First Tow - 2014 Ram 2500 CC 4x4 Laramie w/Cummins

[BAB]

Took a 350 mile RT up to Louisa VA over the weekend with SilverLeaf and the new Ram 2500. Wow! New truck is an amazing tow vehicle. While I didn't do big mountains, 840 pounds of torque show up anytime you hit the pedal. Also, the exhaust brake is FANTASTIC. Automatic operation. You let up on the accelerator and it kicks in. Decelerating down a hill, no brake pedal required. MPG was right at 13. My average speed was right under 60 MPH. Not a single issue with either TV or trailer. Sean had sent the longer drop for the PP, and very easy to level out and hitch. I pronounce this "improvement" to the towing experience well worth it. See 'ya on the road!

[Jackcat2]

Ditto from us on loving the Cummins Ram. You may see your mileage improve after a few thousand miles. Our 2012 3500 mega cab 4x4 Laramie averaged 12-13 at first towing our 30' Classic. Got 11,000 miles on it now and we saw a high of 16.2 on the flats in NV, and average 15.2 from WA to AZ. I try to keep the speed at 58 to help with the fuel costs. Agreed, the exhaust brake is fantastic.

[dbj216]

Congratulations on your new tow vehicle. Some folks would suggest you could pull your Airstream with a much smaller vehicle. Remember the 70s when we pulled Airstreams with full size V8 sedans? I'm glad those days are over.

You have a tow vehicle that will provide a significant margin of safety for you and yours. The interior will be so enjoyable in your travels. And the truck should last hundreds of thousands of miles.

I purchased my first heavy duty pick up just this year. And like you, we find it so much better than the old vehicle. Like you, we averaged 13 on our first trip, compared to 10 in the old gas truck. We happen to select the Ford Super Duty, but the big three are very similar in capabilities.

Happy and safe travels,

David

[SteveSueMac]

One fine looking truck! Safe travels!

[Alumaholic]

Originally Posted by dbj216

You have a tow vehicle that will provide a significant margin of safety for you and yours. The interior will be so enjoyable in your travels. And the truck should last hundreds of thousands of miles.

David

Congratulations! You will find you arrive at your destinations more relaxed and less fatigued than when driving a marginally adequate tow vehicle.

[SteveH]

Yes they are very nice trucks, and I like our '12 model, all except the built-in brake operator.

Is yours equipped with the brake operator, and if so, how's it working for you?

[Road Ruler]

Originally Posted by dbj216

Congratulations on your new tow vehicle. Some folks would suggest you could pull your Airstream with a much smaller vehicle. Remember the 70s when we pulled Airstreams with full size V8 sedans? I'm glad those days are over.

I'm glad they are over too. Those big ol 8's were gas guzzlers. Our modern V6 is fuel efficient and has power to spare.

PS....BAB, congrat's on your new tow vehicle.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by Road Ruler

I'm glad they are over too. Those big ol 8's were gas guzzlers. Our modern V6 is fuel efficient and has power to spare.

PS....BAB, congrat's on your new tow vehicle.

Those are good numbers considering the size of engine. Glad you're enjoying it.

Our V6 returns about 18mpg on a steady highway tow, but that does reduce down to 13mpg in heavy traffic and if there's any degree of stop and go.

Looks to me that diesel is the way to go.

[GCinSC2]

Barry,

6 in a row makes 'em go.

Enjoy the Cummins grin.

Gary

[SeeMore]

I love our 2011 2500HD SLT 4x4. It now has 23,000 of almost exclusive trailer towing miles; ~21K. Our trailer is a bit heavier due to its being a 28' slide-out model and our mileage numbers are a tad better; we avg. 13.5 and flat, coastal towing exceeds 14.6 mpg by manual calculation. The built-in calculator is an approximation at best. I hover around 64 mph for most interstates.

A high elevation run through the Rockies from Missoula, Montana through Yellowstone to Shiprock, New Mexico via Ouray and Silverton on the Million Dollar highway at over 12,000 feet, dropped that average to just over 12 mpg. The Jake brake made inclines as easy going down as the drive up :-)

The factory trailer brake controller has not been an issue. I added the OEM backup camera in the tailgate for hitching a year ago - worth the effort!

[daveswenson]

BAB,
I think you mentioned installing some suspension upgrades. What were they?

