Hi all,
I am new to this forum and need some assistance. My husband and I bought a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Crew cab in March with the following specs:

5.7 liter V8 Hemi MDS WT engine
545RFE transmission
3.55 axle
towing package (of course)
Class IV receiver hitch

We started camping in May pulling 3,700lbs and had a tranny issue, dealer told us they could find nothing as we had no error lights or codes, and to let them know if it happened again.

It's happened twice since with a 6,500lb camper. They replaced the valve body and it happened for them again and now they are saying 6,500 is too much. (yes I know this doesn't explain the smaller one)

can anyone tell me how to validate what our actual towing capacity is? or if you can point me somewhere we can validate it, I would appreciate it.

Thanks
Jeff & Michelle Bowman

 

www.dodge.com has a section for towing capacity under this link:

http://www.dodge.com/en/towing_payload/2010/

FF

 

Thanks, but how do I figure out where I fall between Standard and Max?

 

I will move this thread to the fourth generation Ram section as someone there can help,
FF

 

Here is a better link to determine EXACTLY what your towing capacity is based on Model, Tire size, Engine size, Axle ratio etc.

http://www.dodge.com/bodybuilder/201...ammlup1500.pdf

Also, read the "NOTES" at the bottom of the table.

 

What is it exactly that your transmission is doing? Mine hiccups after driving an extended period when you go to downshift. I can't recreate it and don't know when it will happen, but only does it after extended highway driving. It doesn't instill any confidence when I'm pulling my boat across 200 miles of desert either.

 

I have the exact same layout on my truck and I thought I had read that it is able to tow around 7300 pounds. If the dealer is saying that 6500 is too much weight then I would find a different dealership to talk to.

EDIT: with yours being a 2010 then you can tow 8400 pounds.

 

So the transmission goes to limp mode when it hits 217 degrees and it's warming up very fast, even the dealer said so.

thanks for the dodge body link, according to that we should be good up to 8,000. I also was able to confirm with the guy that sold us the car we should be good 7,500 and even up to 8,000/

given it's under warranty and this dealer has had it 3 time now to fix, I dont really want to go elsewhere. hoping to escalate monday to the management and get it fixed.

Thanks for all of the help, stay tuned
Michelle

 

Sounds like a real problem and the tranny is going to need to be replaced. Hopefully they have been bright enough to be flushing the tranny cooler so that they would notice any restriction and clear any junk out that may be accumulating.

Have you been using tow haul mode with the 6500lb load?

 

so far they replaced the valve body and dealer is claiming that fixed the issue hauling the lighter 3,700lb trailer which is when we first had the issue. he did not haul anything around that weight to prove this. he did haul a 6,000lb trailer and had the issue of going into limp mode after replacing the valve body

from there he's stopped trying to find a fix and stating it's too much weight according to Chrysler Engineering.

yes we always use tow haul mode =/ it's been very frustrating and we agree it's likely a new transmission or full replacement needed.