Gushing about my 2019 Laramie 1500

[Retiring Don]

I previously posted about my trip up to the New England states from South Carolina and how well my Ram performed. I just returned from a coast to coast trip to California, cut short by Covid-19, but we towed our 6000lbs travel trailer well over 5500 miles with absolutely no issues and managed 10.3 mpg. I was close to 11 mpg until we encountered head winds across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia along I-40 and various other interstates on our return trip. On our trip out to California on I-10 we got as high as 13 mpg along the flat lands of west Texas. I had the cruise control set on 60 mph and our truck never complained or hesitated. And yes I tow exclusively in the right lane. The ride was smooth and even in 40 mph wind gusts I never had to correct for any trailer sway. I felt confident enough to sometimes only have one hand on the steering wheel. We climbed several mountain ranges that had summits as high as 7000 feet with little effort. In the tow/haul mode it would downshift to 5th gear and stay at about 3200 rpms to maintain the speedometer needle on 60 mph when going up 6% grades. Trans temps got as high as 235 degrees but usually ran about 224. When going down the other side of those mountains the trans would downshift to maintain the 60 mph and I never had to apply any brakes.
My wife drove and she agreed that she really didn't feel the trailer behind us.
We now have over 26K miles on our truck, of which 11K have been towing our travel trailer. I am totally sold on my truck and if Ram ever wanted to hear from a very satisfied customer they should contact me.​

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Hi, Don I purchased my Laramie on 9/19 haven't towed with it yet, finally got my ITBC I got to enable in with my alphaOBD got my security Bypass cable needed for this after reading your post I'm psyched I have a 21ft TT 6,000 lb. 600lb tongue weight did you have a WDH to help with any trailer sway, I also put a Helwig sway bar in the back, I can't wait to go camping when who knows.

 

[Retiring Don]

I do have a Blue Ox wdh that I always tow with. My truck has a 3.92 rear gear, the self leveling air suspension and is 2wd. No mods to the truck and I am still running on the original tires.
I also was carrying a 3200 watt generator and assorted other gear and supplies in the bed of the truck which probably weighed a total of 250 lbs. We were eventually going to make it to Yellowstone to go dry camping for 10 days until the pandemic closed everything.

 

[Vanlecktor]

I am happy to hear from guys on here who are happy with their expensive new trucks. That said, I will pay more attention to you after you have about 80,000 under your belt. As an older guy who is not a big fan of modern vehicles I can say I hear literally hundreds of horror stories on here and on GM and Ford forums. I also have a younger friend who is a tech for Ram trucks. He drives a Toyota Tundra.
I guess they just recalled 300,000 Ram trucks for a back up camera that won't turn off while you are driving ! This is just one of many, many recalls by FCA. My technician friend at the Ram store said they had two techs that do nothing all day but tear down Hemi's to put in lifters and cams. Most of these are failures under 100,000 miles.

Ford EcoBoost ! Wow, another techno nightmare ! GM trucks, probably the worst of the big three. You can go on uTube and find a very funny older mechanic that talks daily about modern vehicles. His name is Scotty Kilner. He hates all FCA products and he has the knowledge and expertise to back up his statements.

I never pass judgement on a vehicle when it is new. I wait for awhile, like till over 100K. My old 90's 5.7 Silverado has 276K on it. I have not spent over 1 grand on that truck in all those miles. I have a neighbor who spent that on newer Ram pickup because of some weird no start problem with the ignition or security system on his Ram.

 

[14 Lonestar]

How many issues have you had with your Ram and how many miles do you have on it?

 

[Vanlecktor]

I bought a simple 2wd work truck with crank windows, locks and an old fashion key to open the door and start the truck. So far at 32,000 miles I have had ZERO problems. Great gas mileage, 27 mpg on the road at 65mph. I tow a Hi-Lo camper weighs 4,000 lbs and 3.6L still
gets 19/20 with plenty of power. I like my truck, BUT, it's still early and mileage is low. I'm starting to notice some play already in the ring and pinion. Chrysler never had rear end problems and now they do. I'm waiting for it to get worse and I'll have it replaced under warranty.
I would have bought a Toyota but the Ram was much cheaper and had ZERO % financing. I also don't like Ford or GM modern day trucks.

 

[14 Lonestar]

I’ve had mine for 2 years and 17,000 miles with zero issues, it’s a great truck and the style beats anything out there in my opinion.

 

[Retiring Don]

To each his own. I’m going to enjoy the ride and comfort of my truck. I didn’t order my truck but knew how I wanted it optioned to meet my needs and looked long and hard until I found one that had everything I wanted. Had to travel to Orlando Florida to get it but it ultimately was worth it. I’m a 68 year old gear head that has worked on cars since I was 15. I don’t know how to work on a lot of the new electronic bells and whistles but that is why I got the extended warranty. We’re taking our trailer to Maine in the fall and out to Washington state in the spring if this pandemic thing is over. I’ll tell you how it goes.

