2012 Ram 1500 Towing Question

[Gene Knox]

Hello and Good Afternoon to all,
I have read most of the forums in here regarding towing however I have not found any that references RPM's.
So here is my situation:
I have a 2012 Ram 1500 5.7- 6 speed sport shift c/c short bed, 20" wheels. 57000 miles
3.55 gears.Tranny cooler K&N filter in factory housing.
Oil: 5/20 full synthetic (Mobil 1)
Trailer: 31ft Mallard M260 (alum frame) split axle.
Hitch: 10,000lb Wt. dist. with spring bars, dual sway controls, towing in Tow/Haul mode, the trailer is perfectly balanced and tongue wt is correct.
So here is my question:
While towing on flat ground open highway mainly I-10 / I-12 the truck will run at 1900 rpm @ 60-63 mph. any increase in speed or incline the engine will elevate to 2500 rpm. and loose speed, and if I give more gas it will jump to 3000 rpm or more. The TAC has no visible redline on it. It seems like I am all torqued out on an incline at the speed while running the incline.
Now let me tell you I have no issues running at the 60-63 mph for however long it takes to get from point A to point B.
My concern is the RPM that the engine is running at, it makes me nervous to have the rpm's so high.
I've had the rig weighed connected and here are the numbers:
front axle 2820 lb.
drive axle 3640 lb.
trailer axle 5740 lb. (according to Dodge's listing this is way within the weight limits of this set up.)
gross weight 12200 lb., Weighed at a pilot truck stop. Ea, axle on its own pad.
Will running the engine for long periods of time at the 2500 rpm's cause it to spin a bearing on the crank?
Is 3000 rpm's way too much?
I have had the engine at times rev up to 4000 rpm while either overtaking a slower rig or being caught on an incline while overtaking only to have to fall back in line to let traffic pass.
The weight does not account for my weight 175 or my wife's 150 and 3- 50lb dogs in the back seat. Yes, I know it's cramped back there but they are troopers.
So, if this is enough info can anyone out there give me the info I am looking for since I don't want to blow this engine or transmission while out on the road.
We are centrally located in Texas and as of now we stay below Dallas and travel west and east for now. I however do want to start traveling north but I'm afraid the present rig would not be able to safely handle the hills and long climbs like in the Dakota's, and east and west of there.
Thanks in advance.

 

[crash68]

My concern is the RPM that the engine is running at, it makes me nervous to have the rpm's so high.

The problem is the spark plugs, as in you have them. If you want to tow at 2K rpms you should have bought a diesel.
Your Hemi torque peak of 410 ft/lbs is at 4K rpms where as the EcoDiesel 480 ft/lbs is at 1600 rpms. It's not horsepower that tows a trailer but torque.
You can put you mind at ease, the Hemi will hold that 4K rpms all day long if needed, your "fear" of high rpms is unwarranted. Also keep in mind that lugging a gas engine can damage the engine, so use the Tow/Haul mode to keep the rpms up where they need to be.

 

[dhay13]

Sounds about right. I had a 2013 5.7 with 3.55's and towing a 7500lb TT I was running 3000-4000 RPM on the highway

 

[CanuckRam1313]

What chash68 said!
These HEMI's are workhorses. As long as you maintain your truck these rpm's won't hurt it.
Heck, I regularly push my HEMI past 5K where the VVT kicks in and hold it to its stock high level shift points running through the gears whilst I enter the highway, and keep her highly spirited as the acceleration continues to her cut off (sometimes).... Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...

 

[ramffml]

Your RPMs sound normal and inline with my truck. I tow at 2300 RPMs and hit 3000+ up steeper hills, no worries at all.

But if I were you I'd run a high quality 5w-30 synthetic oil. Redline 5w-30 is an excellent candidate, or if it's too pricy for you then Mobil 1 FS 0w-40 with 12oz of BioTech Lubeguard. (I'm running HP oil but haven't yet towed with it nor had it analyzed yet so can't yet recommend it though I suspect it will be my permanent oil choice.)

Watch your oil temps and stay below 250F. Slow down or take a break if you hit those temps for more than 10 seconds while cresting a hill or whatever. If you have active grill shutters, you can buy a few seconds of cooling by removing them. I've also purchased an external oil filter relocation kit which should help keep the engine a little cooler as well.

