FishOnOne
The Great State of Texas
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lawnspecialties wrote:IdaD wrote:Me Again wrote:At my age(will complete my 8th decade on the planet next June) I am slowly deciding that being the first to the top of the hill is not that important anymore.
I'm half your age and think speed up a hill towing among any of the diesels has been a draw for at least a decade now, if not more. The exhaust brake is an area Ford and GM can still meaningfully improve, imo.
I agree with you there about the exhaust brake. Ram has always been strong there. But that being said, I have a friend who runs a 2020 SRW F350 with a Jayco Pinnacle. He stated on his way down Black Mountain (NC) all he had to do was set the exhaust brake to auto and he never had to touch the brake one time. It held a constant speed all the way down.
I'm not 100% sure how that auto setting operates but whatever he did, I'd be happy with that result.
The "auto" modulates the exhaust break to maintain a specific speed and the "On" position is full exhaust break and try's to slow down the vehicle.
Having said that, the cummins does have the strongest exhaust break.
'12 Ford Super Duty FX4 ELD CC 6.7 PSD 400HP 800ft/lbs "270k Miles"
'16 Sprinter 319MKS "Wide Body"
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JaxDad
Greater Toronto Area
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Joined: 08/02/2011
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Me Again wrote:At my age(will complete my 8th decade on the planet next June) I am slowly deciding that being the first to the top of the hill is not that important anymore.
As a kid learning to drive trucks one of the very first thing the ‘old guys’ taught me was “Don’t chase the governor! It’s hard on the truck & the driver.”. Those words have served me very well over the decades since.
Ontario is pretty flat in this area, just some slow rolling hills and pretty gentle grades, but this is such a massive place that if you venture further out you certainly get into some serious grades.
Generally the only ‘mountains’ that I have to run through, although I can mostly go around them, are the Appalachians on the frequent north / south runs.
In my own rig I’ve found the ‘sweet spot’ is about 68 mph (110 km/h) and if I can hit the bottom of the hill at that speed or a smidge more it makes a huge difference in how much speed bleeds of in climbing the grade. I figure everyone else is in the same boat and we’ll all get the lost speed back on the downhill run after cresting.
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Cummins12V98
on the road
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lawnspecialties wrote:IdaD wrote:Me Again wrote:At my age(will complete my 8th decade on the planet next June) I am slowly deciding that being the first to the top of the hill is not that important anymore.
I'm half your age and think speed up a hill towing among any of the diesels has been a draw for at least a decade now, if not more. The exhaust brake is an area Ford and GM can still meaningfully improve, imo.
I agree with you there about the exhaust brake. Ram has always been strong there. But that being said, I have a friend who runs a 2020 SRW F350 with a Jayco Pinnacle. He stated on his way down Black Mountain (NC) all he had to do was set the exhaust brake to auto and he never had to touch the brake one time. It held a constant speed all the way down.
I'm not 100% sure how that auto setting operates but whatever he did, I'd be happy with that result.
It all depends on the grade and weight of the RV. My 24k RV plus 1.5k MC trailer and Bike require full EB and setting cruise at lower than desired speed. I can descend any West Coast grade without a single brake application but I need to be in the correct gear for the grade.
2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"
"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600
2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable
2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD
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Cummins12V98
on the road
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22psi "FULL", I don't think so. No wonder it did not maintain 68mph. It's all about programming, it could have delivered 30psi if the computer allowed and maintained speed. Trans had little to do with this as he was in high enough rpm's to pull well.
For a couple mph loss I will stick with total control of my load on descent.
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4x4ord
Alberta
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^^^You can call it programming or whatever but it comes down to power. I don't know what grade the hill was that he was pulling but to pull a 14,000 lb trailer up a steep hill at 110 kph takes a lot of power. He was comparing a 385 HP Ram to a 500 HP Ford.... and he says it didn't pull as well on account of the 6 speed transmission,![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/doh.gif "doh") .
2023 F350 SRW Platinum short box 4x4.
B&W Companion
2008 Citation Platinum XL 34.5
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FishOnOne
The Great State of Texas
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IdaD wrote:Me Again wrote:At my age(will complete my 8th decade on the planet next June) I am slowly deciding that being the first to the top of the hill is not that important anymore.
I'm half your age and think speed up a hill towing among any of the diesels has been a draw for at least a decade now, if not more. The exhaust brake is an area Ford and GM can still meaningfully improve, imo.
To me speed equates to towing performance or said another way towing comfortably. Like I always said... Towing Got Easier ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin")
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Cummins12V98
on the road
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4x4ord wrote:^^^You can call it programming or whatever but it comes down to power. I don't know what grade the hill was that he was pulling but to pull a 14,000 lb trailer up a steep hill at 110 kph takes a lot of power. He was comparing a 385 HP Ram to a 500 HP Ford.... and he says it didn't pull as well on account of the 6 speed transmission, .
OK, explain why he had only 22psi boost?
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Bionic Man
USA
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Joined: 04/03/2009
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The RAM 2500 is down considerably on power vs the other two 2500 diesels. Not sure why it would be a surprise that it would be outperformed in a towing test.
RAM does need an upgrade in transmissions so that they can put the HO engine in their 2500s.
2012 RAM 3500 Laramie Longhorn DRW CC 4x4 Max Tow, Cummins HO, 60 gallon RDS aux fuel tank, Reese 18k Elite hitch
2003 Dodge Ram 3500 QC SB 4x4 Cummins HO NV5600 with Smarty JR, Jacobs EB (sold)
2002 Gulf Stream Sea Hawk 29FRB with Honda EV6010
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FishOnOne
The Great State of Texas
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JaxDad wrote:Me Again wrote:At my age(will complete my 8th decade on the planet next June) I am slowly deciding that being the first to the top of the hill is not that important anymore.
As a kid learning to drive trucks one of the very first thing the ‘old guys’ taught me was “Don’t chase the governor! It’s hard on the truck & the driver.”. Those words have served me very well over the decades since.
Ontario is pretty flat in this area, just some slow rolling hills and pretty gentle grades, but this is such a massive place that if you venture further out you certainly get into some serious grades.
Generally the only ‘mountains’ that I have to run through, although I can mostly go around them, are the Appalachians on the frequent north / south runs.
In my own rig I’ve found the ‘sweet spot’ is about 68 mph (110 km/h) and if I can hit the bottom of the hill at that speed or a smidge more it makes a huge difference in how much speed bleeds of in climbing the grade. I figure everyone else is in the same boat and we’ll all get the lost speed back on the downhill run after cresting.
Or don't lug the engine
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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blt2ski wrote:FishOnOne wrote:Me Again wrote:At my age(will complete my 8th decade on the planet next June) I am slowly deciding that being the first to the top of the hill is not that important anymore.
Nothing wrong with that...
Considering how many times I have stalled out in first gear blowing up transmissions thru the last 40 years of towing.......I'm happy to get to the top of the hill at any speed! Especially the steeper grades here in puget sound that get upwards of 30% in grade.
Being to top heavy in power vs nothing at the bottom is not good either. Best if the truck you drive has the proper low gearing for low speed maneuvers, and HP for freeway hauling when and if you do a lot of that. Otherwise, you have the wrong tool!
Marty
But your experiences, at least everything you’ve communicated here, have been solely with much weaker all around powertrains. And virtually antiques by todays standards.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold
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