2022 Ram 3500 - Towing Disappointment Justified?

[Blythkd1]

I just completed a 1500 mile trip. Truck had about 6300 miles when I left so about 7800 now. I didn't notice the switch flip at 6000 miles. All still seems about the same. It was a mixed towing trip, meaning 1/2 empty, 1/2 towing and I got right at 12mpg so that's getting about to where it needs to be. I could have done a little better had I not been in a hurry on the empty leg. I had the cruise set on 75 and got 17.6. I was getting right at 10 empty running mostly around 65 with a 42' 5th wheel that weight 14k. It's certainly no dragster compared to its V8 counterparts but I can live with that if the drivetrain is as durable as I expect it to be. I'm hoping and assuming it won't be eating up head gaskets, turbos and fuel systems like the other brands.

All in all, pretty good to me so far. It could be blowing me away more but certainly not disappointing at all.

 

[RVTRKN]

The other brands are only faster when empty, but why buy such expensive trucks with V8's when you can have the best pulling engine in a light duty truck? And yes, the Ram, Ford and GM trucks are light duty, regardless of what they advertise.

 

[Xflight29]

You won't find other brands like GM and Ford in school busses and tractor trailers. Yor taking a diesel that was meant for commercial use and stuck it in the Pic-up. I'll take 30 percent fewer moving parts any day. Most if not all commercial use diesels are all straight 6s.

 

[Blythkd1]

The other brands are only faster when empty

Not really. Have you driven one?

I'm not knocking the Cummins. I chose it for my most recent new truck because I believe it will provide the most durable, most reliable drivetrain in a HD pickup. But there are some tradeoffs, some of which would likely be mitigated by going with the HO, but all out power was not my priority. My last couple Duramax trucks were more nimble, even with a big load, but they were too accident prone to suit me.

 

[UglyViking]

Interesting hearing the different views on the "detuned" vs not. Honestly, I'd be very surprised if Ram/Cummins didn't have programming that "detuned" the engines for x number of miles. I believe a lot of manufactures do that now a days, so it's not super surprising. You used to hear a lot more about the importance of breaking in an engine and gearing in older vehicles, and you don't hear about that anymore. I think part of that is likely much higher tolerances in manufacturing, but the bigger thing is likely the manufacture simply building in that break in time.

Speaking strictly on my own experience, I don't know exactly what milage but I definitely noticed a serious change from when the truck was "new" to when it "broke in".

 

[SpeedsterZ28]

Did a family camping trip around the Southeast during mid-summer in my 2020 DRW (4:10, Aisin, HO 6.7) and was towing our 16K 5th wheel. About 1700 miles worth of driving, never felt like it was lacking for power. Passed semi trucks regularly, usually averaged around 70-75MPH on the Interstate. Probably averaged between 8-10MPG as far fuel goes. I am right at 10K miles on it, now, so maybe that's the difference. Only other experience towing heavy before was in a 2007 Ford F-350 and the difference was night and day--for me at least. So much easier, more pleasant, more smooth--in the Ram.

 

[Phil T]

Our 3500 HO has amazing power. It doesn't even feel like there is a trailer back there. We have passed numerous semi's going uphill with no problems.

 

[spib]

Hi all,

New to the forum, and new to Ram. We have a 39' Keystone Montana 5th Wheel which has a "shipping weight" of 13,000lbs and have hooked up with a B&W Companion 5th Wheel Hitch. We recently upgraded to the Ram 3500 (Laramie, quad cab, 4x4, dually, long bed) and were expecting effortless performance as compared to a late model Ford F350 SuperDuty that it was replacing. We live in mountainous terrain and while I can't quibble with off the line acceleration, handling, or otherwise straight line performance, we are completely underwhelmed going uphill and/or passing power. We've been towing in "Tow/Haul" mode and upon approaching hills/mountains, we find that it typically will not downshift, it'll hold approximately 26psi of boost, but we'll slowly begin to decelerate, even if I "floor it". This happened as recently as yesterday. Granted, we were at 6500' outside Mammoth Lakes, CA, but even on flatter terrain, closer to sea level, I have little confidence passing semi trucks well under the speed limit if given a 1 - 2 mile passing lane.

