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Towing with new 6.4L

just James said:
Bought this grader yesterday, and pulled it about 110 miles getting it home. GCW was 21,300 pounds. Had some hills to go over, but didn't get in any hurry going up or down. The trailer that I rented had good brakes, so there was no issue maintaining my speed downhill.
This was the heaviest load that I have ever pulled with my pickup, but it did great.
If I pulled this kind of weight on a regular basis I would have gotten a diesel, but overall I am more than happy with my gas 6.4.
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It sounds like your truck did great. What did it do poorly that would make you buy a diesel if you did this regularly?
 
Just did my first tow with the 2500 hemi hauling a FULL cab and bed and our 31Ft TT over the blue ridge mountains to my brothers house. I averaged 10MPG in the mountains which Im guessing I can improve that with some work. But what was most impressive is that even in tow/haul mode I saw over 4000RPM 2-3 times over 240 miles of towing and 1 of them was most likely preventable. While I was worried about not having the 4.10 gears and mountain towing, I have now been cured of ANY and ALL doubt I could ever have with my truck. Not only was it EXTREMELY windy on the way out, but I had to come back on a spare because of a valve stem issues (fix is on the way) and the stability, power and control was EXPONETIALLY better than my suped up RAM 1500.

Depsite being 1200lbs+ heavier the 6.4L power felt amazing in comparison and I never thought I needed more power with my 5.7. The 1500 would scream fairly often while towing and hauling, but the 6.4L BGE was calm and steady with a low end that made the truck feel completely different. The stability in all conditions has been a HUGE plus goign to the 2500 where the 1500 in windy conditions was literal white knuckle, my 2500 was confidence boosting and I never doubted my rig. Never ever going back!

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mdsonofthesouth said:
First off you dont have to believe me, second off what would I have to gain from lying?, and third every post from you is a troll. Have you ever thought about being productive?
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I can believe it.

My 2022 6.4 with 3:73 would get 9.5 to 10 on flat ground dragging a 13.3K 5th wheel.

Wish my 2024 with 4:10 would do that. I am lucky to get 8
Hell, I can't seem to get past 11 unladen :oops:
 
mdsonofthesouth said:
First off you dont have to believe me, second off what would I have to gain from lying?, and third every post from you is a troll. Have you ever thought about being productive?
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Don't let him get to you. He hates gasoline engines and likes getting a rise out of people.
 
TruckinThumper said:
I can believe it.

My 2022 6.4 with 3:73 would get 9.5 to 10 on flat ground dragging a 13.3K 5th wheel.

Wish my 2024 with 4:10 would do that. I am lucky to get 8
Hell, I can't seem to get past 11 unladen :oops:
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Nice! Mine is only around 8 or 8.5k never weighed it, but its loaded as if we lived in it full time. I pace steady but slow so speed limits and never over 70mph. I actively try to hyper-mile like its a sport. I could see mpg tanking if I drove more "spirited".

Excited to see what my tow to the outer banks and Chincoteague will be.

Airtim said:
Don't let him get to you. He hates gasoline engines and likes getting a rise out of people.
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I won't but I felt like this time I had to ask. Every forum I have been on has a troll and at this point should just ignore them.
 
I've hand calculated my MPG almost every time I tow our 30' bumper pull and I can never get to 9mpg. I'm always around 8 to 8.5 (with 3.73), and that's keeping it around 65mph and mostly flatlands around the mid-Atlantic states.
 
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I’d be curious what the ZF would do to my mileage rowing. We get 7-8.5 towing our 30’ 10-11K 5th around Idaho.

Our next trip we’re taking a smaller 23’ Jay Feather so I’m curious how that does. It’s only 5K loaded.
 
The idiot gauge on the dash says my 2024 2500 6.4 with 3.73's gets 9.5-10 mpg's towing our 26' travel trailer that weighs 5,500lbs loaded. In Arizona, it seems like you go uphill coming and going. ‍
 
