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krsmitty's avatar
krsmitty
Explorer
Jul 08, 2016

Ram 1500 with 3.0 diesel

Continuing my research for a possible new(er) TV.

Anyone own/towing with the Ram 1500 with the 3.0 diesel? Might be to small for my towing needs, but something to think about.

Thanks,
Tow Vehicles

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  • hvac's avatar
    hvac
    Explorer
    Jul 13, 2016
    Turtle n Peeps wrote:
    jerem0621 wrote:
    Quick question for the ecodiesel folks, I once pulled a 7000 pound travel trailer with my 1997 Ford F150, If I recall correctly little truck had 225-235 hp and 335 pound feet of torque. We're going to visit Cumberland State Park in Tennessee and there was a very sharp grade leading up to the park. I hit the incline doing about 55 mph, I knew where the torque 5.4 L V8 was made, and I tried to keep that RPM as best as I could. By the top of the grade and it was spinning at about 5,000 RPMs, never a problem, but the speed dropped to 30-35 mph by the top of the grade. I had a 3.55 rear axle ratio.

    Given the same conditions...would the EcoDiesel with just a few more HP have been able to maintain a higher speed? Or would it have been about the same?

    Thanks!

    Jeremiah


    My last truck was a 08 5.4.She was rock solid reliable but a screamer on long grades.

    This truck with a 3.93 dif and 8speed just settles down in any challenging situation with no drama. Wife says it best. It never sounds like we are hurting it. Speaks volumes





    The ED would have maintained a lot higher speed.
  • Turtle_n_Peeps's avatar
    Turtle_n_Peeps
    Explorer
    Jul 13, 2016
    jerem0621 wrote:
    Quick question for the ecodiesel folks, I once pulled a 7000 pound travel trailer with my 1997 Ford F150, If I recall correctly little truck had 225-235 hp and 335 pound feet of torque. We're going to visit Cumberland State Park in Tennessee and there was a very sharp grade leading up to the park. I hit the incline doing about 55 mph, I knew where the torque 5.4 L V8 was made, and I tried to keep that RPM as best as I could. By the top of the grade and it was spinning at about 5,000 RPMs, never a problem, but the speed dropped to 30-35 mph by the top of the grade. I had a 3.55 rear axle ratio.

    Given the same conditions...would the EcoDiesel with just a few more HP have been able to maintain a higher speed? Or would it have been about the same?

    Thanks!

    Jeremiah


    The ED would have maintained a lot higher speed.
  • jerem0621's avatar
    jerem0621
    Explorer II
    Jul 13, 2016
    Quick question for the ecodiesel folks, I once pulled a 7000 pound travel trailer with my 1997 Ford F150, If I recall correctly little truck had 225-235 hp and 335 pound feet of torque. We're going to visit Cumberland State Park in Tennessee and there was a very sharp grade leading up to the park. I hit the incline doing about 55 mph, I knew where the torque 5.4 L V8 was made, and I tried to keep that RPM as best as I could. By the top of the grade and it was spinning at about 5,000 RPMs, never a problem, but the speed dropped to 30-35 mph by the top of the grade. I had a 3.55 rear axle ratio.

    Given the same conditions...would the EcoDiesel with just a few more HP have been able to maintain a higher speed? Or would it have been about the same?

    Thanks!

    Jeremiah
  • ROBERTSUNRUS's avatar
    ROBERTSUNRUS
    Explorer
    Jul 13, 2016
    :) Hi, this might be going a little bit off topic. Before buying an Ecoboost, I went to the dealer and road tested a few of them. I was not impressed. They all seemed flat and slow. My Lincoln felt and sounded much better during, on the floor acceleration. I took the chance with the Ecoboost anyway. My Lincoln 5.4 L 32 valve V-8 winds up fast and you can feel it increasing in speed as the RPM increases. Now my Ecoboost feels flat with no increase in power as the RPM goes up. But when hitched to my 6,300 lb. travel trailer, my Ecoboost could run circles around my Lincoln.
  • rjstractor's avatar
    rjstractor
    Nomad
    Jul 13, 2016
    I normally stay out of the "horsepower vs torque" and "diesel vs gas" discussions. Many of the arguments center around the theory that more horsepower equals faster times towing a load and while on paper that is certainly true. However, sometimes an actual test is needed to show that what is figured on paper does not always translate into real life.

