2014 Ram 3500 SRW...6.4 HEMI saga

[SnoKing]

Sticks, guess I would have to see some real numbers to understand what you are saying. If you have a 11100 GVWR and subtract 6K, the truck has to actually weigh 5.1K empty to have that kind of capacity. I believe that window sticker has the weight of the truck as built, but my guess is that it is around 7K plus or minus.

7000 + 7800 pounds of road base equals 14,800 and it would be dragging is rear bumper. If you get another load, find a scale to weigh it. Does the supplier of the road base have a scale?

How many yards did you buy? According to this a yard of concrete gravel is 4104.

http://www.harmonysandgravel.com/charts.htm

Chris

 

[Sticks]

Like I said, I was over loaded.

Class 6 road base is 1.6 tons per yard (avg.).

My truck is spec'd at 4510# payload, 6040# if I had DRW. I don't know if there is a difference between DRW and SRW springs, just axle capacities.

No scale, I was given permission to take a truck load of removed road base from a job site that I am working. Not doing it again, I brought too much home as it is.

I will take actual measurements of my bed to get a more accurate estimate of Cubic Yards.

 

[TFucili]

Sticks, how's the 6.4 doing?

 

[Wayne M.]

Of note on the gas/ diesel debate, I had a chance to get some training at a ford store. During break I quizzed one of the approachable instructors about the lack of diesel badges ive noticed recently on new FDNY ambulances. He admitted that a lot of would be diesel apps are opting for the 6.2 gas engine.

Yes tell us how its going, Sticks.

 

[Sticks]

I wish I had more to say about it.

I am about to roll over 7100 miles on it. I have only hauled the one large load of road base, no towing. Empty she's a beast on the acceleration. Highway cruising speed is a little low on the torque (engine is only about 1500 rpm @ 60 mph), so it still does a double to triple down shift if you roll into it to accelerate which is annoying.

Fuel economy in town still holds around 13.2 mpg. Highway at 70mph & 80 mph actually does pretty good and I think I pulled a 16.2 out of it on one trip - which is as good as my '02 ever gets at those speeds ( that's with the usual city surface street driving each day). I have not taken it on a straight road trip for 500 miles of highway to see what that actually comes out to, It might manage to get to the 17 or 18 mpg the EVIC brags about. The best I have seen the EVIC hold for 350 miles is 18.9.

I'm coming up on the first service, and need to get the bugs taken care of (bluetooth connection with the Uconnect 5.0, flaky outside temp reading when cold, and any updates).

 

[MA2LA]

I'm glad I saw this thread, hopefully I will be getting a new company truck but like last time they are not liking the cost of the diesel up grade so the option of the bigger hemi is nice. I test drove the first one our dealer got and it does drive nice and deffinalty has some power but on my little test loop in back to back comparison with a Cummins I got about 13 Mpg in the he I and 18.5 mpg in the cummins. I knows it hard to make and major assumption on a small test but it was interesting to see. Just on those numbers and depending on the whole 87 vs 93 octane gas thing it would take 200k or so for the Cummins to pay for its self witch is 4 years for me. Now when I have a trailer behind it who knows. It will tow mostly a 14 ft cargo trailer that can width up to 7k or a 28 ft trails that can gross out at 15k. I know the Cummins is the best choice but its not me writing the check. I proved my point with our 2011 we bought in Jan 2011 that just turned 152k today and never been back to the dealer and the only thing that I had go bad other than normal wear was a water pump. I want the Cummins but heck right now I'll just be happy to hand my 2011 of to my guys and get a new truck under me.

 

[Sticks]

If it's a truck that will be towing, then you best get the diesel. The towing mileage per gallon difference between the Hemi and the Cummins is MASSIVE.

I can't say any numbers, but I have yet to hear of a Gasser that is beating (let alone keeping up with) a Diesel on MPG while pulling a load over 10k#.

If your company is firm on the 6.4, then make sure you get the 4:10 axles to get the most out of it while towing.

 

[RVTRKN]

Don't get me wrong here, but theres more to a diesel engine besides MPG. I need a diesel for my 23K GCVW, but the diesel will eat up some of those savings when you change the oil due to double the oil pan capacity. Then when its time for injectors or turbo repairs, you read them here all the time, they can cost you a small fortune. If I was only towing my boat after owning two CTD trucks, I would go back to a gasser, and get better performance getting groceries.

 

[rscurtis]

Cummins to pay for its self witch is 4 years for me.

If you consider that most of the cost of the Cummins will be returned at resale, the payback time is greatly reduced. Regarding the increased cost of repairs to the Cummins, don't think for a minute that the hemi will perform flawlessly under the same circumstances. It will eventually get into your wallet after hard use, where the Cummins will still be ready for more. Look at EB's experience with his 2007 C&C, you won't get that from a hemi, and I don't care how good it is.

 

[RVTRKN]

As I said, don't get me wrong! EB was the reason I own a 07 C&C CTD, but he tows heavy for all those miles he put, and is still putting on his truck. A gasser would fall apart with those conditions, but it is a hard decision if your going to tow a boat to the lake once in a while or a company truck that has a service bed and may never tow the entire life of it.

 

[Sticks]

Long time since I posted anything on this. Have 13539 miles now.

Had a family emergency and really put some miles (for me anyhow) on it.

