Towing comparisons

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tvt59

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I am currently towing my 36 foot enclosed trailer loaded to go to the races with a 100% original equipment Ram 3500 single rear wheel Cummings automatic transmission. I am looking at trading for a Ram 2500 2017 model it has a Cummings single rear wheels and automatic transmission. The newer trucks have more towing capabilities than the older ones like my 2006 3500 SLT. My son says that he believes that a 2017 ram 2500 with the Cummings will ride better and tow as well or better than my 2006 3500 .
Opinions?
 
My dad has an 06 Mega Cab Cummins. He used my 2019 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi to tow when he was waiting on a new hitch to be delivered for his truck. He said it’s a night and day difference between his older truck and my newer truck. Obviously his Cummins has much more towing capabilities than my Hemi. But he said it’s how the truck drives and tows is so much nicer than his 06.
 
Look for the sticker on the drivers door area showing GVW and other info. It will show the towing capacity the truck was configured for and built when new.
 
Working on the product I absolutely love the 14-18 model years. Our race rig is only 12k so our uprated 01 3.55 geared 47re auto handled it “ok”, but after 18 years we jumped on a 17 3500 SRW crew cab long bed AISIN trans 3.42 geared that got traded in where I work. Absolutely ZERO regrets spending that money even though we only put 4-6k miles a year on it. It’s crazy how much more relaxing it is to tow with. You’ll love the exhaust brake feature. Just rolled 38k miles on it hauling the car to phoenix. 115 degrees pulling grades without a whimper.
 
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A body said:
Working on the product I absolutely love the 14-18 model years. Our race rig is only 12k so our uprated 01 3.55 geared 47re auto handled it “ok”, but after 18 years we jumped on a 17 3500 SRW crew cab long bed AISIN trans 2.42 geared that got traded in where I work. Absolutely ZERO regrets spending that money even though we only put 4-6k miles a year on it. It’s crazy how much more relaxing it is to tow with. You’ll love the exhaust brake feature. Just rolled 38k miles on it hauling the car to phoenix. 115 degrees pulling grades without a whimper.
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The key here is the Aisin trans. I have towed with every model Ram that was ever made and the Aisin trans beats every single Mopar trans ever made. I am the trans killer and believe me when I say this! I just can't stand towing with DEF and went to a 2010 3500 CUMMINS (no such thing as a CUMMINGS) and will never go forward no matter how many 68RFE's I destroy...
 
I have a 2012 3500 6.7 diesel Ram. Auto 4x4 6.5 bed and a cap topper. 4” exhaust and deleted. One of the last ones built before Def. 178k on the clock and the 68rfe trans (never been apart except for filters and fluid- knock on wood). Fluids and filters per the Maintance schedule. The truck tows amazing. If it is my 8.5x24 car trailer or our 28’ toy hauler we are camping with this weekend. It NEVER seems to amaze me how well this unit pulls. One side note. I did add the Air ride to the back with remote compressor. Not for “dog with worms” but by adjusting the rear height for the load, it makes even the most uncomfortable trailers tow very under control. Diesel is the way to go.
Syleng1
 
68RFE wouldn’t have been a deal breaker for sure on my 17, but am happy the AISIN is there. IMHO the only good 08-12 CTD is a DELEATED 08-12 CTD. relying solely on EGR to meet emissions was a really bad idea. Replaced so many turbos in that era.
I brought an 11 home from work many years ago and hooked my trailer up and pulled the nice 7% grade to the west of us. 3.7 gear six speed auto and my 01 clearly out towed it. I was amazed and so disappointed on the same level.
 