    I stumbled on to a Motor Trend test. The competition was a 1/4 mile acceleration test between a 278 horsepower Toyota Tacoma and a 181 horsepower Colorado. Like the "on paper" horsepower guys would predict, the Tacoma waxed the Colorado in the empty 1/4 mile race. But when they hooked a 6700 pound trailer to the Tacoma and a 7600 pound trailer to the Colorado and ran them down the 1/4 mile, a funny thing happened. Despite giving up nearly 100 hp and towing 900 pounds more, the Colorado beat the Tacoma by 0.6 seconds. I guess that there is a little more to towing then sheer power specs.
  • hone_eagle's avatar
    hone_eagle
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2016
    mkirsch wrote:
    The 240HP diesel *WILL* out-tow a 365HP ecoboost, based on the fact that in order to unleash those 365HP, you need to step down HARD on the skinny pedal and let 'er wind up.

    Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that people in general start to fret and worry whenever their vehicle's engine exceeds 2000RPMs. They think it's "screaming," "struggling," or "going to blow up." So rather than take advantage of the EB's power at higher RPMs, they lift off the accelerator.

    The ecodiesel, on the other hand, produces it's maximum torque at 2000RPM, which is right where everyone's "comfort zone" is. At 2000RPM, the ecodiesel is actually making MORE horsepower than the ecoboost, thus it tows better at that RPM.

    I agree, if you get on it, the ecoboost can easily smoke the ecodiesel towing the same load in the same conditions.


    I understand the ecoboost is at max torque at 2500 rpm- hardly ' screaming' .
  • SoCalDesertRid1's avatar
    SoCalDesertRid1
    Explorer II
    Jul 12, 2016
    The other thing is the manufacturers don't spec anywhere near low enough axle ratios (higher numbers) to get these high rpm engines up into their optimum powerbands, at road speeds that trailers can be towed at.

    Nobody's going to tow their behemoth 35' trailer at 100+ mph on the highway to get to that 5000 rpm peak horsepower output of the engine. So the horsepower numbers look good on paper, but it's really just untapped potential, unless they want to start putting 5.38 gears in the axle instead of 3.55's.

    In the olden days (which weren't that long ago, about 20 years or so), gasoline truck motors were built differently than race car motors. Truck motors were built for low rpm torque, using long stroke cranks with comparatively smaller cylinder bores, long rods, high deck heights, small ports with long runner lengths and lower lift cam profiles.

    That low rpm truck engine architecture is exactly the opposite of how high rpm racing engines are built. Unfortunately, today's gasoline truck engines are being built like race car motors, instead of truck motors.
  • mkirsch's avatar
    mkirsch
    Nomad II
    Jul 12, 2016
    The 240HP diesel *WILL* out-tow a 365HP ecoboost, based on the fact that in order to unleash those 365HP, you need to step down HARD on the skinny pedal and let 'er wind up.

    Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that people in general start to fret and worry whenever their vehicle's engine exceeds 2000RPMs. They think it's "screaming," "struggling," or "going to blow up." So rather than take advantage of the EB's power at higher RPMs, they lift off the accelerator.

    The ecodiesel, on the other hand, produces it's maximum torque at 2000RPM, which is right where everyone's "comfort zone" is. At 2000RPM, the ecodiesel is actually making MORE horsepower than the ecoboost, thus it tows better at that RPM.

    I agree, if you get on it, the ecoboost can easily smoke the ecodiesel towing the same load in the same conditions.
  • SoCalDesertRid1's avatar
    SoCalDesertRid1
    Explorer II
    Jul 12, 2016
    Gearing, being a torque multiplier, has everything to do with torque, as well as putting the engine into it's optimum horsepower rpm range at the desired road speed. Alot of towing can be done with low horsepower, provided you have alot of torque and/or gearing. Gears being a simple machine, trade off distance (or speed) for greater force. Work = Force x Distance. Increase either the force or the distance, and work increases as well.

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