Is this normal? Is the power disparity between this and the High Output model that significantly different?

Thanks in advance!

I pull a 14k rated gooseneck trailer in AL hill country, loaded close to capacity, and so far I am completely satisfied with the towing performance of this truck. Plenty of power and the exhaust brake is fantastic. Is the 3500 dually substantially heavier than the 2500? Maybee the altitude difference? Different expectations?

 

[amauri]

My two month old 22 3500 HO now has 4.4k miles, of which 3k has been towing our 14k lbs 5th wheel trailer.
Been keeping track of MPGs and seat of the pants power feel while towing and passing semis on high mountain passes, we'll see if there is a difference after the "magical" 6k miles break in period.

 

[gimmie11s]

Really? Detune until 6K? Never heard of it.

You don't think it's cylinder finishing that it has more power (and probably better mileage)?

Nah... that SO cam doesn't activate until about 10k miles. After that, power jumps by 50 and mpg explodes to 30 while towing 20k lbs.

 

[RKlass]

Rear end gear ratios seem to be way more important with a Cummins due to the narrower power band than a Duramax or Powerstroke. My current truck is a 2019 Ram 3500 dually HO with 3.73's. I have a 42' 5th wheel and my scaled weights are 14,332 truck (overloaded) and 12,919 on the trailer axles. I now have 25,000 miles on the truck. and have not noticed an improvement at all in power or mileage since new. My prior truck was a 2018 F-350 SRW and I towed this exact same trailer over the same 3 mountain passes that I drive all the time. My current truck slows to 50 mph on the steepest section of the worst pass. It is a gradual climb for about half an hour and then the steep part begins to the summit and I have my foot right to the floor doing 50 mph for around 10 minutes straight. Doing the same thing in my Ford, it slowed to around 55 mph up the same section. I am very close to redline in 3rd gear and I'm quite sure that if I selected a 4.10 rear end instead, my truck would be able to pick up 4th gear and quite a bit more speed while climbing. It seems to easily accelerate to near redline in 3rd but if it tries to shift to 4th it bogs down and loses tons of speed requiring a downshift back into 3rd. My Ford used to scream up the passes at way over 3,000 rpm.

 

[Oilburner61]

One thing our salesman told us when we got our truck was "drive it like you stole it" for the first 500 miles. Said engine does not need break-in but the transmission is learning how you drive for the first 500 miles. If you baby it and slowly accelerate onto the freeway and slowly accelerate to pass without causing a downshift during this time the transmission will get that driving style set in the memory and then when you tow the performance will suck. Followed his advice and our tows great and can pass at will. He said they have had to re-flash the transmission for several customers with poor tow performance and then have the customer teach it a new more agressive driving style. Hope this helps.

 

[MEGA HO]

Like someone else mentioned, it's not the power that is issue it's your truck isn't downshifting, this isn't right.
Not sure it has anything to do with transmission learning but worth checking. It doesn't need to be reflashed by the way, dealers can do some sort of reset to force it to re-learn.

 

[CharlieTangoWhiskey]

Sounds like you have a 68RFE tranny and 3:73 rear end. I have noticed that our 2500 with a 3:42 and 68RFE is great in town, its lacking when towing. Especially up a grade. It will only allow so much torque to the tranny. Dont get me wrong it will pull at 55 up a 9% grade, but that is all she has. I have driven an HO with the aisin, have not pulled with one. I noticed the Aisin is much slower off the line than the 68RFE. Comparing all these trucks is kinda moot if you dont list the engine and gearing. My 3:42 is absolutely going to pull weaker than a 4:10. The HO is going to have more power than an SO.

 

[Brutal_HO]

Sounds like you have a 68RFE tranny and 3:73 rear end. I have noticed that our 2500 with a 3:42 and 68RFE is great in town, its lacking when towing. Especially up a grade. It will only allow so much torque to the tranny. Dont get me wrong it will pull at 55 up a 9% grade, but that is all she has. I have driven an HO with the aisin, have not pulled with one. I noticed the Aisin is much slower off the line than the 68RFE. Comparing all these trucks is kinda moot if you dont list the engine and gearing. My 3:42 is absolutely going to pull weaker than a 4:10. The HO is going to have more power than an SO.

