Ram 6.4L Hemi vs good ol' 8.1L

[BurbMan]

Had the flu this week so spent a lot of time sitting around watching TV and Googling stuff....I got to thinking that my next truck will probably be a well-equipped Ram 2500, crew cab, 6'4" bed, with the 6.4L Hemi.

The real question is the drivetrain....I thought briefly about the manual transmission, but the traffic around here has gotten so bad I'm afraid I don't have the patience to shift anymore. After losing 2 automatics while towing, it seems to make sense though....

I don't tow far enough or heavy enough to need a diesel, TT loaded is not quite 9k lbs. I'm thinking the 6.4 with the 4.10 rear would make a nice combo.

So obviously the Big Question is, how will it tow compared to the 8.1/4.10 combo I have now? How is the 68RFE transmission, is it durable?

I'm also not seeing ram boxes or an IBC option, are these not available on the power wagon?

The other big question is how recent model years stack up....ideally I'd like to get 14-16 truck that somebody else had paid the depreciation on.

Would appreciate any pointers from guys who know the Ram truck line...

[blofgren]

campingken wrote:
Send a PM to ib516. He owned a 6.4 with 4.10 gears that he was very happy with. Before he bought this truck he did a post on why he chose the 6.4 over a diesel (his previous truck was a 5.9 Cummins).

x2. He has several good Youtube videos on it as well.

[mtofell1]

6.4 Hemi is a good gas truck. I'm at 65K miles over the last 4 years with mine, 3.73 gears. I tow an 11K 5th wheel somewhat infrequently. The truck is good not great. 98% of my complaints are tranny related. The gear spacing sucks and the programming is terrible. There is a mile gap between 1st and 2nd and even after overcoming that, the thing just hunts for gears and does REALLY stupid shifts all the time. Manually shifting takes care of most problems.... except the 1-2 gap, or course.

As a daily driver the truck is pretty close to perfect. MPG are good considering it's a 7000# truck. 12-13 in city/mixed driving, hwy can be 20 or even more if you stay below 60. Stop/go driving and speed REALLY drop the MPGs with this thing.

My 8000# TT felt a lot better with this truck. All that said, the 11,000# 5th wheel doesn't feel unsafe or anything. Suspension and brakes are great... it's just that dumb tranny!

[VernDiesel]

This has been covered a few times here. Ram hasn’t done the 8 speed in an HD because the parking paw is not rated strong enough to hold a truck & trailer to rated capacity on a hill. This makes sense since the trans was not originally designed for a truck. Hopefully they can find a way to remedie that as it would be a great improvement mileage & towing for the HD gassers.

BTW I’m a transporter towing TTs & boats with my ED. 485 TQ 390,000 miles so far. Have taken to 15,800 CVW up & down 5&6 percent grades. It has weak transmission braking but it works well with a turbo brake to hold speed when descending grades.

[campingken]

Send a PM to ib516. He owned a 6.4 with 4.10 gears that he was very happy with. Before he bought this truck he did a post on why he chose the 6.4 over a diesel (his previous truck was a 5.9 Cummins).

[Waunacamper]

Just got back from a month in Florida. Around 3,400 miles towing, 4,000 total. Trailer weight was around 9-9,500 depending on how much fresh water I was carrying (holds 80 gal). Truck never lacks power and usually will tow in 5th gear, downshifts to 4th on hills, seldom hits 3rd gear. Not exactly climbing the Rockies I know but did hit some hills. Towing average mpg was 9.2 at 64 mph, unloaded it will get 18-19 mpg at 65 mph if ideal conditions. Pretty darn good for a 2500 truck with 4:10 gears. It is a Big Horn model pretty well loaded, payload is 2975 lbs, GVW 10,000 lbs.

[blt2ski]

If set on a Dodge, great. I'd look at the GM with the 6l90 trans. Appears to be a way better trans than the 4l80/85e like you have. I've had nothing but problems with the 4l80 or its predecessor the TH400 behind BB or TD rigs.
The mega cab does look like the biggest crew cab option.

