Trailer is not the issue.
My foot has never been on the floor towing my trailer tat is bigger than yours. I have been on some large hills. 2nd gear at 5,000rpm is worse as I have been and I had some throttle left.
2018 Ram 6.4l Hemi Towing Issues
- Thread starter Jversagejr
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My foot has never been on the floor towing my trailer tat is bigger than yours. I have been on some large hills. 2nd gear at 5,000rpm is worse as I have been and I had some throttle left.
Jversagejr
Member
So it appears it must be something with the truck as there should be no issue pulling hills?
Unless you are going up one hell of an ass kicker hill.
Maybe wot is putting it into limp mode or something?
Maybe try the same hill again and drive differently.
Hard for us to tell you what’s wrong.
Jversagejr
Member
I have only had the truck for a few months. The engine oil was changed and a new transmission was put in the truck. I never thought of checking either as again I have only had for a few months.
Jversagejr
Member
The hill was maybe 3 to 4 miles at the most. Plus I have the same issue coming up my driveway with the trailer which is a pretty steep grade but only about a 1000 ft.
But how steep?
Tunaman
Senior Member
When I tow my travel trailer I get better mileage and the truck just pulls better and run better on 92-93 octane....period.
GsRAM
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You need to get it to a dealer or reputeble shop to have it checked thoroughly .
If they don't find anything wrong initially, then hook up your trailer and have a tech come along with a scanner or laptop and replicate the issue with the tech there. That's probably the only ways your going to get to the bottom of it.
Toddz
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Where do you live? Just wandering because if you live close, I would hook my truck up to your trailer and tow a hill so you could compare to your truck. That would help to ascertain if there is possibly a mechanical issue.
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I'd check the fuel rail pressure while your on a steep grade, there have been issues with the fuel sending assembly that will starve the truck of fuel when low.
Do you have the same issue if you try backing the truck/trailer up the driveway? That may rule out an issue with fuel or transmission fluid pick up.
Krashdragon
Member
Bought a 2018 new. 6.4, 3.73 gears. Read the book, says 89 octane or better.
Asked the parts/service guy at dealership, they've been around awhile, and sell lots of trucks. Hey, I live in Texas.
He said.. if just running around town, 87 octane is fine, it's pretty flat here.
If towing, or going up mountains, run 89. If it doesn't seem right, run premium.
Depending, premium always isn't premium. Have seen anything from 89 to 93 marked premium. I try to use tier one fuels.
Ran from Ft Worth to Cleveland, Oh. this summer. Used 89 fuel.
Had a little ( 6 x 12) Uhaul 2 axle trailer. 7800 lbs both truck/trailer empty. No idea loaded. Truck rated 12000+
Unloaded on the way up, then stuffed on the way back. Truck never noticed. Got 1 mpg less than normal, but, truck still has less than 6000 miles.
I did avoid Ky, just ran thru AR.
I drive a big truck for a living, so not much time to play with the 2500.
Was cheaper to tow both ways than rent one way.
If you want a steep hill, there's a few 10 and 11 percenters in Pa, and a 12/13 on Route 9 in Maine. Only about a half mile either way, but still kinda steep.
Nice scenery, and some nice looking campgrounds on that route.
Asked the parts/service guy at dealership, they've been around awhile, and sell lots of trucks. Hey, I live in Texas.
He said.. if just running around town, 87 octane is fine, it's pretty flat here.
If towing, or going up mountains, run 89. If it doesn't seem right, run premium.
Depending, premium always isn't premium. Have seen anything from 89 to 93 marked premium. I try to use tier one fuels.
Ran from Ft Worth to Cleveland, Oh. this summer. Used 89 fuel.
Had a little ( 6 x 12) Uhaul 2 axle trailer. 7800 lbs both truck/trailer empty. No idea loaded. Truck rated 12000+
Unloaded on the way up, then stuffed on the way back. Truck never noticed. Got 1 mpg less than normal, but, truck still has less than 6000 miles.
I did avoid Ky, just ran thru AR.
I drive a big truck for a living, so not much time to play with the 2500.
Was cheaper to tow both ways than rent one way.
If you want a steep hill, there's a few 10 and 11 percenters in Pa, and a 12/13 on Route 9 in Maine. Only about a half mile either way, but still kinda steep.
Nice scenery, and some nice looking campgrounds on that route.
From my 2015 6.4 manual:
The use of premium gasoline (Over 89 octane) is not recommended, as it will not provide any benefit over regular gasoline in these engines.
This engine is designed to meet all emis- sions regulations and provide satisfactory fuel economy and performance when us- ing high quality unleaded gasoline having an octane range of 87 to 89.
Again, I pulled at a GCW of over 23K lbs on 87 Octane, including in AZ heat, and up 8K feet elevation.
The use of premium gasoline (Over 89 octane) is not recommended, as it will not provide any benefit over regular gasoline in these engines.
This engine is designed to meet all emis- sions regulations and provide satisfactory fuel economy and performance when us- ing high quality unleaded gasoline having an octane range of 87 to 89.
Again, I pulled at a GCW of over 23K lbs on 87 Octane, including in AZ heat, and up 8K feet elevation.
Jversagejr
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I appreciate that but I live just outside Rochester NY
Toddz
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Well brother, I hope you figure it out. I can say last year I towed a 9,000 lb toy hauler from so cal to Utah, to Idaho and back with 3.73 gearing. Lots of grades including the Baker grade mentioned by Bldrinker. I was surprised how well it did. Yes there were times I dropped to second, but never felt like I couldn't make anything at a decent speed.
Ribtipram
Senior Member
Next time your towing heavy up hill and feel like your loosing power hit the gear select down one and see what gear the truck is in. Maybe your trans is in the wrong gear. I had times where i had to force a down shift for some reason. I hate to say it because i love my truck but the 6 speed just ain't right all the time. You got to let those hemi's scream.
Toddz
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Ribtipram has a good point, especially since you have the 3.73. I find it works best to manually down shift to 3rd at close to 70mph at the bottom of the hill. If you wait for the downshift, sometimes it jumps over 3rd and slows you down too quick. I don't like pulling that fast, but unfortunately even at 70 you are below the 4,000 peak rpm.
Ribtipram
Senior Member
Yea I've had times getting on the highway with my five'r anout 11500# where it would not down shift no matter how much i gave it. In the mt's at high elevation it can get rough with with my tuck with the 3.73's. The 8 speed was the best thing they did for the 2500 gasser
Jversagejr
Member
I appreciate the advise. As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, my driveway is pretty steep and when I approach I manually shift to 1st gear but still have a problem with power. It seems to start off fine with higher RPM’s then just seems to die out to appoint where the RPM’s drop way down
