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Old 08-28-2020, 08:17 AM   #101
Sarge2
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I probably will get my butt handed to me but here goes...
I was towing my 2020 Passport 2600 BHGT with my old 2004 F150 Super Cab with 5.4, and 4spd overdrive trans, 373 rear gear & trailer towing package and Firestone Airbags on rear..(put on to stop an annoying shutter on start up which it cured)
Trailer scaled out loaded up at with our stuff minus water at 6380... Truck pulled it well... 10 miles per gallon with trailer behind... supposedly had a 8500 tow capacity

Fast forward to just before Covid... Got a 2019 Ram 1500 quad cab, 5.7, 8 spd trans, 392 rear gear and trailer towing package...11,250 supposed towing capacity...It also tows the trailer well and gets 10.5 miles per gallon... only wish I had gotten the longer wheel base... slightly shorter than the Ford..

The Ram pulls much stronger than the Ford and gets up to speed quicker without as much throttle... Tow Haul Mode seems to raise all the shift points and basically never gets out of 7th gear.. which I think is why the fuel mileage is not much better than the Ford... The Ford would go into OD if you got to a steady 60mph and did not hunt or search at all on mostly flat roads...

So I'm ready to take my shots...LOL... I'll take it like a man...
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Old 08-28-2020, 09:24 AM   #102
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The difference in towing characteristics is probably the difference in a 3 speed transmission with a 4th gear overdrive and a 8 speed transmission with 6 gears and two overdrives coupled with the slight difference between 3.73 and 3.92 gear ratios and the increased HP/torque response curves between the old 5.4L engine and the 5.7L engine....

There have been SIGNIFICANT refinements in transmission/engine computer controls since 2004 that also factor into the differences you're seeing between the two trucks....

It takes a certain amount of "energy" in the form of gasoline burned to move any vehicle. That said, vehicles that are similar in size will typically use similar amounts of energy to move similar loads. Honestly, achieving 10+ MPG towing 6500 pounds of "flat box" behind any vehicle with a gas engine is "better than should be expected"... Most, me included, typically got 8-9 MPG, only attaining 10+ on long downhill runs with a strong tailwind.....
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Old 08-28-2020, 10:51 AM   #103
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Sarge you have witnessed, by the seat of the pants, the evolution of trucks, 1/2 ton specifically - ain't it great!

The 5.7 will be considerably stouter than the 5.4 was then the 3.92 and 8 speed really pick it up. I'm glad you got the 8 speed, the old 6 speed had too many holes in the shift points and was aggravating to me. Don't worry about not going into 8th gear when towing, I'm not surprised. T/H is doing its job. If it didn't you would wear that tranny out by the constant up/down shifting when towing the trailer. Put it in T/H then Drive and go. Listen to the engine and let it tell you where it likes to be power wise. Watch the terrain ahead and help it with grades etc. and you won't be bouncing from 1800 rpm to 4000 every hill you get to. Congrats on the truck. It's plenty of truck for that trailer so go have some fun...
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Old 08-28-2020, 01:27 PM   #104
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Sarge you have witnessed, by the seat of the pants, the evolution of trucks, 1/2 ton specifically - ain't it great!

The 5.7 will be considerably stouter than the 5.4 was then the 3.92 and 8 speed really pick it up. I'm glad you got the 8 speed, the old 6 speed had too many holes in the shift points and was aggravating to me. Don't worry about not going into 8th gear when towing, I'm not surprised. T/H is doing its job. If it didn't you would wear that tranny out by the constant up/down shifting when towing the trailer. Put it in T/H then Drive and go. Listen to the engine and let it tell you where it likes to be power wise. Watch the terrain ahead and help it with grades etc. and you won't be bouncing from 1800 rpm to 4000 every hill you get to. Congrats on the truck. It's plenty of truck for that trailer so go have some fun...
Thanks was expecting to get a real spanking about using a 1/2 ton to tow with...lol..That said, I've never been a big "Mopar" fan but this truck is really a nice ride... I am happy with the 10.5mpg towing and it amazed me on a recent trip to Tennessee, (not towing anything) it knocked out 23mpg at 72mph... 2k rpm... not to shabby for a rather large and heavy truck..
So far my opinion of Mopars has changed as I was a bit skeptical about getting one... I've never owned but one other dodge truck.. a Conversion van that I leased new.. it was a 2500 van with a V6 and no OD trans.. it sucked fuel like a crazy and was constantly in for repairs of about everything you can imagine..... I vowed I'd never own another Mopar...and up until now, I haven't.. I'm a GM guy but liked my Ford truck... My son's nearly fell over when I came home with a Ram truck... An "All Black" Ram to boot...
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Old 08-28-2020, 01:36 PM   #105
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Sarge you have witnessed, by the seat of the pants, the evolution of trucks, 1/2 ton specifically - ain't it great!