[OregonVista]

Some say the truck is more than you need, but we pull our 25 Flying Cloud with a 2012 Ram diesel and would not have it any other way. We pulled 9800 miles this summer across to the East Coast and back and it never missed a beat going up the Rockies or down. Our mileage averaged 13 mpg for the whole trip and the truck is now at 18,000 miles, so it is still breaking in.

[BAB]

A couple of points. The 2014 Ram 2500 is the first year they've installed coil springs on the rear. Sometime late this year, they will also offer an air suspension option to go with the coils. My observation after towing is that while this might be "nice" it didn't seem at all necessary. I haven't yet hit the CAT scale, but will on my next outing. Very easy to resest the ProPride for the increased vehicle height, and I dialed in slightly less WD. Will do the scales when I go out with a "full load" -- which means the two Honda 2000's and the other gear. Other finding. The exhaust brake works very well -- you have two settings and I found that the "automatic" was fine. Other note: I have both a Dill TPMS and a Voyager WiFi camera. These required access to 12V in order to wire them up. The RAM has a VERY easy access to get power. The center console can easily be removed to get into the wiring, a few screws and some spring clips. What would have taken hours on my Infiniti took about 30 minutes start to finish. Someone in Detroit either on purpose or accidentally made this an easy task! If you're interested in the DEF usage (diesel exhaust fluid), I topped my tank with around a gallon of this stuff....for just under 1000 miles on the ODO. I suspect usage will change with engine load, but not too bad.

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by BAB

A couple of points. The 2014 Ram 2500 is the first year they've installed coil springs on the rear. Sometime late this year, they will also offer an air suspension option to go with the coils. My observation after towing is that while this might be "nice" it didn't seem at all necessary. I haven't yet hit the CAT scale, but will on my next outing. Very easy to resest the ProPride for the increased vehicle height, and I dialed in slightly less WD. Will do the scales when I go out with a "full load" -- which means the two Honda 2000's and the other gear. Other finding. The exhaust brake works very well -- you have two settings and I found that the "automatic" was fine. Other note: I have both a Dill TPMS and a Voyager WiFi camera. These required access to 12V in order to wire them up. The RAM has a VERY easy access to get power. The center console can easily be removed to get into the wiring, a few screws and some spring clips. What would have taken hours on my Infiniti took about 30 minutes start to finish. Someone in Detroit either on purpose or accidentally made this an easy task! If you're interested in the DEF usage (diesel exhaust fluid), I topped my tank with around a gallon of this stuff....for just under 1000 miles on the ODO. I suspect usage will change with engine load, but not too bad.

Are you sure about this? I just checked the web site, and the specs show leaf springs in the rear of the 2500 Ram.

[mdragon9]

Originally Posted by SteveH

Are you sure about this? I just checked the web site, and the specs show leaf springs in the rear of the 2500 Ram.

The 5-link coil rear suspension is new for 2014.

You have to dig a bit to get to the actual 2014 documentation on the Ram website. There's also a few inconsistencies on the web site.

When you are on the US Ram web site after you click on the 2500 and get the 2013 product page you'll see a 2014 menu item. CLick on that and you start getting the 2014 information. Under capabilities you'll find the description of the new susension.

2014 Ram 2500 - Capability & Towing Capacity

[jmcarter]

I'll save BAB the time of crawling under his new truck to get a pic....been waiting for his report. Thanks

[BAB]

Let's put the "coil springs on the rear of a RAM 2500" to rest with the attached photo.

[BAB]

So, JM Carter and I both got under our trucks to reveal COIL SPRINGS do exist!

[SteveH]

OK, I'm convinced. The 1500 has had coil springs in the rear for a few years now, I think since they came out with the latest body style.

I hope they work better with the 2500 because I have heard some people complain about stability when towing with the trucks that have coils in the rear, and they weren't big trailers either.

I know it's not the coils, because there's no doubt they can handle the weight if designed for it (after all, they use them under all railroad cars), but if the control link bushings get any slop at all from wear, instability and sway will be the result.

Happy now that I have a '12.

[Lara Me]

There was chatter on the Cummins forum about complaints for the 1500 springs. Evidentally, the 2500 uses different progressive coils, which add more stability than those on the 1500.

Or so say the Internets.