Any experience with new gas engines hauling heavy??

[anw7405]

So my dad right now is completely fed up with his 2014 ram cummins dually. He has spent over 10K in the last year on it. That being said, I told him he might want to look at the new gas trucks.

They have a 2018 Montana 5th wheel so I'm pretty sure this is their last RV. The Montana weighs right at 12k dry. So lets just say another 1500lbs for them and the gear. They want a crew cab short bed 4x4 single rear wheel for their new truck. They will make one trip in the winter to either FL or TX from Missouri. Then they will make probably 5-6 trips the rest of the year. All will be east of the rocky mountains. I think they should consider a gas truck but I don't know how these trucks perform pulling 13.5k- 14k? Anyone out there towing this weight with the RAM 6.4 or the Ford 6.2? It looks like the RAM is rated at 15,630 and the Ford is 15,000.

[blofgren]

Grit dog wrote:
Blofgren, yes used trucks are like gold around here. And with the Seattle/Gancouver economy the way it is, prices and availability isn’t getting better.

You're not kidding...... have seen plenty of rusty, beat up, poorly maintained junkers for over $5k. And they have upwards of 300k kms on them.

It seems like the good ones go quickly; need to have cash in hand and be prepared to buy the day they are posted.

[blofgren]

Bionic Man wrote:
When I had my sterndrive, I towed it tandem. Went all across the country. Upgraded to a V Drive that is just too heavy to tow tandem, so now we take two vehicles when we go camping and boating. (We use a Yukon XL to tow our boat).

From first hand experience, if you are going over a couple hours, taking two vehicles gets old real quick. I wish there was a better solution.

Thanks for the feedback. The boat is a 2008 Maxum 1800 SR3 with 4.3L Mercruiser sterndrive so I wouldn't hesitate to double tow it if I could legally.

I am also keeping an older Tahoe or Yukon in my search. We have also talked about switching to a motorhome but we like our current fiver too much to go that route, at least yet.

I can definitely see that taking 2 vehicles will be a pain. Our main summer destination is Osoyoos, BC which is about 4 1/2 hours away.

[blofgren]

carringb wrote:
4,000 pounds, especially a boat, should tow just fine behind the MDX. Only concern would be the transmission, depending on year. But if its one of the bad ones, failure is inevitable anyways. The 3.5L makes plenty of power, and is plenty durable for towing duty.

Yes, it does have plenty of power so I think it's fine in that department. It is a 2005 which had a better transmission than the early models, but Acura says it needs to have both a power steering cooler and transmission cooler installed to tow. Combine that with installing a hitch and wiring harness and it isn't going to be cheap to outfit it, which is why I was thinking of buying an older 1/2 ton pickup to tow it. It is also almost 14 years old with 120,000 miles on it so cooking the transmission is a real possibility (especially with my wife towing with it) :B

[Grit_dog]

Blofgren, yes used trucks are like gold around here. And with the Seattle/Gancouver economy the way it is, prices and availability isn’t getting better.

[Bionic_Man]

When I had my sterndrive, I towed it tandem. Went all across the country. Upgraded to a V Drive that is just too heavy to tow tandem, so now we take two vehicles when we go camping and boating. (We use a Yukon XL to tow our boat).

From first hand experience, if you are going over a couple hours, taking two vehicles gets old real quick. I wish there was a better solution.

[Hannibal]

blofgren wrote:

Hannibal wrote:

blofgren wrote:


And for the record, I'm not a gas hater (I'm shopping for one now to tow my boat).

Why not just tow the boat with you diesel pickup?

I do when I'm not towing the fiver; I need another vehicle for when we are taking both the fiver and boat. I was thinking of equipping my wife's Acura MDX to tow the boat (about 4k lbs) but I'm not overly convinced it will do well in the mountains. I wouldn't hesitate to double tow the boat behind the fiver, but it's not legal here in BC.

So I'm looking for an older 1/2 ton 4x4 pickup which is proving to be more difficult than I originally thought.....

We're in the same boat so to speak. Wife wants two trucks so we can take the boat also. To me that's creating more work and complication. I either want to head offshore or go camping. We're in Hillsborough River State Park right now. Between the bike trails and fishing spot, I wouldn't want the extra work and complication the boat would bring.

[carringb]

4,000 pounds, especially a boat, should tow just fine behind the MDX. Only concern would be the transmission, depending on year. But if its one of the bad ones, failure is inevitable anyways. The 3.5L makes plenty of power, and is plenty durable for towing duty.

[blofgren]

Hannibal wrote:

blofgren wrote:


And for the record, I'm not a gas hater (I'm shopping for one now to tow my boat).

