I have had my 2010 ram for 2 years. When we got the truck we did not tow and my kids were smaller.. Now, we tow and we pack 5 adults in the truck for camping..

I have the 3.55 gears with the 5.7 QC BH package. I can tow my 4000K ultara lite camper with no issue but gas SUCKS talking like 6-7 i believe its the shape not weight, its fairly flat in front. But I want a larger camper like a 30ft from my 26. If I upgraded to the crew cab with the 3.92 will it make towing better with the same camper and larger? I tend to shift a lot around 65-70 on hills or with wind. Would the 3.92 keep it from shifting so much? I am not sure I want to step up to a 2500 yet but we really need the cab space and need a larger camper for our fam. I see a lot of 1500's pulling larger campers but we are towing 700 miles 1 way, most i talk to at the grounds are fairly close.. Andy they claim 14mpg (I call BS) Anways, would 392 make THAT much of a diff on gas(while towing) and shifting? Or should I just upgrade to the 2500?
To be clear, the reason I only tow 4000lb camper is to keep under the total vehicle weight, 3 adults, kids, food, bikes gear etc, I estimate we are around 12000lbs with truck. so I am close to the max on the truck of 14000. I do use a weight reducing/sway hitch.

 

MY TT is close to 5000LBs fully loaded. I have the 3.92's and it tows like a dream. My 04 had the 3.55's and it seemed like it was always "between" gears. Had to over rev it or lug it...........same trailer. Granted I have a lot more power with my 4RTH gen but that does not account for all the difference. 3.92's absolutely make a very noticeable difference in towing. Even better, use the Tow Mode on the SuperChips tuner and your RPMs are like in diesel territory, very nice. I would not own a Ram with anything less than 3.92's and I would have checked the 4.10 option when ordering but they were not available. Most of my motivation for ordering my Ram was getting the good gears, finally.
BTW, I test drove a new 2012 diesel a few weeks back. I want to move up to a fifth wheeler and a diesel is the only way to go for towing in my opinion - BUT- OMG what a SLUG! I floored it and *nothing*, I swear our Kia could outrun that thing. I knew it would drive different but I wasn't prepared for something that could hardly get out of its own way, I was very disappointed. I am holding out hopes the 6.4 makes its way into a 2500.

 

The 2500 will not help your case IMO. Unless you are going to a diesel, which IMO you don't need because you are not making long trips. I have personally been pricing out a 2500 and a cummins, but only because I will probably be using it for work now. It will not just be pulling my holiday trailer and hauling cows like I do. But now hauling enclosed trailers and much more material. HOWEVER I look at the price difference, and man right now to get into a deisel, I can buy a lot of gas for the price difference! As I said I pull a 30 ft holiday trailer now with my 11 1500 sport QC. The trailer is just under 8000 lbs MAX, so not saying I am pulling that all the time. But if I leave the tanks full it gets pretty close. I don't have an issue, it sags a lot, but other then that it tows really well. I would conciser putting in helper bags if you plan to keep this truck for an extended period of time. I tow it at around 105kms/hr I get around 11-12 MPG, or I can drive around 550kms on a 121 liter tank of fuel. However I do drive on fairly flat ground and don't do any passing. It seems to be where the ram likes it. I am not one of those guys who tries to keep up with traffic...

So it could be how you are towing it too, what speeds etc you are doing. The gears will make a difference by a few MPG. When I am pulling with my 3.92 my RPMS are just under 2000...Which is really not too much different from normal driving. IT might be 300RPM more. So yes I would suspect your gears play a big part in it.

HEMI_ROM
I too have heard they are "sluggish" But in the present day they have soo much environmental crap on there it bogs it right down. And I am now curious to see whats going to happen in 2013 once they start using urea. Anyways from what I have heard a tuner opens it right up. It modifies all the fuel patterns etc: and makes a better motor then any of the others. Even when they are tuned. From what I have been reading, by just adding a tuner to the cummins, you gain 150HP right at the the touch a button...

