Can anyone give me feedback on the Dodge Hemi? I tow a 5er that weighs 10,500. How does it tow, problems, mileage and would an auto be better than a manual trans? Will it hold up?

 

get the Cummins... the hemi is junk when it comes to towing...

Forrest

 

Why, if you are towing, would you even consider a gas motor? I am curious to your motivation. A diesel will get better mileage both empty and loaded. The diesel will have a ton more power stock and after the bombing bug hits you, a comparable gasser, in terms of power, would not be as streetable.

Michael

 

and in about 6-7yrs, the diesel will be worth about twice as much as the hemi

 

Look at the torque curve and where it peaks on the Hemi if you have a brochure handy. Then look at the Cummins.

 

The Cummins provides its power down low, so you can start a load moving as soon as you press the accelerator...

A Hemi would have to rev up to about 4000 RPM before it could get the load going...

 

and whereas you have to rev to 4000-5000 to make use of the Hemi's 340hp, you can cruise down the highway in the cummins at 2500rpm and use all of it's power...

Forrest

 

Notice any pattern to the feedback yet?
Go the diesel now and save some long term money when you have to sell the Hemi to buy the Cummins you really needed
Welcom to the site

 

The company I work for have a few of them(02's or 03's), all are 2500's. Talked to some of the guys that drive them and they like them to ride around in but aren't too happy when hauling or towing. They said they are fairly quick but don't have much torque. One guy told me when towing a 6500lb tension machine(wire puller) that it got about 6-8 mpg, and got about 14mpg empty. Don't know how accurate these figures may be, since we don't have to pay for the gas and ride em wide open most of the time. Probably do a lot better if used as a personal vehicle........I have had several Cummins and would opt for it for towing that much weight.....

 

I find those mileage numbers a little hard to believe. I sometimes tow a 28' bumper pull enclosed car hauler that is almost 10' tall and weighs just over 10,000 lbs loaded. I have never recorded less than 10 mpg. Empty I can manage close to 20 mpg. The only thing I can think is maybe they are doing some serious extended idling and that is dragging down the fuel mileage.

 

yours is a Cummins... he's talking about Hemi's...

Forrest

 

Sorry, I misunderstood.

 

Look for Hannibal - he just bought a new Hemi truck. Give him a pm for his opinion, if he doesn't chime in here.

 

Here I am recovering from new year's resolution #1.
The only time I see over 4,000rpm is towing up hill. On normal take offs towing, it runs up to about 3,000rpm between shifts. Then settles into low O/D (.75) at 1800rpm 65mph. If the headwind is strong or we're in rolling hills, it'll lock out O/D on it's own and run 2600rpm. The Hemi is very quiet at 2600 and has plenty of power at that rpm for those long rolling hills on the interstate. At 4200rpm 65mph on the steep hills, there is no vibration whatsoever but the 3" free flowing exhaust roars out a nice tune. The real tow/haul mode works great but I'd just as soon have a 5spd manual if there was one on the lot when I bought mine. I don't foresee having any more trouble with the 5spd auto than I did with my 47RE's of the past. None... For comparison, I'm getting 12-14.5mpg light city and 17mpg hwy 65-70mph. Towing we're getting 8.7-9.2mpg at 65-70mph. With the previous Cummins which all got real close to the same mileage, I got 16-19 city, 19hwy and 10.5-12.5~ towing. I saw 9.6mpg one time on the over head in a strong headwind going west on I-10 and as high as 23 on the overhead running empty at 55mph.
The peak hp and peak torque rpm isn't the whole story. The Hemi makes 80% of it's peak torque at 1200rpm. 350ft/lbs at 2800rpm in direct makes as much hp/torque at the rear wheels as my standard output Cummins did in O/D. Towing with the Hemi is not a problem at all and 3mpg difference isn't going to make or break the bank.
So it won't last 350k miles. I don't want a truck with 350k miles on it any more than most here would. In the next 15yrs I'll have owned several more trucks. If DC gets their act together and beefs up the 5spd auto to fit behind the Cummins and gets the driveline vibrations out so it's as smooth as my '95, '98,'01.5 was, my next truck might very well be another Cummins powered Ram. The Cummins is addictive... But that's not to say in any way am I unhappy with the Hemi. For a small block V8 gasser, it's a lot of motor.
If anyone wants or is interested, I'll be happy to make an mpeg as we travel with the 5th wheel cruising, climbing, accelerating or whatever showing the tach/speedo and trailer in the mirrors along with the windshield view. I have nothing to hide.
If the Hemi didn't do what I want it to do, I wouldn't have bought it. But my actions speak clearly, I'd rather have a Dodge with a Hemi than a PSD or D-max.

 

My sister has a 2003 2500 4x4 Hemi. Kinda fun to drive empty if you ignore the mileage shock. I used it to tow a 16 foot flatbed trailer (empty, mind you). I have towed the same trailer with my Cummins, and the difference was scary. I'd be pretty mad if I bought a Hemi and then compared it to a Cummins. I've never had my foot on the floor so much while towing, and that trailer probably only weighed 2500 to 3000 pounds. It just made me that much happier that I went with the diesel. When you put a load behind a Hemi (or any gas engine) you suddenly become painfully aware of the lack of torque. Oh, and towing I averaged 11 mpg. Ick. I'll keep my oil burner.