2003 Dodge 2500 Hemi towing improvement advice

[the1adman]

We have a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab 4x4 Hemi automatic 3.73. The truck only has 58k miles and well maintained but towing 5500 lbs the truck struggles, on hills it's in 2nd gear and on long steep hills will shift between 1st and 2nd and be down to 35 mph.. I am looking for advice on how to improve the towing performance. I am not looking for buy a diesel truck advice as I had a diesel and much larger trailer but down sized because of economy. I am not usually a fan of programmers or performance chips but do want better towing results. Any advice appreciated.

[KC_Bobby]

Adman,
I have nearly the same set up as you, except shortbed. (2003 Ram 2500 QC/Shortbed, 4x4 Laramie with the 545RFE transmission and 3.73 axle ratio) all stock and experience what I consider poor towing performance as well - yet not near as bad as what you detailed.

Like your's, I consider mine pretty tip top. Currently has just under 87,000 miles on it.

I used to have a 24' Haulmark carhauler that weighed in at about 8,500 fully loaded (sold due to weight) and have since owned a 22' toyhauler (probably about 6,500 loaded) and now a 30' 5th wheel (about 6,500 loaded). While the 5th wheel tows the best due to being a 5th wheel, it isn't all that much better than the heavy carhauler (however that had a lower profile than the 5th wheel and I had a shell on the truck).

The 3.73 gears with the Hemi and 545RFE transmission makes no sense to me for a heavy duty truck, especially the Laramie. I gotta think most 2500 Laramie's are purchased to tow RVs - not to put a contractor/utility bed on.

I ran into this thread while researching a tuner/programmer, but not sure I want to go that route but am still considering it if for nothing else to know transmission temp. I've also considered changing the axle ratio, but Dodge want's $2000 per axle. I'm sure a transmission shop would be less, but still expensive.

Thanks for the all the info in this thread, I'll try premium fuel for towing and not freak out when the Hemi winds itself up to get into its powerband. Regarding higher octane fuel, I guess I though I heard/read once you start using premium fuel you should always use it (although my truck isn't my daily vehicle, so it wouldn't matter much).

[the1adman]

Update, put stock size tires back on with a mostly street tread. Made very little difference the Hemi 5 speed still sucks. There is no way this truck could ever get close to pulling its rated weight at a reasonable speed. Think we will save up and upgrade trucks in the future.

[the1adman]

I really think its gearing. The truck is a 4 door long bed 4x4 so it's very heavy and the 5 speed in these trucks is geared awful. At work I have a f250 with the 5.4 and 3.73'sand my buddy at work has the same truck but it came with 4.10's. His truck runs so much better than mine and gets 2 mpg more. So if funds permit in the future 4.56's would help a lot I think.

[Wxguru]

The newest HEMI does make more power than the older versions...I don't know what the Ft.LB Torque numbers are, but my '03 is making 345HP while the newer HEMI's....I believe 2010 and newer are making 395HP. I want to say the torque numbers are up 20 ft lbs.

[jlynn58]

Intercooled ProCharger System for 04-08 Dodge HEMI Ram. Intercooled ProCharger System for 04-08 Dodge HEMI Ram
Will help on your towing needs. Also I must ask are you using gas rating of 87% if so your computer is setting the timing back to run this type of gas. You should be running 93 octane to use all your HP your engine needs. But I would also check this out: Intercooled ProCharger System.

[Shortline]

Another Hemi owner, towing around 6000 lbs of trailer, PLUS kayaks on an overhead bed rack in the wind. While I haven't expererienced true mountains, we've been to the Ozarks, and have never had a problem, goes up and down like a true champ-Really not sure what's going on with your truck, but I'm very surprised to hear it struggles. Maybe it's the gearing, ours has the factory 3:92 gears and stock size tires. Maybe the older hemi's don't put out as much power as the new ones? I don't know. Couldn't be happier with our Ram, tows great compared to our old Ram, with the 4.7 and 3:55. It was a great upgrade for us, and plan to tow with it for many years to come. Wife works in the exhaust business, will be throwing some comped goodies on when the warranty expires just because- plan on a CAI, Cat-Back exhaust, and programmer. Don't really nead it, but.....we'll, as Tim the Tool Man says, "More power ar ar arrhhh!" Good luck!