Started out Denver to Montrose (292 miles) for a new jobsite I had to deal with and got roughly 15.5 mpg. I know my 02 would have gotten upwards of 21 - that was depressing. Family emergency sent me down to Tucson then to Sierra Vista AZ. First tank got 511 miles and I fueled in Phoenix. 17.3 mpg at mostly 70mph. Return trip home I got 496 miles and was on fumes when I filled/put 32.59 gallons in a 32 gallon tank. 15.2mpg at mostly 80mph. Second leg pulled 14.2, and the really annoying thing - EVIC showed 18.4. That is beyond "lie-o-meter" - that or the fuel station pump lied to me and said I put more gas in than I actually did. Might be accurate since it's mostly uphill from Santa Fe to Denver.

One would think that these MPG meters in today's vehicles would be really accurate since the computer knows how many ml. of fuel is being used per injector, per revolution.

Everything else about the truck is still pretty good. I did have to stop 4 times and re-boot the truck during the trip because the cruise control stopped working. I would turn it on (get the "Cruise Ready" screen, hit set, "Cruise Off"). I guess it took exception to accelerating to 90mph to pass someone on the two lane roads then hit resume when I was on the decel from passing.
I do miss the Diesel on long trips like that and highway running with the cruise control. Might loose 1mph on an uphill slope. This truck will drop 5mph then think about downshifting a couple of gears. I got in the habit of manually downshifting to try to keep the speed.

I now know why I see all the 2013 truck running with the mirrors in the folded out "tow" position. The convex mirrors suck. Huge blind spots, and in order to cover them, you can't see the side of the truck or wheels - which is a drag when backing into a parking space. Gonna have to put some spot mirrors on.

 

[KIKER]

I made my first road trip yesterday with my Ram 3500 standard cab, srw, 6.4. I went to Sonora and back to purchase a used Stahl utility bed that I will install when I get the chance. It was about 350 miles, with some on I-10 with 80 mph speed limit, but I only went 75. I was pulling an empty tandem utility trailer that had a fold up full width loading ramp with expanded metal, so I guess that would catch some wind. To say the least, I didn't get very good fuel economy! I stopped 30 miles into the trip and filled up and checked the trailer (borrowed), so that left me about 320 miles and a full tank. Well, I had to route the last of the trip to Midland to get gas and thought it started to sputter when I pulled into the lot. I put in a little over 31 gallons. I actually got a little better economy coming home with the trailer than going down empty as I only drove 69-70 all the way back. I figured it got right at 10 mpg's. I put a pencil to it and a diesel would need to get 10.8 to cost the same to drive a gasoline at 10 mpg, fuel cost only. I am having second thoughts about buying this truck to replace my '07 when it finally dies.

 

[JR]

I am having second thoughts about buying this truck to replace my '07 when it finally dies.

With even minimal maintenance, this is still a looong ways away from happening. My truck is 16 years old and is still going strong, and does much better in terms of fuel economy and pulling grades than my buddies 2012 Chevy 2500 w/6.0 gasser when we pull the wheelers down to W Virginia every year. I consistently get 3-4 mpg better pulling the same weight, and I suspect a new Cummins would put out similar fuel economy with a lot more power and comfort to boot. However, a lot has changed and the overhead for buying a new diesel is exponentially higher than it used to be. It is a tough decision and one that I have been contemplating lately.

 

[HAMMER77777]

I got one of these in Laramie Mega Cab

 

[HAMMER77777]

Do you have a rear backup camera in the tailgate and the rear park assist?

Those sure help on my truck.

I wish I had park assist in the front too.

John L.

I do on my 6.4L. I didn't want to be lacking of features, so i got the Laramie, loaded to the gills (the only 2 things i didnt get was Nav, cause i dont like it, and ashtrays, as i have no need for them). Otherwise, I got everything they had, even 2 alternators. Better to have then want, i figured.

 

[HAMMER77777]

My opinion, I Love the 6.4, purchased the LIFETIME warranty, will keep this rig FOREVER. Plan to put a million miles on her. I don't tow anything ever, so I have no use for diesel, and I actually prefer the off-the-line "go" of a gas engine. I enjoy stomping on the pedal, and shooting 90 MPH down the road. This is my Daily commuter driver, and what Fun she is! Gas all the way

 

[Zae]

Anymore updates?

 

[Sticks]

Just rolled over 20k yesterday. Mileage still sucks, I gave up tracking it. Kept holding right around 13 - 14 mpg.

Still needs to down shift on minor hills to hold 65 and up which is depressing.

Have not towed Max GVW with it, but I never thought that I would. Just needed the bed space and capacity. I did haul about 6k the other day between the bed and trailer and was able to hold the speed limit without too much struggle up some decent hills, (not mountain) on a 90 mile trip.

No issues or problems with the engine or drive train. Had a little moisture around the trans bell housing, but that might have been from the previous oil change (had a little drool from the first bottle before it turned into a funnel. Keeping an eye on it.

I need to dig into what if any TSBs are out there and stay on top of them. Not a fan of those "If a customer comes in with this complaint..." types. If you know that the things have a tendency to break exhaust manifold bolts, send a notice out and fix it, not hope that the customer does not notice (GM issue I encountered at a previous job).

Hopefully the 2015/2016 Cummins are still reliable. Planning on trading up when I get to 95k miles, or I can do so without being upside down like I am now (by $4k). That will be a custom order job now that I know what I want and need....

This truck with SRW and 4:10 axles would be a great tow rig, right up to the mileage. Simple looking right now at the 2015 Cummins, 3:42 is the only SRW option with the Cummins and Asin. I would have thought that you could get at least 3:73 - but it keeps kicking me out to a dually.

Academic, going to be another year or two before that happens.

 

[rscurtis]

Considering the weight of the truck and the power available, that mileage isn't bad at all. I remember some trucks from the '70's and '80's that never saw 10 MPG and could barely climb a hill.

 

[TFucili]

Thanks for the update, Sticks!