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  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
    Posts
    346

    Towing Setup

    Hey all,

    Just thought it would be nice to post about our towing experiences with whatever setup you may have or have had, pros and cons. It could help many in the future particularly with vehicle purchases.

    I've had a couple trucks I towed my boat with now. I started out with a '13 Ram 1500 Hemi 6 speed with 3.21 gears. Truck had a ton of power. I liked the passing capabilities. On it's own the mileage was good, right around 20mpg straight highway but once coupled with any kind of trailer it dropped significantly down to 14-15mpg with my Lowe Stinger 170W and in windy conditions down to 12mpg. It did pull nicely and I did not get a lot of "tug back" from the boat or sway. The one thing other than mileage I didn't like was the rear end gears were much too geared for highway. It would shift quite a bit between 5th and 6th gears and with a 6 speed that jumped the RPM's quite high going into 5th at 70mph. I didn't like to run in 5th at those speeds since the RPM's were too high for a gasser and using Tow/Haul mode only made the tranny stay in that 5th gear.

    I currently own a '17 Ram 1500 diesel with the 8 speed and 3.55 gears. This truck pulls the same as the '13 as far as control goes but improves in the mileage and shift issues which is why I bought it over the '13. The 8 speed tranny helps a lot and in any kind of hilly terrain I simply turn the Tow/Haul on and it runs comfortably in 7th gear and doesn't cause quite the RPM increase as the old 6 speed did. I average between 20-22mpg with this truck while towing, in heavy winds it will drop to 18mpg. The truck seems to just pull steady even though the horsepower of the Hemi was much greater.

    What does everyone else's setups look like and what are the pros/cons?
    Last edited by Podcast; 05-24-2018 at 01:41 PM.

  2. Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Magnolia, TX
    Posts
    1,177
    #2
    Your post could turn into the long running argument of what's better. I bought a cushioned ball mount for my new truck and really like it. Had to get a 6" drop to get the trailer level due to the truck being so tall from the factory.

  3. Moderator Fishysam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Jamestown North Dakota
    Posts
    9,318
    #3
    yes, the 6 speed trannny is 1/1 in 5th, the 8 speed is 1/1 in 6th, the 8 speed has a granny grear, and 2 overdrives, i had a 2012 hemi 6 spd, 5th gear at 79 pulling 20' glass was fine 13-14 mpg. 2014 hemi 8 speed, 6th gear 13-14mpg and smoother shifting, both were 3.42? now i have a 6.7 cummins, thats where its at when you pull 20,000 miles a year out of 25k total- 14-16 mpg at 79mph and doesnt shif out of 6/6, doesnt break a sweat into a 40mph headwind.

    oh and both of my hemis i took the muffler off and replaced with the largest magnaflow muffler and a k&n drop in air filter, they got me from 19-20 empty to 20-21
    Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089