Real world info towing 9300lbs (2500 6.4)

[dhay13]

Have a 2018 2500 6.4 4.10's and have towed our 9000lb boat before but today towed a 9300lb travel trailer. Got all 3 CAT scale weights and hand calculated MPG towing.

Step-son bought a 2021 Grand Design Imagine 3250BH. Dry weight listed at 8600ish lbs. Real weight was 9240lbs one time and 9260lbs the next time (5 minutes later). One was with WDH bars connected and one was disconnected. Truck weight with me, 2 other guys, full tank of fuel, Equalizer 12,000/1200lb WDH in rear of bed truck was 8000lbs. Ticket shows 7580lbs but I was by myself on that one and the other 2 guys weighed 420lbs so that puts the truck at 8000 exactly.Oh, measured the rear wheel wells and loaded with bars connected it dropped exactly 1"

As for MPG, EVIC read 8.6 MPG when I was driving but he drove the last 2/3 and was between 70-75MPH and EVIC read 7.4 when we got back. Filled it up right before we left the dealer and filled up again when we got back. 105.2 miles traveled towing trailer and EVIC said avg speed was 41 MPH. EVIC read 7.4 but it took 15.720 gallons to fill it which works out to 6.69MPG



Next was with WDH bars disconnected. Front was a little light but still within limits on max axle weights. Didn't tow it this way but wanted a weight on it. This config gives 1240lbs of tongue weight


Last was with bars connected. With this config all numbers look good. All weight on front axle has been restored to empty config. Truck and trailer were perfect. Really could hardly tell it was there. The 6.4 was phenomenal and had no issue at all towing this. I was cruising at 65 MPH then step-son (speedy) drove the rest of the way and was doing 75 MPH. Truck had no problem running that and it still felt great.

 

[Sandevino]

Excellent info and technical write up.

 

[dhay13]

Oh, and advertised dry weight on TT was 8600ish and advertised tongue weight was 860ish. As you can see these were pretty low. The TT had nothing in it. It was as it was when we rolled off the lot. All tanks were empty, etc. and no personal stuff, no tools, nothing in it.

 

[thomas5853]

Thanks for all the great information.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dhay13]

Just to follow up. He just texted me saying the dealer left the 52 gallon gray tank full so we had an extra 350 or so lbs in there that he normally wouldn't have. I don't know if that particular tank is behind the axles or in front.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Great info - thank you!

 

[dhay13]

So his fresh water tank was full (52 gallons) and the tank is in front of the axles so that should take some weight off his rear axle and maybe transfer a little to the front axle. He will probably still be a little over on the trucks payload (GVWR) but everything else should probably be within limits. Might be over by about 200lbs

This was his truck with the fresh water tank full (2020 Tundra SR5)


This was mine with that tank full:

 

[Firebird]

Nice write up! The 6.4 is a remarkably capable engine, and with 4.10 gears, it pulls like a beast. My TT is around 9000 pounds loaded, and my 2019 doesn't break a sweat, really like the big hemi (and I'm a 5x Cummins owner)

 

[RLJ10X]

Your MPG-O-Meter is off exactly the same as mine. Take the dash reading, and multiply it by .9, and you get the truth.

 

[sandawilliams]

Your MPG-O-Meter is off exactly the same as mine. Take the dash reading, and multiply it by .9, and you get the truth.

Mine is a little worse than that. evic 17.5 actual 15.61 But I like your math.

 

[RLJ10X]

I don’t know why my Diablo Sport tuner can’t fix the MPG-O-Meter.

 

[dhay13]

Your MPG-O-Meter is off exactly the same as mine. Take the dash reading, and multiply it by .9, and you get the truth.

Actually I track every tank and I have had a few that were right on and a couple that was even higher than my EVIC read. I think it really depends on conditions. Seems the harder I run it the further off it is

 

[VernDiesel]

Your WDH is set well to replace your unloaded steer. That setup should have towed nice & stable as HDs usually do. Pretty good load for the 1/2 ton Tundra. You didn't post his truck only numbers but his loaded numbers seem to look good compared with my 1500 towing almost exactly the same load.

