4500 Exceeded Expectations!

[Wiredawg]

Fellow TDR Members,



I finally towed my 17K 5er through some signifcant grades... it performed great. I have Smarty 6. 7 set on three (adds 60 hp) and the torque was phenominal.



I kept transmission in double OD and it only downshifted near the top of 5 to 7% grades running 70mph. transmission was never hunting, shift smooth and power strong. transmission temp topped 160' w/ outside temps 88'. Exhaust brake is super excellent and perfectly matched w/ transmission/engine.



EGTs never went over 1,300', but 30psi boost gauge buried several times. Might have to get a 60 psi one. Averaged 8. 8mpg.



I weighed the truck/trailer setup: 28,360 lbs w/ 112 gals fuel, wife, dog and me.



I even four-wheeled the truck down several trails in Big Bend national park. Got a few surface scratches on the tow body, but none on the truck cab. With about 11,000 lbs, the truck did very well.



If you are looking for an awsome, HD tow rig, you can't beat the Dodge Ram C&C with its heavy duty components and great driveability.



Happy Trails, Wiredawg

 

[PLefever]

28,000lb combined has a way of seperating the trucks from the wanna be's, exciting performance especially the transmission temp, have been wondering what my 011, 4500 would do for transmission temps, I typically will be pulling 28 to 36 combined as soon as it gets a few more miles on it.



enjoy. .



Perry

 

[WMoroni]

28,000lb combined has a way of seperating the trucks from the wanna be's, exciting performance especially the transmission temp, have been wondering what my 011, 4500 would do for transmission temps, I typically will be pulling 28 to 36 combined as soon as it gets a few more miles on it.



enjoy. .



Perry

I towed my dozer with mine yesterday. Total weight around 34,000. The outside temp was around 81*. The transmission stayed below 180 even with a lot of back road driving. My 07 48re would have scorched under the same conditions with out babing it. I was suprised how hot the engine ran though. The fan doesn't kick in until 220, cools off pretty quick once it does though.

 

[HBarlow]

Good report, Ron. I"m glad to hear the truck does a good job for you in the hills.

Have you noticed how many new C&C owners have reported in recently? The numbers are growing as more prospective buyers read the good reports on the C&C platform.

 

[Wiredawg]

All,



I forgot to mention the engine temp never got over 205'. I can't say conclusivley, but I believe modifying the stock airbox w/ the cool air pipe really made a lot of difference. The new air filters are massive and will flow more air than is fed in small side opening in the aibox. I won mine at May Madness few years ago, but you can do the same thing with some materials from Home Depot. There are threads w/ specific instructions.



Have a happy T-Day.



Ron

 

[AfterBurner]

I towed my dozer with mine yesterday. Total weight around 34,000. The outside temp was around 81*. The transmission stayed below 180 even with a lot of back road driving. My 07 48re would have scorched under the same conditions with out babing it. I was suprised how hot the engine ran though. The fan doesn't kick in until 220, cools off pretty quick once it does though.

I was also surprised how hot it got before the fan kicked on. Maybe the engine likes to run hotter when under a load and that's why they set it up that way? I know the ISX runs pretty hot.

 

[HBarlow]

My '08 never gets above 205* either but the heaviest load I've pulled with it is a gross of about 26,000 lbs. I've pulled my fifthwheel out of LA to Las Vegas on I-15 in summer temps.

 

[WMoroni]

One of my friends is the diesel mechanic at the local dodge dealer here. He went to school recently for the updates to the new trucks. He said the temp was raised for emmisions purposes. He didn't recall exactly how much but the 2010s forward do run hotter.

 

[HBarlow]

One more reason to hate the emissions equipment and the empty suit bureaucrats who imposed their stupid regulations on us!

 

[AHolbert]

Fifth wheel hitch

Hello Wireddawg, I've enjoyed reading about your 4500 and I'm considering buying a similar truck to pull my fifth wheel with. I'm wrestling with a very slow internet connection or I wouldn't bother you in asking about your hitch setup. I'd run a search but I'm going crazy with this ISP connection right now (I'm in Chile but get home tomorrow) I remember reading some exchanges with Harvey B regarding fifth wheel hitch heights on your flatbeds. How did you resolve this and are you happy with the hitch you selected ? Seems like my fiver has the standard 48" or so pin height, I'm looking at the CM truck bed with the valley in it and don't want to go the route of modifying an existing hitch to get the correct hitch height. If my memory serves me correctly, you went with an off the shelf hitch and HBarlow had his Reese cutdown to acheive the correct pin height. I appreciate any response. Also, if you're reading this HBarlow, I'd appreciate any input you'd like to share..... Thanks guys !

 

[Wiredawg]

AHolbert,



I have a B&W Turnover Ball 5th wheel hitch that sets flat on my flatbed (I don't have the trough). My 5er trailer has axles flipped to give more height to clear bed on my former hauler ('02 3500). Current height works good. The B&W hitch is welded inside a hitchbox centered over the rear axle. When not used, hitchbox has a door that closes to give full flat floor.



Are you looking at 4X4 or 4X2? Not sure if there are differences in the two heights. Also, I like the 11'4" bed over the 9'4" one. I can't park everwhere, but the extra bed gives me more room to haul ice chests, extra gear. The ride is superb, empty and towing.



I'm out of town right now, but will be back home Sunday evening. PM me and I'll give you my phone number if you would like to talk.



Ron

 

[HBarlow]

AHolbert,

Your memory of our conversations here a couple of years ago is correct.

