RAM 6.4L Hemi "heavy-ish" tow test - Video added
So after messing around with the "Picture Frame Adapter" for about an hour :M I finally got to hitch up to the 5er.
I took still pictures and video of the hitching up process so you could see the amount of suspension sag. If you recall, my 2007 3500 SRW had about 1.25 to 1.5" of sag when hitched to this same 5er.
Here's the stills of the new 2500 with the rear coil springs taking the weight.
Unloaded, about 10.5" between the tire and fender lip:
Loaded, about 9.25" for the same measurement:
Here's video of the 5er jacks being raised and the weight setting on the truck. I was operating the landing gear switch and holding the tape, so the tape is a bit shaky, sorry. It starts out at about 42" from the ground, and settles to about 40.5" when measured to the fender lip. ~1.5" of sag.
VIDEO LINK - YouTube
Here's pictures of the rig on a level street.
Forgot to add details about the 5er :S
It's a 2010 Cougar 322 QBS. It's 37' long, and has 3 slides, one of which is over the pin as you can see in the pictures. It's about 10,000 dry/unloaded, and about 11,500# fully loaded. As it sits right now, it's likely about 10,500#. The pin weight is just under 2000#. I have taken it to the CAT scale a few years back, I just don't have the numbers in front of me right now, but those weights should be within 250# or so of actual.
As you can see, the 5er just sags it enough to take the "rake" out and make it sit level.
So, that's the hitching up/sag test. How did it pull?
In a word - GREAT! Much better than I expected actually. There aren't many hills here, in fact, I have to drive 30 miles to get to a 7% grade :) so I only tested on the flat open highway, but it did awesome. Cruised along in 5th gear at ~2100 or 2200 RPM with the 5er in tow. IIRC the instant mpg showed 19 to 24 L/100 Km which converts over as:
19 L/100 Km = 12.3 mpg
20 L/100 Km = 11.7 mpg
21 L/100 Km = 11.2 mpg
22 L/100 Km = 10.6 mpg
23 L/100 Km = 10.2 mpg
24 L/100 Km = 9.8 mpg
So say it'll get about 9 to 10 mpg hauling an 11,500# 5er.
I had the DW in the passenger seat reaching over and shooting video. It's a bit long (~8 min), so it might be kind of boring :).
It's still uploadng, so I will link it when it's done.
I took still pictures and video of the hitching up process so you could see the amount of suspension sag. If you recall, my 2007 3500 SRW had about 1.25 to 1.5" of sag when hitched to this same 5er.
Here's the stills of the new 2500 with the rear coil springs taking the weight.
Unloaded, about 10.5" between the tire and fender lip:
Loaded, about 9.25" for the same measurement:
Here's video of the 5er jacks being raised and the weight setting on the truck. I was operating the landing gear switch and holding the tape, so the tape is a bit shaky, sorry. It starts out at about 42" from the ground, and settles to about 40.5" when measured to the fender lip. ~1.5" of sag.
VIDEO LINK - YouTube
Here's pictures of the rig on a level street.
Forgot to add details about the 5er :S
It's a 2010 Cougar 322 QBS. It's 37' long, and has 3 slides, one of which is over the pin as you can see in the pictures. It's about 10,000 dry/unloaded, and about 11,500# fully loaded. As it sits right now, it's likely about 10,500#. The pin weight is just under 2000#. I have taken it to the CAT scale a few years back, I just don't have the numbers in front of me right now, but those weights should be within 250# or so of actual.
As you can see, the 5er just sags it enough to take the "rake" out and make it sit level.
So, that's the hitching up/sag test. How did it pull?
In a word - GREAT! Much better than I expected actually. There aren't many hills here, in fact, I have to drive 30 miles to get to a 7% grade :) so I only tested on the flat open highway, but it did awesome. Cruised along in 5th gear at ~2100 or 2200 RPM with the 5er in tow. IIRC the instant mpg showed 19 to 24 L/100 Km which converts over as:
19 L/100 Km = 12.3 mpg
20 L/100 Km = 11.7 mpg
21 L/100 Km = 11.2 mpg
22 L/100 Km = 10.6 mpg
23 L/100 Km = 10.2 mpg
24 L/100 Km = 9.8 mpg
So say it'll get about 9 to 10 mpg hauling an 11,500# 5er.
I had the DW in the passenger seat reaching over and shooting video. It's a bit long (~8 min), so it might be kind of boring :).
It's still uploadng, so I will link it when it's done.
