first pull with new Ram

[mountainsam]

After having our new Ram for 6 months and making one long trip without the 5er I finally had a chance to tow with it last week. I took the 5er from Clear Lake CA to Lakeport CA, which is only a bit over 20 miles to get it washed.. Then I parked in a Casino camp ground for a couple days and waxed it up good. On Friday I took it back to the storage lot, ready for a good camping trip. The short distance has a couple pretty steep pulls and down grades. WOW, it was a treat. I set t/h and the exhaust brake and a quick adjustment on the built in trailer brake controller and set back to let the truck do it's thing. I thought my 05 5.9 was great, and it was, but this new set up is designed to put a smile on your face.
Can't wait to get it out on the road again. May not be until late summer but I am ready.

[Cummins12V98]

FireGuard wrote:
The 15 HO Ram is 385hp/865tq. 370/800 for 2500 and non HO.
The Ram Cummins aren't fast off the line is because of torque management in the first 3 gears. This is so you don't destroy the drive train.
If you want fast acceleration buy a corvette.

All very true!

[Bedlam]

mountainsam wrote:
Good to hear everyone enjoying their trucks, new or not. I think my 05 was faster off the line but everything about the 14 is improvement in the towing experience. Hope to be planning a trip to Seattle in the near future. Can't remember how the highways are up there but should be some decent pulls.

Congrats to everyone with those new TV's.

Siskiyou Pass is good workout between CA and OR - The rest of the trip is just rolling hills and relatively flat. Seven Feathers Casino is a good place to stop for fuel once you are in OR.

We stayed in the Delta last year before going farther south to Needles and returning to the PNW through NV and ID.

[Bedlam]

I'm comparing the same GCW when referencing my F250 verses 5500. The 5500 is about 2500 lbs heavier than my F250 when empty, so a GVW comparison was too hard. I had the PowerStroke long enough I know how heavy I was and what type of performance it delivered. The DRW on the 5500 doesn't help performance, but the 6-speed with 4.44 differentials are an advantage over the previous 5-speed with 3.73 differentials.

The only reason for my change was to get more payload. I would have had the chassis cab tune of 6.7 PowerStroke if I had chosen the F550 at 300 hp and 660 ft-lbs. This may have been a let down compared to what I had been used to driving.

If someone has a 8-10 year old 5.9 Cummins and was going to the larger chassis cabs, they might also have similar experiences to me. If they own an older one, they may only have 215-245 hp and it would be a noticeable improvement.

I don't expect breakneck acceleration, but it is nice to get to speed faster on a freeway on-ramp or when you need a pass a slower moving vehicle. This is where I saw the my older PowerStroke better the Cummins. Others coming from a V8 GM diesels will most likely see the same when going to the I6.

[mountainsam]

Good to hear everyone enjoying their trucks, new or not. I think my 05 was faster off the line but everything about the 14 is improvement in the towing experience. Hope to be planning a trip to Seattle in the near future. Can't remember how the highways are up there but should be some decent pulls.

Congrats to everyone with those new TV's.

[FireGuard]

The 15 HO Ram is 385hp/865tq. 370/800 for 2500 and non HO.
The Ram Cummins aren't fast off the line is because of torque management in the first 3 gears. This is so you don't destroy the drive train.
If you want fast acceleration buy a corvette.

[Bionic_Man]

Bedlam wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:
Couple things. First, I will say that my 5.9 with a Smarty Jr, in a short bed crew SRW was both quicker and faster than my current truck.

2nd, if memory serves, you aren't really comparing apples to apples. Isn't the 6.7 in your 5500 tuned to lower HP and torque than the 6.7 in a 2500/3500?

My 10 year old stock 6.0 PowerStroke was 325 hp with 570 ft-lbs. The new stock 6.7 Cummins is 325 hp with 750 750 ft-lbs. I don't play with tuners and deletes.

That is kind of my point. The people talking about the big difference between a 5.9 and 6.7 CTD are using the high output 6.7 - 350 HP and 850+ torque. You are in the lower output which might explain why you might not feel the same change.

And what truck was your 6.0 in? If it was a 250/350, you are probably considerably heavier in your 5500.

I for one would not claim that the 6.7 CTD is the fastest diesel in stock form. But I do believe that is the best diesel in stock form.

