Truck Help for 5.0TA needed

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

How many overdrives are in Ford's 10 speed?

Whether the transmission ratio is overdrive (less than 1:1 input to output speeds) doesn't matter; only the overall combination of transmission ratio and final drive ratio (and tire diameter) matters. The right final drive ratio with one transmission might not be the right final drive ratio for the same vehicle with a different transmission.

But for those who are curious, the new 10-speed has three overdrives, the old Ford 6-speed has two, and both the ZF 8-speed in Ram pickups and the GM 8-speed have two.

[Chotch]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

My door post says "27" so I DO have a 3.31. Thought I had, but wasn't sure.

Enjoy,

Perry

3:31 non limited slip.😎

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Whether the transmission ratio is overdrive (less than 1:1 input to output speeds) doesn't matter; only the overall combination of transmission ratio and final drive ratio (and tire diameter) matters.

AND the third component: engine rpm within the efficient power/torque band. Without that the other two don't matter.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

AND the third component: engine rpm within the efficient power/torque band. Without that the other two don't matter.

Well, getting the engine there is the purpose of the transmission and final drive ratios. So of course, the ratios must suit the engine.

From the engine to the axles is always a reduction of speed (a reduction ratio greater than 1). How much of that reduction is in the transmission and how much is in the final drive doesn't matter.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

AND the third component: engine rpm within the efficient power/torque band. Without that the other two don't matter.

Enjoy,

Perry

Hi: Perryb67... Sure glad we got that "Settled"!!! I love my Ram EcoDiesel with 8 speed auto and the 3.55 gears. Max torque at 2000 rpm is 420 ft. lbs. Tugs like a trouper. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[miketx]

The Dodge Ram Ecodiesel is a cool combination. I tried and tried to negotiate a deal on one for 3 months, but all my local dealers just couldn't come down to my number (which they should have....it was fair, and I had cash). I finally gave up and found a nice used 2016 Ram Rebel with the 5.7 v8 and 8 speed transmission.
I've only towed once with it, but man is it nice....tons of power, and smooth ride (air suspension is awesome).
I also have the Ram integrated brake controller, which is fantastic. I previously towed with a Prodigy v1, and for the past 2 years, a Prodigy v3. The Prodigy is hands down the best aftermarket controller on the market, but the Ram integrated one is super cool. I have access to the controller status in my center dash cluster...really nice. And it works really well.

[Little Richie]

Originally Posted by padlin

The only limitations on choosing a truck I can think of are making sure you have adequate payload for the truck, and making sure you can get brackets for your choice of hitch mounts, be it bars or below bed, for your specific truck. Sometimes the maker of a specific hitch takes a while to come out with frame brackets for a new model of truck.



Hitching height can be adjusted by moving the actual hitch, if it can do so, the pin box, and the suspension mounts.

I agree. It is the most overlooked variable. You need enough payload to carry the hitch (hitch mount if not included in the truck) trailer hitch weight, people (avg 150# each), stuff etc. You can eat through the 1500-1800 available payload in most 1/2 ton truck quickly if you do not plan. Some manufacturers offer packages that improve the payload a bit.

if you are really pressed for payload, note that the hitch choices and hitch kits can vary by several hundred pounds.

[covey]

Dodge is Ram. Ram trucks are awesome. A 1500 Eco Diesel is what I pulled my Escape 19. Hardly noticed and fantastic gas mileage! Never any problems with any of my Ram trucks.

[mizterwizard]

I strongly recommend that any one looking to buy a tow vehicle only consider brand new 3/4 ton diesel pickups with extended cab. Then take real good care of it and don't drive it much. My reasoning is that I only buy used and someone has to buy the truck I want new so that I can buy it used.

However, for towing an escape I think a Tacoma is a pretty nice truck.

Now, I'm going to summarize a lot of what has been said by others, mostly without giving proper credit to the original posters, sorry. I'll also add in a little of my own ideas.

