Hey out there, I'm a newbie here!! Wondering if there are any 2012 Ram 2500 Hemi owners out there? How do you like the 6 speed transmission? Any comparison to older Dodge Ram Hemi's performance would be great. I'm chuggin' along on my 11 year with a Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L Cummins extended cab that is getting a little crowded. Been lookin' at the new Rams with the Hemi; sure are nice. Any first hand info would be great.

 

Having owned many 5.9 cummins and one 6.7 I can say the 5.9 are great motors, and good trucks.

I now have a 5.7 2500 2009, so it is not a 2012 but it shares the same vvt motor and still has the 5 speed auto.

My 6.7 cummins was a nightmare, and had a ton of issues. Where as my 2009 hemi has had zero issues so far. One thing you will miss about your 5.9 is the mpg I could get 18 - 20 mpg easy on my 5.9. My hemi gets about 13 - 14 mpg in the winter right now and about 15 - 16 mpg in the summer. Pulling about 8k it gets about 10 - 12 mpg. If you are going to pull over 10K lbs I would get another diesel maybe a newer 5.9. I could not recommend any of the newer diesel to anyone. With the price of diesel fuel now, and they all get less mpg then they use to thanks to the EPA. I cannot see buying any newer diesel unless you could not find a 2003 - 2007 5.9 cummins.

I think if you are not pulling over 10K lbs you would love a 2012 hemi with the 6 speed. I wish I had that 6 speed in my 2009.

 

X2...If you don't need a diesel the hemi is a perfect motor. It will allow you to pull just fine, but the fuel mileage pulling is not going to be anywhere near the diesel. So if your pulling lots I personally would still stick with the cummins, and make sure that you pick up a tuner to get rid of all the BS environment crap. The difference in a stock 6.7 and a tuned 6.7 from what I hear is unbelievable. I have heard some people are claiming 150 HP right off the start and because it gets rid of the environment crap it increases the reliability a bit. But if your not pulling all the time stay the hemi. If your not going to pull anything over 9000 pounds, I would also look at the 1500. Best riding/handling truck out there, and still perfectly capable of hauling 8000 pounds easy.

As far as things go in the 2012. Is basically the same truck as the 2011, just has incorporated a new 6 speed tranny. I cant tell you the reliability on those, but the rest of the truck is going to be just fine. Again not much has changed, if anything all the little bits that were failing on earlier models are gone.

 

The new tranny is a 66RFE which is a 545RFE housing with a 68RFE guts in it. The 68RFE is what they use on the 6.7 cummins, so it should last a long long time with a hemi in front of it. The 68RFE tranny has been really good with a stock 6.7, but with a chip on a 6.7 they fade much faster. I think a 2012 2500 with a hemi is the best way to go because you do get that 66RFE tranny, and much beefer chassis to go with it. If you want a softer ride then get a 1500. Both are really good trucks, also the mpg is suggested to be about 1 mpg better with the 66rfe vs the 545RFE in the 2011 2500's.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyo2track

Hey out there, I'm a newbie here!! Wondering if there are any 2012 Ram 2500 Hemi owners out there? How do you like the 6 speed transmission? Any comparison to older Dodge Ram Hemi's performance would be great. I'm chuggin' along on my 11 year with a Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L Cummins extended cab that is getting a little crowded. Been lookin' at the new Rams with the Hemi; sure are nice. Any first hand info would be great.

I just got my 2012, 2500, Laramie, Crew cab, Hemi last week. I got rid of a diesel to move into this pick up. The power is nothing like a diesel but is really unfair to compare the two. I am using this truck as a DD and to pull the 20' boat to the river several times a year. I am confident it will do that with ease.

As far as six speed.... Not completely sold on it yet. It seems to have a pretty big gap between 5th and 6th. Going down the highway its awesome to see the RPM's at 1800 in 6th gear but where I seem to notice a little lag is when i am driving say 55mph. I step on the gas ever so lightly to go up to 60mph and it seems to lug and labor to get there. If I step into the peddle a little harder then it down shifts and takes off like a rocket.
Now I have to tell you I only have 3XX miles on this truck so I am hoping this is a TCM learning thing that has not happened yet.??? and it will come around in a few hundred more miles.???

The overall impression so far of the 2012 is pretty good. It looks good, handles good, and comfort has really come a long way in the last couple years in the Rams.


Good luck with the purchase!

JT.

 

That sounds like what my 545RFE does 60 mpg about 1800 rpm in 5th. If you push it down more then 1/4 it goes to 3rd, and takes off. I bet the new 66rfe does the same thing but drops to 4th and skips 5th. The problem is the hemi is a high rev motor and makes most of its power up high, but makes good mpg down low. Us old diesel owners are just use to the massive torque of a cummins. It took me time to get use to it as well. If I have a big hill coming up I usually speed up about 5 mph to keep the truck in 5th in order to save some fuel. They need to put a turbo setup on it like the Ford Ecoboost to get rid of that missing low end power. That would be very cool!

 

Hey guys, I've been out of town for a couple days and just got a chance to check back in. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Yeah, my stomach turns over when thinking about mpg and torque when going from the 5.9 Cummins to the 5.7 L Hemi. It has been a fun truck to drive especially down the open road. Only significant problem so far was the fuel lift pump and, which in turn, significantly shortened the life of my fuel injection pump. But, once a new lift pump was installed in the tank along with a rebuilt FIP, I have not had any other major problems, just your general wear and tear maintenance. Living at 7200 feet elevation, mpg is not stellar on short trips, but any direction out of town except north I drop elevation and mpg goes up, especially on long trips. I still get 19 to 21 mpg on good long road trips.
Getting back to the post, I would certainly be tickled getting 16 mpg in a 2500 Hemi on road trips. Hell, its darn near a 7000# vehicle. Most of the loads I haul, would not exceed 10,000#. I have considered the 1/2 ton models, and their power to weight ratio is certainly more than a 3/4 ton, but I'm a 2500 kind of guy. There's really nothing like getting broadsided by a 30 or 40 mph Wyoming crosswind pulling a trailer, with or without a stablizer hitch, and having your backside tell you that that a little extra weight was worth it.

 

jasontrucks76, congrats on your new truck! thanks for the first hand review of your new truck. I've road in a couple of the 2010+ Ram models and the ride is so much better than my 2001 2500. I would say the hydraulic body mounts are doing their job. Reading your experience, as well as others, it seems RAM has those Hemi's set up to downshift into that 1:1 spot in the tranny whether it be in the 545 (3rd gear) or new 666RFE (4th gear) configuration. Can you manually lock out gears with the gas engines or is that only available on the diesel models? Don't anyone laugh, but I'm still shakin' the old 5 speed manual, and have had to do a little reading to get caught up on this automatic stuff. I'm guessing that the Hemi should be able to pull a loaded trailer down the highway a little easier, especially on an incline with the 6 speed tranny if that 6th gear could be locked out at times and left in 5th. Wouldn't be such a jump down going from a 0.82:1 down to 1:1 to maintain power. MPG may be affected a little. Wonder how the Tow/Haul is set up on these new trucks? I've done a little research on the 666RFE to get the ratios above. Truck should get a little better mpg when in 6th as the older 545 had a ratio of 0.67:1 in 5th and the 666RFE is a 0.63:1 in 6th.