392 and 8 speed towing experience

[barkbomes9]

Looking at the Ram 2500 Tradesman 4x2 with a 392, 8 speed to tow my travel trailer. Does anyone have any experience with them? How does the 8 speed do with a heavy load? I can’t justify the money for the diesel because I won’t be putting many miles on it. TIA for your input.
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[devildodge]

Your gonna want to go to our sister site WWW.HDRAMS.COM

This site is exclusively for the 1500 and the HeavyDuty site is for the 392 BGE and Cummins equipped trucks.

That said...i have the 392 with the 6 spd and very happy with its performance.

The guys over there are even more happy with how the 8spd turns the 392 into the towing machine it is.

You will also find that the 8 spd has closed the gap on the Diesel/gas towing world.

The truck as a whole is improved for towing heavy. Lots of new technology and improvements.

 

[silver billet]

I've wondered that as well. In the negative side, the 6.4 has like half the amount of torque, and the torque it does have is much further up the RPM range which would just exaggerate the feeling of "less power" even more. In the positive side, it has an 8 speed vs the 6 used in the cummins. I haven't managed to find any really good towing reviews for the 6.4 which is a pity.

 

[devildodge]

Having owned a 6.7 Cummins and an 8.0l Magnum, it takes a few pulls to get used to running over 3500 RPMS.

ONCE you get used to hearing those ponies gallop...the 392 Hemi is a very useful towing machine.

The only way I would go back to a Cummins is if I started towing over 12k and over 1000 miles per trip.

The 6.4 is a true HeavyDuty truck engine, unlike the 5.7 Hemi it replaces. It follows the same 300k mile duty cycle as the Cummins.

My 8.0l Magnum worked at around 2800 Rpm and of course the Cummins does its heavy breathing around 2 grand...but, that glorious sound of all 410 horses pulling in unison...the around town clanking of the Cummins gets old.

My all time favorite Mopar setup is the 8.0l Magnum V10 with a 5 speed manual. I wish it could make a return with the newer transmissions..it was limited at the time by the available transmissions.

The 6.4l is a very good replacement...now...if we can get that 7.0l they were teasing us with.

Just my thoughts.

Also, with the Hemi your payload will be about 1000lbs more and no DEF or fragile emissions technology to deal with.

 

[Boston]

The 68rfe and Aisin are now at their limits with the CTD. Ram is actively looking at replacements including a heavier duty ZF and Allison box

 

[Cueva del Osos]

I've got the 5.7 & 3.92 with e-torque - and I love towing with this truck! Rare that I ever see 8th gear while towing, but it takes one heck of a hill to take me below 6th gear too.

ps: I'm looking at moving up to 2500 with 6.2 & 4.1 (I think?) and getting a TT with 2,000# more wt after the 2500 is fully '5th gen-ed' (I REALLY want ducted AC in the trailer to cut the noise at night and that requires a step up in weight on the TT). I'm just not a diesel guy, don't plan on pulling more than 10K# ever, and the payload difference with Hemi is HUGE.