When it comes to gear ratios in the differential, there are some misconceptions. The first is what does high and low mean. By itself, high or low means the vehicle speed the gear ratio is associated with. So a high gear ratio is for high speed while a low gear ration is for low speed. Just like high gear in the transmission is for fast speeds and low gear is for slow speeds. However that is exactly the opposite of what high and low mean when talking about the numerical number of the gear ratio. A high gear ratio, numerically, is something like 4.56:1. A low numerical gear ratio is something like 2.27:1.

Another misconception about rear end ratios is that they mean something at all speeds. Like Brian B-P keeps pointing out, it is a combination of ratios in the transmission and rear end that matter, combined with tire size. even that isn't the whole story.

Then there is the engine to consider. A Honda S2000 has a redline at 9,400 RPMs and doesn't really come alive until 6,500 RPMs. Many diesels are dead below 1,800 RPMs and are all done by 2,300 RPMs. To make these engines work they need very different gearing in the transmission and rear end. Of course you aren't likely to be towing with either of these two combinations but I think you can see the point. You have to match the overall gearing to the power band of the engine.

It has been pointed out that many engines, probably all engines, have a sweet spot in their power band where they work most efficiently. It is important to match your towing habits to this or you will pay at the pump. This is one of the really good uses of a built in fuel economy meter, to teach yourself where the good economy is. At the factory they design the engine to be efficient but best economy doesn't make the most power. In an effort to make more power the also design in a power mode.

The power mode richens up the fuel and adjusts the timing to maximize power at the expense of all else, figuring that if you really need it then it is better to give it to you rather than have you be unhappy. Besides, a lot of vehicles are sold on one number, maximum HP. If you get into this situation, which is typically at 75% throttle or more, you will not get the most miles for your dollars. In this case it is better to use lower gearing than more throttle. The proper use of the power mode is for passing and merging. Well, and messing around. The rest of the time you should try to stay out of power mode for the sake of your wallet.

In years past when at times only 3 or 4 gears were available in the transmission it could be hard to find the right combination of transmission gear and rear end gear to get both good economy and good pulling power. In that case it was important to select the right rear end ratio to wind up with the right RPMs and throttle at your desired cruise speed with your usual load. With today's 6, 8 and 10 speed transmissions with a wide difference between high gear and low gear it isn't so important, as long as you have two situations covered.

The first is you have to be able to start the vehicle from a stop with authority. If you have to pull over on a steep grade to check something and then have to start from a standstill it can be a problem if your gearing is such that it takes a long time to wind up first gear. Once it shifts to second though the rear end ratio becomes moot because it is the overall ratio that counts and the transmission controller has taken over that decision for you.

Then you need to have high enough gearing that when traveling light at freeway speeds your engine is not spinning faster than necessary because more RPMs while cruising equals lower MPG, assuming you keep out of power mode.

The good news is that a torque converter in an automatic is like a 2:1 gear reduction when starting so an automatic doesn't need a real stump pulling low gear to take off decently. It is in the nature of a torque converter that it gradually goes toward 1:1 as you move away from a stop.

Concerning overdrive, it is a marketing ploy and nothing more. I have a motorcycle with a 6 speed transmission. 4th is direct and 5th and 6th are overdrives but the gear display counts 1-5 and then shows OD in 6th. All motorcycles have multiple overdrives. It's just the way the gearing works best for them. Everybody has been doing the overdrive sales pitch for decades now. It mean nothing in itself. Like has been said, all that really matters is the overall ratio between the engine and the ground relative to what the ground speed and engine power band are. How the ratio is derived is unimportant. You could have a 1:1 ratio in the rear end and all of the transmission ratios be deep under drives or you could have a 50:1 rear end and all of the the transmission ratios be tall overdrives. It could all work out the same.

