Hey guys,
I have a 2001 ram 2500 with a 5.9 v8 and I've been driving it cross country with a truck camper. I took it to a CAT scale and fully loaded its ~9500 lbs., so about 3500 in the bed (I added a set of springs to help with the weight.) The truck has about a 14000 lbs gcvwr, but it really struggles up steep inclines. I expected having to work the engine pretty hard in the mountains, but sometimes I'm flooring it and its barely maintaining 50 mph. I have 4.10 gears as well -- feel like a camper should be a breeze for this truck. Am I missing power or is this normal?

 

It's all subjective - what you think is low power, others may find adequate. That's a lot of weight in a bed and a small V8 screaming. The 5.9 only made 245hp at the crank and 330 lb/ft of torque. That's a small SUV V6 today. First thing is make sure everything's tuned up: plugs, wires, throttle body cleaned, good air cleaner, etc. Then check the exhaust as the cat may be plugging up. The other thing that is totally out of your control is the elevation. It absolutely kills what little power we have. Also check your tires. They should not be over 285/75-R16 in size or you're killing power. PSI is crucial as well. Should be at or near 80 with that load. And finally, you have an 2001 which meant it came stock with the death flash. Mine was added under "warranty" but it robs lots of power. Torque seems the same, it's just much slower off the line. MPG also is the same. It was a different tune they added to combat ping that is common. Do all this then check back in.

 

You might want to check the plenum also. I hope you turn off the overdrive when towing, If not it's a sure fire way to fry the trans.

 

My '99 360/NV4500 towing a 7000lb '02 Diesel/5spd 4x4, on a 2000lb trailer. Gross we figure roughly 15k.




I live in Montana. I This specific haul took us over MacDonald Pass coming from Helena back to my place in the Bitterroot. Did the 270k mile 360/5spd beater truck git'er done? Absolutely. Were we spinning 4000rpm in 2nd gear going 20mph up the pass? Yep. It's not a powerhouse. My '04 Diesel/6spd would have been smoking the rear tires off at 50mph while towing this load. But I have more money wrapped up in just the injectors in that truck than my ENTIRE '99.

 

HAHA, been there done that too!!

 

I would have been more pissed about the guy who was tailgating you, he's right up your ***!

 

Depending on elevation you're losing 15-40% of your power on a naturally aspirated engine. With that weight you were doing pretty good. Out of curiosity what size are your tires? Mountains are where forced induction shines!

 

 

Oh that's not even really a cuss word lol

 

Sounds about right. My campers is about 4k fully loaded for camping, then put the trailer on the back full of crap things get heavy and it is the opposite of good aerodynamics.. I definitely have it in third for the steepest inclines. Adding more power helped a lot. Someday ill have some 4.88's installed.