First real tow w/ Pentastar

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Spearsy

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So today I completed my first real tow with my 17 Ram express QC pentastar with 3.55. I'm mainly typing this out because i have found there's not a lot of towing information out there for the pentastar.

I towed my father in laws 18ft ski/fish boat about 70 miles round trip. The boat weighs about 2200 pounds dry and with fuel gear and trailer I'm guessing we were in the 3k to 3100 range. I have a two inch level on my truck so I still have a little less than a half inch of take. Hooked up it seemed to sit perfectly level. The road to the lake consisted of some highway but mainly rolling hills and twisty roads. The truck pulled it with ease and it was easy to forget it was back there most of time. There was one large hill that is a real ***** (unsure of the grade) and it's easily 3/4 of a mile long and that was the only real "test" on the trip. The truck got to about 4K rpms and I had no trouble maintaining 45 mph (the posted speed limit). Truck pulled really well and the 8 speed never seemed to hunt for a gear. I averaged 17.4mpg (according to evic which is usually about 1mpg optimistic). I realize it was a pretty lightweight pull but I don't anticipate towing much more than that weight though I feel a lot more confident that I could pull in the 5 to 6k range after today (obviously aerodynamically it was much less stress because there was little drag like If I was pulling an enclosed trailer. We got on the lake at dark and pulled out at dark so I only have one picture of the setup from a gas station at about 5am.

Anyways just wanted to post this up for pentastar owners who are curious about towing smaller trailers or boats. In all honesty I was really impressed!!
 

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ScottFL

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So how many fish did you catch.......
 

kltk1

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Thank you for posting this. As a Pentastar owner that will be towing near 5k soon, I know what it's like looking for this kind of information. This is reassuring.

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zrfraser

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Thanks for the post. Everything you read about the Pentastar and towing has been less than stellar, its good to see some real world figures. While the Pentastar is no HEMI, its no slouch either. It has as much or more horsepower than V8 engines of just a few years ago. It does give up some torque numbers, but the 8 speed helps tremendously in that regard.

The HEMI will always be the popular choice, but its good to see the Pentastar get some love when it comes to towing.
 

kltk1

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Bad link. Leads to something about a TV antenna

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Spearsy

Spearsy

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So how many fish did you catch.......

We got in to a couple good stripers in the morning and some good size bass that evening
Here's a pic of one bass not very good because my father in law decided to video it so I just tried to screen shot a still of the video
 

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geekything

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Thank you for posting this! I've been looking for "real world" feedback on towing with the Penastar. I'm about to order a travel trailer that's ~2000lbs dry and have been concerned about towing performance. Especially entering a highway and around the Rockies (where we plan to go second trip).

The only difference is I have the 3.21 axle. What do you think my expectations should be?

Thanks.
 

GsRAM

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Thank you for posting this! I've been looking for "real world" feedback on towing with the Penastar. I'm about to order a travel trailer that's ~2000lbs dry and have been concerned about towing performance. Especially entering a highway and around the Rockies (where we plan to go second trip).

The only difference is I have the 3.21 axle. What do you think my expectations should be?

Thanks.

What's the GVWR of your trailer?
 

dillardgl

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I am new to this form. I have a 15 crew cab ram with the Pena star and 321. I have towed my 21' toy hauler over 1000 miles with no problem so far. It only reached 4500 rpms a couple of times. Average rpm range was 2000 to 2800 runing between 55-65 mph. Gas mileage was no so good at 10 mpg. Trans and engine oil temperature was very close to the same as not hauling a load. In tow haul mode it did not hunt for gears and handled the load very well. I am considering going to the 355 ratio since it adds almost 3000 lb to towing capacity.
 

Sparky853

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dillardgl

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5'7" box and that is all. And by the way my Goldwing weight is around 900 lb. I do haul the trailer with empty water tanks.
 
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