My 6.4L towing experience

[1500ram12]

I know a lot of people have questions about towing with the 6.4L hemi, so I thought I'd share my experiences over the past 2 weekends.

My truck

2018 2500 6.4L Hemi
3.73 Gears
35x12.5x18 Federal Couragia MT
18x9 XD Misfits
RCX 2" leveling kit
1.5" Supreme Suspension rear spacer
Borla XR-1 40086 Muffler

Using the lieometer. Haven't calculated actual mpgs. Never used more than roughly 60-70% throttle

Trip 1
About 400 mile round trip
Towing my 7k 16' car trailer
About 2500 lbs empty
No real amount of freeway travel mostly 2 lane "highway". 3/4s of the trip was mainly flat. Small hill's. The last 1/4 was not mountains but had some good climbs.
Started out at 14.4 Ave, ended at 14.8.
Return home. Loaded with a 1987 chevy v20 4x4 reg cab long box 350 with plow. Roughly 4500lbs. So truck and trailer around 7000 pounds. Slightly different route on return trip to avoid some of the narrow steep roads.
Ended up at 12.2 mpg Ave.




Trip 2
About a 550 mile round trip
Towing a 14k 18' hydraulic tilt trailer. Best guess on weight is about 3500 lbs.
Same as trip 1 with no real freeway travel. 3/4 of the trip was almost the same as trip 1. The last 1/4 from Albany in Connecticut was hills and narrow roads.
Started out at 12.2 mpg Ave and ended at 12.4.
Return trip. Loaded with a 1989 Dodge w250 reg cab 4x4 12v cummins. Combined weight was around 11k. Slightly different route on return trip to avoid some of the narrow steep roads. First 1/4 was basically 4 lane highway. End mpg was 10.8.



I hope this gives you some insight on towing with a 6.4L hemi


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman

 

[MADDOG]

Good info!

I gotta ask...what's gonna happen with the W250???

 

[dhay13]

Son towed his 8500ish lb camper 1500 miles to North Dakota from Pittsburgh. Same truck but with 4.10's. He averaged about 9 MPG on his EVIC. He never checked it by hand.

 

[buckeyexx]

This is some good info. Thanks for posting this as I am getting ready to do a round trip from Ohio to Florida. Stopping in Georgia along the way.
I leave this Friday and will be pulling my travel trailer which weighs about 5500ish lbs. when loaded. I too have 6.4 with 3.73 gears and 2 in level but on stock 18in wheels and stock size tires. I just recently changed the oil and trans fluid over to Amsoil and so far have seen slight improvements in fuel mileage.
If I get anywhere around 11-12 mpg I will be happy but we will see what happens.


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[1500ram12]

Good info!

I gotta ask...what's gonna happen with the W250???

Plan on turning it into a driver. Use it to tow on occasion. Just a nice second truck.


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman

 

[MADDOG]

Nice...

 

[GsRAM]

Both cool 80s trucks and 3/4 tons to boot! I love the 80s square body chevys also. Very cool man. Good towing mpg also. My truck is similar to yours. Towing TTs takes more fuel due to the large frontal area, but my truck does very well for its size and weight.

 

[62Blazer]

Wish my '16 PW got that good of MPG. 30,000 miles and as far as I know all stock except for 35" tires I installed. I only get around 11-12 mpg driving empty to and from work, and that is about half on the freeway with cruise control and then 45-55 mph two lanes that are fairly flat.

 

[Ejorgy101]

I live about 30 miles out of Albany I do have some problems with mine on the hills

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[1500ram12]

I live about 30 miles out of Albany I do have some problems with mine on the hills

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I was in Johnstown last weekend for the square body and Canaan CT this past weekend for the 12v


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman

 

[thomas5853]

I know a lot of people have questions about towing with the 6.4L hemi, so I thought I'd share my experiences over the past 2 weekends.

