaced depending on aplications every 250K miles, or less if you start haveing ATD issues. These are non serviceable devices so when they accumulate enough ash or are contaminated by a coolant leak or engine oil they need replaced. The def systems have been reliable on these vehicles but again you must maintain the system by useing quality DEF which has a shelf life of 6-8 months, and changeing the def filter annually. Really the only modifications you need to do are put in a quality air filter and fuel filtering system this will save you many head aches to come. You can go buy tunners or programmers but it has been my experience that many people have a false sense of power lack of understanding what unburned fuel does to a engine. EFI live is a great way to get a clean re flash tune for your truck, and are customized to your vehicle, not a one size fits all.