First long distance tow with the 6.4

dbrock34 · Jul 5, 2017

Towed our 6000 lb boat/trailer with around 1000 lb payload on a 370 mile trip last weekend. I got 10.4 mpg hand calculated. I have the 3.73 gears and after reading everyone's posts about the truck's shifting not being the best I was a little concerned about how it would go. Granted, it's only 6000 lbs and the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee aren't quite like the Ike but I think it did an awesome job. I couldn't be happier. With the cruise set at 72 for most of the trip it held (not sure if it was 4th or 5th) gear with no problem and stayed below 3000 RPM. At least it seemed to because it was such a smooth tow I hardly ever looked at the tach. Seems like most of the time it was around 2500 when I thought to look down. Big difference towing with the heavier 2500 over my old 1500 also. Just thought I would share since most comments tend to lean toward the negative on the 6.4 shifting.

68PowerWagon · Jul 5, 2017

Awesome! I might have passed you this past weekend. :driver:

I was running 75N from TN. back to OH.
I was pulling a 16' utility trailer with only about 4 or 5,000lbs. but I find that mine shifts up & down really well in tow/haul mode. And out on the open highway I would take it out of t/h & it still did very well. The only truck with automatic that I can compare it to was my 04 4.7 Dakota. Talk about a tranny constantly hunting for a gear!

ronheater70 · Jul 5, 2017

Just did my second Decent pull this weekend, (about 5 hours) from NC to SC beach. The hills on this trip were nothing like pulling the steep ones up to wv on my first outing with the camper. I imagine I have about 6700 Ish in camper and about 800 ish in the bed. I got a tad over 12 going to sc and about 11.5 coming back. I also have the 3:73's and this trip spent much more time in 5th gear compared to the first trip on the identical route a month prior. got about 1 MPG better as well, not sure what the difference was as I was actually heavier this trip than last.
I have Zero issues with the performance of this truck for the weight I pull. Im actually looking at a larger camper now, but Id like to stay under 9K loaded.

SwollenMonkey16 · Jul 5, 2017

Really good to hear this. I get tired of everyone comparing the 6.4 to the CTD. Thats like apples to oranges. Of course the 6.4 won't be as good but I definitely like to hear the good about the 6.4. I have one bc I don't tow or drive much but like to know I can haul or tow whenever I want and it do a good job

pcschwenke · Jul 5, 2017

This past week I've towed our 9200lb camper around 950 miles this week with 5 people in our truck and about 400lbs in the bed. Averaging 8.7mpg and didn't have any issues with shifting. My truck is a 4:10 and the only problem was staying under the speed limit. It wants to speed!

6.4 dude · Jul 6, 2017

I drove a couple hundred miles of hilly terrain over the weekend to purchase a dump trailer. Evic showed 18.5 there empty, 12.0 on the way back pulling the trailer. Not bad for big gasser.

dbrock34 · Jul 6, 2017

68PowerWagon said:
Awesome! I might have passed you this past weekend. I was running 75N from TN. back to OH.
I was pulling a 16' utility trailer with only about 4 or 5,000lbs. but I find that mine shifts up & down really well in tow/haul mode. And out on the open highway I would take it out of t/h & it still did very well. The only truck with automatic that I can compare it to was my 04 4.7 Dakota. Talk about a tranny constantly hunting for a gear!

That wouldn't have been me. We got home Thursday and we came up 65. I hate that road but for once we didn't get stuck in any traffic jams.

14RAM4X4 · Jul 6, 2017

6.4 dude said:
I drove a couple hundred miles of hilly terrain over the weekend to purchase a dump trailer. Evic showed 18.5 there empty, 12.0 on the way back pulling the trailer. Not bad for big gasser.

Damn!! 12.0 towing that trailer. That's hella good mpgs! My evic is showing 12.2 empty with a lot of city driving. On the hwy evic shows about 14.5 - 15.5.

Should be towing my TT end of this month about 300 miles round trip to the beach in Corpus or Mustang Island. Not expecting great mpg due to the usual headwind coming off the gulf.

