River19
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2015
- Posts
- 360
- Reaction score
- 216
- Location
- "Live" VT, Work in MA/RI
- Ram Year
- 2014
- Engine
- Hemi 6.4L
Just got back from a longer trip towing the travel trailer at about 5000lbs....not huge weight per se but still a dumpster on wheels etc.
2083 miles driven with 1600 miles of that with the trailer behind us, 2 full sized dogs, the bed/cap had ~400lbs of gear in it. Averaged 11.2 mpg combined with the towing segments mostly in the 10-10.5 mpg range. Lots of hills and mountain passes to deal with along the whole route only about 500 miles were on what I would call flat or rolling terrain. Some winds to deal with but nothing too much.
Observations towing the TT vs. my horse trailer (plenty of miles with the 6.4 and the horses):
Tow/Haul was outstanding for me on the downhills and crazy winding sketchy mountain roads in the Blue Ridge Mountains etc. Route 501 for example
Transmission temps stayed planted at 168 -170 despite long hot days.
Cruise control set for low to mid 60mph range was the way to go for me and I just managed the 5th to 4th or 3rd gear down shifts myself as CC allows for way too much slow down before it down shifts.....like 5mph.... In anticipation of a larger longer hill I would manually pop it into 4th or 3rd if I needed it
Stability and drivability was aces as usual. My wife loved driving the TT with this rig.
Downhill control ...... on one section coming out of the Berkshires (anyone who knows the area knows what I am talking about) we have a downhill grade that is ~5 miles or so at a pretty steep pitch (towing up it is a 3rd gear and hold hill)...... I had the cruise set for 61-62mph (really 64-65 with larger tires) and I manually put it in 4th.....the rig never moved from 61-62mph and I didn't touch the brakes once all the way down..... perfectly in control and I loved it. Granted 5000-5500lbs isn't a huge load, but it is enough to push you down hill.
we drove 50 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway (without the TT) and the rig was impressively nimble for a 7000lb truck on 35s.
On the way home we stopped for 3 nights in Raystown Lake PA and at one point there were 3 other 6.4L around us at one of the lots and I chatted with a couple of the owners one was towing a 9000lb 5er and he was pleased (4.10s) stock tires and size, said he was getting about 9-10mpg coming up from GA.
Pedal Commander is in my future, I didn't want to change anything right before our trip, but the on/off nature of the pedal sometimes is friggin' annoying and my wife seemed to have trouble getting into the throttle enough in 4th to maintain speed on grades and then when she did get into it we have a lovely downshift to 2nd which is abrupt as a 2x4 to the head on the highway.....some more modulation would be nice.
2083 miles driven with 1600 miles of that with the trailer behind us, 2 full sized dogs, the bed/cap had ~400lbs of gear in it. Averaged 11.2 mpg combined with the towing segments mostly in the 10-10.5 mpg range. Lots of hills and mountain passes to deal with along the whole route only about 500 miles were on what I would call flat or rolling terrain. Some winds to deal with but nothing too much.
Observations towing the TT vs. my horse trailer (plenty of miles with the 6.4 and the horses):
Tow/Haul was outstanding for me on the downhills and crazy winding sketchy mountain roads in the Blue Ridge Mountains etc. Route 501 for example
Transmission temps stayed planted at 168 -170 despite long hot days.
Cruise control set for low to mid 60mph range was the way to go for me and I just managed the 5th to 4th or 3rd gear down shifts myself as CC allows for way too much slow down before it down shifts.....like 5mph.... In anticipation of a larger longer hill I would manually pop it into 4th or 3rd if I needed it
Stability and drivability was aces as usual. My wife loved driving the TT with this rig.
Downhill control ...... on one section coming out of the Berkshires (anyone who knows the area knows what I am talking about) we have a downhill grade that is ~5 miles or so at a pretty steep pitch (towing up it is a 3rd gear and hold hill)...... I had the cruise set for 61-62mph (really 64-65 with larger tires) and I manually put it in 4th.....the rig never moved from 61-62mph and I didn't touch the brakes once all the way down..... perfectly in control and I loved it. Granted 5000-5500lbs isn't a huge load, but it is enough to push you down hill.
we drove 50 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway (without the TT) and the rig was impressively nimble for a 7000lb truck on 35s.
On the way home we stopped for 3 nights in Raystown Lake PA and at one point there were 3 other 6.4L around us at one of the lots and I chatted with a couple of the owners one was towing a 9000lb 5er and he was pleased (4.10s) stock tires and size, said he was getting about 9-10mpg coming up from GA.
Pedal Commander is in my future, I didn't want to change anything right before our trip, but the on/off nature of the pedal sometimes is friggin' annoying and my wife seemed to have trouble getting into the throttle enough in 4th to maintain speed on grades and then when she did get into it we have a lovely downshift to 2nd which is abrupt as a 2x4 to the head on the highway.....some more modulation would be nice.
