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2020 HO Unimpressed Test Drive

This got out of hand quick seriously guys it’s all subjective, the bottom line here was to shed light on the 20 HO and wouldn’t ya know it a bunch us all got rid of Ford’s. On the ram trucks without adaptive, ford hands down wins, but the SAM (steering assist module) fca is using on the adaptive trucks changes it all and I feel it’s pretty even between the two brands, the ram is an absolute pleasure to navigate parking lots with now and zero groan from the system like we’re accustomed to. The other key takeaway is the fact we’ve all had great driving experiences with the 20 HO and aisin, great power and shifting! It will be very interesting to see if fca opts for the zf in the next gen cab, if I could get an HD ram to shift and drive like a hellcat zf 8hp that would make for an awesome setup behind the ho.
 
I purchased a 2020 3500 Cummins HO in December 2019 and love it. The transmission shift initially was abrupt at times but after several hundred miles it smoothed out. At 500 miles I did a cross country trip (5500 miles) pulling a 13000 lb fifth wheel and the truck performed flawlessly. My trip went through every type of road you can think of with almost none of them being flat. I cruised at 70-75 routinely and averaged just over 10 MPG. I get approximately 20 miles to the gallon when not pulling. The exhaust brake worked great although a little aggressive in traffic where your speed went from 55 to 30 and back to 55. Some of that was probably me since this is the first diesel I've owned. I cam from a 2019 2500 6.4 HEMI, great truck but no comparison when towing.
 

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This might be a good place to ask this question. When I ordered our 5500 chassis cab (2020) model; there was no option for the HO. Everything we saw indicated the HO was not available in chassis cab. Has that or will that change?
 
Speedracer93CobraR said:
This might be a good place to ask this question. When I ordered our 5500 chassis cab (2020) model; there was no option for the HO. Everything we saw indicated the HO was not available in chassis cab. Has that or will that change?
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The chassis cabs are always detuned for reliability. Both gas and diesel.

hdrams.com

2021 5500 Chassis Cab Torque numbers

Just curious, I am considering upgrading from my 2019 3500. Can you not buy or have ordered a 2021 5500 Chassis cab with the HO engine? I want a 2021 5500 limited with the 1,075 Ft/lb torque?
hdrams.com hdrams.com
 
I wonder if some of the reason for the power reduction is ‘’mechanical self preservation’’ because of the quality of some of the hired drivers as many C&C are work trucks. What I would love to see is a head to head between one and a reg. 3500 with HO in a towing challenge!
 
bigrobtemp said:
Ok well i ordered a banks pedalmonster and am wondering if anyone has input to what settings they are running. the moderator moved my post to the performance area even though the banks is not a performance upgrade.
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I was looking at the same item and wondering if it would help the “feel” of untrailerd performance. I’m not looking to drag race a Ford but I was looking to minimize dead pedal or torque Mgmt.
 
LossPrev said:
I didn't get to drive a HO because back in February when I bought mine there were no HO's around but I wanted to mention that torque isn't really going to make the truck feel faster, HP will. There isn't a huge difference in HP between the two trucks and the Aisin being a medium duty transmission isn't really made for empty acceleration. If you hooked up 10k, 15k, or 20k pounds up and pulled you'd probably feel the HO was able to accelerate and maintain speed easier.

BTW I highly recommend going to test drive a powerstroke. Even if you have 0 interest in buying one if acceleration is important to you, you'll probably like it. If not, all it cost you was an hour of your time. I almost bought one because the thing felt like a race car compared to the Ram but for the whole package I prefer the Ram.
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I noticed that "Zip" factor went away with my 2020 HO with 4:10 and AISIN compared to my 2016 3500 with AISIN and 3:42's. However, the tow factor is way better.
 
New guy here with some thoughts.

I originally had a 2016 2500 4x4 shortbed with the 6.7/68RFE combination. At first the transmission was great but once I got in the mountains it was a complete disaster. The constant grade changes made it shift up and down constantly. Hunting for gearing that didn't exist. It got to the point where I'd just manually set the gear in particularly troublesome sections.