The CM bed with the gooseneck trough option would be handy if you frequently tow a gooseneck trailer. I didn't order one with mine because I didn't own or plan to buy one at the time I bought the bed.

The Reese 30k hitch (you can see it on the Reese website) is designed for use on a flatbed truck rather than a pickup so it is several inches shorter in height and also adjustable so it should provide the correct height for you without cutting which I did with my old standard height Reese 20k.

The Reese 30k hitch is mounted with common side to side fifth wheel mounting rails attached to the flatbed deck. The rails would straddle the gooseneck trough and look a little odd but would function normally even though the center one foot span on both rails would be unsupported.

If I preferred the 30k hitch, which I do over other brands, I would simply place the mounting rails on the flatbed where they should be installed to mate correctly with the hitch, scribe or chalk mark the flatbed with the rails in place to provide a guide for reinstallation, then remove the rails and cut away the portion of each rail that spans the gooseneck trough. The rails could each be attached to the flatbed with four bolts on each end through the bed platform.

The Reese hitches are plenty strong enough to handle the stress without the center section supported. Several years ago when I was transporting I was required to have and carry a gooseneck plate which mounted on my existing Reese hitch rails. I wanted to leave the gooseneck plate in place all of the time and reinstall the Reese 20k over it but the thickness of the gooseneck plate raised the fifth wheel hitch off of the mounting rails enough that the attachment pins wouldn't fit through the tabs under the rails. I solved the problem by having a local welder cut away the bottom 1/4" of the center of each side, front and back, of the Reese 20k. This left the hitch and the trailer kingpin weight supported only over the outer 4" or 6" on each end. Since that modification was done I have probably towed fifty fifth wheels a hundred thousand miles, some of them very heavy units, the Reese is still as strong as it ever was.

All Dodge cab and chassis trucks (3500 - 5500) use the front end assembly and suspension from a 4x4 minus the differential and front driveshaft so should be the same height regardless whether you select 4x2 or 4x4.

 

[Harlacher]

What C&C stand for?

 

[Wiredawg]

It stands for Cab and Chassis. Truck sold as incomplete assembly w/ out a bed. Many dealers are affiliated w/ aftermarket bodies companies and sometimes there are dealer upfitter incentives offered by Dodge. Mine was almost $1,000 discount.



Wiredawg

 

[RVTRKN]

AHolbert,



I have a B&W Turnover Ball 5th wheel hitch that sets flat on my flatbed (I don't have the trough). My 5er trailer has axles flipped to give more height to clear bed on my former hauler ('02 3500). Current height works good. The B&W hitch is welded inside a hitchbox centered over the rear axle. When not used, hitchbox has a door that closes to give full flat floor.



Are you looking at 4X4 or 4X2? Not sure if there are differences in the two heights. Also, I like the 11'4" bed over the 9'4" one. I can't park everwhere, but the extra bed gives me more room to haul ice chests, extra gear. The ride is superb, empty and towing.



I'm out of town right now, but will be back home Sunday evening. PM me and I'll give you my phone number if you would like to talk.



Ron

The 2WD C&C uses the same front axle as the 4WD does. Therefore it has the same hight as the 2WD, its just that the pumpkin is empty and has no U-joints or axles.

What C&C stand for?

"Chassi and Cab" and the big difference being, it is considered an incomplete vehicle and states such on the door sticker where the GVWR's are. That "Incomplete vehicle" statement has a profound effect on the registration in some States if not all. I had to have the bed installed and weigh the complete vehicle, so California could tax the appropriate fee for the weight it was. When I weighed it, I made sure it was empty with fuel and anything I could remove to keep the weight under 10K because in California the rate would double even that being said, I'm restricted to only the registered weight GCVW or GVW that I declared. They don't care what weight you declare as long as you don't go over that weight. It keeps me in a grey area of the law, being that I only use it for personal use and use it like a regular 3500, so when I tow my 5ver or boat I'm legally over weight, but because it looks like a regular 3500 I don't get stopped when I pass the scales. If I were to tow commercial with the same declared weight I would be in trouble.



An example of this, is when you purchase a regular 3500, the dealer registers it for you and at the standard weight, so when you tow with it no one cares unless your commercial then all bets are off, but if you have the C&C in California it is considered a Commercial Vehicle period. It's something I didn't consider when I bought it, and if I had known it prior I would have bought a regular 3500 and then removed the bed and installed my B&W Elite series bed. The biggest bummer is, I could of purchased an early 07 3500 with the 5. 9.

 

[tom sweeney]

Merry Christmas

Good Job Ronnie..... have fun,you and VIV stay safe... ... tom

 

[Wiredawg]

Fuel MPG update

Been hand calcing MPG :



- Towing: 28. 3K lbs 70MPH 20% of the $1K mis 5 to 7% grade... 8 . 8mpg

- Running solomostly level 74 mph @ 13. 8 mpg



Finally went over 10K mis... 11,560 miles. Nice tone... tires a little whiney... but all cool! I little tough averaging 112 gallons through different driving conditions.



More to come!



Wiiredawg

 

[AfterBurner]

That's pretty much what I see with mine at 2500 on the odometer. When I bought the truck I thought we'd see 10 while pullin... maybe once the engine breaks in it'll get there.

 

[CUMMINZ]

WD, what rpms are you turning at 70mph?

 

[Wiredawg]

Approx 2,050 or 2,100 RPM.