Towing report 6.4 Hemi...good, bad, underwhelmed

[River19]

And even with the poor matching of gear ratios within the trans......the 6.4 still tows pretty darn well. It would be killer with a trans designed for its TQ curve vs. the Cummins.

 

[oz97tj]

I don't think I'm being pampered or finicky. I think my '14 with the 8 speed set the bar high but I've had lots of other vehicles that were fine too.

The issue with this truck is it never seems to know what to do. I just spent some time in a hilly area. It was always hunting for gears. Of course, I tried to shift manually and those don't work. No response at all. So now I'm a bit curious if my tranny issues are being exaggerated by something else or if it's normal but the buttons don't work. Either way, it's going to the dealer soon.

 

[River19]

I don't think I'm being pampered or finicky. I think my '14 with the 8 speed set the bar high but I've had lots of other vehicles that were fine too.

The issue with this truck is it never seems to know what to do. I just spent some time in a hilly area. It was always hunting for gears. Of course, I tried to shift manually and those don't work. No response at all. So now I'm a bit curious if my tranny issues are being exaggerated by something else or if it's normal but the buttons don't work. Either way, it's going to the dealer soon.

And this is where I would love to see the tuners like Hemifever come in and help.....while a few HP would always be welcomed, the engine has power, if they could help adjust the shift points and behavior to at least maximize the stock ratios, then THAT would be worth me looking at tuning potentially.

 

[Blazin383]

I have just under 5,000 miles on my 2015 2500 6.4 with 4:10 gears. At least half of those miles were spent towing my 28' boat that, with the triple axle trailer, fuel, and gear, weighs in around 7500 lbs. While I'd agree with many that the towing power isn't mind blowing, I feel like its more than adequate for what I tow. I live in the Pacific Northwest and while the elevation isn't extreme, we do have our share of hills and many mountains to cross, and I find the 6.4 w/ 4:10 combination does a great job.

I've never experianced the harsh 4th to 2nd shift issue that so many talk about, and find the tranny seems to do it's job well enough. I have always used the Tow/Haul mode when dragging the boat around and it seems to work just fine, but I am glad I decided to go with the 4:10 gearing. The 6.4 seems to have plenty of power to accelerate my 7500 lb load up most any incline, but it does need the right gear and it wants to be rewarded with lots of fuel!

I just pulled my boat along with probably 600 lbs of gear in the bed to Lake Roosevelt and back which is about 200 miles each way, about half running 65 mph on the freeway and half on 2 lane road crossing rolling farm lands and got 10.5 mpg (via the computer) which is a little better than usual while towing,(typically 8.5 to 9.5) and never once felt like the engine was struggling. Even the 6 mile long climb out of the Porkipine Bay campground was a breeze. About the time it seems like the engine is getting loaded down, the tranny drops a gear and if I don't back off the throttle it will soon be moving faster than I want!

I'm sure a Cummins would do it a lot easier and return better mpg while it's doing it, but I'm more than happy with the 6.4 and love how the truck chassis and suspension handles the load! It drives so solid, nice and smooth while towing my boat that it's easy to forget there's a load on behind me!

 

[theviking]

And this is where I would love to see the tuners like Hemifever come in and help.....while a few HP would always be welcomed, the engine has power, if they could help adjust the shift points and behavior to at least maximize the stock ratios, then THAT would be worth me looking at tuning potentially.

As of now only the 2014's can be tuned through DiabloSport tuners and I don't believe anyone has any trans tuning available for 6.4 yet.

 

[River19]

As of now only the 2014's can be tuned through DiabloSport tuners and I don't believe anyone has any trans tuning available for 6.4 yet.

Well the good news is I have a 2014, the not so good news is I will never hook any diablosport product to my rig........and frankly all I would entertain is trans tuning.....all these tunes seem to produce with the 6.4 is a small amount of power, if I want significantly more power, then A. I bought the wrong engine B. I'll get another diesel

But for towing the 6500lbs or so that I tow, this thing is a dream.

And coming from a modded 4R100 tranny, this one even with odd ratios isn't all that bad.....lol

 

[theviking]

Well the good news is I have a 2014, the not so good news is I will never hook any diablosport product to my rig........and frankly all I would entertain is trans tuning.....all these tunes seem to produce with the 6.4 is a small amount of power, if I want significantly more power, then A. I bought the wrong engine B. I'll get another diesel

But for towing the 6500lbs or so that I tow, this thing is a dream.

And coming from a modded 4R100 tranny, this one even with odd ratios isn't all that bad.....lol

Curious what your reason is for never using any DiabloSport product. Agreed, feedback on the base tunes is disappointing but custom tunes (Hemifever, etc) seem to have much more favorable feedback. But I'm not aware of any of the popular Hemi tuner guys using anything but the DiabloSport product to tune these engines.

 

[loveracing1988]

Curious what your reason is for never using any DiabloSport product. Agreed, feedback on the base tunes is disappointing but custom tunes (Hemifever, etc) seem to have much more favorable feedback. But I'm not aware of any of the popular Hemi tuner guys using anything but the DiabloSport product to tune these engines.

