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

[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.

FishOnOne wrote:
I see the ram Mafia is out in full force but the OP asked if the 6.4 is easy to work on, easy to change belts, plugs, wires etc.

My response was the 6.4 has twice the spark plugs and the Chrysler spec oil is not as easy to locate. I did not comment on the 6.0 since the op already has one.

As for misfires spark plugs typically need to be changed before 100k miles for severe use on all brands.

Oops... the OP asked for REVIEWS or REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE... not a Ford troll with an axe to grind. Dude, you can't hide behind the fallacy that you are "trying to help" when you have a well documented history of being an absolute Dodge/Ram/FCA hater. Whether or not you are trying to actually provide legitimate information, your posts reek of fanboy and aren't taken seriously. I would strongly encourage you to take a break for a little while, let a Ram thread go on without injecting your stereotypical hatred. Enough is enough already dude...

Where did I recommend a Ford in this thread? I would strongly encourage your behavior as a moderator needs to stop as your fan boy practice is so apparent to this board. How about you take the back seat as your fan boy practice has been apparent right down to giving the mafia a free pass while you choose to attack others. Also the days of your Toyota Tundra fan boy attacks has been very telling.

[spoon059]

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.

Meanwhile, my father-in-law tows with a 2011 Chevy 2500 with the 6.0 gas engine. Mileage isn't very good (around 7 towing an 8500 lbs camper), but he has never once complained about power towing the same mountains as my friend and I. While the 6.0 is an older design... GM got it right and made a very good engine. 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.

Now, in terms of maintenance, the 6.4 was pretty easy to work on. Oil changes are normal, there is no "mystery oil" like Fishie would have you believe. I think my friend bought his oil at Walmart or Tractor Supply. It is certainly available across the country for a reasonable cost. Twice as many spark plugs has twice the parts cost at replacement time... $120 instead of $60 every 100,000 miles. It would be laughable for most people to complain about that... for Fishie its just another in a long line of outlandish complaints about anything Ram related...

[spoon059]

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.

FishOnOne wrote:
I see the ram Mafia is out in full force but the OP asked if the 6.4 is easy to work on, easy to change belts, plugs, wires etc.

My response was the 6.4 has twice the spark plugs and the Chrysler spec oil is not as easy to locate. I did not comment on the 6.0 since the op already has one.

As for misfires spark plugs typically need to be changed before 100k miles for severe use on all brands.

Oops... the OP asked for REVIEWS or REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE... not a Ford troll with an axe to grind. Dude, you can't hide behind the fallacy that you are "trying to help" when you have a well documented history of being an absolute Dodge/Ram/FCA hater. Whether or not you are trying to actually provide legitimate information, your posts reek of fanboy and aren't taken seriously. I would strongly encourage you to take a break for a little while, let a Ram thread go on without injecting your stereotypical hatred. Enough is enough already dude...

[IdaD]

I considered a 6.4 pretty seriously but ultimately decided the Cummins was worth the extra up front cost. Time will tell if I made the right decision but I haven't run into any trouble so far and the performance is incredible. In real world pricing I ran into about a $6k upcharge to get the Cummins over the 6.4, of course that was two years ago so things may have changed.

[kw_00]

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.

[FishOnOne]

I see the ram Mafia is out in full force but the OP asked if the 6.4 is easy to work on, easy to change belts, plugs, wires etc.

My response was the 6.4 has twice the spark plugs and the Chrysler spec oil is not as easy to locate. I did not comment on the 6.0 since the op already has one.

As for misfires spark plugs typically need to be changed before 100k miles for severe use on all brands.

[Bionic_Man]

Anyone who is on the forum in a somewhat regular basis should know better than to listen to fish (aka, the troller). He obviously has an agenda with his hatred for Dodge/RAM/FCA, and a love affair with his blue koolaid.

To the OP, the vast majority of reviews I have seen on the 6.4 have been positive. I have a friend that was a fan of another brand for life, and bought a 6.4 two years ago. Short version of that story is his truck was just totaled in an accident (no injuries), and he will be replacing it with another 6.4.

[skidooman93]

I own a 6.4 and there is nothing in the manual that says you must use a pennzoil 0w-40. I also know of dealers that just put in regular mobile 0-40. The dealer I go to gives me the choice if I want the pennzoil or valvoline. They say neither will void the warranty but they recommend the pennzoil. I choose the pennzoil because I change the oil per the manual and don't feel comfortable going 8k on conventional oil.

100k miles on plugs so there is no point in debating spark plugs. If you put on 75k miles a year and are changing plugs every 18 months then it may factor in. But if you are like the normal person who drives 12k miles a year its over 8 years on the first set of plugs.

