6.4l 8 speed towing review

mtofell1 wrote:

kfp673 wrote:

mtofell1 wrote:
It's getting great reviews on the Ram forums. The 8spd tranny sounds like a whole new world compared to the 6spd. Guys are talking about hauling up to 15,000# trailers with no problems. Aside from the terrible 6spd my Ram 2500 is a great truck. The 6.4 Hemi is a beast of an engine that, up to this point, has been somewhat wasted in the HD trucks. The 8spd sounds like a total game changer.

I'm curious what you think is terrible about the 6 speed? I read that often, yet I have no complaints. I have an 18 2500 6.4 4:10 that's a bit over a year old. My travel trailer tows at around 10k lbs and is 37' and I have no complaints about it's towing. Sure it down shifts more than the 2012 diesel I had in the past but overall does a nice job. What is it that you and so many others don't like? Just curious really. I have many years before my next truck so I will have a 6 speed for quite a while, but again just trying to understand the hate for what to me works just fine. Thanks!

The gear ratios were borrowed from the 68rfe which is the tranny paired with the Cummins diesel. So, the ratios were developed/intended for use with a diesel engine that makes its power at lower RPMs. In particular, the 1-2 gap is a country mile. While towing out west here in the hills there is a dead spot around 35-45mph where the tranny can't hold 2nd so it just slams back and forth between 1st and 2nd. When I can get above 45-50 or so even on fairly steep grades the power of the engine can be realized and it's a beast. It's just a problem with the large gap.

My other, albeit smaller, complaint is with the downshifting behavior around 4-3-2. Rather than downshift 4-3-2, it just slams from 4 down to 2. This can be eliminated by just manually shifting which I always do when towing. During daily driving the tranny is also ridiculously slow to downshift. Slow to the point where my RPMs drop to nearly 1000 and the truck feels as though it's going to die.

I've had it looked at by the dealer and they say nothing it wrong. Many other on Ram forums report and complain about all these same issues. If you're towing 10K and don't have these complaints I'm going to guess you're not pulling any major hills?

I guess I've never experienced any of these issues either, towing or empty. It is my daily driver along with towing and hauling. Several years ago I was regularly towing between Sacramento and North/Central Oregon (I5 to 97), and again did not experience those issues in the hills. Makes me wonder what the difference is since there are many that have this complaint.

kfp673 wrote:

mtofell1 wrote:
It's getting great reviews on the Ram forums. The 8spd tranny sounds like a whole new world compared to the 6spd. Guys are talking about hauling up to 15,000# trailers with no problems. Aside from the terrible 6spd my Ram 2500 is a great truck. The 6.4 Hemi is a beast of an engine that, up to this point, has been somewhat wasted in the HD trucks. The 8spd sounds like a total game changer.

I'm curious what you think is terrible about the 6 speed? I read that often, yet I have no complaints. I have an 18 2500 6.4 4:10 that's a bit over a year old. My travel trailer tows at around 10k lbs and is 37' and I have no complaints about it's towing. Sure it down shifts more than the 2012 diesel I had in the past but overall does a nice job. What is it that you and so many others don't like? Just curious really. I have many years before my next truck so I will have a 6 speed for quite a while, but again just trying to understand the hate for what to me works just fine. Thanks!

The gear ratios were borrowed from the 68rfe which is the tranny paired with the Cummins diesel. So, the ratios were developed/intended for use with a diesel engine that makes its power at lower RPMs. In particular, the 1-2 gap is a country mile. While towing out west here in the hills there is a dead spot around 35-45mph where the tranny can't hold 2nd so it just slams back and forth between 1st and 2nd. When I can get above 45-50 or so even on fairly steep grades the power of the engine can be realized and it's a beast. It's just a problem with the large gap.

My other, albeit smaller, complaint is with the downshifting behavior around 4-3-2. Rather than downshift 4-3-2, it just slams from 4 down to 2. This can be eliminated by just manually shifting which I always do when towing. During daily driving the tranny is also ridiculously slow to downshift. Slow to the point where my RPMs drop to nearly 1000 and the truck feels as though it's going to die.

