How heavy are you towing with your Ram 6.4

I have a 6.4 with the 4.10s. My 5vr is about 12k loaded. It pulls it ok. Longest trip was from Ohio to Florida. I spent more time in 2nd gear in the mountains in WV than I would have liked, but it handled it, even if it only got 7mpg.
I am currently torn between keeping it and going back to a diesel. My last diesel was an 03 Ram with a manual transmission.

I have a part-time job driving charter buses. Last year, I was driving a bus down I-64 and merged just in front of a shiny Black Ram 2500 pulling a mid-sized 5th wheel RV. Our buses are governored for 72 mph and that Ram stayed right behind me uphill and downhill. I was thinking about what a good job that Cummins was doing. I slowed down for a construction zone and he finally passed me. I was quite surprised to see "Hemi" on the front fender. I was rather impressed, too!

CampingN.C. wrote:
With the CTD being an $8,000 option you could sure regear for much less. I would love to hear a report from someone with a 6.4 and 4.30 running gears.

On the build sheets it's only it's only a $6900 upcharge to go from the 6.4 to the Cummins ($1400 for the 6.4 vs $8300 for the CTD). From what I found when I was shopping them, the real world difference is less than that because there's a little more room to discount the Cummins. Current pricing on comparable trucks at Dennis Dillon (where I bought last year) shows about a $5k premium for the Cummins over the 6.4.

I don't know what a re-gear costs, but obviously it would further eat into that $5k difference.

With the CTD being an $8,000 option you could sure regear for much less. I would love to hear a report from someone with a 6.4 and 4.30 running gears.

Yep, the 1-2 gap can seem like a mile when I pull up a curvy mountain road. With my 3.73 gears I see the shift at around 25-30 during heavy pulls. Even higher if I really push it. I usually just live with it and stick to 25 rather than just letting it go back and forth. Keep mind this is a super curvy steep road. Just everyday uphill trying to get up to speed is no problem.

2nd gear is a great puller for highways/freeways. I can't remember exactly but I think I'm at around 4,000RPM @ 55-60mph. So, I can pretty much maintain a nice highway speed and even pass slower trucks heading up some pretty good hills.

The 4.10s would have been better but are hard to find. I'd imagine the 1-2 shift would be closer to 25 and the 2-3 closer to 50.

I've been hauling an 8500# loaded TT but just bought a 5th wheel. It's 9K dry so I'm thinking about 10,500-11,000# all loaded up. Puts me pretty close to the truck's max numbers (payload and total towing). Haven't picked it up yet but I will report here after I've got a few miles under my belt. At some point I may end up with a Cummins or I'm even entertaining the idea of a gear swap. I may look into skipping the 4.10s and going right to 4.30 or whatever the next step up is.

There is a big difference in ratios between first and second gear. Given the right terrain and load, it may hunt between these gears with no middle available.

66RFE Ratios:
1st 3.231:1
2nd 1.837:1
3rd 1.410:1
4th 1.000:1
5th 0.816:1
6th 0.625:1
Reverse 4.444:1

CampingN.C. wrote:
I also think you'll be OK with the 6.4. I was very close to buying one myself. Currently I'm only towing around 9K so yes the diesel is an overkill for me, but of course we're already looking at 5ers.
There was a long time poster on here that did many good write ups on the 6.4 as well as some videos. Here's one
Search the forums for ib516.
Also try using Google for threads on here. Example, type in (6.4 Hemi RV.NET) in the Google search bar.

I did read one post where it sound like the vehicle shifted from high RPM's to low RPMs where the truck would lug. I was a bit confused on how this could happen. My X only has a 4 speed and I have never had an issue. I would have thought a 6 speed would have less of a drop in RPM's

I tow around 8500 lbs, but have been as heavy as 18.5k -19k combined climbing through the mountain passes of California and Oregon and easily maintained 55 in 3rd. I live at 4000' and have to climb whenever I go anywhere. I have no problems or regrets.

I also think you'll be OK with the 6.4. I was very close to buying one myself. Currently I'm only towing around 9K so yes the diesel is an overkill for me, but of course we're already looking at 5ers.
There was a long time poster on here that did many good write ups on the 6.4 as well as some videos. Here's one
Search the forums for ib516.
Also try using Google for threads on here. Example, type in (6.4 Hemi RV.NET) in the Google search bar.

I think you will be happy with the 6.4 until you hit thinner air at elevation - That is where I find my diesel really does well. I was strongly considering replacing my previous diesel with a current gasser if it wasn't for all the climbs I do on most trips.

Read up on the ratio gap in the automatic transmission. You do not get another choice with the 6.4 unless you go to the chassis cab, so this is something you need to test drive and see if it works for you.