My truck

2018 2500 6.4L Hemi
3.73 Gears
35x12.5x18 Federal Couragia MT
18x9 XD Misfits
RCX 2" leveling kit
1.5" Supreme Suspension rear spacer
Borla XR-1 40086 Muffler

Using the lieometer. Haven't calculated actual mpgs. Never used more than roughly 60-70% throttle

Trip 1
About 400 mile round trip
Towing my 7k 16' car trailer
About 2500 lbs empty
No real amount of freeway travel mostly 2 lane "highway". 3/4s of the trip was mainly flat. Small hill's. The last 1/4 was not mountains but had some good climbs.
Started out at 14.4 Ave, ended at 14.8.
Return home. Loaded with a 1987 chevy v20 4x4 reg cab long box 350 with plow. Roughly 4500lbs. So truck and trailer around 7000 pounds. Slightly different route on return trip to avoid some of the narrow steep roads.
Ended up at 12.2 mpg Ave.




Trip 2
About a 550 mile round trip
Towing a 14k 18' hydraulic tilt trailer. Best guess on weight is about 3500 lbs.
Same as trip 1 with no real freeway travel. 3/4 of the trip was almost the same as trip 1. The last 1/4 from Albany in Connecticut was hills and narrow roads.
Started out at 12.2 mpg Ave and ended at 12.4.
Return trip. Loaded with a 1989 Dodge w250 reg cab 4x4 12v cummins. Combined weight was around 11k. Slightly different route on return trip to avoid some of the narrow steep roads. First 1/4 was basically 4 lane highway. End mpg was 10.8.



I hope this gives you some insight on towing with a 6.4L hemi


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman

Were you using tow/haul mode when empty and what was your speed? I averaged around 11 towing a 14k car hauler empty doing around 80 with cruisecontrol. With the car added, I averaged 8-10, but was doing 75-80, depending on terrain. I used tow/haul the entire time. Also have a 2018 with 3.73.

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[1500ram12]

Were you using tow/haul mode when empty and what was your speed? I averaged around 11 towing a 14k car hauler empty doing around 80 with cruisecontrol. With the car added, I averaged 8-10, but was doing 75-80, depending on terrain. I used tow/haul the entire time. Also have a 2018 with 3.73.

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First trip empty only used tow/haul on a few steep descents so I wasn't totally relying on my brakes. Trip back I used tow/haul quite a bit on the 1st half of the trip. 2nd empty same as the first trip. Loaded only used tow/haul on long climbs and go down hill's. I was mainly going 55-60. My trailer doesn't get used very often and when it does it's short trips (30-50 miles round trip). The trailer I rented I had more confidence in but on the return trip I didn't have the truck loaded a 100 percent correctly. I had it forward a hair to much so I had some bouncing from the trailer.

From where I live to the places I went I had 3 choices to get there. 1-first third through the mountains then a third on the freeway then the remaining on small "highway" roads. 2- was about an hour longer and not a 100 percent sure on roads and the way I went which we tried to pick and choose/guess what might be the "easiest" roads to go on. Barely any of the trip was "flat" roads. Always a small hill to climb or go down.


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman

 

[thomas5853]

Thanks fir the info. I just need to drive slower, lol

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[Mountaineer83]

This is some good info. Thanks for posting this as I am getting ready to do a round trip from Ohio to Florida. Stopping in Georgia along the way.
I leave this Friday and will be pulling my travel trailer which weighs about 5500ish lbs. when loaded. I too have 6.4 with 3.73 gears and 2 in level but on stock 18in wheels and stock size tires. I just recently changed the oil and trans fluid over to Amsoil and so far have seen slight improvements in fuel mileage.
If I get anywhere around 11-12 mpg I will be happy but we will see what happens.


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If you need a super nice campground in Georgia, try Coastal Georgia RV park in Brunswick. It's like 15 mins to St. Simon's and Jekyll Islands from the campground. Exit 29 off I95. I lived there for 7 months and highly reccomend it!

 

[buckeyexx]

If you need a super nice campground in Georgia, try Coastal Georgia RV park in Brunswick. It's like 15 mins to St. Simon's and Jekyll Islands from the campground. Exit 29 off I95. I lived there for 7 months and highly reccomend it!

Thanks! I appreciate the info. If we we travel i95 I will definitely check it out. As of now I believe we will be traveling i75 but who knows may change it up.


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[dhay13]

Son towed his 8500ish lb camper 1500 miles to North Dakota from Pittsburgh. Same truck but with 4.10's. He averaged about 9 MPG on his EVIC. He never checked it by hand.

