Ram 6.4L Hemi vs good ol' 8.1L
Had the flu this week so spent a lot of time sitting around watching TV and Googling stuff....I got to thinking that my next truck will probably be a well-equipped Ram 2500, crew cab, 6'4" bed, with t...
Forum Discussion
1stgenfarmboy wrote:mkirsch wrote:wilber1 wrote:
I really don't understand why Ram offers the 8 spd with the 5.7 1500 and not with the 6.4 2500. They come in models that can easily handle the 6.4's torque. In fact it is the automatic option on the Hellcat which produces 650 lbft.
Two words: Duty cycle.
Most Hellcats are only putting out that power for a brief moment as they accelerate. The rest of the time it's just noise.
Same goes for your typical 1500 pickup. You're not towing/hauling heavy all day every day for hundreds of thousands of miles. I'm sure if you were, the 8 speed would not hold up. At least, they're not confident enough that it will. Yet. Maybe never.
Duty cycle in a transmission is heat, add a little extra cooling and there is no reason it won't be fine.
there is a guy that has posted in this thread with a half ton that tows every day pretty heavy IMO for 390k so far with an 8spd, so I thing that statment of yours was off a little.
torque is torque, just some applacations use it longer, so more heat.
same exact load on the trans.
The last thing RAM needs is a bunch of keyboard commandos ripping them apart in online forums due to a rash of 8-speed failures in 2500 pickups.
So what exactly does a manufacturer mean when they rate a transmission for torque? The ZF is used in many vehicles and it doesn't specify what kind its rating applies to.
A locked clutch or torque converter doesn't generate heat. Anyone who tows with a transmission temperature gauge knows that. The ZF torque converter locks in every gear and in 1st it only unlocks when the vehicle is stopped and just starting to move. It is used exclusively for vehicle launch.
