Hi Guys, Some of you are not going to like this but, went on a trip this weekend towing my 26ft tow hauler that I have towed many times with my 06 and now this 09. Wish I had the 06 back. This new truck is a piece. My 06 would tow circles around this new truck. First the mileage is horrible. Both trucks set up the same minus new one has 4x4 (yes I know 4x4 uses more gas weight etc.) but the difference is horrible. I could get 11-13 with old and less horse power. This new with more power you’d think less effort. I’m lucky if I get and stay at 8. And god forbid there is a head wind like yesterday then you have to worry about water temps. At one point 215. Come on!!! I am really disappointed in this truck period. I even put the stock 17’s back on. Then programmed it using 89 tune then 91 tune. I have tried many different combos and nothing. Going and coming this thing is always at 2,800-3,000 RPM’s even with flat roads and no wind (and yes tow/haul mode). Making trips to the sand dunes regrettable now.

 

If you look at the tow ratings for the 2009 it should be obvious that was not their cheif concern when they built the truck.

One thing to remember though is that peak horsepower has absolutely nothing to do with real world towing. Having 390 HP at 5600 RPM isn't particularly impressive unless you are running at 5600 RPM.

Out of curiosity, how did it tow before you started "tuning"?

 

Actually worse before I changed anything it was 7-7.5. Changes made: K&N CAI and programmer. And barely gained 1 MPG in towing. The only issue I have with this truck is it's towing performance.

 

Not sure what your issue is but my 09 Hemi outows my previous 05 Hemi by a long shot. Both were Quad cabs, 4x4, 20" rims, and 3.92 gears. The 09 does everything better including fuel mileage.

 

This came up in a thread not too long ago and I posted that I had an opportunity to pull a "shared" 7700# tractor w/dual axle trailer I take out to cut my farm property on occasion with my '04 Ram, a Ford F150 and a 4th Gen Hemi and the 4th Gen handled the worst by far, IMO. The Ford (with a well over 100 HP DISADVANTAGE) handled the best of the three. Even my hunting buddy with the 4th Gen agrees.

Some guys in this section took umbrage to that and stated how much better their 4th Gen pulled than their "old" 3rd Gens. In my opinion, that's not possible, there was THAT MUCH of a difference.

Not a dig on the 4th Gens, it has MANY strengths over the 3rd Gens, but daily driver ride quality won out over all else in the design phase while pullin' & haulin' took a back seat. Not unlike when they ditched a solid front axle in the 2nd Gen 1500 4x4s for much weaker IFS design in the 3rd Gens...

 

Gee could be nothing to do with the programmer and the fact that you should have bought a 2500.....you lose for not doing your research, 17 for sure will be better. I haven't pulled a trailer but have read several good stories so far, guys going thru mountains etc.
Take it to the dealer maybe something wrong, you never know. See what they say about the tuner.

 

What were the gear ratios in both trucks? 3rd Gen geared lower?

 

I agree with Hammer, I've said it before - my 2002 F150 towed much heavy much better than my Ram. But since I didn't need to tow over 5K any more the Ram was a better choice for other reasons. If I had to tow 7-9K on a regular basis again, I'd buy a different truck.

 

My 09 tows hands down better than my 04. I am not just referring to the power difference, it is hands down more stable and mileage is better as well.

 

My Titan towed much better than my Ram. The first time I towed with the Ram, I was very disappointed and regretted selling my Titan.