What is your speed uphill?

[speediq99]

We are new to the 5th wheel world.

My 32ft MH f450 was very slow going up hills (6%). It will keep 45mph.

Our 2021 F150 32ft TT combo could do 65mph on the same hills with ease.

I don't want to win any races but I hated the motorhome going up hill and loved the F150 with the TT.

We now have a 2022 Ram 3500 4.1 gears Diesel LB and are buying a 44ft 5th wheel (14,000 dry).

Most videos I have seen (2019) have people flooring the RAM and getting to 45mph on 6% hills towing 28K lbs. What can I expect towing 16k? Does the RAM have enough power to keep up good speed going up hill? If so, what are you towing and what is your tow vehicle?

It looks like newer F350 and F450 can get up to 70mph up hills better than RAM 3500 but the stuff I have been watching could be biased. What is your experience?

Thanks

MC

[way2roll]

ford truck guy wrote:
my 2020 1 ton W/6.7 loves pulling my 42' fifth wheel up hills..... What a beast, this combination of 6.7 and the 10 speed has made for an awesome tow vehicle !!!

Same here. My 2020 F350 6.7 w/10 speed doesn't break a sweat pulling our FW anywhere. It's happier towing.

[Cummins12V98]

Maybe you should hook up get out there and report back to us. Too many variables.

Not sure why you would be asking this important info to you AFTER buying the truck.

[LanceRKeys]

I run my 2001 up to just under 1200 on the EGT gauge and just hold it there. Last pass I was at about 40mph or so, I just got in behind another truck and went to the top and admired the new diesels as they went on by. These new trucks are just amazing!

[valhalla360]

Bigger issue is get caught behind a semi doing 30-40mph, then getting back up to speed.

Assuming it's not a 20mile climb, we usually just settle in line with the semis and you should have no problem keeping up with them.

[blofgren]

And remember there are some trucks that may pull the hill a bit slower, but will do it reliably mile after mile, year after year....;)

[4x4ord]

speediq99 wrote:
We are new to the 5th wheel world.

My 32ft MH f450 was very slow going up hills (6%). It will keep 45mph.

Our 2021 F150 32ft TT combo could do 65mph on the same hills with ease.

I don't want to win any races but I hated the motorhome going up hill and loved the F150 with the TT.

We now have a 2022 Ram 3500 4.1 gears Diesel LB and are buying a 44ft 5th wheel (14,000 dry).

Most videos I have seen (2019) have people flooring the RAM and getting to 45mph on 6% hills towing 28K lbs. What can I expect towing 16k? Does the RAM have enough power to keep up good speed going up hill? If so, what are you towing and what is your tow vehicle?

It looks like newer F350 and F450 can get up to 70mph up hills better than RAM 3500 but the stuff I have been watching could be biased. What is your experience?

Thanks

MC

It will take about 400 hp to pull a 16000 lb trailer (plus 9000 lb truck) up a 6% grade at 60 mph. The Ram with 3.73 gears would be running around 2350 rpm at 60 mph where it should be capable of making 410 horsepower. So you might not win a race up to the top of the mountain but you're not going to be crawling up the hill either.

[Edd505]

My 2015 loves pulling my 36ft 14K loaded up any grade.

[ford_truck_guy]

my 2020 1 ton W/6.7 loves pulling my 42' fifth wheel up hills..... What a beast, this combination of 6.7 and the 10 speed has made for an awesome tow vehicle !!!

[StirCrazy]

I pull a 42 foot 5th and coming up the coquahalla in the grade 6 areas I can maintain 75 (speed limit) pretty much but the grade 9 and 11 sections slow me down to about 55 in a stock 2014 f350 diesel.

Steve

[Me_Again]

24,500 lbs combined I never had a issue of going slow on Western mountain pass with my 2015 3500 Ram 4x4 SRW HO.

[richclover]

“…Most videos I have seen (2019) have people flooring the RAM and getting to 45mph on 6% hills towing 28K lbs. What can I expect towing 16k? Does the RAM have enough power to keep up good speed going up hill? If so, what are you towing and what is your tow vehicle?…”

I’m towing about 12,000 lbs. No problem holding 65-70 on some significant hills. Parleys Canyon, I-80 east of Salt Lake and the “Sisters”, I-80 east of Evanston, Wy, come to mind. Along with Scipio Pass and similar on I15 in UT. The Cummins doesn’t care, just more fuel and DEF ;). My 5’er tires are rated at 75 mph.

[jfritz_drfritz]

I would relax about the speed. I doubt that there would be more than 5 mph difference between the various brands. If going 70 mph up any reasonable grade is your important criteria then get a class 8 truck with an 18 speed and the biggest engine option and numerically low differential

[Diamond_c]

We have a 2020 f250 with a 6.7l diesel pulling a41 ft 5th wheel. I don’t know what the grade are but we pull every hill and mountain between Nashville and Gatlinburg at posted speed limits, or mabe a little more.

[KD4UPL]

I generally drive (towing or not) at the posted speed limit. Be it 45 or 70 that's what I try to run. The one exception is when towing my flat bed trailer which has tires only rated for 65 MPH.
Depending on which truck, which trailer, and which hill I may or may not be able to maintain the posted speed limit. I use every bit of throttle, HP, RPM, whatever to keep my speed as close to the posted limit as I can. If I'm towing the boat with my Duramax truck I could probably run 80 MPH up the mountain if I really wanted too. If I've got an excavator on the flatbed behind a gas powered truck then on some mountains 35 MPH is all it will do with my foot flat on the floor.

[Lwiddis]

I ascend at 55 in California and 60 in other states. Could go faster but I’m not interested. Forty-five isn’t bad and if I get caught behind a 45er, no problem.