Funny thing was that I had myself convinced that a 6.4 hemi 2500/3500 would have worked just fine. Our racing has slowed, the boat has sold, and the only other toy is a 14ft open trailer for the RZR. Worked on a customers 3500 SRW 6.4 hemi 4.10 gear AND factory 50 gal gas tank, I was like “this is it!”. The tow ratings on these trucks is quite impressive. The mpg sucks, but not terrible compared with the present day diesel, + no def, no fuel filter, fewer air filters, gas is considerably cheaper. Fwiw my 17 is sitting at 11.5mpg towing the 28ft box to phoenix and back. 483 miles and sitting just below 1/4 tank. 55gal Titan tank so the gauge isn’t accurate but we generally get 600 miles pulling the race trailer before we need fuel.
 
A body said:
Working on the product I absolutely love the 14-18 model years. Our race rig is only 12k so our uprated 01 3.55 geared 47re auto handled it “ok”, but after 18 years we jumped on a 17 3500 SRW crew cab long bed AISIN trans 2.42 geared that got traded in where I work. Absolutely ZERO regrets spending that money even though we only put 4-6k miles a year on it. It’s crazy how much more relaxing it is to tow with. You’ll love the exhaust brake feature. Just rolled 38k miles on it hauling the car to phoenix. 115 degrees pulling grades without a whimper.
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I wonder if I should be using exhaust brake when I tow. I have a 2022 Mega cab 2500 Diesel that gets about 12 mpg towing my 11,000 lb. trailer. It's pretty flat around here and mostly interstate miles. I don't know anything about exhaust braking, other than the one time I tried it I was driving down the interstate and it went into limp mode. I had to pull it over and shut it off, but it ran just fine when I turned it back on without exhaust brake so I've been afraid to use it.
 
A year and a half ago, I sold my 05 2500 more door with the 5.9 Cummins and picked up a low mileage 19 2500 megacab 6.7 Cummins . No emissions on the 05 and the 19 has both the egr and Def - both will get deleted the 1st time wither has a malfunction. Comparing both trucks in unmodified form, running empty, the 05 got me 25mpg where the 19 gets me 23mpg. Towing the 12k pound fifth wheel camper, they both were/are at 11.5-12 mpg. However, the towing itself is amazing between the two trucks. When i sold the 97 360 gas truck and bought the 05 Cummins, i was beyond amazed. Got the same feeling going from the 05 to the 19. Love the extra torque backing up my driveway and love the built in brake controller and exhaust brake. The 19 just tows so much nicer and is a very comfortable ride every day.
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Dad has a 17 Mega Cab 3500, deleted, 4.10, 4x4.
That thing hauls a backhoe on a two axle, dual wheel gooseneck without a problem at all. Gets 12 mpg loaded or empty.
If I ever inherited it it will get 3.73’s on day one.
My son and I find that my 2001 3500 CTD quad cab, 4x4, 6-speed manual is much more comfortable. The 2017 cab is nicer for sure but those seats (Laramie) suck. It’s like sitting on a cinder block.
I equate driving my truck to driving the 440 , 4-speed ‘69 Roadrunner. Heavy clutch and it gets real busy until you hit that cruise gear.
I would love to find the last year for the 6-speed 2500 Cummins. (Not Cummings! Do you even Mopar, Bro?!?!)
 
RockinRobin said:
I wonder if I should be using exhaust brake when I tow.
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Do it! It is amazing. It will extend your brake life and controls decent if you ever go to the hills.
I’m going to install a pac brake on my ‘01
 
Is your trailer a goose neck or tag? You have to look at full trailer weight. My brother has a 05 3500 dually with the 6speed NV5600 that we tow a 44 foot goose neck 5 formula stacker. We have rolled over scales at 38k pounds truck and trailer. It tows the same as if we have the single car 25 foot trailer in tow. He have a 2015 3500 single tire with the 6 speed. We’ve towed a 36 foot gooseneck flatbed with 15000 on the trailer. It does the job but is not as stable as the dually. I helped a neighbor go pick up a boat on a 2300 round trip, towed a custom boat trailer empty down and then towed a 30 foot Nordic tug that was 20k pounds. He rented a 2021 Ram 3500, it was brand new, it pulled that boat up the grape vine with no issues at 55-60 MPH and on the way down did not have to touch the brakes cus of the exhaust brake. It was the auto and I was surprised at how well it did.
 