The 5.7 will be considerably stouter than the 5.4 was then the 3.92 and 8 speed really pick it up. I'm glad you got the 8 speed, the old 6 speed had too many holes in the shift points and was aggravating to me. Don't worry about not going into 8th gear when towing, I'm not surprised. T/H is doing its job. If it didn't you would wear that tranny out by the constant up/down shifting when towing the trailer. Put it in T/H then Drive and go. Listen to the engine and let it tell you where it likes to be power wise. Watch the terrain ahead and help it with grades etc. and you won't be bouncing from 1800 rpm to 4000 every hill you get to. Congrats on the truck. It's plenty of truck for that trailer so go have some fun...
Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
The difference in towing characteristics is probably the difference in a 3 speed transmission with a 4th gear overdrive and a 8 speed transmission with 6 gears and two overdrives coupled with the slight difference between 3.73 and 3.92 gear ratios and the increased HP/torque response curves between the old 5.4L engine and the 5.7L engine....

There have been SIGNIFICANT refinements in transmission/engine computer controls since 2004 that also factor into the differences you're seeing between the two trucks....

It takes a certain amount of "energy" in the form of gasoline burned to move any vehicle. That said, vehicles that are similar in size will typically use similar amounts of energy to move similar loads. Honestly, achieving 10+ MPG towing 6500 pounds of "flat box" behind any vehicle with a gas engine is "better than should be expected"... Most, me included, typically got 8-9 MPG, only attaining 10+ on long downhill runs with a strong tailwind.....
I appreciate everything you've said... (and not getting a WTH were you thinking..lol) I do understand the benefits of the latest and greatest technology but until you drive something so much more advanced than my old Ford, you don't appreciate what they've accomplished... I own a few older vehicles.. classics by years...63 Pontiac and 53 Ford Customline... I enjoy those as well.. my F150 is still in use by my Wife... She love driving it so much that she sold her Trailblazer to her sister... lol... She likes driving something that sits her up higher than the cars do... Happy wife, happy life..
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Old 08-28-2020, 02:15 PM   #106
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Thanks was expecting to get a real spanking about using a 1/2 ton to tow with...lol..That said, I've never been a big "Mopar" fan but this truck is really a nice ride... I am happy with the 10.5mpg towing and it amazed me on a recent trip to Tennessee, (not towing anything) it knocked out 23mpg at 72mph... 2k rpm... not to shabby for a rather large and heavy truck..
So far my opinion of Mopars has changed as I was a bit skeptical about getting one... I've never owned but one other dodge truck.. a Conversion van that I leased new.. it was a 2500 van with a V6 and no OD trans.. it sucked fuel like a crazy and was constantly in for repairs of about everything you can imagine..... I vowed I'd never own another Mopar...and up until now, I haven't.. I'm a GM guy but liked my Ford truck... My son's nearly fell over when I came home with a Ram truck... An "All Black" Ram to boot...


I have the same story. Our company fleet was comprised of everything Chrysler; cars, vans, trucks of all sizes. I drove them for decades and determined I would never own one personally. I drove Fords; all things Ford; sedans, trucks, sporty vehicles - it had to have the blue oval.

