How well does the RAM 2500 6.4 Hemi tow?

[BeerBrewer]

I'm looking for a new truck to tow an 8000 lb travel trailer and I'm torn between the 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L Hemi and 6.7L Cummins diesel. All the reviews that that I've read show that diesel will tow better than the 6.4L, so surprise there. Unfortunately, all the tests that I've read are done with at least 12,500 lbs and I'm wondering how the 6.4L hemi would do only pulling 8000 lbs.

We plan upon doing a lot of traveling out west, so we'll be towing up and down a lot of steep grades and I was hoping to hear some real world towing experiences on how the 6.4L Hemi does does in that situation pulling 8000 lbs. Can it maintain it's speed up the hills and do you have to red-line the RPMs doing so? How does it do going down? Does the 4.10 rear axle do much better than the 3.73?

Thanks.

[twodownzero]

BeerBrewer wrote:
Update....I ended up leaving a deposit on a new 2018 RAM 2500 6.7L Diesel Laramie yesterday! I test drove two similarly equipped 2500 Laramie trucks, one with the 6.4L and one with the diesel. I enjoyed driving both very much and ended up going with the Diesel. I did so because its better towing and I wanted to play it safe. You see we don't yet own a trailer and I didn't want to limit our selection.

Congrats on the new truck. Given that you got a 3/4 ton, I can only assume that your original post looking for a travel trailer and not a 5th wheel is what you're after. Otherwise I would strongly recommend a 1 ton truck; the 3/4 ton is going to greatly limit your selection of 5th wheel trailers due to pin weight. In fact, I would recommend a 1 ton regardless.

[ShinerBock]

BeerBrewer wrote:
Update....I ended up leaving a deposit on a new 2018 RAM 2500 6.7L Diesel Laramie yesterday! I test drove two similarly equipped 2500 Laramie trucks, one with the 6.4L and one with the diesel. I enjoyed driving both very much and ended up going with the Diesel. I did so because its better towing and I wanted to play it safe. You see we don't yet own a trailer and I didn't want to limit our selection.

Awesome, congrats!

[ShinerBock]

FishOnOne wrote:

This is not the first time this minor detail has been left out on this particular truck. Having said that I think ~350k miles on a light duty diesel engine is pretty good service.

I think so too. Going 350k in that kind of duty cycle is impressive for a light duty timing chain driven diesel. Especially if the CP4 pump, turbo, or injectors were never replaced in that time frame. If it were able to go 500k like the HD diesels can easily do then that would really be impressive, but that was not the case.

[BeerBrewer]

Update....I ended up leaving a deposit on a new 2018 RAM 2500 6.7L Diesel Laramie yesterday! I test drove two similarly equipped 2500 Laramie trucks, one with the 6.4L and one with the diesel. I enjoyed driving both very much and ended up going with the Diesel. I did so because its better towing and I wanted to play it safe. You see we don't yet own a trailer and I didn't want to limit our selection.

[VernDiesel]

Really FishOnOne. You must read what you want into what has been written. The motor has been covered here several times sometimes it is not a relevant part of the conversation such as here when what we were talking about was the strength & reliability of the 8 speed transmission. You may also have noticed I have incorporated it into my signature so that this detail can’t be used to create some kind of narrative.

[FishOnOne]

ShinerBock wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:
Yeah. Because having to replace an engine at 371,500 miles when it is used almost exclusively for towing is pretty embarrassing.....

Vern, you should know by know that all those 3.0 diesels are worthless. Your low mileage before overhaul proves that......:R

For a diesel truck, yes that is low miles for a full engine replacement compared to the HD diesel in the same driving conditions. That is why someone stated that knowing this changes things.

As I said. I am not knocking his truck, but it should be stated when talking about that amount of miles so people don't get the wrong impression as they clearly did here. It is just something that I would do as well if it were my truck just like my dad does when talking about his old 97 F150 with 270k on the truck and 90k on the 2nd engine.

This is not the first time this minor detail has been left out on this particular truck. Having said that I think ~350k miles on a light duty diesel engine is pretty good service.

[Waunacamper]

I tow the TT in my signature at around 8500lbs and the truck does really well. It will pull in 5th gear most of the time, seldom does it go down to 3rd. Have pulled some decent hills but nothing really big yet. I have no doubt it would do fine. It will not pull like a diesel but I don't expect it to. I will usually get in the low 9 mpg wise. I think the new 8 speed tranny will make a big difference in towability.

[Bionic_Man]

twodownzero wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:

twodownzero wrote:

Dave H M wrote:

I cold never maintain 70 mph up a 6% grade with the old diesel nor the 2012 6.2 Ford.

What were you pulling? I don't think I've ever shifted below direct gear on any grade at highway speed, and I have never been unable to maintain 70 mph.

Come to Colorado.