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RockinRobin said:
I wonder if I should be using exhaust brake when I tow. I have a 2022 Mega cab 2500 Diesel that gets about 12 mpg towing my 11,000 lb. trailer. It's pretty flat around here and mostly interstate miles. I don't know anything about exhaust braking, other than the one time I tried it I was driving down the interstate and it went into limp mode. I had to pull it over and shut it off, but it ran just fine when I turned it back on without exhaust brake so I've been afraid to use it.
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Yes, we used it for daily driving. The exhaust brake is like a Jake brake. It is using the engine to brake, and it helps with reducing the amount of braking load that the wheel brakes will have to handle.
 
Thank you guys for all of the great answers and information. I did purchase the 2017 single rear wheel 2500 mega cab 2 wheel drive. It does not have the asinine trans. Driving it back home from Southern Mississippi it drove very well it's not a perfect truck but I got a really good deal on it it has 95000 miles on it. When going around a tight turn the rear end chatters a little bit I think if I change the oil in the rear differential and add a friction modifier to it this should take care of that problem. That is the only problem I have seen with the truck so far and I imagine that probably spooked the previous owner in to trading it in. The AC performance is night and day better than my 06 Ram 3500. I can't wait to hook my trailer up behind it and see how it goes my trailer is a 36 foot in closed trailer with all of my stuff in it I think it is probably close to 11000 pounds.
 
Your new truck is going to pull it fine.
I still have the 2017 3500 single wheel I bought new, I will never get rid of the truck, it just does everything.
 
Hum, single wheel 1 ton. lol What is the tire rated at?
 
tvt59 said:
Thank you guys for all of the great answers and information. I did purchase the 2017 single rear wheel 2500 mega cab 2 wheel drive. It does not have the asinine trans. Driving it back home from Southern Mississippi it drove very well it's not a perfect truck but I got a really good deal on it it has 95000 miles on it. When going around a tight turn the rear end chatters a little bit I think if I change the oil in the rear differential and add a friction modifier to it this should take care of that problem. That is the only problem I have seen with the truck so far and I imagine that probably spooked the previous owner in to trading it in. The AC performance is night and day better than my 06 Ram 3500. I can't wait to hook my trailer up behind it and see how it goes my trailer is a 36 foot in closed trailer with all of my stuff in it I think it is probably close to 11000 pounds.
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Now use that truck to come to the Mopar race at London, KY first weekend in Oct pulling your AMX
 
I run a 08 6.7 Cummins. I recently made more than 1/2 dozen 1200 mile pulls with race trailer heavy to the point I was carrying multiple 10 ply spares. I have no DEF to worry about and pulls like a breeze. I would still argue however that the 5.9 is the better platform.

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06 2500 Cummins 4×4 long box bouncy *** somebitch tows really well, I had to take my neighbors tractor down to the next town over which is a really long and steep grade, so he could do a quick job. The whole load was around 7500 pounds and my stock Cummins had no idea it was back there on the way home, my brakes knew it was there on the way down though
 
tvt59 said:
Thank you guys for all of the great answers and information. I did purchase the 2017 single rear wheel 2500 mega cab 2 wheel drive. It does not have the asinine trans. Driving it back home from Southern Mississippi it drove very well it's not a perfect truck but I got a really good deal on it it has 95000 miles on it. When going around a tight turn the rear end chatters a little bit I think if I change the oil in the rear differential and add a friction modifier to it this should take care of that problem. That is the only problem I have seen with the truck so far and I imagine that probably spooked the previous owner in to trading it in. The AC performance is night and day better than my 06 Ram 3500. I can't wait to hook my trailer up behind it and see how it goes my trailer is a 36 foot in closed trailer with all of my stuff in it I think it is probably close to 11000 pounds.
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No clutches in your American axle so no friction modifier needed. A little chatter is kind of nature of the beast on some of these.
 
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