How heavy are you towing with your Ram 6.4

[mrad]

I currently have a V10 excursion with 4.30's that we may be replacing. The X tows my 10,500 TT quite well. I' m wondering how the 6.4 Dodge would do towing this setup.

I have come across a couple of 2014 2500 Dodges with the 6.4 that have caught my eye. I have read where some of the 2500's have a 4000 lb payload. This seems quite high. For those of you with 6.4's, how heavy of loads are you towing and how does the truck handle it? If we decided to move up to a 5th wheel in the future, how much more could the 6.4 comfortably tow?

[nirion]

I have a 6.4 with the 4.10s. My 5vr is about 12k loaded. It pulls it ok. Longest trip was from Ohio to Florida. I spent more time in 2nd gear in the mountains in WV than I would have liked, but it handled it, even if it only got 7mpg.
I am currently torn between keeping it and going back to a diesel. My last diesel was an 03 Ram with a manual transmission.

[whjco]

I have a part-time job driving charter buses. Last year, I was driving a bus down I-64 and merged just in front of a shiny Black Ram 2500 pulling a mid-sized 5th wheel RV. Our buses are governored for 72 mph and that Ram stayed right behind me uphill and downhill. I was thinking about what a good job that Cummins was doing. I slowed down for a construction zone and he finally passed me. I was quite surprised to see "Hemi" on the front fender. I was rather impressed, too!

[IdaD]

CampingN.C. wrote:
With the CTD being an $8,000 option you could sure regear for much less. I would love to hear a report from someone with a 6.4 and 4.30 running gears.

On the build sheets it's only it's only a $6900 upcharge to go from the 6.4 to the Cummins ($1400 for the 6.4 vs $8300 for the CTD). From what I found when I was shopping them, the real world difference is less than that because there's a little more room to discount the Cummins. Current pricing on comparable trucks at Dennis Dillon (where I bought last year) shows about a $5k premium for the Cummins over the 6.4.

I don't know what a re-gear costs, but obviously it would further eat into that $5k difference.

[CampingN_C_]

With the CTD being an $8,000 option you could sure regear for much less. I would love to hear a report from someone with a 6.4 and 4.30 running gears.

[mtofell1]

Yep, the 1-2 gap can seem like a mile when I pull up a curvy mountain road. With my 3.73 gears I see the shift at around 25-30 during heavy pulls. Even higher if I really push it. I usually just live with it and stick to 25 rather than just letting it go back and forth. Keep mind this is a super curvy steep road. Just everyday uphill trying to get up to speed is no problem.

2nd gear is a great puller for highways/freeways. I can't remember exactly but I think I'm at around 4,000RPM @ 55-60mph. So, I can pretty much maintain a nice highway speed and even pass slower trucks heading up some pretty good hills.

The 4.10s would have been better but are hard to find. I'd imagine the 1-2 shift would be closer to 25 and the 2-3 closer to 50.

I've been hauling an 8500# loaded TT but just bought a 5th wheel. It's 9K dry so I'm thinking about 10,500-11,000# all loaded up. Puts me pretty close to the truck's max numbers (payload and total towing). Haven't picked it up yet but I will report here after I've got a few miles under my belt. At some point I may end up with a Cummins or I'm even entertaining the idea of a gear swap. I may look into skipping the 4.10s and going right to 4.30 or whatever the next step up is.

[Bedlam]

There is a big difference in ratios between first and second gear. Given the right terrain and load, it may hunt between these gears with no middle available.

66RFE Ratios:
1st 3.231:1
2nd 1.837:1
3rd 1.410:1
4th 1.000:1
5th 0.816:1
6th 0.625:1
Reverse 4.444:1

[mrad]

CampingN.C. wrote:
I also think you'll be OK with the 6.4. I was very close to buying one myself. Currently I'm only towing around 9K so yes the diesel is an overkill for me, but of course we're already looking at 5ers.
There was a long time poster on here that did many good write ups on the 6.4 as well as some videos. Here's one
Search the forums for ib516.
Also try using Google for threads on here. Example, type in (6.4 Hemi RV.NET) in the Google search bar.

I did read one post where it sound like the vehicle shifted from high RPM's to low RPMs where the truck would lug. I was a bit confused on how this could happen. My X only has a 4 speed and I have never had an issue. I would have thought a 6 speed would have less of a drop in RPM's

[autorot8]

I tow around 8500 lbs, but have been as heavy as 18.5k -19k combined climbing through the mountain passes of California and Oregon and easily maintained 55 in 3rd. I live at 4000' and have to climb whenever I go anywhere. I have no problems or regrets.

