6.4 Dodge???

[jabres]

I know this has probably been posted a hundred times, but I am looking for some reviews/ real life experiences with the 6.4 Dodge motor.

I currently have a 2007 GMC 2500 6.0 gas in my landscaping/camping hauling fleet. I am looking to add another truck this time around, but thinking about trying out a Dodge 3500 with 6.4.
My GMC 2500HD 6.0 pulls camper perfect (7500#s) but when pulling my dump trailer its nothing to haul 11-12k pounds with my GMC. It does fine as I do have the 4.10 rear end, but at times struggles when I am approaching 12k or more. I am wanting to stay away from a diesel, so just wanting reviews on how much people are pulling with the 6.4's. Are they easy to work on? Easy to change belts? Plugs and Wires?
Lastly, I am looking to add an aluminum dump bet insert into the truck, and I believe it would work great with this combo

[kzspree320]

tinner12002 wrote:

kw/00 wrote:
A few weeks back we were looking at a slide in truck camper for our friend. The guy who owned it had a new power wagon with the 6.4. So it caught my eye and I asked him about the truck. Well he had owned a 06 with the Cummins prior and had several problems with the injectors on his stock truck. He traded it in for the 6.4 and he had nothing but good to say about it. Now before anybody goes on my last comment about the 5.9, all he said was he had injector issues and it was a costly fix. Probably bad fuel but I know nothing more of it. Anyway I looked at the truck and really liked it, granted it was the power wagon and sat really high, had a factory winch, but had a really nice interior. Being only about 8 months old, he had no issues. He towed a large ocean boat and a smaller TT. The TT was about 30 foot, the boat I don't know cause I never saw it. He mentioned he liked it better then the previous truck. All I can say is drive one, they appear to be a good solid truck. Btw just to add to your current truck. You have the older 6.0 with 4 speed version. The newer 6.0 and 6 speed is much improved and much better in my opinion. And yes I have owned the older version and have the newer one now. There is a large difference on how my 09 tows verse my 02.

I think the Power Wagon comes from the factory with 4.10 gearing if I'm not mistaking so that might be one for the OP to look for to test drive.

The Power Wagons are not designed to tow heavy. While my 6.4 hemi with 4.10 rear has a tow rating of almost 16K lbs, the tow rating for a 2017 Ram Power Wagon with 6.4 and 4.10 rear is a little under 10K. I can only guess the suspension components are the difference and limiting factor.

[ib516]

jabres wrote:
Lol, you guys are tough!! I like the sounds of the 6.4, and I do love my 6.0 GMC at the same time. Definite going to keep my 6.0 for my one employee to run around in. My biggest concern is when I am towing 10-12k with my 6.0, there is times I wonder if its going to make it up some of the local steep hills. A good running start generally does the trick, but idk if its just because its old with 121k miles, or would the little bit of a boost between a newer truck and a slightly bigger motor, would that give me the little boost I am looking for without going into a diesel? Are guys out there pulling 12k with the 6.4 Dodges without issue? Thanks for all the responses so far!!!

Here's what I pulled with it. All through the Rockies.

[tinner12002]

kw/00 wrote:
A few weeks back we were looking at a slide in truck camper for our friend. The guy who owned it had a new power wagon with the 6.4. So it caught my eye and I asked him about the truck. Well he had owned a 06 with the Cummins prior and had several problems with the injectors on his stock truck. He traded it in for the 6.4 and he had nothing but good to say about it. Now before anybody goes on my last comment about the 5.9, all he said was he had injector issues and it was a costly fix. Probably bad fuel but I know nothing more of it. Anyway I looked at the truck and really liked it, granted it was the power wagon and sat really high, had a factory winch, but had a really nice interior. Being only about 8 months old, he had no issues. He towed a large ocean boat and a smaller TT. The TT was about 30 foot, the boat I don't know cause I never saw it. He mentioned he liked it better then the previous truck. All I can say is drive one, they appear to be a good solid truck. Btw just to add to your current truck. You have the older 6.0 with 4 speed version. The newer 6.0 and 6 speed is much improved and much better in my opinion. And yes I have owned the older version and have the newer one now. There is a large difference on how my 09 tows verse my 02.

I think the Power Wagon comes from the factory with 4.10 gearing if I'm not mistaking so that might be one for the OP to look for to test drive.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Troy can't get the link to post for some reason. I have had this issue here on this site from time to time. But Pennzoil makes the oil and is widely available Pennzoil 0W-40

Walmart sells it, Auto Zone, Napa and more. Now as to what other oil manufactures sell an oil the meets the MS12633 spec that I don't know. I ran into this when Ram came out with the EcoD also. But now there are many other companies selling oil that meets the new spec for it. My guess is this will be the same with the 6.4.

Don

[FishOnOne]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
Troy not sure why you think the oil is hard to find, it is not.