Tundra
steer 3,360
drive 4,260
trailer 8,180
CVW 15,800

1500 Ecodiesel
steer 3,300
drive 4,300
trailer 8,100
CVW 15,800


I transported a new dry Forrest River Wildcat Maxx 34' 3 slides paper said 9,086. Took it from Portland to LA area down the 5 up and over 5 & 6% grades past Mt Shasta and up the grapevine. I used Andersen WDH with built in sway control & air bags. The rig had no sway or semi truck wind issues and towed steady. It also had engine & transmission tunes with brake. Descending with turbo brake and factory TBC trailer brake controller was easy and didn't require use of the foot brake to control speed. Lol going up was another story flat on the floor to maintain 50 mph on the steep parts. It was semis going 25 mph in the truck lane me going 50 in the middle and cars going 75 mph up the hammer lane.

When I didn't have to be I was light on the throttle but ran 65 mph. Little over 1,000 miles on that trip and it managed 14.0 mpg hand calculated.

 

[dhay13]

Good to know he seems to be pretty close. He was going to weigh the truck separate on the way back but his uncle was with him and not feeling very good.

 

[gears49]

What octane of gas were you using. My 6.4 won't tow with anything less than 91 octane.

 

[dhay13]

What octane of gas were you using. My 6.4 won't tow with anything less than 91 octane.

I was using the cheap stuff. Never used anything other than that. Never had any issues or any pinging. I'm at about 900' above sea level so that might help me there not being too high in the thin air

 

[runamuck]

I know this topic is old but..verndiesel I have looked at the 1500 dsl laramie and they seem to have very low cargo rating. It seems you were over wt. when towing. did the 1500 handle that extra wt. ok. my hemi pulls our trailer fine but I have been wondering if it might be smart to trade for a 1500 dsl and get better mileage when towing which is what my laramie is mostly used for.

 

[gears49]

I was using the cheap stuff. Never used anything other than that. Never had any issues or any pinging. I'm at about 900' above sea level so that might help me there not being too high in the thin air

I've upgraded from the white truck in the picture, 2017 1500 Big Horn, to a 2018 2500 Laramie. Unless I use 91 octane, the 1500 will tow circles around the 2500. The 1500 has the 8 speed trans and 3:92 gears. The 2500 is equipped with a 6 speed and 3:73 gears. Both trucks are Hemi equipped. 5.7 vs 6.4. My camper grosses at 8800 lbs. Unless I put 91 octane in the 2500, the truck drops to 3rd gear on anything that even looks like an incline. With 87 octane, even a strong headwind will slow it down.

 

[dhay13]

I've upgraded from the white truck in the picture, 2017 1500 Big Horn, to a 2018 2500 Laramie. Unless I use 91 octane, the 1500 will tow circles around the 2500. The 1500 has the 8 speed trans and 3:92 gears. The 2500 is equipped with a 6 speed and 3:73 gears. Both trucks are Hemi equipped. 5.7 vs 6.4. My camper grosses at 8800 lbs. Unless I put 91 octane in the 2500, the truck drops to 3rd gear on anything that even looks like an incline. With 87 octane, even a strong headwind will slow it down.

hmmmm...haven't experienced any of that. Towed everything I have tried to tow with no issues. Have towed out 8900lb boat, step-sons 9300 TT and my sons 8100lb TT. Truck doesn't struggle at all and much better than my 2013 1500 Hemi with 3.55's

 

[VernDiesel]

Runamuck, Certainly a 2500 is better suited for a 9k TT. While it felt fully loaded it did handle it well. The reason good weight distribution. The two main keys for stability & safety.. replacing the unloaded steer weight and keeping the tongue weight in the 10 to 15 percent of gross trailer weight range.

The turbo brake (aftermarket tune) and factory trailer brake controller controlled down mountain speed so the truck brakes stayed cool for emergency stops.

If your 1500 Hemi is handling your trailer well now the 1500 diesel will also handle it well. I tow in 7th gear around 2100 rpms or 65 mph to be able to average that 14 mpg towing a TT. Using cruise control on the flats. Towing faster than 65 will drop your mileage pretty sharply but still leave a good fuel efficiency gap between it and the Hemi.

Trade for a 5th gen not a 4th gen mainly due to the improved cooling system.