In 2001 I was ready for a new truck and went to get a Ford. I didn't like the looks of them; took them for test drives and didn't like the engine performance or the ride and backed up. Test drove all kinds of stuff then stepped into a new Ram 1500 SB 4x4 Off Road. It had the 5.9 and 4.10 axle. Wow! It ran really good, it rode really well and the interior ergonomics really surprised me. The previous Dodge trucks would break my back due to the design (I also have a bad back). The new ones did not. It was a great truck and my Dodge/Ram ownership began; bought that one in 01, then 02,03,04 (plus an 04 Dodge Durango 5.7) and been driving them ever since. I still do cursory test drives of every brand before I buy a new one to make sure I don't miss something...but I haven't, plus my son is a car dealer so I get exposure to lots of them. Good luck.
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Old 09-01-2020, 02:05 PM   #107
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OK, after reading through all the post (and thanks for those!) I decided to play safe and add both, WDH with sway control. My Trailer is at the RV shop having a thorough checkup and they will install the WDH with sway control when I pick it up on Thursday. I knew I liked this forum!!!
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Old 09-01-2020, 02:56 PM   #108
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Great Jack. I think you made the prudent, safe choice and you won't be sorry - the wdh/sway will be a benefit regardless. When you get them back get out there and have fun and enjoy!
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Old 09-15-2020, 05:35 AM   #109
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Well, now back from my annual trip to Takhlakh Lake under Mt Adams.
Towing the trailer in the mountains went well, no sway at all and level.

This year we had to deal with the wildfire smoke from Eastern WA and from CA drifting in as well. Couldn't even see Mt Adams even though we were at the base of it. Then a wild 50 mph windstorm came in overnight and blew out the smoke and downed a lot of large pine trees as well. The camp I stayed in last year had two trees smashed into it while I was in the outhouse next to it. you can say it scared the "****" outta me! The campers that were in it had an Angel watching out for them as they were leaving as I went into the outhouse. They probably never knew how close they were to disaster!

When I say outhouse this is a remote lake/campground, with real windy road for 30 miles with last 8 miles gravel to get there... so only diehard campers come up here. But it's heaven on earth for my wife and I.

At least we had two days of sun and no smoke until it blew back in again.
Enjoy the pics.
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Old 09-15-2020, 06:01 AM   #110
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Wow! Great pic of the Eagle.
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Old 09-15-2020, 06:13 AM   #111
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It's a great photo, but not of a eagle. Slang for it is fish hawk, real name is osprey. Bald eagles steal their fish all the time. They will dive or chase them if seen with a fish. Osprey drops it's catch to get away and eagle sometimes crabs it before it hits the water or ground. Watched that out of front window in Gladstone and many more times while working or hunting on a wildlife area.
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Old 09-15-2020, 08:12 AM   #112
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The pics of that Starcraft with a single axle made me wonder what would happen if a tire blew. Anyone ever had that happen on a single axle camper? I had it happen on a single axle motorcycle trailer and it was no bueno.
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Old 09-15-2020, 08:33 AM   #113
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I've had that happen on a 14' travel trailer I had. It wasn't a big deal, as we were going down a service road at the time (paved, but speed limited).
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Old 09-15-2020, 08:59 AM   #114
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I had it happen on a single axle boat trailer. It wasn't bad, but I was only going about 50mph. I had to move over a lane to get to the side of the road. I didn't have to brake that much. The tire drag acted like a brake.
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Old 09-15-2020, 12:29 PM   #115
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It's a great photo, but not of a eagle. Slang for it is fish hawk, real name is osprey. Bald eagles steal their fish all the time. They will dive or chase them if seen with a fish. Osprey drops it's catch to get away and eagle sometimes crabs it before it hits the water or ground. Watched that out of front window in Gladstone and many more times while working or hunting on a wildlife area.

We get to watch the bald eagles and osprey in FL. First year I kept wondering what was going on with those "eagles" but started paying more attention and both species are all over down there. Either one is a hoot to watch and listen to.

Great pic Mark and thanks for sharing.
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Old 09-15-2020, 02:48 PM   #116
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We get to watch the bald eagles and osprey in FL. First year I kept wondering what was going on with those "eagles" but started paying more attention and both species are all over down there. Either one is a hoot to watch and listen to.

Great pic Mark and thanks for sharing.
Uh, that was my photo.

I have a lot of Eagles and Ospreys photos on my old website:
http://www.moskovita-photography.com...hotography.htm

Here is my more modern website:
https://moskovita-photography.com/
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Old 09-15-2020, 03:54 PM   #117
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Uh, that was my photo.

I have a lot of Eagles and Ospreys photos on my old website:
http://www.moskovita-photography.com...hotography.htm

Here is my more modern website:
https://moskovita-photography.com/


Sorry!!! Not sure what I was thinking. Looked at your post and picture, commented on Ken's post then commented to Mark about a great picture....did I leave anyone else out??

I knew I needed a nap today. My eyes reading, fingers typing and brain not assisting either. Nice pic Jack!!
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