Ideal 2500 Laramie Gear Ratio for Towing

[White six four]

It's interesting to note that for the 5.7 and comparing the gear options, that yes you do get another 2,000# to tow, but here is something to think about and not sure how RAM figured this in but:

Granted you can get that extra 2,000#'s moving, but how are you going to STOP it?

Perhaps there are bigger brakes on that, but I'm thinking its all the same or at least not aware of it.

I look at it this way. sure getting up the hill will be easier with that weight, but at some point you have to come down that hill.

From my searching awhile back the reason the 4.10s have the bigger towing capacity compared to the 3.73s is because there are certain tests they do on the trucks towing wise and one of them is they have to get whatever load they're rated to pull to a certain speed from a dead stop within a certain amount of time. That's why the higher numerical gear gets the higher weight rating.

 

[Socalramfan]

The two factory gear options are 3.73 or 4.10 and there isn't that much of a difference between them. I doubt many people could really tell the difference by the seat of the pants feel between them. For towing performance I pulled a 9,000+ lb. plus trailer for years with a Chevy 2500HD 6.0L gas engine that was rated at 300 HP and it did fine. Sure, a diesel would pull it easier but not like the gas engines won't get it done. The biggest difference is what type of speed you can maintain on the grades on the freeway. If most of your driving is on 2 lane roads at lower speeds it's not nearly as big of a deal as compared to trying to drive 70 mph through the mountains of Colorado. Same thing goes for fuel mileage, if you are spending a lot of time driving slower (under 50 mph) and pulling a lot of grades then lower gears could actually help fuel mileage.

People who make comments about being able to get a heavy trailer moving but not being able to get it stopped always make me wonder if they have actually ever towed a larger trailer before. It's called "trailer brakes"....you know, this concept where the trailer actually has brakes on it to compensate for the added weight. State to state laws are different but in my state any trailer with a GVW (max weight) over 3,000 lbs. is legally required to have brakes on it. There is no way I would consider towing any decent size trailer at posted highway speeds without brakes on it.

Of course I would hope, and figure it would be a given that anyone towing at any weights near that would certainly have "Trailer Brakes", but again..... all other conditions equal, if you have an additional 2000#'s, or whatever weight for that fact, it is going to require a greater stopping force, but then your changing a variable, and or a greater stopping distance. It's physics.

Having a diesel, and using engine brake is an option, but again.... the variables are changing.

Haven't seen too many accidents with someone trying to climb up hill because they were heavy, but have seen lots loose control because they couldn't get it stopped going down

 

[dhay13]

No idea what year they started with this but my 6.4 has an 'exhaust brake'...lol. Yeah it's not an exhaust brake but when in tow/haul it will downshift to keep speeds down. I towed my 9000lb boat this spring down a big hill we call mile hill. Speed limit is 45 MPH. I did not touch my brakes the whole way down and actually had to give it some throttle to keep up to 45 MPH. Yes I have surge brakes but never touched the brakes the whole way down

 

[White six four]

No idea what year they started with this but my 6.4 has an 'exhaust brake'...lol. Yeah it's not an exhaust brake but when in tow/haul it will downshift to keep speeds down. I towed my 9000lb boat this spring down a big hill we call mile hill. Speed limit is 45 MPH. I did not touch my brakes the whole way down and actually had to give it some throttle to keep up to 45 MPH. Yes I have surge brakes but never touched the brakes the whole way down

My 16 does this too even without tow haul mode. Going down a steep hill with cruise control on it will downshift to keep the truck from going faster then what the cruise is set at.

 

[dhay13]

My 16 does this too even without tow haul mode. Going down a steep hill with cruise control on it will downshift to keep the truck from going faster then what the cruise is set at.

yeah I wasn't using cruise but that happens with all vehicles as far as I can remember. But this has nothing to do with cruise. Next time you tow put it in tow/haul and try to remember to go down a large hill and see if it slows down. Like I said, the hill is probably 3/4 mile long and about a 6% grade and I never had to touch my brakes. Actually slowed too much and had to give it gas to stay up to 45 MPH

 

[Elkman]

The higher weight rating with the lower gear ratio is due to the reduced load on the engine bearings and on the transmission. With a gas engine the lower gears keep the engine inside its peak power band more readily when towing. With a diesel engine the maximum torque is achieved at about half the RPM's of a gas engine which is why they are advantageous for towing a truly heavy load, as in more than 10,000 lbs on the road.

The most important aspect for me is the 0 to 60 mph time with a given engine and gears. I often have less than 200 feet to get up to freeway speeds and safely merge. Most motorists and most truckers do not bother to get out to the slow lane and so it takes brute power to get up to at least 55mph (at a bare minimum) to safely merge with the clowns. With a trailer my rig can have double the total length and so I also need a larger gap between vehicles to safely merge onto the highway.

The truck manufacturers primary objective with 1500 class trucks is to have the best numbers for the federal CAFE fuel economy figures. An extra 0.5 mpg is significant for Ram, Ford, and Chevy, but of no significance for the end user of the truck.

I will believe fuel economy is important to truck owners when I start to see some of them driving at the legal speed limit. When someone puts on larger tires and blasts past me at 80 mph then they are obviously not concerned about how much they spend on gas or diesel at the pumps. And if someone adds up all the costs of owning and maintaining and driving a truck they will find that fuel is near the bottom of the list of expenses.

 

[James Kriss]

I think I should go a little bigger than 4.10 since I know I'll occasionally tow something heavier than my trailer. Any cons to a bigger ratio?

I am new to Ram or even trucks. Have a 2020 Limited with a 3.92 gear ratio. Pulls a 25ft. Flying Cloud Airstream-2014. Averages about 12.3 mpg. In town without a trailer around 13.5 if heavy on the pedal to 17mpg. Pulls our trailer fine. So with this in mind you want to get info like this for a 25ft especially if you are not trailering all the time. Why burn the gas if you are not on the road all the time with what you have.

 

[Pttrader]

I would check the vin on the Ram Trucks website under the towing capacity guide. You can paste the vin# and it will tell you the gear ratio and actual tow capacities. Not 100% it will work for an older 2010 model.
Checking the rambodybuilder.com for a 2010 2500 Laramie Crew Cab 4WD short box 5.7L it states the tranny is a 5 speed, gear ratios are 3.73 or 4.10, payload is 2400#s for both and max trailer is 8450#s for the 3.73s and 10,450#s for the 4.10s.
Good luck in your purchase. Don't think you will need air bags on the 2500, I installed Timbren's on my truck cause set up properly they don't affect the ride and when you have a heavy load the suspension sits on the rubber stoppers and suspension sag is minimal.