Over-stress motor concern

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MikeJP

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Hello -

I have a 2013 2500 5.7L Tradesman, 95,000 miles. I keep it well maintained and it runs great.

I do an amount of towing my car hauler, which is within the specified weight limits of the truck's capacity.

With the mileage noted, is it OK to run it wide-open throttle (WOT) as needed (entering highway, steep grades, leaving from stop sign, passing lane) when towing? Or is the mileage too high to be pushing it that hard? I understand the engine management system is designed to protect the engine, and she shifts at exactly 5500 rpm when I'm winding it out. I believe running WOT as I described is just asking the motor to do what it is designed for.

I'm hoping to hear from folks who have experience with engine longevity in a towing scenario.

Thank you.
 

crazykid1994

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The high mileage isn't usually what kills an engine per se. usually a failure of parts. At 95,000 I really wouldn’t be worried. The 5.7 engine in your truck is a pretty hefty engine on its own and can definitely withstand the abuse. I wouldn’t be running full load and full throttle for to long though as the amount of heat buildup is what can cause issues. I’m not sure what testing has been done to these engines for load testing but as long as you watch your temps and make sure that you aren’t nearing overheat then go for it.
 

Socalramfan

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Hello -

I have a 2013 2500 5.7L Tradesman, 95,000 miles. I keep it well maintained and it runs great.

I do an amount of towing my car hauler, which is within the specified weight limits of the truck's capacity.

With the mileage noted, is it OK to run it wide-open throttle (WOT) as needed (entering highway, steep grades, leaving from stop sign, passing lane) when towing? Or is the mileage too high to be pushing it that hard? I understand the engine management system is designed to protect the engine, and she shifts at exactly 5500 rpm when I'm winding it out. I believe running WOT as I described is just asking the motor to do what it is designed for.

I'm hoping to hear from folks who have experience with engine longevity in a towing scenario.

Thank you.

Just keep taking care of it as you have, and keep up with the normal maintenance as suggested above.

Its a solid truck :waytogo:
 

Wild one

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The high mileage isn't usually what kills an engine per se. usually a failure of parts. At 95,000 I really wouldn’t be worried. The 5.7 engine in your truck is a pretty hefty engine on its own and can definitely withstand the abuse. I wouldn’t be running full load and full throttle for to long though as the amount of heat buildup is what can cause issues. I’m not sure what testing has been done to these engines for load testing but as long as you watch your temps and make sure that you aren’t nearing overheat then go for it.
I've never stumbled into the 5.7's parameters,but the 6.4's in the HD's are supposedly designed to run wide open at full load on 87 octane for 12 minutes,which should get you over the majority of hills while towing
 

danielmid

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I've never stumbled into the 5.7's parameters,but the 6.4's in the HD's are supposedly designed to run wide open at full load on 87 octane for 12 minutes,which should get you over the majority of hills while towing
That seems oddly specific and lower than I would have guessed. Is it different for higher octane? Now I'm second guessing my trailer up the hill driving with the 5.7.
 

crazykid1994

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I've never stumbled into the 5.7's parameters,but the 6.4's in the HD's are supposedly designed to run wide open at full load on 87 octane for 12 minutes,which should get you over the majority of hills while towing
That seems oddly specific and lower than I would have guessed. Is it different for higher octane? Now I'm second guessing my trailer up the hill driving with the 5.7.
I’m not sure what hills people are pulling that require full throttle for 12 minutes as I’m in Florida and the biggest hill we have is the overpass on i95. I can see a 5.7 in the 2500 bring anywhere from 8-10 minutes as long as the cooling system is up to par. It’s really all based on temps. If all the temps are still good I don’t see why it couldn’t go longer. The test just shows what they tested for anyways. Also the 2500 is definitely heavier than the 1500 and our 8 speeds definitely don’t have a problem pulling loads so I’m betting our 1500s could do at least 10 minutes as well
 

Wild one

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That seems oddly specific and lower than I would have guessed. Is it different for higher octane? Now I'm second guessing my trailer up the hill driving with the 5.7.
The octane won't change the time you can keep your foot buried through the carpet. 12 minutes at full throttle and full load seems to be pretty long to me.If the hills that long,you can't get over it in 12 minutes at full throttle it's probably time to slow down
 

danielmid

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The octane won't change the time you can keep your foot buried through the carpet. 12 minutes at full throttle and full load seems to be pretty long to me.If the hills that long,you can't get over it in 12 minutes at full throttle it's probably time to slow down
Maybe it's not that long time-wise, climbing up out of Phoenix to head camping in north eastern AZ is a good climb.