GsRAM · Jul 7, 2017

Great reports guys. I have a similar experience with my 6.4\3.73 combo. My TT is around 6k or so, with probably 500+ in the bed? Could be more, but when i towed with it, it was effortless. No shifting issues, tow/haul worked great. I'm very pleased. I know i could go at least 2-3k more loaded trailer weight without any issues. The big 6.4 has a lot of juice!

RAM-pagingMN · Jul 7, 2017

towed my boat fully loaded, 120 gallons gas, 30 gallons water, plenty of beer, food, canoe and gear for a 4 day weekend boating trip. boat specs say dry weight is 8k. i can imagine with 3 men, the lightest being 230 in my truck, we were sitting at close to 11k. also, the truck barely even squatted with the lift kit on. i didnt even care to look at MPG, but i remember 10.2 at the end. granted we live in the midwest, but it was a total of 421 miles.

RainDesert · Jul 7, 2017

14RAM4X4 said:
Damn!! 12.0 towing that trailer. That's hella good mpgs! My evic is showing 12.2 empty with a lot of city driving. On the hwy evic shows about 14.5 - 15.5.

Should be towing my TT end of this month about 300 miles round trip to the beach in Corpus or Mustang Island. Not expecting great mpg due to the usual headwind coming off the gulf.

What gears are you towing with? Those 295's are some tall heavy tires that are likely dishing out a pretty big mpg hit.

jtlp8335 · Jul 7, 2017

dbrock34 said:
Towed our 6000 lb boat/trailer with around 1000 lb payload on a 370 mile trip last weekend. I got 10.4 mpg hand calculated. I have the 3.73 gears and after reading everyone's posts about the truck's shifting not being the best I was a little concerned about how it would go. Granted, it's only 6000 lbs and the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee aren't quite like the Ike but I think it did an awesome job. I couldn't be happier. With the cruise set at 72 for most of the trip it held (not sure if it was 4th or 5th) gear with no problem and stayed below 3000 RPM. At least it seemed to because it was such a smooth tow I hardly ever looked at the tach. Seems like most of the time it was around 2500 when I thought to look down. Big difference towing with the heavier 2500 over my old 1500 also. Just thought I would share since most comments tend to lean toward the negative on the 6.4 shifting.

Will be doing a similar tow with that setup next week. 700 mile RT, 5k boat/trailer, 2k gear and crew in my 6.4/3.73 CCSB. If I can get double digits I'll be happy. Plenty of hills leaving Missouri, pretty flat in Illinois.

14RAM4X4 · Jul 7, 2017

RainDesert said:
What gears are you towing with? Those 295's are some tall heavy tires that are likely dishing out a pretty big mpg hit.

Yeah, the 3" lift, 295s with 3.73 gearing, and steel front & rear bumpers don't help my mpg any. More wind resistance being higher up, more rotating mass, a few hundred #s more weight.... I don't really blame the truck for the poor mpg :pp:

RainDesert · Jul 8, 2017

14RAM4X4 said:
Yeah, the 3" lift, 295s with 3.73 gearing, and steel front & rear bumpers don't help my mpg any. More wind resistance being higher up, more rotating mass, a few hundred #s more weight.... I don't really blame the truck for the poor mpg

Good info, thanks for the response.

HvyDuty · Jul 9, 2017

I towed our 29' full height (11'7") travel trailer from Texas to Pensacola and back (1200 miles) over the 4th of July weekend.

Reset the trip EVIC before leaving. Set the cruise at 65 (trailer tires max speed rating) and let the truck do its thing. I averaged 10.4 MPG over the trip and like the OP, truck stayed in 5th most of the trip (in Tow Haul mode, would shift to 6th without) around 2000 Rpm with bumps to 2800 for bridges etc. Trans temp never budged from the normal 168F despite 95F weather.

I hit the CAT scales at Love's on the way back and was at 15,800 Gross weight, 6980 Trailer axles weight. Family and dog on board with generator, tools and firewood in bed. Truck didn't break a sweat. :favorites13:

whsk · Jul 13, 2017

on my return trip from Pa to AZ i got 16.8 to 17.6 running 70 to 80 mph-3.73 gears-i saw 18.1 one time-not too bad for a 7000 lb. brick!

First long distance tow with the 6.4

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