 

[RamCares]

I previously posted about my trip up to the New England states from South Carolina and how well my Ram performed. I just returned from a coast to coast trip to California, cut short by Covid-19, but we towed our 6000lbs travel trailer well over 5500 miles with absolutely no issues and managed 10.3 mpg. I was close to 11 mpg until we encountered head winds across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia along I-40 and various other interstates on our return trip. On our trip out to California on I-10 we got as high as 13 mpg along the flat lands of west Texas. I had the cruise control set on 60 mph and our truck never complained or hesitated. And yes I tow exclusively in the right lane. The ride was smooth and even in 40 mph wind gusts I never had to correct for any trailer sway. I felt confident enough to sometimes only have one hand on the steering wheel. We climbed several mountain ranges that had summits as high as 7000 feet with little effort. In the tow/haul mode it would downshift to 5th gear and stay at about 3200 rpms to maintain the speedometer needle on 60 mph when going up 6% grades. Trans temps got as high as 235 degrees but usually ran about 224. When going down the other side of those mountains the trans would downshift to maintain the 60 mph and I never had to apply any brakes.
My wife drove and she agreed that she really didn't feel the trailer behind us.
We now have over 26K miles on our truck, of which 11K have been towing our travel trailer. I am totally sold on my truck and if Ram ever wanted to hear from a very satisfied customer they should contact me.​

Hi @Retiring Don - Thank you so much for taking the time to share, we are thrilled to hear of your love for your truck! More than that, please know that our team here is always a private message away if you ever happen to have any questions or you are ever in need of additional support with your truck.

Mark
RamCares

 

[Tim Garceau]

In the tow/haul mode it would downshift to 5th gear and stay at about 3200 rpms to maintain the speedometer needle on 60 mph when going up 6% grades. Trans temps got as high as 235 degrees but usually ran about 224.
​

Where are your oil and water temps during that period out of curiosity?

 

[JoeCo]

I am happy to hear from guys on here who are happy with their expensive new trucks. That said, I will pay more attention to you after you have about 80,000 under your belt. As an older guy who is not a big fan of modern vehicles I can say I hear literally hundreds of horror stories on here and on GM and Ford forums. I also have a younger friend who is a tech for Ram trucks. He drives a Toyota Tundra.
I guess they just recalled 300,000 Ram trucks for a back up camera that won't turn off while you are driving ! This is just one of many, many recalls by FCA. My technician friend at the Ram store said they had two techs that do nothing all day but tear down Hemi's to put in lifters and cams. Most of these are failures under 100,000 miles.

Ford EcoBoost ! Wow, another techno nightmare ! GM trucks, probably the worst of the big three. You can go on uTube and find a very funny older mechanic that talks daily about modern vehicles. His name is Scotty Kilner. He hates all FCA products and he has the knowledge and expertise to back up his statements.

I never pass judgement on a vehicle when it is new. I wait for awhile, like till over 100K. My old 90's 5.7 Silverado has 276K on it. I have not spent over 1 grand on that truck in all those miles. I have a neighbor who spent that on newer Ram pickup because of some weird no start problem with the ignition or security system on his Ram.

Should be interesting to see how it all plays out. Keep in mind many people buy them with no plans to keep them that long (myself included, trade in every 2-3 years when they have 50-60k on them). If I were to want something long term, I'd probably have to look into something else, or like you did, at least something with a lot less options than I'm used to.

That being said, the people that buy them used at 80-100k and up miles may be in for a lot of work and frustration.

 

[Retiring Don]

Tim, the water temp didn't vary much as I didn't see the needle on the analog gauge move perceptively at all. When I check the digital gauge it seemed to always be around 210. As far as the oil temp it seemed to be 220 as I recall. I wasn't too concerned about the oil temp since the water temp didn't change much, I was more concerned about the trans temp due to the added strain caused by the trailer. I plan to add a finned aluminum pan to the trans and similar cover to the diff.

 

[runamuck]

Tim, the water temp didn't vary much as I didn't see the needle on the analog gauge move perceptively at all. When I check the digital gauge it seemed to always be around 210. As far as the oil temp it seemed to be 220 as I recall. I wasn't too concerned about the oil temp since the water temp didn't change much, I was more concerned about the trans temp due to the added strain caused by the trailer. I plan to add a finned aluminum pan to the trans and similar cover to the diff.

glad to hear about your towing experience. we have a similar sized travel trailer and have had pretty good results too. what was it like traveling at 60 on I-10 west of san antonio..that portion has 80 speed limit and many folks seem to even feel the need to even exceed that..I usually set cruise for 69-70 when towing and get the evil eye from plenty of impatient drivers hell bent on getting somewhere in a hurry.

 

[Tim Garceau]

Sounds like I need to swap to the 5G electric fan, expected water and oil temps to be above 220 when the trans is there. Are you turning high engine rpm when the temp is in that range?