[the1adman]

Yeah I plan on switching back to stock size tires. I expect some improvement but don't think 1.5" is going to make a huge difference.

[MO_Trout_Bum]

Probably a lot less expensive to replace all 4 tires with stock size instead of new gears, and see where you are. Maybe PCM flash as well, as I think someone else suggested. You should be able to pull 5000lb with no problem at all....

[Hemi_Power]

I had an 03 Hemi Quad Cab 1500 and have since moved to an 08 1500 MegaCab (really a 2500) with a Hemi and 3:73 gears. The newer transmission in the 08 is what makes the difference. The gear spacing is the problem. I pull about an 8-8500lbs fifth, and I just got home from travelling up I81 north from Harrisburg to the CDN border and I could hold 50mph at 3000 rpm, the odd time it needed to jump up to 4200- 4500 rpm (on some of the steeper grades) where as someone has said, this is where the Hemi makes its power, and it does. Stick to the stock tire size. Putting on larger tires to look good just negates all your towing power

[john_bet]

the1adman wrote:
We have a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab 4x4 Hemi automatic 3.73. The truck only has 58k miles and well maintained but towing 5500 lbs the truck struggles, on hills it's in 2nd gear and on long steep hills will shift between 1st and 2nd and be down to 35 mph.. I am looking for advice on how to improve the towing performance. I am not looking for buy a diesel truck advice as I had a diesel and much larger trailer but down sized because of economy. I am not usually a fan of programmers or performance chips but do want better towing results. Any advice appreciated.

I have no advice for your problem, just an observation. I had a '76 Dodge maxi-van with a 360 and 3.23 gears towing a 7k plus tt in the Black Hills and did better than you are talking about. So I would think yours should be doing a hole lot better. I think like some others there is something wrong with your setup. JMHO.

[DHDB]

the1adman wrote:
Yeah I don't like 6000 rpm's I hit that and know where I was at cause I would surprisingly shift out of 2nd and be there In 1st. How much does your 5th wheel weight GOrste? It also has a lot more frontal area than my TT. Thanks for the advice DHDB. Is the PCM fuse labelled under the hood or are you pulling the main fuse? Thanks again for everyone's advice.

IIRC the fuse us labeled "PCM Skip"

[GOrsted]

LT285/70R17

[the1adman]

Ok your about 2500-3000 lbs heavier with more frontal area and still do better. Not sure if the 4.56 would help that much or not. Don't Power Wagons have 285 tires?

[GOrsted]

the1adman wrote:
Yeah I don't like 6000 rpm's I hit that and know where I was at cause I would surprisingly shift out of 2nd and be there In 1st. How much does your 5th wheel weight GOrste? It also has a lot more frontal area than my TT. Thanks for the advice DHDB. Is the PCM fuse labelled under the hood or are you pulling the main fuse? Thanks again for everyone's advice.

I hear ya! Mine does the same thing. It is because of the big gap in gearing between 2nd and 1st. I don't often end up in first gear but when I do that is what happens - I will have it to the floor and loosing speed until about 40 MPH and then it shifts down into first and the RPMs jump to 6000. 2nd gear is too tall, but it can't downshift into first until the speed drops enough for the RPMs to be 6000 (redline). 6000 is too much and you can't maintain speed in 2nd, so I lock it in first and back off on the throttle to bring the RPMs down to under 5000 and just keep it there for the duration.

The new 66RFE 6-speed should eliminate that by having an extra gear and closer together so that you don't have the two extreme choices for gear selections.

My fifth wheel weighs in between 8000 and 8500 depending on how long and the nature of our trips (gear packed). I also have a 30-gallon refueling tank/toolbox combination full of fuel and tools. My weighed GCW is between 16,000 and 17,000. Driving on the flats, frontal surface area is the main opposition you have to overcome, pulling grades it is the weight.