RAM 6.4 Ike Gauntlet

Getting pretty crazy with brand wars perhaps on some comments. To bad it should not be, all 3 make a great truck period. Drive what u want and can afford whether it be gas and or diesel. Just be glad we can all get time in for camping. One day I'm afraid it won't be so easy... I like all 3, I saw a power wagon the other day. Man what a nice truck. Even though I got a GM 6.0, I'm convincing my Aunt to get the 6.4 Dodge when she upgrades from her 09 dodge 2500 with the 5.7. I'm sure dodge will address the transmission gearing issue and GM will update the 6.0 to even more power. It's all good cause we benefit in the end.

Even though I am Ram owner I am not biased. Loved the look of the GMC denali pickup, my 2015 Ram 2500 6.4 laramie with 4.10's was a much better price at the time of purchase, plus I could get it with a factory installed gooseneck/5th wheel prep, and the towing ratings are better. If all were equal I would have chosen the Denali.

However this is really a bs test. Anyone running up 11k ft with heavy weight and a gas engine better bring along their patience. Gas engines towing are light years ahead of where they were 20 years ago. But so are the diesels. Does it really matter what truck got up to the top faster. If you are going to buy a truck to run up that pass with heavy weight the only real test that you should pay attention to is the diesel test. And I think all 3 of trucks were close to the same time.

I love my gas engine for a lot of reasons, but I pull on flat land low elevations and average a few thousand every season. I pull a 12k+ 5th wheel so it is pretty heavy. However even though I don't like diesels for a lot of reasons, if i was towing at elevation often or in hilly country often or over 5k a season id own a diesel. They need to test these gas engines in a situation they are designed for. The manufactures use the davis dam road which is a much better test for a gas engine.

Those guys at Mr. Truck are just a bunch of rednecks that get free trucks and torture them. It should be used more for entertainment purposes than actual decision making purposes. If you are going to buy a truck based off of what those guys do, you are doing yourself a disservice.

There is a lot more than just engine specs that dictate the fastest time up the hill. Power never hurts of course of which the Ram has plenty of, but due to gearing, perhaps more parasitic loss, shift points and so on the Ram does not get up the hill very fast. The Duramax was much the same, lagged behind the other two on the spec sheet (prior to 17) but more than held its own under actual towing conditions. If Ram would "let the horses run" it would dominate the other two, but clearly they are not making all that power available to use. The only place it succeeds in beating the other two gas trucks is in the advertising arena with a powerful spec sheet. It makes no sense, but clearly they have a reason for keeping the power inaccessible.

Based on my reading, such as ib516 posting on towing in the Canadian rockies, people have been able to hold 2nd while towing at altitude. You can go 65+ in 2nd. Since I think this is the highest major road in the US (above 11K ft), this just may be a unique type test and Ram doesn't see a need to address it.

I think they need to address it, but maybe they are focused on getting an 8 speed transmission into the 6.4. That would be a great towing machine for a gasser.

kzspree320 wrote:
Well as the owner of a 2016 Ram 2500 with 6.4 hemi and 4.10 rear end that researched this long and hard before buying I can give you the answer on why the GM won. There are really 2 simple reasons. 1) the 2nd gear in the Ram transmission is much higher (lower number) than the GM. It's the one thing Ram should improve. It's not a problem at lower altitudes, but when you lose 3 percent per thousand feet and have lost over 30 percent of your power it suddenly becomes a problem because you are limited to 1st gear. 2) when you are limited to first gear RAM engineers added programming to limit the vehicle to about 4,200 rpms to protect it so it won't have heat issues gear hunting.

I can tell you first hand I have had no problems towing my 12000+ lb high profile fifth wheel anywhere I went in Kentucky and Tennessee at 65 mph and never went below 3rd gear. It does NOT have the brute power of a diesel, but no gasser does. All of the big 3 have gassers that work towing under 14K lbs. That said, if you tow over 10K lbs above 5-6K feet regularly, the diesel is far better. If you only tow at high altitudes occasionally, buy the gasser if you want and exercise a little patience (which is becoming a rare commodity these days).

I've heard about the second gear issue before. I'm surprised Ram hasn't addressed this yet because it truly does cripple the 6.4L under circumstances like this. Because the 6.4L Hemi absolutely does smoke the 6.0L GM on any dyno test I've seen.

travelnutz wrote:
Very simple explanation as Ram uses a very different method of determining both HP and Torque and you should know this Mr. employee of FCA. That is why GM vehicles always have beaten both FCA and Ford vehicles with having lower HP and Torque advertised ratings and the head to head tests reveal how true this is as some manufacturer's use their ratings numbers just for feel good advertising.

Exactly the opposite - look at Pickuptruck.com's dyno run, the 6.4 Hemi absolutely smokes the 6.0 GM:

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2017/03/whats-the-best-34-ton-work-truck-for-2017.html

GM: 276 hp, 311 lb-ft
RAM: 340 hp, 372 lb-ft

Your statement was somewhat true, back when Chrysler had horrible transmissions, like the 545RFE, or the 42LE in my old Intrepid. But modern 6.4 Hemi with 8 spd ZFs or manuals are dyno monsters.

You'll find most 6.4 Challengers putting down the same numbers as my LS7 Vette, even though mine was rated 20hp higher from factory.

Well as the owner of a 2016 Ram 2500 with 6.4 hemi and 4.10 rear end that researched this long and hard before buying I can give you the answer on why the GM won. There are really 2 simple reasons. 1) the 2nd gear in the Ram transmission is much higher (lower number) than the GM. It's the one thing Ram should improve. It's not a problem at lower altitudes, but when you lose 3 percent per thousand feet and have lost over 30 percent of your power it suddenly becomes a problem because you are limited to 1st gear. 2) when you are limited to first gear RAM engineers added programming to limit the vehicle to about 4,200 rpms to protect it so it won't have heat issues gear hunting.

I can tell you first hand I have had no problems towing my 12000+ lb high profile fifth wheel anywhere I went in Kentucky and Tennessee at 65 mph and never went below 3rd gear. It does NOT have the brute power of a diesel, but no gasser does. All of the big 3 have gassers that work towing under 14K lbs. That said, if you tow over 10K lbs above 5-6K feet regularly, the diesel is far better. If you only tow at high altitudes occasionally, buy the gasser if you want and exercise a little patience (which is becoming a rare commodity these days).

O'yaa, and GM usually does these head to head test winnings with a lesser displacement engine to top it off. Also usually does it with less fuel consumption also and try to explain that while you are at it! Claiming fictitious inflated HP and/or Torque values doesn't do anything positive in head to head tests and exposes the real truths.

Very simple explanation as Ram uses a very different method of determining both HP and Torque and you should know this Mr. employee of FCA. That is why GM vehicles always have beaten both FCA and Ford vehicles with having lower HP and Torque advertised ratings and the head to head tests reveal how true this is as some manufacturer's use their ratings numbers just for feel good advertising.

If you don't have the same force applied to the road's surface for moving equal loads to an X velocity, the one supplying the lesser amoumt of force will always be behind! Got it?

Want to dispute this? Lets hear your wonderful explanation then. Mine is based on sound documented knowledge of the facts and backed by head to head testing results over and over. Your explanation, if you should choose to blowviate one, should be very interesting to say the least!

Mr Engineer has his own reality. You can't influence it, even with facts.