Marty

[BurbMan]

GeoBoy wrote:
I would look for a real clean GM 2007 Classic 3500 with the 8.1 Allison combo. Proven transmission and very simple, reliable, robust motor.

I have the 8.1 now....if I'm gonna spend $$ to get a newer truck, I would like it to be newer than 11 years old, I was shooting for 2-3 years old. Wish I had the cash for The Prospector Edition, that sounds like something I would love!

[wilber1]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
I really don't understand why Ram offers the 8 spd with the 5.7 1500 and not with the 6.4 2500. They come in models that can easily handle the 6.4's torque. In fact it is the automatic option on the Hellcat which produces 650 lbft.

HP and torque are only part of the equation. I can put a cheap tranny in a 600 HP 1,500 LB dragster and it will work just fine for years. If I put that same tranny in a 600 HP 3,500 LB door slammer and it will oil down the track the first pass.

The same thing with car and truck tranny's. There is a BIG difference between a 3,500 LB car and a 20,000 LB truck and trailer!

I don't know, the 8HP90 is rated for over 700 lb ft behind a diesel. Should be plenty good enough for the 6.4's 429 lb ft.

[rjstractor]

BurbMan wrote:
The real question is the drivetrain....I thought briefly about the manual transmission, but the traffic around here has gotten so bad I'm afraid I don't have the patience to shift anymore. After losing 2 automatics while towing, it seems to make sense though....

The manual is only available with the Cummins engine, not the 6.4 Hemi.

[GeoBoy]

I would look for a real clean GM 2007 Classic 3500 with the 8.1 Allison combo. Proven transmission and very simple, reliable, robust motor.

[neschultz]

We have a 2016 RAM 2500 Tradesman crew cab, 6.4 hemi, 6’4” bed, 4 x 4, 3.73 rear. We tow 28’ almost 7000# TT with no performance or shifting issues. Hardly know it’s back there. It’s our only vehicle so we are considering trading it for a SUV and using my sons truck for towing.

[ScottG]

I don't think they're using the ZF 8 speed because they don't want to pay for it.
I have about the same weight TT and have bee giving this choice a lot of thought.
In the end I think I will go for the Cummins again. I climb mountain passes a lot and I know I would always be thinking "I should have got the Diesel". Price difference is nil over a Hemi because even a 10 y/o cummins equipped truck is worth the orig price of the diesel more when I sell. BTDT.
So the diesel ends up being a nearly no-cost upgrade in the end.

[GordonThree]

RamGuy wrote:
Good feedback guys, I'm just getting acquainted with the various trim levels. That's too bad, because the Wagon looks really bada$$.

IdaD, I'm probably not to going to the Rockies with this truck/trailer, but there are some decent grades here on the East coast too. Anybody have the 4.10 gears with the 6.4?

If you've got 80-100k to burn, there's limited production Ram 2500/3500 available, look even more bad arse than the PW

They had one at the dealership I bought mine from, called the Prospector Edition. It was a 3500 Laramie CTD, upfitted by AEV with a ton of gear. Priced well out of my ballpark.

I have the 6.4 with 4.10, 2017 btw. I've never had shifting or performance issues, but my trailer is very small and light.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

wilber1 wrote:
I really don't understand why Ram offers the 8 spd with the 5.7 1500 and not with the 6.4 2500. They come in models that can easily handle the 6.4's torque. In fact it is the automatic option on the Hellcat which produces 650 lbft.

HP and torque are only part of the equation. I can put a cheap tranny in a 600 HP 1,500 LB dragster and it will work just fine for years. If I put that same tranny in a 600 HP 3,500 LB door slammer and it will oil down the track the first pass.

The same thing with car and truck tranny's. There is a BIG difference between a 3,500 LB car and a 20,000 LB truck and trailer!

[RamGuy]

Good feedback guys, I'm just getting acquainted with the various trim levels. That's too bad, because the Wagon looks really bada$$.

IdaD, I'm probably not to going to the Rockies with this truck/trailer, but there are some decent grades here on the East coast too. Anybody have the 4.10 gears with the 6.4?