Major miss-fires that could damage a cat are what cause the "blinking" an ordinary random miss-fire that is even consistent wont make the light blink. So unless your light is blinking just check it out asap. A worn plug wont cause a "blinking" check engine light. A broken or damaged one may. If you have ignored a check engine light so long that something is damaged in the engine then you deserve it. Ive seen many exhaust valves burnt because folks ignored their check engine light for a rich oxygen sensor. That is way more common than ruined cats because of worn spark plugs.

Way to many people here that give advice or opinions on a situation or product they have never owned or have any experience with. Its just "what I hear" or "what ive read" thats called hearsay.

[spoon059]

Fishie... really? Have you nothing better to do than troll the Ram posts this weekend...? Take a break for a few days, goodness.

[Redwoodcamper]

Buy a diesel that is a year or two older and be done with it.

[Grit_dog]

And what's more, I had to take the friggin intake manifold off to do the tune up on the pos Nissan. No lie, it actually took longer than popping all 16 new plugs in the Charger. Was actually the easiest tune up I ever did! Being a HEMI, I didn't have to fish around down under the exhaust manifolds looking for spark plugs!
(And that was last year at like 100k miles. Ran fine, figured it was time to treat the venerable Hemi to some new plugs was all....)

[Grit_dog]

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
The 6.4 Hemi has 16 spark plugs and requires special 5w40 synthetic oil that can be hard to find.

If your looking for simplicity I would stick with GM's 6.0.

Hard to find? Special?
The oil is common in modern cars and is available at every Orielly's. The spark plugs last a long time and are not the expensive variety. Infact, they are quite cheap compared to many of the exotic plugs used in some toher engine makes.

OP, I have a 6.4 in my Challenger SRT and while it is a different tune, it's a beast of a motor.

Lol, I know right? Now 16 spark plugs is twice as bad?? I paid about the same for the 16 plugs for my wife's SRT as the 4 plugs I put in my sisters POS Nissan.....
And the special oil is t that special. The Charger SRT has been living on 15-40 valvoline $12 a gallon diesel oil for many miles now. But it's only got 125k miles on it now.....probably going to blow the engine up tomorrow from the abuse.....

[FishOnOne]

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
The 6.4 Hemi has 16 spark plugs and requires special 5w40 synthetic oil that can be hard to find.

If your looking for simplicity I would stick with GM's 6.0.

Hard to find? Special?
The oil is common in modern cars and is available at every Orielly's. The spark plugs last a long time and are not the expensive variety. Infact, they are quite cheap compared to many of the exotic plugs used in some toher engine makes.

OP, I have a 6.4 in my Challenger SRT and while it is a different tune, it's a beast of a motor.

The oil that the 6.4 Hemi requires that carries Chryslers rating is only made by Pennzoil the last time I looked, and not every parts store carriers this oil. Even Mobil 1 oils don't carry Chryslers oil rating.

Also if you idle these trucks a lot the plugs don't last 100k miles and if misfires start to occur you can kiss your cats good bye.

You need to read the manual for the 6.4.
The oils that Orielly's carries Does carry FCA rating along with several other brands of vehicles and engines. That aort of thing is just not a big deal anymore. Ford and GM have the same stipulations. It's very common and not a big deal anymore. Every Oriellys has it. I've persoanlly bought it at several of them.
To clarify; One does NOT have to buy oil from FCA to maintain warranty and that is per the manual.
Plugs dont last and kill converters? Where are you getting this nonsense? That was possible in the earlier days of cats but it's rediculously improbable in a new engine.
No, a misfire or lean condition in these sophisticated engines results in power derating, messages on the dash and nothing more.
Spark plugs go for $3 to $6 - not a big deal. All easy to get to as well.

I looked on OReillys web site and their in house brand does not include a 0W40 oil. Again the only oil that meets the MS-12633 Chrysler spec is Pennzoil and maybe Scamz oil if you can believe their marketing hype.

This guy knows

Misfires are more common on trucks that are worked hard and idled a lot which sounds like what the OP does with his truck.

House brand - I wont use that in my lawnmower.
I also frequent a truck Dodge truck forum - what your spouting is baseless. You see, I actually own one of these engines.
This kind of stuff might work on brand specific forums where they just bad mouth without any true knowledge of the competition but in a place where there are tens of thousands of people who actually have experience with the product, it just doesn't work.
OP, do your own research before you let a brand basher corrupt you with this kind of stuff.

The OP is doing his research and is why he is here. Anyways at least he's aware of the facts.

The stuff you made up isn't "facts". It's simple brand bashing.
Tide your jealousy towards things you dont have or choices you haven't made.

Then what did I make up?

[ScottG]

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
The 6.4 Hemi has 16 spark plugs and requires special 5w40 synthetic oil that can be hard to find.

