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.

[goducks10]

I have the same truck with 4.10's. I'd do those short trips any day.

[LanceRKeys]

If your good on payload, you’ll be fine for such a short distance. I wouldn’t think elevation would be an issue either.

[ib516]

trofeo16 wrote:
so I'm sure this topic has been completely exhausted but wanted to specifically ask about the a fiver with my 2018 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 Hemi. I currently tow a Travel Trailer (vibe 308bh). Dry weight of 7300 and loaded about 9k. I travel off long island once or twice a year to maryland at the farthest. Most of my camping is withing 40 miles. I am considering getting a Grand Design 311BH. Dry weight of 11,300 and a pin weight of 2000. I know i'm good with payload but what do you think about towing a rig that heavy with the hemi?

Probably best to start a new thread and include all info such as the truck's axle ratio and the RV's GVWR in addition to what you have posted above.

[trofeo16]

so I'm sure this topic has been completely exhausted but wanted to specifically ask about the a fiver with my 2018 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 Hemi. I currently tow a Travel Trailer (vibe 308bh). Dry weight of 7300 and loaded about 9k. I travel off long island once or twice a year to maryland at the farthest. Most of my camping is withing 40 miles. I am considering getting a Grand Design 311BH. Dry weight of 11,300 and a pin weight of 2000. I know i'm good with payload but what do you think about towing a rig that heavy with the hemi?

[otrfun]

FishOnOne wrote:
Running these trucks with ~40psi compared to ~65psi increases tire wear rate.

We haven't found this to be true with our '16 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7. With 40-45 psi in our rear tires, truck totally empty (approx. 3k on the rear axle), there's still a slight loss of road/tire contact on the very outer edges of the rear tires. Increasing rear tire pressure to 65-70 psi with the truck totally empty, we lose even more road/tire contact on the outer edges of the tire. Hard to get even wear if a portion of the tire is not contacting the road.

[Grit_dog]

You’re correct Chris. My statement was in general to the door sticker psi crowd.

[ShinerBock]

I lowered the TPMS threshold using AlfaOBD app on my phone. Had to get my PIN number from the dealer to access the RF hub, and then set the minimum psi to 40 both front and rear. No more TPMS light.

[Me_Again]

Grit dog wrote:
^ Im sure he means 40psi in the rear tires. And that does not increase tire wear. 40psi in front of a diesel on stock ish size tires is very squishy. Even the most uninformed would notice an issue with that.
60F/40R give or take based on load, road conditions, seasons, tire size and type is the RIGHT ballpark for pressure on unladen HD pickups. This is only debateable if one is obtuse, ignorant or....yup just those 2 reasons.

60-65 in the front all the time. The load on the front axle is pretty static. Post of inflation table ended with "rear axle"! RAM 3500's have no tire pressure nanny. I just scroll down the EVIC screen from time to time to verify tire pressures.

Chris

[2012Coleman]

ib516 wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:
I just upgraded (last week) from a 2017 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi to a 2018 Ram 3500 CTD SRW Aisin trans. There is no difference in the ride while not towing - daily driver for commuting to work and back.

Exactly opposite to my experience in comparing the empty ride of a 2014 Ram 2500 Hemi to a 2014 Ram 3500 SRW CTD. Identical trucks other than the 2500/3500 and the engine. The 3500 empty was punishing compared to the 2500 with the coils. Small choppy bumps were where the difference was most evident.

I'm running 65 psi in the rear tires while empty. Took my wife out to dinner the other night in it and to my surprise, she stated that she thought that the 2500 ride was much harsher. I didn't say a word... :@

[FishOnOne]

Grit dog wrote:
^ Im sure he means 40psi in the rear tires. And that does not increase tire wear. 40psi in front of a diesel on stock ish size tires is very squishy. Even the most uninformed would notice an issue with that.
60F/40R give or take based on load, road conditions, seasons, tire size and type is the RIGHT ballpark for pressure on unladen HD pickups. This is only debateable if one is obtuse, ignorant or....yup just those 2 reasons.

My TPM light turns on at 50psi so either ignore it or keep your tire pressure above it's threshold.

On my 05 Super Duty I started off running ~50psi in the rears (no TPM)and got around 40k miles. On my third set of the same tires I ran 65 psi and got around 60k miles.

[Grit_dog]

^ Im sure he means 40psi in the rear tires. And that does not increase tire wear. 40psi in front of a diesel on stock ish size tires is very squishy. Even the most uninformed would notice an issue with that.
60F/40R give or take based on load, road conditions, seasons, tire size and type is the RIGHT ballpark for pressure on unladen HD pickups. This is only debateable if one is obtuse, ignorant or....yup just those 2 reasons.

[FishOnOne]

Me Again wrote:

Walaby wrote:
Sold my 2014 2500 CTD, bought a brand new 2017 3500 CTD.

It does ride harsher to me (coil spring vs leaf spring), but when I reduced the air pressure in the rear tires from 75 to 50, it softens it up quite a bit. Air up for towing, air down for driving.

Mike

I run my 2015 at around 42-44 lbs empty.

LT275/70R18 and LT285/60R20
PSI RATING
35 2070
40 2270
45 2470
50 2680
55 2840
60 3020
65 3195
70 3360
75 3530
80 3640

Even at 40 lbs inflation you have the capacity of about 1000 lbs more than the empty rear axle.

Running these trucks with ~40psi compared to ~65psi increases tire wear rate.

[MikeRP]

Hey

Congrats on the new truck! Vern is the expert on the Ecodiesel for sure! My brother and I had 2 of those one red one grey. We both drove for ove 50000 miles. I loved that truck. 26.5 mpg was my average the day I traded her in.

Now we have Ram 3500 CC SB one red and one grey. His has the 6.4l Hemi mine has the Aisin HO. We think the CTD may ride a bit better. I love his 6.4l, drives great plenty of power and handles awesome. It’s a keeper.

Good Luck!

[goducks10]

Newer Ram 2500's have a 65 PSI low limit on the TPMS. Unless you get a device to change the TPMS low PSI level then you will get a constant startup message if the PSI goes lower than 65. I don't think the 3500 has that problem.
Also there's no light/heavy load button like on my 12 2500.

[Me_Again]

Walaby wrote:
Sold my 2014 2500 CTD, bought a brand new 2017 3500 CTD.

It does ride harsher to me (coil spring vs leaf spring), but when I reduced the air pressure in the rear tires from 75 to 50, it softens it up quite a bit. Air up for towing, air down for driving.

Mike

I run my 2015 at around 42-44 lbs empty.

LT275/70R18 and LT285/60R20
PSI RATING
35 2070
40 2270
45 2470
50 2680
55 2840
60 3020
65 3195
70 3360
75 3530
80 3640

Even at 40 lbs inflation you have the capacity of about 1000 lbs more than the empty rear axle.