Ram 3500 DRW 6.4L Hemi "Game Changer"
Truck Camper Magazine article and review HERE 18.2 mpg empty and 12.8 mpg with a 4700# slide in camper on board with 3.73s. That's with a dually! The truck has 5800# plus payload and would hav...
Forum Discussion
wintersun wrote:
People always seem to assume that with a heavy truck the 3.73 gears are going to provide better fuel economy than 4.10 gears in real world use when there is no reason to believe this is true.
I always emphasize the importance of transmission internal ratios when comparing rear end ratios.
The 66/68RE has a relatively tall 1st gear, and benefit heavily from a deep rear end such as 4.10. The 8 spd ZF on the other hand, has a super deep 1st gear (4.7:1), and can easily get away with a 3.21 rear end, all else being equal.
The B Class Roadtreker motorhomes with their Mercedes 5-cylinder diesel engines get 25 to 28 MPG in actual use with them fully loaded and passengers on board. That is more than double the fuel economy of the Ram with the camper.
Somewhat apples to oranges though, as the truck is many times more capable than the camper. An empty 1st gen Sprinter was rated to tow 5000lbs, the conversion would be lucky to pull 2000 lbs with 154 hp.
The 410 hp Hemi can run circles around it pulling a trailer 3 times that weight while carrying the camper...