If your looking for simplicity I would stick with GM's 6.0.

Hard to find? Special?
The oil is common in modern cars and is available at every Orielly's. The spark plugs last a long time and are not the expensive variety. Infact, they are quite cheap compared to many of the exotic plugs used in some toher engine makes.

OP, I have a 6.4 in my Challenger SRT and while it is a different tune, it's a beast of a motor.

The oil that the 6.4 Hemi requires that carries Chryslers rating is only made by Pennzoil the last time I looked, and not every parts store carriers this oil. Even Mobil 1 oils don't carry Chryslers oil rating.

Also if you idle these trucks a lot the plugs don't last 100k miles and if misfires start to occur you can kiss your cats good bye.

You need to read the manual for the 6.4.
The oils that Orielly's carries Does carry FCA rating along with several other brands of vehicles and engines. That aort of thing is just not a big deal anymore. Ford and GM have the same stipulations. It's very common and not a big deal anymore. Every Oriellys has it. I've persoanlly bought it at several of them.
To clarify; One does NOT have to buy oil from FCA to maintain warranty and that is per the manual.
Plugs dont last and kill converters? Where are you getting this nonsense? That was possible in the earlier days of cats but it's rediculously improbable in a new engine.
No, a misfire or lean condition in these sophisticated engines results in power derating, messages on the dash and nothing more.
Spark plugs go for $3 to $6 - not a big deal. All easy to get to as well.

I looked on OReillys web site and their in house brand does not include a 0W40 oil. Again the only oil that meets the MS-12633 Chrysler spec is Pennzoil and maybe Scamz oil if you can believe their marketing hype.

This guy knows

Misfires are more common on trucks that are worked hard and idled a lot which sounds like what the OP does with his truck.

House brand - I wont use that in my lawnmower.
I also frequent a truck Dodge truck forum - what your spouting is baseless. You see, I actually own one of these engines.
This kind of stuff might work on brand specific forums where they just bad mouth without any true knowledge of the competition but in a place where there are tens of thousands of people who actually have experience with the product, it just doesn't work.
OP, do your own research before you let a brand basher corrupt you with this kind of stuff.

The OP is doing his research and is why he is here. Anyways at least he's aware of the facts.

The stuff you made up isn't "facts". It's simple brand bashing.
Tide your jealousy towards things you dont have or choices you haven't made.

[FishOnOne]

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

ScottG wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
The 6.4 Hemi has 16 spark plugs and requires special 5w40 synthetic oil that can be hard to find.

If your looking for simplicity I would stick with GM's 6.0.

Hard to find? Special?
The oil is common in modern cars and is available at every Orielly's. The spark plugs last a long time and are not the expensive variety. Infact, they are quite cheap compared to many of the exotic plugs used in some toher engine makes.

OP, I have a 6.4 in my Challenger SRT and while it is a different tune, it's a beast of a motor.

The oil that the 6.4 Hemi requires that carries Chryslers rating is only made by Pennzoil the last time I looked, and not every parts store carriers this oil. Even Mobil 1 oils don't carry Chryslers oil rating.

Also if you idle these trucks a lot the plugs don't last 100k miles and if misfires start to occur you can kiss your cats good bye.

You need to read the manual for the 6.4.
The oils that Orielly's carries Does carry FCA rating along with several other brands of vehicles and engines. That aort of thing is just not a big deal anymore. Ford and GM have the same stipulations. It's very common and not a big deal anymore. Every Oriellys has it. I've persoanlly bought it at several of them.
To clarify; One does NOT have to buy oil from FCA to maintain warranty and that is per the manual.
Plugs dont last and kill converters? Where are you getting this nonsense? That was possible in the earlier days of cats but it's rediculously improbable in a new engine.
No, a misfire or lean condition in these sophisticated engines results in power derating, messages on the dash and nothing more.
Spark plugs go for $3 to $6 - not a big deal. All easy to get to as well.

I looked on OReillys web site and their in house brand does not include a 0W40 oil. Again the only oil that meets the MS-12633 Chrysler spec is Pennzoil and maybe Scamz oil if you can believe their marketing hype.

This guy knows

Misfires are more common on trucks that are worked hard and idled a lot which sounds like what the OP does with his truck.

House brand - I wont use that in my lawnmower.
I also frequent a truck Dodge truck forum - what your spouting is baseless. You see, I actually own one of these engines.
This kind of stuff might work on brand specific forums where they just bad mouth without any true knowledge of the competition but in a place where there are tens of thousands of people who actually have experience with the product, it just doesn't work.
OP, do your own research before you let a brand basher corrupt you with this kind of stuff.

The OP is doing his research and is why he is here. Anyways at least he's aware of the facts.