[CampingN_C_]

I also think you'll be OK with the 6.4. I was very close to buying one myself. Currently I'm only towing around 9K so yes the diesel is an overkill for me, but of course we're already looking at 5ers.
There was a long time poster on here that did many good write ups on the 6.4 as well as some videos. Here's one
Search the forums for ib516.
Also try using Google for threads on here. Example, type in (6.4 Hemi RV.NET) in the Google search bar.

[Bedlam]

I think you will be happy with the 6.4 until you hit thinner air at elevation - That is where I find my diesel really does well. I was strongly considering replacing my previous diesel with a current gasser if it wasn't for all the climbs I do on most trips.

Read up on the ratio gap in the automatic transmission. You do not get another choice with the 6.4 unless you go to the chassis cab, so this is something you need to test drive and see if it works for you.

[spoon059]

Bobandshawn wrote:
the diesel models are only available with the 3.42 gear ratio. My 6.4 has the 4.10 ratio.

Just curious what this has to do with anything? The diesel is rated 1500 lbs higher towing. The Cummins with the 3.42 has more than enough power to move 25K lbs GVWR...

[mowin]

2014 3500 SRW 6.4 3:73 gears. Tow a 12,000# Keystone Laredo 5er. 2150# pin wt.
Pulls it just fine. Get 18 hwy empty, and 10ish towing.
The 4100# of payload is great.

[mrad]

Kevin O. wrote:
Just curious why you wouldn't consider a diesel? Especially if you are thinking of switching to a 5th wheel in the future..

I have never owned a diesel but have considered one and have not eliminated it.

With that said, after never having experienced the power of a diesel, I am more than satisfied with the 2003 V10 4.30. Three years ago we pulled our combo through Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. I was more than please with the performance. I hit a cat scale and the combo weighed in at a shade under 18,000. I was able to hold 55+ on all inclines but one where I dropped to 45-50 mph. I am assuming the newer technology and more gears in the tranny, that the New Ram 6.4's would tow at least as good and probably better than my current rig and probably do a bit better on mileage. I avg 7.8-8.5 without babying it. Non towing has only gotten better than 11mpg once.

[Bobandshawn]

I got a Mega Cab short bed 4X4 with the 6.4. It was a 2015 model and discounted 10K off sticker. Pretty much fully loaded Big Horn. If the diesel came with a better payload or towing capacity than the 6.4 I may of debated the $6,000 extra cost. the diesel models are only available with the 3.42 gear ratio. My 6.4 has the 4.10 ratio. Currently I tow a bumper pull Keystone that weighs perhaps 8200 lbs going down the road. We will be getting a fifth wheel hopefully sometime soon. I'm looking at something like the Cougar 327RES with a dry hitch weight of under 1900 lbs. BTW, per the Ram towing chart the diesel version of my Ram has a cargo capacity of 1,974 lbs and towing capacity of 15,000. The 6.4 truck has a cargo capacity of 2,903 and towing capacity of 15,250. If you move to the 3500 truck the numbers change quite a bit. The diesel 3500 SRW has a cargo capacity of 4,273 lbs and can tow 16,800 lbs. The 6.4 3500 SRW has a cargo capacity of 4,375 and can tow 15,500. Again, even on the 3500 SRW you can only get the 3.42 gears with the diesel.
So you need to consider closely if you want a 3/4 ton Ram in a diesel due to the small cargo capacity. It's funny how many folks I see out here with the newer 3/4 tom diesel rams towing trailers that have to have a hitch weight close to a ton over the trucks capacity.
One feature that comes with the 6.4 models which I find annoying is, if you have the GPS NAV stuff while towing every time you get within 1 mile of a gas station the turn signal automatically comes on and the gal on the NAV tells you to "turn in one mile". LOL joke, I get like 9 MPG towing the little trailer. I have only towed it a couple hundred miles though so it could get better. I get between 11-12 MPG around town and 17-18 on the autobahn. I know it gets worse mileage that the diesel and lacks that huge torque, but for the $6,000 difference in price I can afford to pay a little extra for fuel and I don't buy DEF. And technically I can haul more than a diesel.