Powerwagon Ike gauntlet

[Limamikemike]

http://youtu.be/mT5qIpjID5Y

Interesting video of the 16' Powerwagon towing up ike gauntlet

[RustyPW]

Been up and down that hill a few times. Pulling a 10,000 lbs. camper with the PW, A 36ft Class A V10 motorhome and a 41ft Class A Cumins diesel pusher pulling a GC, The 36ft motorhome barely made it. Hit the top in 1st gear, screaming.

[PWRider]

Nice! Wonder how 4.56 would do.

[olyelr]

Nice! Wonder how 4.56 would do.

I am sure quite a bit better (towing, anyway)!

[Mule]

I'll be doing that this weekend.
And the weekend after.

[2011TXPowerWagon]

This test is so foreign to me. Where I live the only hills we have are highway overpasses!!

[Bill2014]

Nice! Wonder how 4.56 would do.

I am sure quite a bit better (towing, anyway)!

A lower speed rear-end alone doesn't always guarantee a better towing scenario. It's all about how the final drive ratios match up to the power and the loading. This is especially true for Ike's gauntlet where a heavy load can keep you in first gear, or have you shifting between first and second, etc...

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Not a bad video. I still wish they would have kept the 4.56 gears in the Power Wagon when they switched to the 6.4L Hemi.

[OffroadTreks]

Not a bad video. I still wish they would have kept the 4.56 gears in the Power Wagon when they switched to the 6.4L Hemi.

Did they switch to the 6th speed at the same time? I was curious if that was part of the reasoning.

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Not a bad video. I still wish they would have kept the 4.56 gears in the Power Wagon when they switched to the 6.4L Hemi.

Did they switch to the 6th speed at the same time? I was curious if that was part of the reasoning.

No- 2012 was the first year for the 6spd auto in the Power Wagon.

[MoparToYou]

2.8 mpg while towing eh? Anyone know what other trucks have got towing a load up that same hill?

[ramv]

2.5 mpg in the Avalanche. First gear bouncing off the rev limiter, about 38 mph with 10,000 lb trailer. Agreed on lower gears, 4.56s would likely just cut the 38 mph to 35 as there is so little oxygen, the engines make a lot less HP and struggles to pull 2nd. Mileage reading on the gasssers though is really just what it will flow WOT since you run it that hard all the way up.

With the 6.0 PSD it would get about 3 towing up the hill (a bigger trailer though, 14k lb) and get about 48 mph (could hold 2nd.)

The 7.3s would defuel and not do much better than the gasser in stock form. Generally had 3.73s though so were in the low 40s.

[OffroadTreks]

2.8 mpg while towing eh? Anyone know what other trucks have got towing a load up that same hill?

A few things about FLT, they drive the IKE at full throttle maintaining speed. They also read the instant mpg off the vehicle display when they come up with those numbers. Anyone mashing a peddle while towing a load up a steep grade like that is going to see really low mpg's during such a run.

They have videos of them doing this test on a lot of vehicles.

[Reloaderguy]

Ram needs to regear and reprogram the 66RFE; lower 1 through three with closer ratios. 4.10 final drive ratio should be more than enough if the transmission were right. Or a beefed up 8HP70...with closer 1 through 3.

[OffroadTreks]

Not to derail the thread, but I almost wonder if AAM just stopped making 4.56, was browsing their site and noticed an interesting observation, no kits for 2014+ in 4.56 http://www.demandaam.com/product-catalo ... -gear-sets - Yet other companies like Yukon do offer them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Reloaderguy]

Not to derail the thread, but I almost wonder if AAM just stopped making 4.56, was browsing their site and noticed an interesting observation, no kits for 2014+ in 4.56 http://www.demandaam.com/product-catalo ... -gear-sets - Yet other companies like Yukon do offer them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What if I were to tell you...https://www.ringpinion.com/b2c/ProductD ... howAA=true

[laramieskibum]

4.44 and 4.56 are still available from AAM. 4.56 on national back order last month for 11.5" rear.

Aftermarket is putting smaller pinion bearings in to make the new 11.5" fit with old style parts, beware. Noise issues too. I went 3.73 aam on my 2014 ctd, wish I went 4.44 or 4.56 for bigger meats sometimes.

[LagunaH1]

Ram needs to regear and reprogram the 66RFE; lower 1 through three with closer ratios. 4.10 final drive ratio should be more than enough if the transmission were right. Or a beefed up 8HP70...with closer 1 through 3.

Potentially a n00b statement:

Agree that the transmission could do with better / different programming. In "normal mode" the transmission seems to favor holding gears and nearly any "cost". For example, going up hill, the truck will slow, RPM's will drop for what seems to be a long time, so when it finally downshifts it's pretty jerky, almost violent HARD downshift and surge forward.

Going down hill, you can pretty much forget about grade shifting which seems to only really happen in tow/haul mode (where it works really well)

[Mule]

2.8 mpg while towing eh? Anyone know what other trucks have got towing a load up that same hill?

My old half-ton got less than one going up that hill... i'd burn about a quarter-tank in that 7-mile climb.
(And it was *NOT* happy doing it...)

[olyelr]

2.8 mpg while towing eh? Anyone know what other trucks have got towing a load up that same hill?

My old half-ton got less than one going up that hill... i'd burn about a quarter-tank in that 7-mile climb.
(And it was *NOT* happy doing it...)

Hill.

[PWRider]

2.8 mpg while towing eh? Anyone know what other trucks have got towing a load up that same hill?

2500 diesel did it in 7.33 and 4.4 mpg

[TwinStick]

I've been saying this for years: We do NOT need a trans with 2 or more overdrives. We need a trans that is geared for HD work, in a gas engine truck. My truck is almost geared perfect for HD work. They need an auto trans, with 8 speeds, starting around 6:1 for first, 7th being 1:1 & 8th being around .75:1, and ZERO big gaps in between & the ability to hold it in any gear for as long as you want, regardless of rpms. That will NEVER happen though, because they think they know what we want better than we know what we need.

[Snowsled]

Bottom line on the trans is that the programming is utter garbage. The absolute worst I have ever encountered and this is closing in on vehicle number 60 for me. Upshifts and downshifts occur at the wrong times most of the time. I started adapting to this poor behavior and I think it adapted to my adaptation and began to thwart my efforts to drive it properly again. Third gear is obviously a weak point as mine will not run engine braking in that gear for more than a few seconds before it drops to second on its own. I find T/H in the mountains to be nothing short of dangerous. I had to actually pull over and stop on a long steep grade to get the truck to shift. It was holding a rediculously low gear for the situation and wouldn't come out no matter what I tried.

I have no problem with the 4.10 gears but damn I would would like a G56 in between. Biggest flaw this truck has is that ignorant transmission.

[Bigskyguy1976]

How about we solve the annoying shifting issues of the new Power Wagons by demanding RAM offer the PW with the 6 speed manual transmission!

There, I just solved the problem

[Reloaderguy]

How about we solve the annoying shifting issues of the new Power Wagons by demanding RAM offer the PW with the 6 speed manual transmission!

There, I just solved the problem

I don't think FCA is going to see the six lost sales as much of a demand.