Aisin has a deeper 1st gear to get heavy loads moving.

 

[jebruns]

Like someone else mentioned, it's not the power that is issue it's your truck isn't downshifting, this isn't right.
Not sure it has anything to do with transmission learning but worth checking. It doesn't need to be reflashed by the way, dealers can do some sort of reset to force it to re-learn.

Agreed. It should be downshifting as it loses speed on hills. Does it downshift on the highway with no load if you floor it?

 

[BAT3500]

Sounds like you have a 68RFE tranny and 3:73 rear end. I have noticed that our 2500 with a 3:42 and 68RFE is great in town, its lacking when towing. Especially up a grade. It will only allow so much torque to the tranny. Dont get me wrong it will pull at 55 up a 9% grade, but that is all she has. I have driven an HO with the aisin, have not pulled with one. I noticed the Aisin is much slower off the line than the 68RFE. Comparing all these trucks is kinda moot if you dont list the engine and gearing. My 3:42 is absolutely going to pull weaker than a 4:10. The HO is going to have more power than an SO.

This mirrors my experience as well. Changed from 2020 SO to 22 HO Considerable improvement towing the same fifth wheel.

 

[CharlieTangoWhiskey]

This mirrors my experience as well. Changed from 2020 SO to 22 HO Considerable improvement towing the same fifth wheel.

I know im not supposed to use cruise when towing, but the fact is I do. I hate that my 2500 looses 5 mph on a grade then down shifts to get back to speed. were are at 13,500 lbs. i know a lot has to do with the 3:42 gearing. hoping the 22 HO and 3:73 was not a mistake.

 

[RVTRKN]

I prefer the 4:10, but the 3:73 is OK, the 3500 SRW has only the 3:73. I refused to buy a truck with 3:42 diffs, and is why I bought the 2019 3500 SRW, due to the 3:73 diff. I'm glad Ram saw its error. I didn't want another dually to get the 4:10.

 

[Pressure_welder]

Ive owned my fair share of duramax's from new, 07, 12, 15, 19. As well as cummins 07 - 5.9 w/ G56, 2015 limited dually, and just waiting on my 22 5500 laramie to show up. I drove duramax's pretty religiously until 2015 when i was pretty disappointed with GM's fit and finish, so i took a friends 14 limited for a drive and was instantly hooked, it was simply superior. The next day i went and order my 15 limited dually and to date that has been my most favorite truck EXCEPT for the dead pedal that was likely the most dangerous thing ive ever encountered on a vehicle period. I deleted that truck and it was gone of course. I hope the 22's dont have that. Anyway the towing characteristics between the cummins and the various duramax configurations is what i would consider night and day, the low end torque produced i find is amazing especially when pulling steep hills its not constantly searching for the right gear or revving at 3000 rpm. Best way i can describe it, is it just gets down and eats and enjoys it.

Thats not to say that the duramax's ive had wont pull... the DO! but it seems like a far more chaotic dance between the engine and transmission. And i do notice it DOES struggle more when towing heavier around that 20,000-23,000 mark which is its upper limit ( of my 2019 denali). To me up until recently GM has been so outclassed as far as payload and towing numbers go its sad. My 07 5.9 has more bloody payload that this 2019 denali... that IS SAD and the reason i am getting rid of it, ontop of the super dated interior. The exhaust brake is also quite terrible on this L5P and only has one setting and its what the engine decides. And its almost never engaged when i need it when hauling heavy. Thats another HUGE factor on the ram is the two stage exhaust brake, i loved when i let go of the pedal it engaged instantly which it SHOULD. Again not to be a cummins fan boy i just feel its a safer, more reliable, more confident towing platform. I know my 5500 is coming detuned, which i dont really care about. It shares essentially the same HP/TQ numbers as my 2015 did and it performed excellent.