eco diesel 1500 or v6 pentastar 1500

so here i am trying to decide between trucks
having always been a toyota truck driver and now looking at ram
the eco diesel peaked my interest because of the gas mileage and towing capacity...test drove a 2015..loved it ! but was waiting for the 2017 to show up...meanwhile sales people try to pitch this v6 1500 with . the 3.55 axle?
it should be able to tow 7000...not bad mpg 25
so why do i want diesel..
i am so confused
is the eco d overkill for little ol me...just gonna be towing a camping trailer about 5000 -6000 lbs...across country once a year round trip.
what is this blue def stuff? is it here to stay or is it some passing thing that soon will be obsolete...and i will be stuck with a truck and no blue stuff to purchase
people tell me the v6 won't have enough power..the v6 sure is cheaper..and available

the hemi just is tooo low in mpg

I would think 6000lbs across the country and back would be too much for the v6. The eco diesel would be better suited for this. The issue is the eco diesel is not being sold right now due to emissions issues with the EPA. I don't think there is currently a date when it will be back for sale again.

The hemi does get lower mpg but if you look at the extra cost of the eco diesel plus the extra maintenance costs, you would need to own it for a long time or drive a lot of miles to make it be cheaper than the hemi.

I vote for the V8, my R/T can get 25mpg on the highway whilst I gently use the skinny pedal. Good luck with your hunt.

I had a Pentastar 1500 for almost 3 years.

I have towed 6000lbs with it. BUT I would not tow 6000lbs with it across the country, over any mountains or anything like that.

The salesman is trying to get you in the V6 because he cant get you in a new Eco Diesel right now.
either wait or get a Hemi.

HEMI or EcoDiesel for that much wait, you want to to tow comfortably not towing at max.
my 2011 Hemi with 3.55 pulls 6k like it aint even there but the Ecodiesel MPG is where its at.

My camper weighs 6900 lbs loaded. There is absolutely no way in hell I would pull a 6000lb camper across country with a v6. I wouldn't really want to do it with my Hemi. Besides the fortune you'd spend in gas, the mountains would be very hard on the motor.

people try to pitch this v6 1500 with . the 3.55 axle?
it should be able to tow 7000.

Click to expand...

Prove this, please.

type your vin at Ram Towing capacity and it will tell you excatly what you can pull

Don't listen to those saying " that's going to be uncomfy towing ", doesn't matter what the weight is, if you're within the limitations of the truck, you'll be fine. Their is no magical number that once you cross life sucks. The v6 can safely, and comfortably haul 7k pounds with the 3.55 ratio. you might wish you had a bit more power in the mountains, but it's a VERY strong motor. It'll pull hard, and not fight you to much. It has about 260lb-ft of torque, which, isn't great, but plenty for your application. Just pay close attention to your payload abilities, and / or GVWR and RAWR.

That said, the purpose of the eco over the v6 is gas mileage while towing, they will get pretty much the same mileage dry ( though the eco will be higher ), it will get considerably better MPG's while towing compared to the V6, and even hemi.

It's got -near- double the torque of the v6, so you won't be struggling as much in the mountains with your ECO versus the v6.

though, don't let people sell you off of the v6, it's capable, and does a damn good job.

http://www.ramforum.com/f119/towing_question-99332/

Right here you can see that even a Hemi cant pull 8100lbs so 7k would be out of the question for a V6.
lol

69GWC said:

http://www.ramforum.com/f119/towing_question-99332/

Right here you can see that even a Hemi cant pull 8100lbs so 7k would be out of the question for a V6.
lol

Click to expand...

Lets stick to facts, not opinions based on ignorance :

RAM Trucks - Towing & Payload capacity

Or HERE

The hemi can't pull that because of other factors, such as Payload capacity, and GVWR, and RAWR. I have a crew cab with 3.21 gears, with a RAWR of 3900 lbs, my GVCWR is 13900 , My trailer weighs 6500 WET, My GVWR is 6900 pounds. My truck with everything i want in it, including the components of the lift weigh 6400 pounds, that leaves me with 500 pounds of available payload. 10% (ideal) tongue weight on my 6500 pound trailer puts me about 110 pounds over that.