Why not just tow the boat with you diesel pickup?

I do when I'm not towing the fiver; I need another vehicle for when we are taking both the fiver and boat. I was thinking of equipping my wife's Acura MDX to tow the boat (about 4k lbs) but I'm not overly convinced it will do well in the mountains. I wouldn't hesitate to double tow the boat behind the fiver, but it's not legal here in BC.

So I'm looking for an older 1/2 ton 4x4 pickup which is proving to be more difficult than I originally thought.....

[ib516]

blofgren wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

LanceRKeys wrote:
Hannibal, what are you towing with your 5.4? I like the sound of a V8 working hard as well, but also like how I can put my diesel in 6th gear, set the cruise and just chew up the miles. I’m sure these new gas engines would pull just as well as my diesel. I just hope it is a long time before I have to make that choice!

Well looked at Hannibal's signature. He doesn't really need a diesel. Less than 9,000# is NOT heavy! Lets add 4,000# to that and see if he has the same feelings?

2017 Jayco 28RLS TT
Weights
Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs) 6,405
Dry Hitch Weight (lbs) 700
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (lbs) 8,750
Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs) 2,345
Measurements
Exterior Length 32' 5"
Exterior Width 96"
Exterior Height with A/C 134"
Interior Height 81"
Wheel Base 252"

Exactly; I was at that weight 2 fivers ago and there is a BIG difference from that point and the 16k lbs that I am at now. Add in the extreme mountain passes here in BC and I would NOT want to tow my current fiver with a gasser.

And for the record, I'm not a gas hater (I'm shopping for one now to tow my boat).

If I was towing 16k over mountain passes regularly, I'd go for the diesel and suck up the negatives for the exhaust brake and extra towing power.

[kw_00]

I like the current series gas jobs now, so I’m sure when GM rolls out the new 6.6 as well as the others, they will be impressive. I don’t mind pulling with the gas jobs. I like diesels as well, but with the emissions, and the common issues we have at work with them, I just don’t want to deal with them. So to the OP current gas jobs are great, newer ones next year or so will be better from what we are told. If you can hold out then great, if not the current gas offerings are all good!

[Hannibal]

LanceRKeys wrote:
Hannibal, what are you towing with your 5.4? I like the sound of a V8 working hard as well, but also like how I can put my diesel in 6th gear, set the cruise and just chew up the miles. I’m sure these new gas engines would pull just as well as my diesel. I just hope it is a long time before I have to make that choice!

8500~ with our previous KZ Jag 28FJSS 5th wheel. Around 8k now with the TT. We run 60-65mph in O/D at 2k~rpm on the flats. Any incline will put it in 4th direct drive at 2800~rpm. The rare grade will put it in 3rd at 3800-4200rpm. Monteagle Pass puts us in line with the OTR trucks at 45~mph.
I have no doubt the newer diesels will out tow their gas counterparts. It's tge rest of the equation that's the turn off.

[Hannibal]

blofgren wrote:


And for the record, I'm not a gas hater (I'm shopping for one now to tow my boat).

Why not just tow the boat with you diesel pickup?

[MFL]

rhagfo wrote:

LanceRKeys wrote:
Hannibal, what are you towing with your 5.4? I like the sound of a V8 working hard as well, but also like how I can put my diesel in 6th gear, set the cruise and just chew up the miles. I’m sure these new gas engines would pull just as well as my diesel. I just hope it is a long time before I have to make that choice!

Well looked at Hannibal's signature. He doesn't really need a diesel. Less than 9,000# is NOT heavy! Lets add 4,000# to that and see if he has the same feelings?

2017 Jayco 28RLS TT
Weights
Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs) 6,405
Dry Hitch Weight (lbs) 700
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (lbs) 8,750
Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs) 2,345
Measurements
Exterior Length 32' 5"
Exterior Width 96"
Exterior Height with A/C 134"
Interior Height 81"
Wheel Base 252"

Russ, to be fair, the thread is more about the newer gas engines. While the 5.4 was a good engine, it cannot be compared to the power of the 6.2, and the newer 6-speed, also much improved over the previous transmissions. A 6.2 with 4.30 gears would be very capable of towing 13K. Even though the 6.2/4.30 is rated to tow a 15K FW, I also would choose a diesel at that weight and up.

Jerry

[Hannibal]

Fwiw, we were still towing our 10,440 lb weighed 99 Jayco 293RKS 5th wheel when we traded our 03 Cummins Ram for the 05 Hemi 2500HD. The 05 345hp Hemi out towed the 03 SO 250hp Cummins 2500HD. Both towed as fast as I wanted to run.