Anyone tow with a 2500 and 5.7?

I currently pull our small 24ft travel trailer with my 1500 5.7/8spd w/3.92's and it does fine. My only complaint is the mushy air suspension which gives a bit of an uneasy feeling at times. I have had 3 previous 2500's with Cummins 6.7's but was puliing a 5th wheel back then so I know how much better the ride is when towing with an HD truck.

Anyway, I am looking to upgrade to another 2500 and came across a very clean 2016 Longhorn with only 55k miles on it. BUT it has the 5.7 instead of the 6.4 along with 3.73 gears and 6spd instead of 8. So it's a little taller rear gear and less transmission gears. Does anyone have experience towing with the 5.7 and 6spd 2500? Thanks for any opinions

Sounds identical to my brothers and similar to mine, I just have the 545rfe (5 speed) instead of the 6 speed you are talking about.

Will handle that weight no problem, just don't expect to get good milage. You'll be at 3000+rpm going down the interstate pulling that wind sail. Pulling that all the time I would consider a diesel, for a daily driver that pulls once in a while it'll do fine.

rzr6-4 said:

Sounds identical to my brothers and similar to mine, I just have the 545rfe (5 speed) instead of the 6 speed you are talking about.

Will handle that weight no problem, just don't expect to get good milage. You'll be at 3000+rpm going down the interstate pulling that wind sail. Pulling that all the time I would consider a diesel, for a daily driver that pulls once in a while it'll do fine.

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Funny you mentioned the 5 speed. I had one in my 2009 1500, then got a 2012 1500 with a 6 speed and the difference was amazing from memory. That is really why I am concerned about the difference between my current 8 speed and the 2500 with 6 speed. Plus the slightly taller 3.73 gear and heavier truck weight.

I am still looking at diesels. But I don't put a lot of miles on my truck, around 2-3k per year and know it's not good for diesels to sit for long periods. Just got to fire it up and drive in on occassion. Plus as I'm finding out, diesels REALLY hold their value.

As far as RPM's, I'm not concerned about that. We had a 31ft Class C motorhome years ago with the Ford V10 and that thing screamed near 5500k pulling steep grades towing my Jeep Liberty. We said no more motorhomes after that unless the day ever comes we can afford a diesel pusher. Which is highly doubtful.

My FIL had an '03, 5.7/auto with 3.73's. He pulled a Jayco Eagle fifth wheel with it, and it did NOT like it. It did it, yes, but it had to run 3k+ to get the job done. Suspension wise it was fine.

We put that same camper behind my '99 F250 PSD that I had at the time and it was a night and day difference. He ended up switching to a diesel, and we ended up buying the Hemi off him for my wife to drive.

SeventyGTX said:

I currently pull our small 24ft travel trailer with my 1500 5.7/8spd w/3.92's and it does fine. My only complaint is the mushy air suspension which gives a bit of an uneasy feeling at times. I have had 3 previous 2500's with Cummins 6.7's but was puliing a 5th wheel back then so I know how much better the ride is when towing with an HD truck.

Anyway, I am looking to upgrade to another 2500 and came across a very clean 2016 Longhorn with only 55k miles on it. BUT it has the 5.7 instead of the 6.4 along with 3.73 gears and 6spd instead of 8. So it's a little taller rear gear and less transmission gears. Does anyone have experience towing with the 5.7 and 6spd 2500? Thanks for any opinions

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Just got 2016 ram tradesman crew short box and pulled first load. Its a 2500 with 5.7. I pulled 31' bumper hitch camper weighing 9500 lbs. on flat ground. at 55-60 mph. Rpm was 2000-2150 all temps were normal and it average 20 degrees lower on antifreeze, transmission and oil temp compared to my Eco diesel 1/2 ton. I didn't bother putting on weight distribution hitch and the truck barely squatted and pulled fine with-ought swaying.

Empty weigh pushing 20 mph head winds the truck holds overdrive until I climb steep hills. 1600 rpm at 60mph and jumps to 2500 on steep hills. First tank was 12.5 USA mpg with 30% pulling trailer. Empty I get 13-16 USA mpg depending on winds. This truck has headache rack including strobe lights and full toolboxes in back. Everybody on forum will tell you the 5.7 is a dog and get the 6.4 but the 5.7 does the job just fine as far as I'm concerned. I hope this answered some of your questions.

I forgot to mention that my truck has 3.73 rear end.

I like the 6.4 better than the 5.7 for towing but I could live with either. However, if I was going to spend the money to move up to a 2500 from a 5.7 1500 8 speed, I would make sure it was the 8 speed transmission. The difference between the 6 and 8 is night and day and with tow haul on, even more noticeable. The ZF is just a hugely better transmission. For 3,000 miles a year pulling what little weight you are, a diesel would be nice, but sure not mandatory.

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Dean2 said:

The difference between the 6 and 8 is night and day

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^^This

I've never towed with the 8 but can attest to the fact that the 6spd sucks towing heavy. A 24' travel trailer isn't super heavy so you'd probably be okay but if the budget can at all fit, you'll be far happier and better set up for future (bigger?) trailers.

Your post really touches on the two different but often muddied towing factors - carrying and pulling. The 5.7 8spd in the 1500 is a powerhouse for pulling but the 1500 suspension is mushy. The 5.7 6spd 2500 is stout to carry the weight but definitely inferior pulling. 2500 8spd is the best of both. Having to choose one I'd go with what you're thinking of and having a 2500 platform to carry the weight and be bit slower.