Anyone tow with a Hemi?

patooyee · Nov 25, 2013

I got a new-to-me company truck. It's a 2012 2wd Dodge Ram 1500 with the Hemi engine. I've got my own Cummins that I normally tow with. My buggy is 5300 lbs, my trailer is 2000 lbs. The tow rating of the truck is 8800 and I am going to RBD Fri. only. MM is the closest park to me so I was thinking of giving this-half ton a try just for shits and giggles. It's been in the company for about a year, just not driven by me, and I used it once to tow a 6000 lbs. fork lift from Pensacola to Mobile and back on my trailer. It did OK but it was all flat land, no hills.

I think I'm going to try it unless someone says they have one and it sucks ...

bushhog750 · Nov 25, 2013

I have buddy that tows with a 2500 hemi and pulls a big goose with a rockwell toyota 4 runner on the big 49-50 inch goodyear military tires. He pulls monteagle mountain going to adventure off road quite a bit. Evidently it pulls pretty good. Not sure if any thing changes from 1500 to 2500 besides supsension and axles.

TBItoy · Nov 25, 2013

Re: Re: Re: Anyone tow with a Hemi?

bushhog750 said:
I have buddy that tows with a 2500 hemi and pulls a big goose with a rockwell toyota 4 runner on the big 49-50 inch goodyear military tires. He pulls monteagle mountain going to adventure off road quite a bit. Evidently it pulls pretty good. Not sure if any thing changes from 1500 to 2500 besides supsension and axles.

Gears and transmission.

small block gas motor + towing = sucks

(when you're accustomed to modern diesel)

wizzo · Nov 25, 2013

if you tow with the gas truck, i predict you will be saying wtf was i thinking about half way there. with a gas burner you have to plan for hills, passing other vehicles, etc. with a diesel you set the cruise and forget it.

hope you have a good trip either way

patooyee · Nov 25, 2013

Come on now, it can't be THAT bad. Ole Crazy Steve went flying by us after Chocco last time on the highway towing his rig with his 5.7 Suburban at about 90mph!

dragr1 · Nov 25, 2013

It will just need to rev, unlike the diesel. Just don't be afraid of the skinny pedal and be sure there isn't too much tongue weight. Let it eat

kmcminn · Nov 25, 2013

I would bet it is like wearing a condom and ****ing. A lot of people do it but no one likes it.

patooyee · Nov 25, 2013

**** it. I'll just run the Cummins. Its the only time it ever gets driven anyway. Thanks.

Pumpkin · Nov 25, 2013

Re: Re: Re: Anyone tow with a Hemi?

bushhog750 said:
I have buddy that tows with a 2500 hemi and pulls a big goose with a rockwell toyota 4 runner on the big 49-50 inch goodyear military tires. He pulls monteagle mountain going to adventure off road quite a bit. Evidently it pulls pretty good. Not sure if any thing changes from 1500 to 2500 besides supsension and axles.

That would be me. It gets about 6mpg with that load. 3.73 gears pulls it in second gear. If you back out of the throttle and let it come down away from 4000 rpms you will never get it back. My Diablo programmer helped with the crazy shifts on rolling hills. But mine is a 04 it can not be put in 3rd gear manually which is where it pulls the rolling hills the best. 2012 should be set up different. Yes I wished mine was a diesel, but it isn't so I deal with it. I can make it do what I need to do. Even use low transfer to pull Keith springs mountain

patooyee · Nov 25, 2013

Re: Re: Re: Anyone tow with a Hemi?

Pumpkin said:
That would be me. It gets about 6mpg with that load. 3.73 gears pulls it in second gear. If you back out of the throttle and let it come down away from 4000 rpms you will never get it back. My Diablo programmer helped with the crazy shifts on rolling hills. But mine is a 04 it can not be put in 3rd gear manually which is where it pulls the rolling hills the best. 2012 should be set up different. Yes I wished mine was a diesel, but it isn't so I deal with it. I can make it do what I need to do. Even use low transfer to pull Keith springs mountain

Haha, well that settles it. I guess that's why I own a Cummins.

Mine does have the slap-shift feature to control things manually but obviously no transfer case. LOL!

Pumpkin · Nov 25, 2013

Re: Re: Anyone tow with a Hemi?

But my truck, trailer and 4runner weight 20,000 lbs

drocks? · Nov 25, 2013

I have an 04 with a hemi and i helped my Friend move from bham to PC FL last week we put all his stuff in a horse trailer the truck did good but it dus change a lot when the hill is steep mine has the 3.55 in the diff tho and 33s so its kinda off aka 65 on the speedO is 70 on the gps

TacomaJD · Nov 25, 2013

kmcminn said:
I would bet it is like wearing a condom and ****ing. A lot of people do it but no one likes it.

I almost spit Captain D's all over my computer when I read that molaugh

drocks? · Nov 25, 2013

And i will also be at rbd with the jeep in tow

dragr1 · Nov 25, 2013

Never pulled with a hemi, but my old 6.0 Suburban 2500 would tow the crap out of my 6700 pound rig/trailer combined weight. Sure hills would be in 3rd and big climbs like in TN might be at 4000rpm in 2nd but it never missed a beat and got 9-10 mpg doing it. It had 3.73 gears. Of course I now have a Cummins and I sometimes forget the trailer is back there!

TacomaJD · Nov 26, 2013

Re: Re: Re: Anyone tow with a Hemi?

dragr1 said:
Never pulled with a hemi, but my old 6.0 Suburban 2500 would tow the crap out of my 6700 pound rig/trailer combined weight. Sure hills would be in 3rd and big climbs like in TN might be at 4000rpm in 2nd but it never missed a beat and got 9-10 mpg doing it. It had 3.73 gears. Of course I now have a Cummins and I sometimes forget the trailer is back there!

I'm content with my 6.0 as well. 4.10 gearing and 33's pair well, but anything more than what I haul (18" all metal dovetail and my Toyota) would probably be pushing the bar. I doubt I'll have to worry about that anytime soon though, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

socsmm6 · Nov 26, 2013

I have a 2004 dodge 4x4 with the 5.7 hemi and 3.90 gears. I pull a 14' trailer with a toy 4 runner. truck pulls pretty good and will keep the speed but really screams when you hit the big hills. Gas mileage goes to **** like it isn't all ready. If you have been pulling with a diesel you will be really unhappy with the gas burner.

mckeddie · Nov 26, 2013

I used to with an 05 hemi. It pulled my 1ton tj like a champ They just like to rev through the mountains. Got 11ish pulling, and never kicked the cruise off of 75. I was always happy with it.

BIG_Country · Nov 27, 2013

I have a 05 3/4 5speed 4x4 with a hemi, it does pretty good towing. Gets 10 to 14 mpg just depends on what I'm hauling. It does a fine job as long as I have hi test gas in it.

patooyee · Nov 27, 2013

So I'm now thinking this is a no-go. I hooked the empty trailer up to the Hemi today and it almost completely bottomed out the rear suspension. The frame of the trailer at the tongue was only about 6" off the ground. I'm thinking if I actually put the buggy on it I'll be dragging frame.

Kind of makes sense. As soon as I got the Hemi I noticed how nice and soft / smooth the rear suspension was vs. my Cummins, which rides like it basically has no springs without a few thousand pounds hooked to it. I actually can't get ENOUGH tongue weight with my Cummins because the buggy can't pull far enough forward on the trailer without the rear tires sitting on top of the trailer fenders.

So it looks like the good ole' Cummins is going to earn its paycheck once again this weekend. I <3 MY CUMMINS!