2024RAM0wner said:
I've hand calculated my MPG almost every time I tow our 30' bumper pull and I can never get to 9mpg. I'm always around 8 to 8.5 (with 3.73), and that's keeping it around 65mph and mostly flatlands around the mid-Atlantic states.
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I am on my 6th vehicle with the evic mpg readouts. I have found they are just 'feel good' gauges. My current 2500 with the 6.4 towing 12k will tell me as high as 10mpg under perfect conditions When I hand calculate it is closer to 9 mpg. You can usually tell the ones who only depend on the readout for their mpg's because they only show miles and tenths. The hand calculated mpg will show to the hundredths of mpg as my last tank was 9.15
 
sanda said:
I am on my 6th vehicle with the evic mpg readouts. I have found they are just 'feel good' gauges. My current 2500 with the 6.4 towing 12k will tell me as high as 10mpg under perfect conditions When I hand calculate it is closer to 9 mpg. You can usually tell the ones who only depend on the readout for their mpg's because they only show miles and tenths. The hand calculated mpg will show to the hundredths of mpg as my last tank was 9.15
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so, we all need to state if we are giving hand calc'ed or dash readings now?
 
whenever I get a new vehicle I hand calculate the first three fill-ups and compare them to the vehicle's displayed mpg. I have found on all my vehicles that the readout is quite accurate.
 
wrvond said:
whenever I get a new vehicle I hand calculate the first three fill-ups and compare them to the vehicle's displayed mpg. I have found on all my vehicles that the readout is quite accurate.
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I check every tank on every rig I fill up with a mph readout and have only ever owned 1 that’s accurate enough to take for what it says, that’s my MB Sprinter. The sprinter, aside from tank one that I didn’t fill has been holding -1.1% - 2.9%, and since tank 3 the biggest error is 2.3% with most tanks within 1%. I’ve never had any other rigs I could do that with, especially my Rams both gas and diesel.

The first 3 tanks on my 22, which should be very similar to your 23, were 2.2, 7.2, and 8.3 % off. The forth tank was -0.6%, followed by a 14.5%, then a 2.8, then a 14.5%… it goes on just like that. Over the time I owned that truck the range was -1.1%-22.8% error. There is a reason they are called a lie-o-meter.

The only way to know what you’re actually getting is to hand calc.
 
AH64ID said:
I check every tank on every rig I fill up with a mph readout and have only ever owned 1 that’s accurate enough to take for what it says, that’s my MB Sprinter. The sprinter, aside from tank one that I didn’t fill has been holding -1.1% - 2.9%, and since tank 3 the biggest error is 2.3% with most tanks within 1%. I’ve never had any other rigs I could do that with, especially my Rams both gas and diesel.

The first 3 tanks on my 22, which should be very similar to your 23, were 2.2, 7.2, and 8.3 % off. The forth tank was -0.6%, followed by a 14.5%, then a 2.8, then a 14.5%… it goes on just like that. Over the time I owned that truck the range was -1.1%-22.8% error. There is a reason they are called a lie-o-meter.

The only way to know what you’re actually getting is to hand calc.
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I don't rely on the Lie-o-meter when calculating MPGs. I only use it to help me drive in a manner that will give me better MPGs. If I'm on a flat road, I try to maintain it above 10-12 MPG. I've seen the Lie-O indicating as high as 18 MPG on very flat roads while towing. Never use cruise control. But where we go camping is mostly hilly or mountainous so MPGs hurt a lot. What impresses me the most about the 6.4 Hemi, is the delta between driving unloaded vs loaded. The drop in MPGs is moderate. I usually get between 12.5 to 13.5MPG combined driving. I would say 60% rural speeds between 45MPH to 55MPH. Highway, I normally get over 16MPGs. Considering that my camping trips are a combination of rural and highway driving (but mostly rural) I'm only seeing an MPG drop in the range of 20-30%. My previous 3.0 Duramax diesel mileage drop while towing was closer to 45%. Normally I would get 23-26MPG onloaded, but towing a 4000lbs camper it would drop to 14MPG. Granted 14MPG is higher than what I get with the 6.4, but I am talking about the delta, 20-30% drop vs 45%. According to Chat GTP the 6.7 Cummins averages between 18-20MPG in a rural setting like mine, but MPGs drop to around 11-13MPGs while towing a 6,000lbs. camper. Using a midpoint- Unloaded 19MPG/towing 12 MPG, the mileage drop is higher at 36.8%.

I asked on another thread (after a buffoon started attacking me), to post their real MPG data loaded vs unloaded for diesel and only got one response but a lot of hate. They couldn't understand my point of the negative delta. Of course the 6.7 diesel will have better MPGs than the 6.4 while towing, but the big question, what is the delta?
 
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My Hemi gets low 8's towing our 5k TT up and down the I-5 corridor at 70-75MPH. Just let her eat.
 
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