5.7 Hemi in a 2500??

Irishgolf17 · Mar 6, 2017

Okay, looking at a TV for a light weight 5th wheel. (11,000lbs GVWR) I have found a 2500 with a 5.7 Hemi. Does anyone have any experience towing with this set up? It has the 3.73 gear. Also what type of gas milage can one expect both everyday and towing?
Thanks!

MADDOG · Mar 6, 2017

Yup, towed a 5'vr with my 5.7L powered MegaCab, 3.73 gears. It was a real struggle. Dry weight was 8500, normally towed weight came in just under 10K. And I was very close to the GCVWR with that setup.

What's the dry and towed weight you anticipate for your trailer?

Irishgolf17 · Mar 6, 2017

Maddog, the sticker on the 5th wheel states an actual dry weight of 9005lbs. The GVMR is 10995lbs. I don't expect to reach the GVWR. However, your comment is exactly what I was affraid of. We will be doing a lot of mountain camping. I don't think it would be a good option for me in this case.

I see you now have the 6.4 Hemi. Do you tow the same 5th wheel? If so how does is the milage vs everyday driving? Why did you choose the Hemi over the Cummins?
Thanks!

2015HD · Mar 6, 2017

I haul a 6K TT with that setup and I traverse some pretty steep grades but I definitely would not want to go much heavier. With 11k 5er I'd be looking for a 3500 w/ 6.4 or Cummins. I think having a bit more truck than required makes the whole experience much more enjoyable :happy107:

mtofell · Mar 6, 2017

I tow 11K fiver with 6.4 Hemi 3.73 gears. It does good not great and I'm out west in a lot of mountain. By far the biggest annoyance is the tranny that is paired with the Hemi (66rfe). I'm not sure if the 5.7 Hemi has the same one. You'll find LOTS of threads of people complaining about the tranny and its shifting behavior. Manually shifting takes care of about 80% of the problems in my experience. Others seem to report less success and overall satisfaction.

I came from a diesel but had a smaller TT when I bought this truck. Had I been buying a truck specifically for this 5th I would have gone diesel no doubt. With that said I could afford to switch trucks but it's not bad enough for me to do it..... yet :favorites13:

Burla · Mar 6, 2017

You can tow 11k with that rig so long as it isn't a reg cab period. I wouldn't want to go over 55mph, and even less then that in the wind. Lower your speeds corrects weight issues. If you will tow that often, then you want to go up to a diesel maybe. 3500's are built better in the rear end, again it isn't a HP thing. 2 extra wheels in back will help stability a ton. 3500 5.7 will be better then 2500 with a Cummins at that weight.

69GWC · Mar 6, 2017

The 5.7 is rated at 395hp and the 6.4 at 410hp so there is not much difference really. torque is spread alittle further with the 6.4 have 429lbs and the 5.7 at 410lbs.

But the transmission is what hurts these trucks as the gesring is real high in them even with 4:10s its not what one would think it would be, it would be suited way better with 4:30s or 4:56s.
I would look to a Cummins if your going to pull that much alot.

14hemiexpress · Mar 6, 2017

69GWC said:
The 5.7 is rated at 395hp and the 6.4 at 410hp so there is not much difference really. torque is spread alittle further with the 6.4 have 429lbs and the 5.7 at 410lbs.

But the transmission is what hurts these trucks as the gesring is real high in them even with 4:10s its not what one would think it would be, it would be suited way better with 4:30s or 4:56s.
I would look to a Cummins if your going to pull that much alot.

The HD 5.7l is 383hp and 400tq. The 1500 is 395hp 410tq so your talking 30 on each now about a 8% gain.

69GWC · Mar 6, 2017

Hmm , yeah thats a little more noticeable power difference then.

NewBlackDak · Mar 6, 2017

I would be worried about the pin weight on that monster. The GVWR goes from 9000lb in a 5.7 to 10000lbs in a 6.4.

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zogg · Mar 6, 2017

I had a 2013 2500 with the 5.7 and towed an 8000 pound trailer. It struggled on everything
except flat ground. BUT, it did far better that the 2004 GMC 2500 HD with the 6.0....that was awful.

I now have the 6.4 and while there is not a lot of difference in HP or torque, something makes it different. I have little trouble except steep hills. Went from Wisconsin to sourhter Illinois last fall at 65 mph and got 8-10 mpg....pretty flat though. On hills it will gear down but not nearly as much as the 5.7

I personally would not buy the smaller motor...good luck

14hemiexpress · Mar 6, 2017

zogg said:
I had a 2013 2500 with the 5.7 and towed an 8000 pound trailer. It struggled on everything
except flat ground. BUT, it did far better that the 2004 GMC 2500 HD with the 6.0....that was awful.

I now have the 6.4 and while there is not a lot of difference in HP or torque, something makes it different. I have little trouble except steep hills. Went from Wisconsin to sourhter Illinois last fall at 65 mph and got 8-10 mpg....pretty flat though. On hills it will gear down but not nearly as much as the 5.7

I personally would not buy the smaller motor...good luck

From my understanding the 5.7 is a re tuned 1500 engine and the 6.4l is a purpose built HD engine so I'm sure they have cam and topend that's got a better power curve for towing.

GsRAM · Mar 7, 2017

Too much weight for the 5.7 imo, unless your willing to swap out the gears for a 4.30 or 4.56

Pin weight on 5vers is typically 25% of trailer weight. So at 10000lbs trailer weight, thats 2500lbs on the pin. What is the payload limit on the yellow door sticker? I think your pushing 1 ton truck weights with that monster. Unless you pack very light with people and gear in the truck.