I'm in Colorado several times a year and I live in New Mexico. By the way, the steepest highway grades are in Utah, not Colorado, and I've driven all of those, too.

You must have been pulling something seriously heavy if you couldn't maintain 70 mph in a modern diesel truck.

Somewhere I got in my head that the weight in question was 12,000 pounds. Which you will not pull at 70 MPH up either Eisenhower or Vail pass. I would still question 70 MPH with 8000 pounds over either of those passes, but it is plausible with the new diesels.

[CharlesinGA]

Your specific intention to travel "out west" means you will be operating at altitudes anywhere from 2500 ft to 8000 ft plus above sea level. This is turbo charger country and the diesel will be right at home. A 3.5L Ecodiesel F-150 will also be right at home. A normally aspirated engine, not so much.

Gayle Banks makes a point of this in his recent video where he takes his 8.1L Suburban up Mt. Wilson, to demonstrate horsepower loss with altitude.

Charles

[ShinerBock]

twodownzero wrote:

Dave H M wrote:

I cold never maintain 70 mph up a 6% grade with the old diesel nor the 2012 6.2 Ford.

What were you pulling? I don't think I've ever shifted below direct gear on any grade at highway speed, and I have never been unable to maintain 70 mph.

A better question would be is how old was his "old diesel". According to the math, I show that even 370 hp (which is currently the lowest hp rating in an automatic HD pickup) will tow a combined(truck and trailer) 19,000 lbs at 70 mph up a 6% grade. If his "old diesel" was a old 7.3L, then it wouldn't be able to pull that much weight at stock power levels. It would only be able to tow a combined 10,000 lbs up a 6% grade at 70 mph with its 250 hp.

[twodownzero]

Bionic Man wrote:

twodownzero wrote:

Dave H M wrote:

I cold never maintain 70 mph up a 6% grade with the old diesel nor the 2012 6.2 Ford.

What were you pulling? I don't think I've ever shifted below direct gear on any grade at highway speed, and I have never been unable to maintain 70 mph.

Come to Colorado.

I'm in Colorado several times a year and I live in New Mexico. By the way, the steepest highway grades are in Utah, not Colorado, and I've driven all of those, too.

You must have been pulling something seriously heavy if you couldn't maintain 70 mph in a modern diesel truck.

[ShinerBock]

I wonder if the V6 guys in the Dodge Challenger forums use the same argument on the 6.4L V8 Challenger guys. "Who cares it if is more powerful and fun to drive, you will never recoup the upfront cost and your gas bill is higher. I don't need that much power"

I am pretty sure the 6.4L Challenger guys would say the same thing the diesel guys are saying right now.

[kirkl]

mlh wrote:
I've seen all sorts of opinions about this one way or another. Here's my two cents. I had a brand new 1/2 ton ecodiesel. It was eight months old. I bought a travel trailer weighing in the 8000-8500# range. I towed it home from the dealer and traded the truck the next day. The ecodiesel struggled towing that much weight, not to mention, it did not have enough payload. I bought the 6.4 crew 4x4 with 3.73. It does NOT scream as others have suggested. It does NOT constantly shift as others have suggested. In tow haul, the top two gears are locked out. When in tow haul, it purrs along nicely at 2500 rpms. If I take it out of tow haul and just lock out 6th gear (in order to get an extra gear), it cruises along at 2000 rpms. Unless I'm climbing some hills, it doesn't shift back and forth. Does it pull as good as a diesel? No it will not, but I am more than happy with the way mine pulls and handles. Gas here is $1.89 and diesel is $2.99. I don't have to worry about DEF any more either. As far as maintenance goes, the diesel will cost more, contrary to other statements on this thread. The ecodiesel cost about $100 for the first oil change, and that was performing it myself as I always do. I don't even want to guess what the CTD would cost. I've always thought it would be nice to have a diesel truck, but after owning an ecodiesel (to get an idea of maintenance costs) and towing with my current 6.4, I'm not sure if I'd ever buy a diesel now.

My 2017 Ram cummins with the oil change from the dealer was $89, how much is the full synthetic in the 6.4?

[Grit_dog]

Well, winter time is in full force!
Carry on....
I’ll say this though.....you know why mfgs offer sooo many models, trim levels, drivetrain options? Not because they all s uck. It’s because they’re trying to keep up with the number of opinions on rvnet!!! Lol

[VernDiesel]

Wasn’t trying to turn this into an ED thread. As said to tow that weight TT with the half ton platform requires proper setup and is IMO at the practical max. Mine only struggles with that much weight at highway speed up a long grade but it has a tune, 3.92s & 275/55/20s. Likely in one day you didn’t take the time to dial the rig in.

With basic conservative what I call a tow tune it makes more torque than the 6.4. Main point being the 8 speed will hold up under that kind of load and will be for the many reasons listed a substantial improvement over the current transmission.