2016 Ram brake control

[Blazing_Zippers]

My new Ram has electronic brake settings labeled "light, medium, heavy."
What do these mean? Light might be different then my idea of light, etc. Say, would "light" mean trailers between 1000 and 5000 lbs?
Also, what do you Ram folks set yer gain?
The Ram "instructional" DVD was apparently made for people with no need for actual information and always having a DVD player at hand.
A side note; we made our first trip totaling 620 miles from Idaho into Montana and found the Ram to be really quite comfortable. The 6.4 got 16.2 mpg, until "lead foot DW" started running 76 MPH and the mileage dropped to 16.1. Still pretty good.
See ya out there

[IDoMyOwnStunts]

...

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Blazing Zippers, isn't there an owners manual in the glove box of your truck? If not you can contact Ram Trucks to get a free one. Mine was in the lower center consul so the dealer ordered a new one and I found it before the new came in. If you have the bench seat look in the second or lower center consul and both upper and lower glove boxes it should be there.

I haven't used the factory brake controller yet as my boat has/had a surge brake system. I'm converting it over to a electric over hydraulic system and will be using the light electric over hydraulic setting. As was posted in the third post there are not any "medium" settings in the controllers settings.

Don

[Blazing_Zippers]

O.K. Here we go again----I wasn't going 75 mph with a utility trailer when the tire blew. We were doing 75 empty going to Montana empty, where we finished a job and picked up the utility trailer--80 degrees, and I was doing about 60 mph when the tire blew.
Geezz, over there in Maryland. I'm about as professional a driver as you could find. I have over 1.5 million miles, firefighting driver operator, big box ambulances (in the Sierra Nevada I-80 region), big rig, over 25,000 miles RVing, and 13 years driving law enforcement--no accident. I wouldn't tow a trailer of any type over 65 mph.
My question was about the braking system in the Ram, with a comment about the mileage the dashboard was showing. Why even sometimes the "lie O meter" shows 99mpg. That would be on a hill, which we have quite a few of here in the West.
YEEHAW

[YnotTurbo]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

YnotTurbo wrote:
We use Heavy/Hydraulic. We have disc brakes on our fiver and she weighs just about 20,000 lbs. with our stuff. Brake controller works great. Not sure what ME AGAIN is talking about. No code issues or problems with my 16.

Have you ever had to really hit the brakes? Not just slow down.

Yes I have,,someone was kind enough to shoot in front of us a few weeks ago in traffic and then laid on the brakes. I was able to slow right up. I did not lock up my trailer wheels if that is what you are saying. I do find the hydraulic disc brakes are more effective in slowing the weight of our unit down.

[Lynnmor]

76 MPH with cheap tires on the utility trailer, what could possibly go wrong?

[Blazing_Zippers]

OOPS...... When I wrote about the mileage, we were not towing one way, and had a small utility trailer (1500 lbs?) on the way back.
And I slowed down somewhat due to a blowout on the trailer--cheeeep tires. My 2010 5.7 Hemi was a runner, but especially around town it sucked gas. The 6.4 not so much. There is a 25-35 mph street I've been down dozens of times, and the dash mileage is double with the 6.4 then the 5.7. What's that old saying--Try It, You'll Like IT.
Thanks for the settings info. We're getting ready to hook up and didn't quite know about the brakes.
As far as the DVD, I appreciate the effort by Ram, but when we're in a field and without a computer, that book we used to get with a vehicle would be helpful. I guess times are a changing.
Now it's off to California, leaving my firearms, to learn a foreign language, and visit really hot temps. See ya out there.
Thanks

[brulaz]

With my 2016 Ram CTD and 8500# trailer, I use the "light" setting. Running it at around 4.5 gives lots of braking action.

The trailer has two Al-Ko 5200# axles each with 12x2"brakes, so there's lots of braking resistance available.

[Me_Again]

bbaker2001 wrote:
we use heavy for our 12000 5er and 6 on gain

ME Again we have the 2015 , but the build date shows 2014. what is the 2015 and 2016 2500/3500 diesel owners are waiting new code to fix the IBC's, fix. when I called dealer they said they know nothing of it.

Numerous people have been investigating the charges that occur in the 2015 MY IBC unit. They(RAM) shorten up the pulse width to the point that the IBC is not very reliable in many situations. It also I believe decreases its stopping power as the vehicle gets to lower speeds. It is reported that RAM is "working" of a solution. CS most likely knows little about this effort. All they can say is to go to your dealer. The issue is much bigger than something a dealer can fix, as the issue is in the code for the IBC. It is my hope that they have something out before I head to Arizona in the fall with our new heavier trailer.

Chris

[Cummins12V98]

YnotTurbo wrote:
We use Heavy/Hydraulic. We have disc brakes on our fiver and she weighs just about 20,000 lbs. with our stuff. Brake controller works great. Not sure what ME AGAIN is talking about. No code issues or problems with my 16.

Have you ever had to really hit the brakes? Not just slow down.

[IDoMyOwnStunts]

I'm guessing the gas mileage numbers cited are not towing mileage numbers. The 6.4 has MDS and can get good mileage on long, straight freeways. But, yeah, towing is an entirely different story.

[Lynnmor]

I think they are using the lie-o-meter and not resetting it. There is no way that they are getting that kind of mileage unless they camp in a utility trailer.

[Kavoom]

Blazing zippers must be traveling downhill with a tail wind or have the diesel. I've never seen those numbers on my 5.7 with the 3.92 rear end. But I think the up to 3k light, 3 to 6K med and heavy above would be in the ballpark. I do light with a 2k pop up. I aspire to a much bigger unit.

[YnotTurbo]

We use Heavy/Hydraulic. We have disc brakes on our fiver and she weighs just about 20,000 lbs. with our stuff. Brake controller works great. Not sure what ME AGAIN is talking about. No code issues or problems with my 16.

[Cummins12V98]

I would start out with HEAVY electric or HEAVY hydraulic then adjust from there. You can always drop to the light setting.