 

[Retiring Don]

Runamuck, we never had any issues with people going faster than us, no honks or middle fingers, and that was the first time either my wife or I had seen an 80mph sign. I think the professional drivers understand that the left lane is for passing and adjust accordingly. And as I said earlier my cruise control kept the speed consistently at 60, uphill or down, so anyone coming up from behind didn't have to deal with a speed fluctuation so the closing speed remained constant as long as their speed was constant.
Both my wife and I are retired and our travel is for leisure. We've found that keeping our travel days to under 400 miles is comfortable and can be done in 8 hours or less even with stopping for lunch so there is no need to go faster. If we get up at 0630 we can have our showers, a leisurely breakfast, break camp, and be on the road by 0800. So in about 8 hours we can be at the next campsite NLT 1600. Getting to an overnight campsite a little sooner really doesn't mean much; if there are sights we want to see we will stay another day. The flip side of this is that with the 3.92 rear gear the sweet spot for max gas mileage is 60-62 mph when towing. I have towed faster that 60 consistently to see what my fuel mileage would be and 60-62 is what I found to be best.
My trailer is 5K lbs empty and the way we travel it tips the scales at just under 6K depending the amount of water in the 3 tanks. I have witnessed and read stories about trailer tires blowing out and seen the damage it can do. My tires are rated at 75mph but why push it when it's not necessary. The faster you go the more heat that is generated in the tires so your risk of a tire failure increases especially when the tires are worn. The RV'ers I've spoken with have said they were doing 70+ when their blowout occurred, more often than not. So I'm content with 60 mph and lessening the risk of a blowout in the middle of nowhere and possible damage to the trailer that could curtail our trip. I don't believe that 60mph is an unreasonable speed, it's well above the minimum and if you are towing in California the posted speed is 55.

 

[Retiring Don]

Tim, when towing on level or near level ground the tach reads about 2050 rpm, the needle is just touching the right side of the tick mark. This is all in the tow/haul mode so 8th gear overdrive is locked out. Going up slight inclines the trans downshifts to 6th and increases to about 2300 rpms. When going up 6% grades the trans downshifts to 5th (I believe) and the rpms go up to 3200. This is when I'd see the higher trans temps, especially on long grades. The only time the engine would exceed the 3200 was when going down those 6% grades and the trans would downshift for additional engine braking. When this would occur the tach would read 4000+. I never thought to check the trans temps then because the engine wasn't putting a strain on the trans in the usual way. When we travel to Maine in the fall I'll try to remember to check it.
I purposely bought the truck with the 3.92 rear gear and turned down several with the 3.21's because I knew we were going to be crossing some high mountain ranges in our travels north and west. Seems all the trucks we looked at in South Carolina had the 3.21s because from Charleston to Florida everything is pretty flat, and the dealers would try to sway us to buy it. I don't think any of the salesmen we dealt with knew what a rear gear ratio is.
I would expect the trans temps on a truck with 3.21s to be higher when towing due to the additional torque required from the engine to pull the additional weight. I'm not an engineer but I know the rear gear is a torque multiplier so 3.92 is better than 3.21 when towing which eases the overall strain on the drive train. So in the long run I sacrifice some gas mileage if I were to be one who needs cruise faster, but fortunately I'm usually not in a big hurry.

 

[Tim Garceau]

Good info, keep us posted.

FYI, Tow/Haul on the 4th Gens does not disable MDS or 8th gear. It has a TCM map that is more aggressive holding RPMs longer before shifting.

On the 5Gs with the zf8hp75 the PCM & trans map for tow/haul must have changed.

 

[Retiring Don]

Tim, if I turn off the tow/haul mode while going 60 on level ground I can hear it upshift and the rpms drop to 1800 or so. They must have reprogrammed the 5th gens as you say. I do detect the shifts being held longer when in tow/haul mode but I have yet to know when the MDS kicks in even when not towing as I have never felt a difference. I’ve noticed the eco light come on but I’ve read where that doesn’t the MDS is on.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Don, the MDS is disabled in tow/haul to much shifting going on when towing, you can turn off the eco light, on the Uconnect screen go to settings and display and I think go down to fuel management and toggle that off, if you're driving around town you can disable the MDS
on the gear + - on the steering wheel when in drive hit the - so it goes to first gear and than the + till it goes to 8th gear, this is next to the gear select on heads up display, now every time you go into drive you have to do this, If you're not using T/H, and I've heard the 3.92 gears makes the engine rev higher for greater pulling, where the 3.21 don't rev as high so not great when pulling down low.

 

[runamuck]

Don I was just funnin with you..400 mile day pulling a travel trailer is usually a full day. the most I have done in a day with our laramie is ft. worth to Big Bend..570 miles with a cross wind all the way to Monahans and then headwind the rest of the way to Lajitas..worth the trip tho as very scenic down there. I dont tow over 68-70 and that's if I"m on a pretty good road. I added the helwig sway bar and when I tow I run more air in the tires..dont have airlift but plan to add one as my son has a "17 and airbags made a nice improvement for him.