Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives 3/4 ton gasser, crew cab opinions?

if I was looking for a new gas 3/4 ton I'd be looking very hard at the Hemi/Dodge...early reports have the highway milege way better than the other brands , and the engine is designed for the torque to hang on at much lower rpms than the others

I wouldn't put much stock in that towing *test* mentioned no one in the real world drag races their pickup uphill with a loaded trailer

what I want to know is how well the engine lugs in high gear when climbing a hill at highway speed , or maybe if you drop one gear or 2 on a real big hill

having been around a number of 6 liter Chevys I can say they suck in that respect , even on a modest hill with a 4 horse trailer you will be in second gear with the motor screaming at five grand

supposedly the 6.2 Ford likes a lot of rpm s too

I don't want emissions crap on mine, but urea isn't a bad thing. Diesels are big in European sedans and for years they've had urea systems. Dodge/Cummins didn't have urea and had to pass emissions by going into the tuning map, that's why they were down on power compared to the others. Urea cleans the exhaust after it's left the engine and he tune can be left where it should be for power. It's a good thing. But nobody's forcing anyone to like it.

In the real world, starting on hill pulling a loaded trailer or even not towing, it's nice to have power. Even more so at altitude where you really feel it. No matter what it is, a gas engine will drop gears on mountain grades. Diesels are turbo and don't even feel either grade or altitude. No gas truck will have anywhere near the power of a diesel where it's useable, about the 1800-2200rpm range.

not quite true that no gasser ever had power at 2000 rpm the old 454 and 460 were quite good in that respect , and the later v-10 s by Dodge and Ford were OK too

but I'll grant you those motors didn't have the pull of these late model diesels , nor are they near as good at altitude

V10 Fords are the most gutless engines as far as cubic inches I've ever driven. mtmuley

Love my 460 but my wallet sure doesn't!!

Did you watch the test? It wasn't much of a drag race as the big Hemi wouldn't get out of first gear. So...how well does it lug? Not well. I agree a screaming high rpm engine is no fun to drive up a hill, but the Ram wouldn't even give you the option, it was stuck in first at 30 mph or a bit less up the entire hill. If the Chevy 6 liters suck, than the big Hemi sucks more.

It's a pisser as I want to like the 6.4 Hemi. I've never owned a 6 liter chevy and probably won't, so I'm not sure what's left on the gas front. Maybe they will figure out the right gear ratios for the Hemi in the future.

Might not be being force to like it, but being forced to have it on any new truck you buy. One more phoucing thing to go wrong, one more thing to make sure you have topped off or else you are SOL. I'm not a fan of this any more than I am of the [bleep] traction control they put on them.

If you run out of DEF,you're an idiot. At 1000 miles remaining you start getting a warning to dump more in. Its about as difficult as adding windshield washer fluid.

Traction control is defeated with a push of a button.

Those big block gas engines have some power, for gasoline, and for non-diesel guys they probable seem pretty good. They're also very thirsty.

My neighbor has 30-something foot trailer with popouts everywhere and tows it all over the place. He had a 460 Ford and thought it was a real powerhouse. It was also a terrible gas hog even not towing. I took him for a ride in my Dmax and did a launch on the medium tune, scared the crap out of him. The engine's been tweaked a little. That opened his eyes about diesels. So a few years ago he got an '06 Chev. diesel and still raves about it, can't believe the difference. Says it tows so much better there's no comparison, and gets way better mileage. The guy's a total convert now.

agree those old big blocks are very thirsty , and they won't pull with 400 HP diesels , but they were good workhorses for their day,


I don't think putting the rig in drive , switching on the tow haul button and floorboarding the go pedal is much of a test or even a very intelligent way to drive a loaded auto tranny pickup truck

here' s another view of the 6.4 Hemi in more of a real world situation


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji9I_hmZ88Y

here's also a thread discussing I think the same truck and driver

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/4...scussion/1095146-6-4l-hemi-tow-test.html

Exactly......when the truck is serviced it gets DEF, big deal. If the warning goes on before that, you add some. Doesn't take a genius to do that. Same with a traction control button.

If you both believe that traction control is "defeated" with the push of a button you're either retarded, or clueless. It's effect is lessened with the push of a button, but it doesn't go away.

DEF is expensive........
I think that is one reason pre DEF diesel P/U are holding their value so well.
Plus the older ones got better mileage.
Unless I found a cream puff, low mileage, non-DEF, used diesel P/U for a reasonable price, I don't see a diesel pickup in my future.

It is defeat able, at least on my truck, but in 4WD only. Have to hold the button down for 5 seconds and then it will show "ESC Disabled" on the dash. We were climbing up steep snow covered washes yesterday and it works as advertised. 4WD HIGH with ESC disabled allowed sufficient speed to get through the snow drifts.

I pay $8.99 for a 2.5 gal jug of DEF fluid. My truck will about 4,000 miles on 2.5 gallons. I'm not going to sit here and do the math for you but that's not very expensive at all.

And my 2013 powerstroke gets the same, actually slightly better fuel mileage, than my 05 Dodge Cummins did.....

And FWIW, I don't like the DEF thing any better than anyone else, I would prefer that none of them have it.

But after actually owning one that uses DEF I figured out its not near as big a deal as its made out to be, which is usually by people that don't own one.....

I can only go off my own personal experience. My own personal 2012 Power Wagon, and numerous GM vehicles I've driven (tahoes and 2500s) it absolutely does not turn off. The message comes on saying it has been, but it's bullschit.

Over the past 50,000 miles I have spent less than $200 on DEF.

DEF sucks not because it is expensive (it is not). DEF sucks because it is mandated by the EPA and is otherwise not needed. In fact, the truck runs just fine without it so .gov made the manufacturers institute all sorts of intrusive mechanisms to force you to refil it.

If it runs out it will limit your speed.
If the fluid is poor, it will limit your speed.
If a sensor is bad, it will limit your speed.

This is why DEF sucks.