Chances of the 6.4 making it into the trucks in the near future I think are pretty slim. Unfortunately the economy is pushing it that way. Since Ford released their ecoboost, the market has turned towards gas mileage. And IMO they just throw HP numbers and economy numbers at people and it makes them by that truck. Unfortunately I know people who switched to the ecoboost, and they are not happy. They are happy when they are not doing to the work that the truck was designed for, IE just driving around town and putting weight in the back. As soon as they put something on the hitch, they would much rather have had a HEMI. They advertise their 30 MPG out of the ecoboost, these guys have never even gotten close to that. PULLING? Man that motor really sucks fuel! Unfortunately I think the future is auto makers are suiting those who just want a truck for having a truck. They don't use it what it was designed for all the time. So now they want fuel economy out of it. I'm sad to see that RAM is putting the pentestar in the trucks, but again they have to follow suit to sell trucks. I would love to see the 6.4 too, but I honestly don't think its going to happen.

Having said that, there will be those of us who use the truck for the truck. We tow, we haul, we don't worry about mileage! At least I know I don't...much. I worry if I am doing bad as compared to what I should be getting. But i'm not looking for mileage with that of a SUV or car. Yes I would be concerned like the OP is, because that is pretty low. But again it probably has to do a lot with the gears, and possibly how you drive...

*END RANT* haha...

 

Thank you guys both for your detailed replies!

I generally drive freeway 65-70mph. I dont really see a fuel change unless I am around 55mph and I hover around 10, but when your going 700 miles I am not going 55 as it would take forever to get there, now with the kids it takes 2 days when towing and fuel ups. I dont really tow enough to get deisel. I assume my next truck I will just get the 3.92 with 17's not the 20's. This should keep it from the rev/lug feeling i seem to get.

 

Prepare yourself for about 11 mpg empty with that new diesel too! I have a 2012 RAM 5.7 with 3.56 gears. Thank god it has the mods shifting. Without it turned on truck feels like it doesn't know what gear it wants. New the mds didn't work, I absolutely hated the truck. Told dealer I I'd not want the high road gears in the first place. After dealer fixed the mds I can lock it in 5th gear, it will not shift into 6th and tows like a dream! But 14 mpg towing anything significant? BS! Unless they're one of these that get out on the interstate and crawl along 55-60 mph threatening to cause a wreck then MAYBE.

 

What EXACTLY does the tow/haul do? I know it disables mds and 6th gear. But what else ?

 

Changes the shift points both up and down. You get higher RPM up shifts and more engine braking.

 

Unless you are pulling the weight that necessitates having a 3/4 ton truck, you'll get better gas mileage while towing the same weight with a 1500 provided we are talking Hemi engine in both (and assuming it's well within the capacity of the half ton). Reason being the weight of the 1500 is considerably less than a 2500/3500.

So if this is an occasional thing and you don't need that frame strength of the 2500 then I'd go 1500 with 3.92 gearing.

Personally, if I'm going to go to a 2500 series truck, then I'm thinking CTD (and I agree - the tree huggers have KILLED modern diesel engines)! That's not to diss any 2500 Hemi owners, just my personal philosophy on it. I've owned diesel 3/4 ton and gasser 1/2 tons, but never a gasser 3/4 ton myself. If it was up to me, 3/4 ton gassers would either be huge displacement V8s or V10s - but for obvious reasons that's not going to happen these days.

Campers just suck ***** when it comes to towing (unless it's a pop-up) because they basically act like a parachute behind the truck. They REALLY effect handling (especially in wind) and MPGs very negatively...

 

If you keep the truck and want to improve the towing without changing the gears, consider getting yourself a spare set of smaller tires just for towing. Switching from 33" tires to 31" tires would help you some. Maybe find a Ram guy that has a set of stock 17"s that looking to go bigger and you may get a deal. When done towing get the 20"s back on.

 

Wow, you should come drive my 2011 6.7L with 4.10s. I can pull out on the highway and put my foot on the floor and this thing moves. Mileage is nothing to brag about. While it won't put me back in my seat like my 08 hemi with 3.92s did, it is impressive.

My TT is 7800 pounds and coming back from the lake last weekend I looked down and was cruising down the road at 85. Mental note--use cruise if not concentrating on speed...