A few weeks ago I drove back to back the following trucks.
  • 3500 4x4 shortbed 6.7/68RFE SRW (Laramie)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7/68RFE SRW (Bighorn)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7HO/Aisin SRW (Bighorn)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7HO/Aisin DRW (Laramie)

Out of all the trucks I ended up liking the DRW the most followed by the SRW with the Aisin. I'm pretty light on the throttle as I prefer to ease my way into the power band. I gave up my racecar a long time ago and this has been my way of avoiding wanting another one. I found that the 68RFE still hunts for gears in grade changes while the Aisin just stays in a decent gearing. To me driving in the mountains a lot this is super important. I do find on flat ground the 68RFE tended to behave more like a street transmission with a little more pep off the line but since I'm so light on the throttled shifting quickness ins't an issue for me anyway.

tl;dr

If you are live in a flat area with no grade changes the 68RFE is probably fine. If you live in the mountains get the Aisin and you'll be much happier.
 
binary said:
New guy here with some thoughts.

I originally had a 2016 2500 4x4 shortbed with the 6.7/68RFE combination. At first the transmission was great but once I got in the mountains it was a complete disaster. The constant grade changes made it shift up and down constantly. Hunting for gearing that didn't exist. It got to the point where I'd just manually set the gear in particularly troublesome sections.

A few weeks ago I drove back to back the following trucks.
  • 3500 4x4 shortbed 6.7/68RFE SRW (Laramie)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7/68RFE SRW (Bighorn)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7HO/Aisin SRW (Bighorn)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7HO/Aisin DRW (Laramie)

Out of all the trucks I ended up liking the DRW the most followed by the SRW with the Aisin. I'm pretty light on the throttle as I prefer to ease my way into the power band. I gave up my racecar a long time ago and this has been my way of avoiding wanting another one. I found that the 68RFE still hunts for gears in grade changes while the Aisin just stays in a decent gearing. To me driving in the mountains a lot this is super important. I do find on flat ground the 68RFE tended to behave more like a street transmission with a little more pep off the line but since I'm so light on the throttled shifting quickness ins't an issue for me anyway.

tl;dr

If you are live in a flat area with no grade changes the 68RFE is probably fine. If you live in the mountains get the Aisin and you'll be much happier.
Click to expand...

QFT from Randy's Transmissions:
Bottom line is this is a slow shifting spragless bandless transmission that is very stout but very vulnerable to defuel changes and increased power if not treated right.
Once built they are a extremely strong transmission but because they are spragless the 1-2 shift is always going to be slow and clumsy.

As69rc for huge heavy loads for trucks that always have weight on them.

68rfe if you wanna go fastish be able to tune them for bigger turbos change lock up strategy shift timing and pressure.
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That' said, he's running a 1000HP built AS69RC in his 1200HP competition dually puller.
 
binary said:
New guy here with some thoughts.

I originally had a 2016 2500 4x4 shortbed with the 6.7/68RFE combination. At first the transmission was great but once I got in the mountains it was a complete disaster. The constant grade changes made it shift up and down constantly. Hunting for gearing that didn't exist. It got to the point where I'd just manually set the gear in particularly troublesome sections.

A few weeks ago I drove back to back the following trucks.
  • 3500 4x4 shortbed 6.7/68RFE SRW (Laramie)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7/68RFE SRW (Bighorn)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7HO/Aisin SRW (Bighorn)
  • 3500 4x4 longbed 6.7HO/Aisin DRW (Laramie)

Out of all the trucks I ended up liking the DRW the most followed by the SRW with the Aisin. I'm pretty light on the throttle as I prefer to ease my way into the power band. I gave up my racecar a long time ago and this has been my way of avoiding wanting another one. I found that the 68RFE still hunts for gears in grade changes while the Aisin just stays in a decent gearing. To me driving in the mountains a lot this is super important. I do find on flat ground the 68RFE tended to behave more like a street transmission with a little more pep off the line but since I'm so light on the throttled shifting quickness ins't an issue for me anyway.

tl;dr

If you are live in a flat area with no grade changes the 68RFE is probably fine. If you live in the mountains get the Aisin and you'll be much happier.
Click to expand...
I had 68RFE's in 3 of my trucks. The 2012 shifted good but they changed the shift pattern in 2013 to accomadate those complaining about harsh shifts. After that, I called it the slip and slide tranny. It was adequate, but the AISIN is hands down the tranny to have. With the shift hunting in the 68RFE, i would leave it in 5th and that seemed to solve the problem while in uneven terrain. .
 
