4x4ord
Explorer III
Joined Dec 23, 2010
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Re: Tow Haul Mode
Using Tow/Haul is not going to affect fuel economy while towing and you are definitely not going to go wrong using it for all your towing. However, with a new F350 diesel towing a lighter tag trailer, something under 8k lbs, tow haul is hardly needed. If you find it more comfortable to tow light trailers set to "normal" I'd recommend using "normal" for towing. Activating the Exhaust brake affects the shift points to some degree as well. Sometimes with a light trailers I'll use "normal" and no exhaust brake, sometimes "normal" plus EB. With a heavy trailer I usually use Tow/Haul with the EB set to "auto". If just driving on flat ground at slow speeds I will sometimes set the truck to normal no EB even with a moderately heavy trailer, (I consider my fiver a moderately heavy trailer at about 16000 lbs).1.2KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Finally! RAM gets a competitive transmission behind the Big C!
I agree that this ZF is great for Ram guys. What I am getting at with my previous post is that the additional gears alone don’t provide much in the way of fuel economy or speed up a hill. A 3.14 : 1 final drive behind this ZF would provide the same oomph to get a load moving as 4.10 gears behind the Aisin. So, Ram guys need to realize that to get a fuel efficiency benefit they need to select a much higher final drive to go along with the 8 speed. As far as speed up the hill goes, the HO Cummins won’t benefit from more gears the way an engine like the Duramax does because he HO Cummins makes very similar HP at 2000 rpm as it does at 2800 rpm. Unless Cummins bumps its power rating up, a 4.10 equipped 6 speed behind the Cummins is going to pull a hill very similar to a 4.10 equipped 8 speed up that same hill.1.9KViews0likes1CommentRe: Finally! RAM gets a competitive transmission behind the Big C!
The ZF is an amazing transmission which is something to get a little excited about but really unless the Cummins gets a big boost in HP the two more gears isn't going to make it any faster up the hill. Nor is 8 speeds vs 6 going to get the Ram any better fuel economy unless a much higher speed rear end is coupled to that ZF..... a 3.26 final drive would be nice.2.1KViews0likes3CommentsRe: Center of Gravity Truck Camper
I don’t know weights or dimensions of the campers or your truck but just taking a WAG say a camper has a weight of 4500 lbs and places its COG 8” behind the rear axle. The said camper will cause a moment of force of 4500 x 8 inch lbs in a clockwise direction about your rear axle. If your truck has a wheel base of 176” the weight being lifted off your trucks front axle would be 4500 x 8/176 or 205 lbs. That would be approximately equivalent to the weight taken off your front axle when a trailer with a tongue weight of 750 lbs is placed on a ball hitch located 48” behind your rear axle.1.8KViews2likes1CommentRe: I'm curious to know what you would do?
spoon059 wrote: So in theory, over 4000 lbs payload are possible, especially with lower lower trim levels. Those are pretty good numbers. The payload rating is kind of a fabricated number in my opinion. I think the lower trim levels and or lighter engine options have lower GVWR numbers. I think you can get a little over 4000 lbs payload but not a whole bunch. (Get a lariat to get the 20” wheels but no sun roof for instance) I believe you need the long bed, the 20” wheels and the diesel engine to get the 12400 gvwr. As an example of why I think the payload numbers are kind of fabricated take a look at my shortbox. It has the same strength frame, the same wheels/tires/brakes and the same suspension as a long box. So it certainly isn’t going to hurt anything for me to load my truck as though I have the same 12400 lb gvwr as the long box. And because the short box is probably about 200 lbs lighter than the long box ….. one could argue the shortbox should be able to carry a couple hundred lbs more than the long bed….. Although even if my shortbox had a 12400 gvwr it still wouldn’t be able to handle as heavy of pin as the long box. (The long box has less weight on its rear axle when empty)1.8KViews0likes0CommentsRe: I'm curious to know what you would do?
^^^You are correct. I think the diesel F350 crew cab long box with 20” wheels has a gvwr of 12400 lbs. The diesel long box super cab with 20” rims is 12300 lbs. I’m pretty sure all the 4x4 F350 diesels have the same rear springs and axle ….. the longer wheel base puts less weight on the rear suspension which I think is why the give a little greater gvwr to the longer wheel base trucks.1.8KViews0likes0Comments
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