Not sure why you think the oil is is hard to locate Troy. FCA recommends Pennzoil 0W-40 Chrysler MS12633 (SRT) (SAE 0W-40) but as long as the oil meets the MS12633 spec you are good. Her is a link to all of the FCA oil specs

Any auto parts store and most stores that sell oil will have this.


Don

Don,
I don't see your link but I'm sure you know your stuff. Having said that I'm surprised at the responses here that indicate some people or evens dealers are not aware of this oil spec for the 6.4. Even Mobil 1 doesn't make oil that meets this spec the last time I looked into this.
Troy

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Troy not sure why you think the oil is hard to find, it is not.

Not sure why you think the oil is is hard to locate Troy. FCA recommends Pennzoil 0W-40 Chrysler MS12633 (SRT) (SAE 0W-40) but as long as the oil meets the MS12633 spec you are good. Her is a link to all of the FCA oil specs

Any auto parts store and most stores that sell oil will have this.


Don

[kzspree320]

jabres - I really don't know the codes for the rear axle ratio. Good luck finding a used 3500 SRW with 6.4 and 4.10 rear. I live in Louisiana. When I was looking, there was one 2500 with 6.4 and 4.10 about 20 miles from me. According to the Ram website filtered to show 6.4 and 4.10 by distance to dealer, the next closest one was in Tennessee. I bought the one within 400 miles of me. Point being, the 4.10 is hard to find even trying to buy new from a dealers lot. Most are probably ordered. Good luck.

[jabres]

I am really only looking at the single axle Dodge 3500's with the 6.4, so maybe most of these came with the 4/10's?

[jabres]

kzspree320- This write up was excellent! When searching used for this truck, is there an easy way to tell if it has the 4.10 or 3.73 rear end with the Dodges? I know its in the glove box codes on the Chevys. Same for the Dodges? Asking a used car dealer to find which gear ratio is like asking them to do the impossible.

[dodge_guy]

Going by just replacing the plugs.....I'll do 16 Hemi plugs over 8 Triton 3 valve plugs any day!!!! In fact changing Hemi plugs is a walk in the park as opposed to any V-8 equipped truck. No "special" oil is needed either. Just use a good synthetic in the proper grade and all will be good.

[youngm357]

I love my 2016 Ram 2500 6.4. I got an incredible deal back in October; I didn't even think I could afford a new truck but they whacked $11k off the sticker first round. Diesel was about $10k and it adds weight. After 5k miles I'm only averaging 13mpg so that's a consideration. I drop 2500 lbs of camper in it and don't even notice a difference. Loaded 3 horse trailer hauls up long hills like nobody's business.

[kzspree320]

jabres - I posted my experience (fairly long read) a little over a week ago.

CLICK HERE to read my experience with 6.4 hemi towing 12K lbs

Hope this helps. There is a lot of misinformation in the thread you are reading. Some people that do not like it towing over 10K have had the standard 3.73 rear end. The 4.10 rear end is pretty hard to find on dealers lots in my area. You also might want to search for posts of ib516 from a couple of years ago. Hope this helps.

[ksss]

I towed 30K combined with my 2015 6.0 3500 at 8K feet routinely. Effortless, certainly not, but it would grab the appropriate gear and sing its tune at about 4K rpm and it just pulled. I never tried that weight going over Teton Pass but it would do it with the smaller passes without pause.

[jabres]

Lol, you guys are tough!! I like the sounds of the 6.4, and I do love my 6.0 GMC at the same time. Definite going to keep my 6.0 for my one employee to run around in. My biggest concern is when I am towing 10-12k with my 6.0, there is times I wonder if its going to make it up some of the local steep hills. A good running start generally does the trick, but idk if its just because its old with 121k miles, or would the little bit of a boost between a newer truck and a slightly bigger motor, would that give me the little boost I am looking for without going into a diesel? Are guys out there pulling 12k with the 6.4 Dodges without issue? Thanks for all the responses so far!!!

[FishOnOne]

spoon059 wrote:

jabres wrote:
I know this has probably been posted a hundred times, but I am looking for some reviews/ real life experiences with the 6.4 Dodge motor.

I currently have a 2007 GMC 2500 6.0 gas in my landscaping/camping hauling fleet. I am looking to add another truck this time around, but thinking about trying out a Dodge 3500 with 6.4.

OP, my good friend and camping buddy had a 2015 Ram 2500 with the 6.4. He liked the power around town and most of the time towing. We tend to tow and camp in the mountains of central/western PA and my friend found that he didn't enjoy towing with the 6.4 in the elevations. As others have mentioned, the gearing is a bit wonky and the truck likes to skip over 3rd gear and downshift into 2nd when you start pulling grades. After 2 years of that, he recently traded it in on a 2017 Cummins.

Personally, I would stick with the 6.0 GM engine over the 6.4 Ram engine until Ram gets a "better" transmission underneath that truck.

Really....

Who are you kidding... You've reported on this board you don't like GM and wouldn't own one. Personnally.... Yeah right!