I recently picked up a 2020 3500 HO Laramie. I drove a similar-spec 2500 SO back to back twice with the 3500 on the same route...4 test drives. The 2500 shifted smoother at lower speeds. The higher power of the HO was evident to me when trying to ramp up speed. The 2500 had a softer drive as well as a slightly smoother shifting performance. I needed up buying the HP 3500 mainly due to the feel of the torque especially when putting the pedal down on highway entrance ramps. To me, it was significant. I will not pull anything heavy so I was leaning towards the 2500 til I drove both. The 2500 suspension was softer, of course. From 0-60/80, I bet the 3500 HO is quicker. I felt it every time and was the only reason I chose it over the 2500. My only complaint is that the Aison is nowhere as refined and nice as the 10-speed Allison transmission used by GM. The Duramax is slightly quicker than the HO even, but the shifting performance is what is amazing.
 
The1adman said:
So some jerk with state minimum insurance ran a light and totaled my 2017 3500 with only 10k miles. I went to local dealer today to test drive the 2020 3500 Mega HO Aisin with 4.10. My truck was a SRW SO with the 68RFE and 3.42. I was really unimpressed. It felt like torque management was off the chart and definitely dead pedal. The last time I drove the Aisin was when in 2017 when I bought my truck. At that time the two different trucks felt equal in power just the typical slower Aisin shifting. The way my 2017 and the 2020 drove was opposite, my truck felt like it had the extra 200 ft lbs of torque. Stock is limited so I didn’t drive a 2020 SO with the 68RFE. Really liked the truck otherwise. Anybody notice this on 2020’s? I did a long test drive including city and freeway.
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I just bought a 2021 3500 DRW 4X4 HO CTD. This was a trade from my 2018 SO CTD 4X4 2500.
I feel no lag on take off at all. Perhaps there has been reprogrammed ECMs in 2021?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 
The HO certainly feels and is quicker. The SO shifted okay but felt slower. Once in a while, in really slow city traffic, I feel that it could shift better (that is prob just the 6-speed thing) but not really a lag as such. A colleague has a similar 2500 and he drove mine the other day. He said he could feel the extra torque and the acceleration by the seat of his pants. It was all on open roads and highway so when he got back, he said he thought the trans shifted fine. His SO gets slightly better mileage which is important to him since he droves to Nebraska a lot. That is why he got the SO. He says he gets 21 on the highway consistently on his long trips. I will prob get 18. Overall, I think the only thing RAM needs to do eventually is put an eight or ten speed in, along with two bed steps on each side like the GMCs have. Love the truck so far.
 
Chandne said:
The HO certainly feels and is quicker. The SO shifted okay but felt slower. Once in a while, in really slow city traffic, I feel that it could shift better (that is prob just the 6-speed thing) but not really a lag as such. A colleague has a similar 2500 and he drove mine the other day. He said he could feel the extra torque and the acceleration by the seat of his pants. It was all on open roads and highway so when he got back, he said he thought the trans shifted fine. His SO gets slightly better mileage which is important to him since he droves to Nebraska a lot. That is why he got the SO. He says he gets 21 on the highway consistently on his long trips. I will prob get 18. Overall, I think the only thing RAM needs to do eventually is put an eight or ten speed in, along with two bed steps on each side like the GMCs have. Love the truck so far.
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Good luck with that. My HO is lucky to get 14 empty.
 
I seem get 15 in the mixed city driving now...not inner city but city/suburbs. I got 18 on mostly highway trips on the last tank so I'm hoping to keep hand calculating and hoping for the best. It is still so new that I need more hand-calculated tanks before I truly know what I'm getting.
 
The 68rfe shifts poorly compared to the Aisin. I drove both, but my comparison is 68rfe/3:42 and Aisn/3:73. The 68rfe is slow to down shift when accelerating at a low RPM, part of the dead pedal phenomena. I much prefer the Aisin/3:73.
 
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