And I've definitely exceeded the 12 minutes at full throttle in an overloaded uhaul, but that's a rental so it doesn't count.
 

Wild one

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Maybe it's not that long time-wise, climbing up out of Phoenix to head camping in north eastern AZ is a good climb.

And I've definitely exceeded the 12 minutes at full throttle in an overloaded uhaul, but that's a rental so it doesn't count.
Probably got you beat up here,i'm less then an hour away from hills where the elevation is 7,000+ ft,lol. Usually there's lots of pull outs to let things cool down once you get into the big hills :waytogo: :Big Laugh:
 

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My neighbor ran his like a scolded dog. Started it up and floored it out of the driveway. Raced around traffic towing his trailer for work. He did that all the way until 225K, traded it in working well, and is on repeat with his new RAM 5.7. This was a factor for me buying a RAM truck.


"Punch it kid" or feel free to go WOT. These RAMs love to work and run.
 

danielmid

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Probably got you beat up here,i'm less then an hour away from hills where the elevation is 7,000+ ft,lol. Usually there's lots of pull outs to let things cool down once you get into the big hills :waytogo: :Big Laugh:
4k feet up in an hourish, it's not totally flat :)

https://www.flattestroute.com/Phoenix-to-Payson-AZ
Btw I don't know if I'd trust the max/min grade sections, I think I'd remember an almost 90° up and down section.
 

Wild one

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4k feet up in an hourish, it's not totally flat :)

https://www.flattestroute.com/Phoenix-to-Payson-AZ
Btw I don't know if I'd trust the max/min grade sections, I think I'd remember an almost 90° up and down section.
News flash those are the same Rockies as we have just west of me,lol.The Rockies don't start and end in the US, :waytogo: :cheers: The Ike isn't really any differant then some of the roads we have.That pic i posted at the bottom it's about 2300ft,in roughly 20 miles you're at well over 7,000ft.There's parts of that road where my low 12 second truck won't really gain a hell'va lot of speed with my foot through the floor as parts of that road are close to 14%,so yes i know all about 7%+ grades
 
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pacofortacos

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Ike is much higher, you start at over 9000' at the bottom and end at just over 11,000' in one continuous pull.

Wild one, you don't think higher octane would keep pinging at bay on a longer pull vs. 87 and limit pulling of timing a bit?
 

Wild one

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Ike is much higher, you start at over 9000' at the bottom and end at just over 11,000' in one continuous pull.

Wild one, you don't think higher octane would keep pinging at bay on a longer pull vs. 87 and limit pulling of timing a bit?
The 6.4 HD's are set up for 87,so they already have pretty mild timing along with only having 9:1 compression,if we're referring to the 6.4 truck. A 5.7 would benefit a bit more though from better fuel. FCA is the one making the claims for the 6.4's capabilities not me,and what they're saying is the HD 6.4's will handle full load on 87 octane for 12 minutes,and i'm guessing that would be close to a sea level test,as sea level would put more strain on 87 octane then 5,000+ft of altitude would.The higher the altitude the lower the octane requirement.
 

gofishn

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Hello -

I have a 2013 2500 5.7L Tradesman, 95,000 miles. . .
95K miles?
Only 5k more and you can do your first oil change.

Seriously, run that thing, like you always have, until it blows.
Start babying it and it will blow for sure.
 

09SilverRam

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Peak torque is at 4000 RPM, if you are turning 5500 you may be better off letting it shift or slowing down.

Sometimes you have to find the sweet spot the truck wants to climb at, and it isn’t always going to be 65 - 70 mph. Back off to 55 or 50 and pull the grade at 4k rpm.
 

nascar72

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The octane won't change the time you can keep your foot buried through the carpet. 12 minutes at full throttle and full load seems to be pretty long to me.If the hills that long,you can't get over it in 12 minutes at full throttle it's probably time to slow down
I'm guessing driving at around the 55 mph range the hemi would be turning around 4 500-5 000 rpms depending on wich gear the tranny will actually downshift at WOT. My '08 2500 has the 5-45RFE tranny and it'd be turning @ 4 500 rpms on WOT after dropping in 2nd gear. Never really needed to hold it longer than a min or two while fully loaded with my 5ft wheel trailer going up hill so far. Usually, when fully loaded, if I need to drop it in 2nd I try not to go higher than 4 500 rpms and I will hold it there 'til I'm done climbing or when I feel my rig would be gradually picking up some speed.
 
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