I chose to take short trips until i can replace the truck / and or remove the lift, but the motor isn't the problem, it's suspension, and ratings for the axles, and frame. the motor is actuall rated ( his v6 ) to hail 7300 pounds, he CAN haul that, but it's up to him to do the math on if it's within the limitations everywhere else.

Facts,? ... good ole hard facts..

not opinions ? dang..

I tow a 6500lb boat with my Hemi. It would have a lot less drag than a travel trailer. I have the 8 speed and 3.92 rear end. If I want to maintain 60mph going up a decently hill the truck will gear down enough to keep the RPM in the 3500-4500 range. I have pulled a couple of 8% grades and even at WOT it won't do much more than 50mph.

I can't imagine the v6 hauling that much weight in a travel trailer with half the torque. There is no way it would even be able to maintain speed.

Just because Ram says it can haul 7300lb doesn't mean it will do it up moutains or that it won't be hard on the engine.

Respectfully, this is a tough call in your situation. If you're only towing once a year, spending the additional $5k for the Ecodiesel may not be as economical as you might think. If the vast majority of your use will be normal driving the 3.6 Pentastar is about $3500 less to own over 100,000 miles. If I remember correctly, when I did the calculations when I was was going through this exercise $3500 in gasoline is about 30,000 miles of driving. Again, if I remember correctly, I could be off on that.

The upside to the Pentastar V6? Low buy in cost, decent fuel economy in a really nice vehicle, low maintenance costs over 100k, no def.

The downside? You're not leaving yourself much margin for carrying capacity. I agree with yillbs, if you're within the specs you're OK, if not you could find yourself uncomfortable with your purchase.

For me, as I don't tow, and if I did it wouldn't be more than 5000lbs, and the most payload I expect to have is about 1000lbs, the Pentastar made perfect sense. It was very easy to forget about the diesel in my situation. Also, don't get completely sucked in by the fuel mileage of the Ecodiesel, consider all your costs. Oil changes are higher than the Pentastar, diesel fuel can cost more to purchase depending on where you are, Def fluid etc.

I'm not suggesting the Ecodiesel isn't for you, I'm encouraging you to look at all the costs involved before finalizing your decision. Good luck with whatever direction you go. I came from a 2002 Ford F150 with a 5.4V8 and I'm not sorry I purchased a Ram in the 5000 miles I've put on mine in the last 3 months.

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Don't get the v6 if you'll be doing a lot of towing at that weight. I had a 2011 4.7l, similar hp and tq specs. It didn't do so hot on the hills.

Even when I had my Hemi pulling my 6800lb travel trailer I had to almost floor it to maintain 90 km/h on some hills.

If I were you if buy the Hemi, or a 2016 Ecodiesel.

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Happy with my 2013 v6/8spd/3.21 cc 4x4. But I don't tow often, except when moving VA to IN, then to SC). There's several threads on this subject with feedback from actual V6/8 SPD owners.

Here's one...
V6 3.6L real world MPG




M² Mods - From my non Flammable S7!

Quote from yillbs

The v6 can safely, and comfortably haul 7k pounds with the 3.55 ratio.

Click to expand...

This statement right there just proves this guy does not know what he is talking about.
Dude, you are so full of your self.

I went through the same questions when I was looking. I wound up getting the Hemi. Towing 7K lbs may be within the limits of the V6 gasser but I wouldn't trust it across the country. Heck I wouldn't trust it across the Great Commonwealth of Virginia. My max towing will be about 7K lbs also. So I went with the Hemi. Going across the country I would have looked at a 2500 CTD or at least a 6.4.

Just do yourself a favor and get the hemi.