I've had it looked at by the dealer and they say nothing it wrong. Many other on Ram forums report and complain about all these same issues. If you're towing 10K and don't have these complaints I'm going to guess you're not pulling any major hills?

mtofell1 wrote:
It's getting great reviews on the Ram forums. The 8spd tranny sounds like a whole new world compared to the 6spd. Guys are talking about hauling up to 15,000# trailers with no problems. Aside from the terrible 6spd my Ram 2500 is a great truck. The 6.4 Hemi is a beast of an engine that, up to this point, has been somewhat wasted in the HD trucks. The 8spd sounds like a total game changer.

I'm curious what you think is terrible about the 6 speed? I read that often, yet I have no complaints. I have an 18 2500 6.4 4:10 that's a bit over a year old. My travel trailer tows at around 10k lbs and is 37' and I have no complaints about it's towing. Sure it down shifts more than the 2012 diesel I had in the past but overall does a nice job. What is it that you and so many others don't like? Just curious really. I have many years before my next truck so I will have a 6 speed for quite a while, but again just trying to understand the hate for what to me works just fine. Thanks!

VernDiesel wrote:
You are right about the debt. The debt IS increasing out of control and will eventually crush our economy if not brought under control and expansive entitlement programs are allowed to be expanded as many progressives be them dems or reps are working on. Well and presidential hopefuls are hawking for votes from the entitlement benefit seekers.

But Tax cuts have grown our economy so much that net tax revenues are up. Same as happened with JFK & Reagan’s policies. This has been our actual economic experience as opposed to ideologically driven political agenda promotion & theater.

I don’t know about the RV Industry as a whole (it seems up) but both the major RV manufactures we transport for Airstream & Forrest River are up in sales and both are currently building new plants. Though that may partly be due to excessively high taxes in progressive run gov states where snowbirds from WA, OR, CA, NY, NJ etc flee overtaxation and get a 6 month “residence” in conservative run low tax states like AZ & FL. Lol they voted for the free benefits and are now running from the taxation that came from it.

As to boats Fineline that we transport for manufactures of Gladiator ski boats are again up year over year in sales. Fan of you & your posts but makes me question where you are getting your news and or how that news has been crouched or is being presented. As to the 6.4 2500 8 speed short of fuel cost I suspect you will really like it. It’s a solid motor, trans, and many say the optional rear air suspension makes for the best riding 3/4 ton in the market. Though I don’t know what elevation you are talking about towing in & how much that will affect power etc. I know naturally aspirated motors loose power to altitude where as turbo charged motors practically speaking don’t.

Vern, an update. Not good.

https://amp-indystar-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.indystar.com/amp/2021354001?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Fstory%2Fmoney%2F2019%2F08%2F18%2Frecession-elkhart-indiana-rv-recreational-vehicle-shipments-economy%2F2021354001%2F

I stand corrected.

hvac wrote:
Just found out the new numbers from Ford. 475hp.430 ftlb. 10 speed.

6.4l/8spd has real competition in the HD segment.

You got the hp and tq mixed up. 430hp/475tq

hvac wrote:
Just found out the new numbers from Ford. 475hp.430 ftlb. 10 speed.

6.4l/8spd has real competition in the HD segment.

And that flat torque curve starting around 1500rpm's it's already up in the 400ft/lb range...

Just found out the new numbers from Ford. 475hp.430 ftlb. 10 speed.

6.4l/8spd has real competition in the HD segment.

Please keep us updated on your towing results after that crucial break in.

Even with the 6 speed, the 6.4 "could" pull better in an Ike type test, if manually shifted and realizing that it doesn't have the perfect gear ratio to hold any speed in any condition (within reason).
That said, the 8HP is nothing short of impressive and while I don't have many miles on our 6.4/8HP, it's track record is well proven and not just in Dodges.