[Bedlam]

Bionic Man wrote:
Couple things. First, I will say that my 5.9 with a Smarty Jr, in a short bed crew SRW was both quicker and faster than my current truck.

2nd, if memory serves, you aren't really comparing apples to apples. Isn't the 6.7 in your 5500 tuned to lower HP and torque than the 6.7 in a 2500/3500?

My 10 year old stock 6.0 PowerStroke was 325 hp with 570 ft-lbs. The new stock 6.7 Cummins is 325 hp with 750 750 ft-lbs. I don't play with tuners and deletes.

[45Ricochet]

Bionic Man wrote:


Couple things. First, I will say that my 5.9 with a Smarty Jr, in a short bed crew SRW was both quicker and faster than my current truck.

Thanks for giving me my "man card " back :B Fish can trade in trucks every 3 years or so cause he buys Ferds, Rams last 10-50 years or more :B Learned a long time ago if wife is happy, I'm happy :W Believe me she knows next year is the decade I promised, and Ram fulfilled my promise. YMMV in Texas!

[FishOnOne]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Congrats! You will be a happy man for a long time!

I loved towing with my 11 but the little I have towed with the 15 I can tell it's light years ahead of the 11!

I suppose "for a long time" is ~4 years and less than 100k miles? :R

[nohurry]

Congrats OP, sounds like your havin fun with your new truck!

We just bought our first diesel, an F350, first tow will be a 600 mile round trip from home in W. Washington to E. Washington north of Spokane over a long Memorial Day weekend. Then the big trip late June to S. Dakota. Can't wait.

[Bionic_Man]

Bedlam wrote:
It's interesting how all of the prior 5.9 Cummins owners notice big increases in the 6.7. My 6.0 PowerStroke performance was not too far off my current 6.7 Cummins. My 6.0 could out accelerate 6.7, but the 6.7 has more top end speed than my 6.0. This is even more pronounced because I was used to the PowerStroke winding up to greater RPM's on a hard pull and the multi-speed cooling fan sounding like it was a turbine.

Pulling a 4000' climb with 22k lbs GCW last weekend was uneventful and comfortable (like it should be). The climb is relatively short and steep dropping the 6-speed Aisin into 4th at the steepest section (the 5-speed TorqShift was in 3rd here). I have a 3000' climb with about 1000 lbs more coming up soon before we really load up and head to the tin air of Colorado in July.

Prior to buying my truck, I was considering going back to a gasoline engine due to cost of the diesel option. Although I have never taxed a gasser as much as I have my diesels, I don't think I would have been as happy with the 6.4 Hemi. The exhaust brake was good in the PowerStroke, but the EB in the Cummins is great.

Couple things. First, I will say that my 5.9 with a Smarty Jr, in a short bed crew SRW was both quicker and faster than my current truck.

2nd, if memory serves, you aren't really comparing apples to apples. Isn't the 6.7 in your 5500 tuned to lower HP and torque than the 6.7 in a 2500/3500?

[Bedlam]

If my previous truck had more payload, I would still have it (never did exceed GCWR). However now I don't worry about GVW or GCW and Lucy can collect all the rocks she wants on our trips (Long Long Trailer reference). My 6.0 was a statistical outlier according to some. It treated us well in our 10 years of travels and was never lacking power in the three round trips we took over the Rockies.

[NWKomfort350]

Bedlam wrote:
We haven't been over Hwy 20 with the new 6.7 Cummins, but the 6.0 PowerStroke knew it well. We just returned from Leavenworth's May Festival and are now headed to Moses Lake for some sand and water fun. We'll follow up with some sea level trips to Fidalgo Bay and Long Beach before we again hit the mountains.

My 7.3 liked 20 so much that I would have to occasionally stop along the way. Once it didn't even want to come home. I had to call a tow truck. 😉
I am very excited for the tow next week. So far, my new truck is on another level.
I drive a 14 chevy dmax very often for work. That beast tows and brakes very well.
I went to Anaheim in it last October. I was at about 25,000 GCW not a problem up or downhill.
All the new trucks are amazing!

[Bedlam]

We haven't been over Hwy 20 with the new 6.7 Cummins, but the 6.0 PowerStroke knew it well. We just returned from Leavenworth's May Festival and are now headed to Moses Lake for some sand and water fun. We'll follow up with some sea level trips to Fidalgo Bay and Long Beach before we again hit the mountains.