Even my rig has 3100lbs of pay, so I'd be pushing my limits with that rig. Just my .02

NewBlackDak · Mar 7, 2017

GsRAM said:
Too much weight for the 5.7 imo, unless your willing to swap out the gears for a 4.30 or 4.56

Pin weight on 5vers is typically 25% of trailer weight. So at 10000lbs trailer weight, thats 2500lbs on the pin. What is the payload limit on the yellow door sticker? I think your pushing 1 ton truck weights with that monster. Unless you pack very light with people and gear in the truck.

Even my rig has 3100lbs of pay, so I'd be pushing my limits with that rig. Just my .02

2500lb pin is already over the payload capacity of a 5.7 2500 before you load anything else.

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GsRAM · Mar 7, 2017

NewBlackDak said:
2500lb pin is already over the payload capacity of a 5.7 2500 before you load anything else.

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Ok well, there you go. I didn't know that. Thanks

Irishgolf17 · Mar 8, 2017

GsRAM said:
Too much weight for the 5.7 imo, unless your willing to swap out the gears for a 4.30 or 4.56

Pin weight on 5vers is typically 25% of trailer weight. So at 10000lbs trailer weight, thats 2500lbs on the pin. What is the payload limit on the yellow door sticker? I think your pushing 1 ton truck weights with that monster. Unless you pack very light with people and gear in the truck.

Even my rig has 3100lbs of pay, so I'd be pushing my limits with that rig. Just my .02

The 5ver we are looking at is a light weight. It has a dry pin weight of 1348lbs. Here is what I struggle with. My 1500 has an available payload of 1548lbs. This is according to the sticker on it. Now I just left the Dodge dealership looking at a 2500 Cummins Laramie. The available payload was only 2048lbs according to the sticker. This sounds low to me. The 2500 is $58,000 compared to mine at $33,000. So I have to pay $25,000 for an extra 550lbs of payload capability??? You stated your payload is 3100lbs. According to Dodge's towing guides and the sticker I looked at on the Tradesman you would be way over. It showed an available payload of 2243lbs. What am I missing here?? I also looked at the F150 3.5Eco boost. It had a payload of 1914lbs and a cost of only $50,000. Plus towing of 11,100 for the truck I looked at..

NewBlackDak · Mar 8, 2017

Irishgolf17 said:
The 5ver we are looking at is a light weight. It has a dry pin weight of 1348lbs. Here is what I struggle with. My 1500 has an available payload of 1548lbs. This is according to the sticker on it. Now I just left the Dodge dealership looking at a 2500 Cummins Laramie. The available payload was only 2048lbs according to the sticker. This sounds low to me. The 2500 is $58,000 compared to mine at $33,000. So I have to pay $25,000 for an extra 550lbs of payload capability??? You stated your payload is 3100lbs. According to Dodge's towing guides and the sticker I looked at on the Tradesman you would be way over. It showed an available payload of 2243lbs. What am I missing here?? I also looked at the F150 3.5Eco boost. It had a payload of 1914lbs and a cost of only $50,000. Plus towing of 11,100 for the truck I looked at..

The Cummins is heavy, and eats into the payload capacity. The 6.4 will have a higher payload capacity.
You can't compare a 6.7 turbo diesel HD truck to a turbo tiny gas v6 half ton. They're not even in the same league.
Imho, if you need the diesel, then you should be in a 3500.

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rontimmer · Mar 8, 2017

Irishgolf17,

I have a 2500 with the 6.4L and 4.10 gears. I pull a 14,000 pound fifth wheel and the truck handles it pretty well even though I am at the top end of what all of the documentation says I can pull. Biggest annoyance is the way the transmission shifts, as many others have said. The reason I chose the Hemi over the Cummins was price versus what I was going to be using it for. The Cummins only gave me about an additional 1500 pounds of towing with the 2015 models and it was going to cost me about $8000 more. So, since I usually only tow short distances on weekends I opted for the Hemi. Right now I'm getting about 14 MPG in town, 20 MPG on the highway, and about 10-11 MPG pulling my trailer. Of course all of those numbers go down quickly if I'm fighting hills, wind, or stomp on the gas

Skerj · Mar 8, 2017

14hemiexpress said:
The HD 5.7l is 383hp and 400tq. The 1500 is 395hp 410tq so your talking 30 on each now about a 8% gain.

Yup. And the 6.4 also hits those numbers at a lower RPM than the 'HD' 5.7 gets its top numbers.

I discontinued most of my research since buying my 1500, but my conclusion was that while the 5.7 can keep up with the rest of the gassers, it's essentially the 'V6' of the Ram HD lineup, and on paper at least, the 6.4 blows it out of the water with Max towing without a huge sacrifice of $, payload, or fuel economy (numbers are equal or better, but needs higher octane).

reek · Mar 8, 2017

rontimmer said:
Irishgolf17,

I have a 2500 with the 6.4L and 4.10 gears. I pull a 14,000 pound fifth wheel and the truck handles it pretty well even though I am at the top end of what all of the documentation says I can pull. Biggest annoyance is the way the transmission shifts, as many others have said. The reason I chose the Hemi over the Cummins was price versus what I was going to be using it for. The Cummins only gave me about an additional 1500 pounds of towing with the 2015 models and it was going to cost me about $8000 more. So, since I usually only tow short distances on weekends I opted for the Hemi. Right now I'm getting about 14 MPG in town, 20 MPG on the highway, and about 10-11 MPG pulling my trailer. Of course all of those numbers go down quickly if I'm fighting hills, wind, or stomp on the gas

similar reasoning for me too. Couldn't justify the Cummins.

But more importantly, 14 city 20 HWY? Is that happening consistently?

5.7 Hemi in a 2500??

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