Well my sons boss called him yesterday morning and told him he had to be at a different site 2.5 hours away so he spent last night getting everything packed up. Hooked up the camper this morning and headed to the site. He had been at this site last year for a few months so was familiar with it. Anyway, if anyone is familiar with the area it is in eastern PA near Altoona. He said there is a switchback about 2 miles up then 2 miles back down. He has a 2018 2500 6.4 4.10's (exact same as mine). His camper was probably around 9000-9500lbs today. The switchback is on 641near Neelyton, PA. He said the speed limit is 40 and he was running about 38 but stayed in 1st gear almost the whole way. He said it was running about 6000 RPM but he was probably exaggerating that. Coming back down he said he manually downshifted to 2nd and turned about 2500 RPM back downhill but barely had to touch the brakes. But overall he said the truck did good.

 

[392DevilDog]

Well my sons boss called him yesterday morning and told him he had to be at a different site 2.5 hours away so he spent last night getting everything packed up. Hooked up the camper this morning and headed to the site. He had been at this site last year for a few months so was familiar with it. Anyway, if anyone is familiar with the area it is in eastern PA near Altoona. He said there is a switchback about 2 miles up then 2 miles back down. He has a 2018 2500 6.4 4.10's (exact same as mine). His camper was probably around 9000-9500lbs today. The switchback is on 641near Neelyton, PA. He said the speed limit is 40 and he was running about 38 but stayed in 1st gear almost the whole way. He said it was running about 6000 RPM but he was probably exaggerating that. Coming back down he said he manually downshifted to 2nd and turned about 2500 RPM back downhill but barely had to touch the brakes. But overall he said the truck did good.

I am very familiar with that road. It is extremely steep. It is where I learned my 6.4l wont go over 37 mph in 1st gear. And my 8.0l V10 finally found a match for 2nd gear.

We just went over it twice this past weekend going to Chrysler @ Carlisle.

In tow haul mode the truck goes down it just fine. The issue comes when going northbound. Two very sharp turns and you can not keep momentum.

Tell him next time to follow the truck route. It is a little but longer, but much easier.

Going southbound, just stay on 641.

Nit really that close to Altoona though. That is where I live. It is about 1hr and half from there.

 

[392DevilDog]

Well my sons boss called him yesterday morning and told him he had to be at a different site 2.5 hours away so he spent last night getting everything packed up. Hooked up the camper this morning and headed to the site. He had been at this site last year for a few months so was familiar with it. Anyway, if anyone is familiar with the area it is in eastern PA near Altoona. He said there is a switchback about 2 miles up then 2 miles back down. He has a 2018 2500 6.4 4.10's (exact same as mine). His camper was probably around 9000-9500lbs today. The switchback is on 641near Neelyton, PA. He said the speed limit is 40 and he was running about 38 but stayed in 1st gear almost the whole way. He said it was running about 6000 RPM but he was probably exaggerating that. Coming back down he said he manually downshifted to 2nd and turned about 2500 RPM back downhill but barely had to touch the brakes. But overall he said the truck did good.

He wasnt exaggerating running 6000. The gap between 2nd and 1st is ridiculous.

I did the same thing the 1st time I towed up it. I locked 1st gear and it cut spark at 37 mph. Scared the scrap out of me.

My V10 5spd did the same thing. Just couldn't make the shift to 3rd and had to ease back and be happy with 35-40.

A ford focus with 2 adults in it will struggle to hit the 40 mph speed limit.

My wife was following me in her 06 Kia V6 5 speed and she had to grab 2nd gear too.

You basically go up the mountain to just come right back down.

The road on the right...that is uphill and where he had the issue. Then it turns and goes downhill. See how there is 2 switchback there. It is easy going southbound...it is a ***** going northbound.

The cut the southbiund climb into two sections, the northbound climb is one straight up.

If you can visualize that.

 

[dhay13]

He was coming from Kinzers and thought he said he was coming from right to left in that pic. Probably following his GPS. There is a hardware store out there that uses its parking lot as a campground for the pipeline workers. He is staying in that parking lot. Can't remember the name of it. He was there about 6 months ago for a few months. Said he will probably be there until September.

 

[392DevilDog]

the res is the uphill going northbound. The blue is downhill going northbound.

Where the blue and the red meet is the top of the mountain.

As you can see the red goes straight to the top.

The blue gets a switchback to decrease the grade.

Hope that helps visualize it better