I don't like them simply because of their horrible customer service.

 

[River19]

Curious what your reason is for never using any DiabloSport product. Agreed, feedback on the base tunes is disappointing but custom tunes (Hemifever, etc) seem to have much more favorable feedback. But I'm not aware of any of the popular Hemi tuner guys using anything but the DiabloSport product to tune these engines.

3 Acquaintances had horrible issues with the low quality crap-ass tunes they loaded for the Powerstrokes several years ago and the fact that a company would put such sketchy amateur tunes out on the market in a fancy package leaves me questioning how they approach things and what is important to them. And from what I gather customer service has not improved any.

That being said, I'm glad it seems they have at least partnered with a knowledgeable Hemi tuner with Hemifever; perhaps that came from the "learnings" garnered from their experience with other platforms and drivetrains.

 

[loveracing1988]

3 Acquaintances had horrible issues with the low quality crap-ass tunes they loaded for the Powerstrokes several years ago and the fact that a company would put such sketchy amateur tunes out on the market in a fancy package leaves me questioning how they approach things and what is important to them. And from what I gather customer service has not improved any.

That being said, I'm glad it seems they have at least partnered with a knowledgeable Hemi tuner with Hemifever; perhaps that came from the "learnings" garnered from their experience with other platforms and drivetrains.

It isn't so much a partnership, the custom tuners buy a program and can modify the tunes that diablosport sends out to fit a specific vehicle, and no their customer service still sucks.

 

[oz97tj]

The diesel market has tuner's that a great but those same brands aren't so great with gasses. The reverse is also true. I just don't think Diablo is the company you'd want for gas.

With that said, I've ran Superchips and Diablo tuner's on different vehicles. . I'd say they are similar with Diablo having more features (also more expensive) but also having the ability to get custom tunes. I currently have a Diablo Trinity I used on my previous truck and once they figure things out I'll be using it on my Power Wagon. The power tunes are cool but what is really nice is how it just makes things work better. More efficient. It's noticeable in seat of the pants and in mpg. Not to mention being able to alter tire size and tpms and such is great too. With Jeeps, you've also been able to use lockers and sway bars at any speed as well which I'm hoping works with my truck too.

 

[loveracing1988]

The diesel market has tuner's that a great but those same brands aren't so great with gasses. The reverse is also true. I just don't think Diablo is the company you'd want for gas.

With that said, I've ran Superchips and Diablo tuner's on different vehicles. . I'd say they are similar with Diablo having more features (also more expensive) but also having the ability to get custom tunes. I currently have a Diablo Trinity I used on my previous truck and once they figure things out I'll be using it on my Power Wagon. The power tunes are cool but what is really nice is how it just makes things work better. More efficient. It's noticeable in seat of the pants and in mpg. Not to mention being able to alter tire size and tpms and such is great too. With Jeeps, you've also been able to use lockers and sway bars at any speed as well which I'm hoping works with my truck too.

Good luck with that. So far the tire size adjustment fails every time and the tpms adjustment has been "in progress" for a year now.

 

[oz97tj]

Good luck with that. So far the tire size adjustment fails every time and the tpms adjustment has been "in progress" for a year now.

So because you're doing it wrong it won't work for anyone else? I've used tuner's on probably 6 or more vehicles . Never have had an issue.

 

[loveracing1988]

So because you're doing it wrong it won't work for anyone else? I've used tuner's on probably 6 or more vehicles . Never have had an issue.

Do tell, how do I do it "correctly"? It is a known issue, diablosport admitted that. Have you tuned a 2014 2500 to modify the tpms settings or tire size? If not then go clutter up another thread.

 

[oz97tj]

Take a breath hot rod. I did use my Diablo to change all those settings on my 14 1500. I now have a 15 2500 so I haven't use it yet on this truck as they haven't cracked it yet.

 

[cptwing]

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies, play nice and don't get you panties in bunch.

 

[Ratket]

only way to do tmps is to find a dealer willing to change it for u. As far as tire size ... best of luck lol

 

[jldroid19]

Towed 11,000 lbs over all NP

So, I hooked up my 32 foot 10,000lbs jayflight RV and loaded up the back bed with about 1,000lbs of stuff. Drove from Savannah, GA to Dallas, TX overall 1,000 miles give or take. The only mod I've made which isn't much is replacing the stock air filter with a K&N. I am more than impressed with this motor. When I bought my Ram 2500 6.4 Tradesman I bought it for towing and all out working man's truck. I was sceptical at first cause I kind of wanted a diesel. But after that trip and all that weight I had on it I am looking to get the 2016 Long Horn 6.4. Diesel definitely has way more towing capacity but the maintanence is more expensive. Honestly I like the deep sounds of a gasser versus the diesel. Good job Ram 5 stars for the 6.4.

 

[arthur dwyer]

10000 and up-go diesel!