You don't need a diesel lol. The hemi still tows more. The problem is not the engine revving to 80% of redline, the problem is our misunderstanding of damaging the engine by doing so. Once you realize the engine doesn't care (proper oil/temps notwithstanding) you'll be more comfortable towing with it.

Also you may be a little surprised/happy to hear that the 5.7 was used in the 2500 heavy duty trucks. It's seen a lot of work and abuse, there are no real issues that have arisen from working the 5.7 hard.

Oh, also change your oil no later than 5000 miles when towing. I'd also recommend running 89 octane while towing, it will keep your engine cooler with a cleaner burn.

 

[09SilverRam]

You may want to leverage the auto-stick functionality of the transmission to manage shifting in tow haul mode. The transmission lets the engine lug down too much before downshifting when climbing on its own, my truck does a much better job of holding speed and not hunting gears when when I set the highest gear and then kick it down manually as we start the hill before the truck slows down.

Don’t be afraid to spin that engine up.

 

[62Blazer]

2,500 to 3,000 are not excessively high RPM's by any means for this engine. I would not hesitate to run sustained periods of times in that range, and it may very well be better for the engine engine to run 2,500 to 3,000 rpm versus lugging it in the 1,900 rpm range. My last trucks was a Chevy 2500HD 6.0L gas and it would run almost 2,500 rpm at 70 mph just cruising down the freeway empty because of the gearing. When pulling heavy, especially with any type of head wind or slight grade, it would drop down a gear and I would cruise at over 3,000 rpm for extended periods of time. Also wasn't unusual on steeper grades for it to downshift again and it would run in the 4,000+ rpm range up the hill. When I traded in that truck is had over 150k miles on it and ran great.

 

[Gene Knox]

The problem is the spark plugs, as in you have them. If you want to tow at 2K rpms you should have bought a diesel.
Your Hemi torque peak of 410 ft/lbs is at 4K rpms where as the EcoDiesel 480 ft/lbs is at 1600 rpms. It's not horsepower that tows a trailer but torque.
You can put you mind at ease, the Hemi will hold that 4K rpms all day long if needed, your "fear" of high rpms is unwarranted. Also keep in mind that lugging a gas engine can damage the engine, so use the Tow/Haul mode to keep the rpms up where they need to be.

Hey thanks, yea Kinda thought it was the plugs causing the issue. However, I could not pass the deal at the time I bought it. 26520 miles and only 469 hrs on the motor. I would love to have a diesel however parting with 65-70k to tow a trailer that as of now is done like 4-5 times a year is a little hard to justify, for now. I have 8 more years to work before I decide to retire, I will most likely purchase one at that time. I appreciate your input though. Back in the day early 90's I had a chevy 454 that spun a bearing and caused me a lot of trouble. So I'm somewhat gun shy.

 

[Octane]

Hey thanks, yea Kinda thought it was the plugs causing the issue. However, I could not pass the deal at the time I bought it. 26520 miles and only 469 hrs on the motor. I would love to have a diesel however parting with 65-70k to tow a trailer that as of now is done like 4-5 times a year is a little hard to justify, for now. I have 8 more years to work before I decide to retire, I will most likely purchase one at that time. I appreciate your input though. Back in the day early 90's I had a chevy 454 that spun a bearing and caused me a lot of trouble. So I'm somewhat gun shy.

That 454 was known to break a crank back in the day also. In our experience locally here.

 

[Gene Knox]

You may want to leverage the auto-stick functionality of the transmission to manage shifting in tow haul mode. The transmission lets the engine lug down too much before downshifting when climbing on its own, my truck does a much better job of holding speed and not hunting gears when when I set the highest gear and then kick it down manually as we start the hill before the truck slows down.

Don’t be afraid to spin that engine up.

Hmmm, never thought of that, actually I have never used the sport shift feature since I have had the truck ( 3/21) I bought it off of a widow whose husband only went to church and the store in it. when I bought it the motor had 469 hrs on it I believe and 26k miles. It was only after that we traded up to the trailer we now have. The next time out I will have to see about that manual shift feature. Thanks,