Now, about locking out gears. If your transmission has a tow/haul mode it covers a lot of situations making it unnecessary to lock out a gear or three. There are good reasons to limit the highest gear available, like driving through rolling hills where the transmission might get confused by the changing conditions. Perhaps you just don't like your transmission to shift so much and surely with 8 or 10 gears there will be a lot more shifting. Maybe you plan to pass soon and you want the engine and turbo to be wound up for maximum acceleration. Maybe you see better numbers on your fuel economy meter in a lower gear. There are lots of good reasons to limit the use of upper gears but if you do so all of the time you might as well have bought the cheaper transmission with fewer gears and a lower speed rear end.

The factory goes to a lot of trouble making the drive train as flexible as possible. They aren't perfect but they are pretty good. Perhaps if you find that your drive train isn't doing exactly what you want you could consider a tune. Just about any modern vehicle can be reprogrammed to act differently.

Diesel trucks come into their own when towing. I'm not going to go into the reasons why but they just work better. Some of the new small diesels in compact and 1/2 ton trucks are really attractive for towing an Escape.

[cpaharley2008]

I had an interesting conversation with the salesman at the local Ram who sold me my 2014 Ram 1500. I called him and said that I wanted to trade it in on a diesel. He told me not to do that, the smaller diesels are coming in daily, all choked up with carbon. If towing was all that was done, great, but use around town where the motor does not get hot is causing issues with fuel and carbon build up in them, do not buy he says unless you drive them daily for hours at a time, stick to gas.

[mizterwizard]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I had an interesting conversation with the salesman at the local Ram who sold me my 2014 Ram 1500. I called him and said that I wanted to trade it in on a diesel. He told me not to do that, the smaller diesels are coming in daily, all choked up with carbon. If towing was all that was done, great, but use around town where the motor does not get hot is causing issues with fuel and carbon build up in them, do not buy he says unless you drive them daily for hours at a time, stick to gas.

EGR is a problem that all diesels have had to deal with for about 10 years now. What happens is that oil vapors from the PCV system mix with soot from the EGR to create a paste that hardens in the intake manifold to make stalactite looking deposits. It can make some really interesting formations.

The cure is water injection, an EGR delete, a PCV reroute or a tune that shuts the EGR off. The real answer is for the manufacturers to fix the problem before they sell the trucks.

This is one of the reasons that I said that diesels really come into their own when towing. The problem is reduced when the engine is working hard.

It is also possible that the salesman didn't have a good selection of diesels on the lot and was wanting to sell you what he had rather than what you wanted. I hope that wasn't the case but it has been my experience that salesmen are not a good source of technical information.

My advise to anyone who is considering buying any particular vehicle is to go onto the forum for that vehicle and see what people are saying. Just keep in mind that people with problems are more likely to post on a forum than people with no problems. Also that there are trolls on every forum.

[Teddy]

Hello! I'm chiming in on your question about tow vehicles rather late, so maybe someone has already suggested that you google the Ike Gauntlet towing test. You can watch a variety of trucks towing through a high mountain pass in Colorado. The pros and cons of each truck are discussed and a rating is given.

[salmo7000]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I had an interesting conversation with the salesman at the local Ram who sold me my 2014 Ram 1500. I called him and said that I wanted to trade it in on a diesel. He told me not to do that, the smaller diesels are coming in daily, all choked up with carbon. If towing was all that was done, great, but use around town where the motor does not get hot is causing issues with fuel and carbon build up in them, do not buy he says unless you drive them daily for hours at a time, stick to gas.

There is truth to what the salesman said. I can't speak for all diesels, but I have a Chevy Colorado Duramax... it is equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF), which has to periodically go through a regeneration cycle to clear itself. In order to complete the cycle, the truck must be driven at least 30 mph continuously for 20 minutes or more. If the truck is only driven for short trips around town, it can't complete the cycle and there can be problems. Since I live in rural area and it takes 40 minutes up a long, steep grade to get to town, this has not been an issue for my truck. I've never even noticed it going through a regen cycle, let alone had a problem. I've had it almost a year and driven it over 13,000 miles without a hiccup. It has also been a stellar tow vehicle for our 19 and gets incredibly good mpg, both towing and not. I think these small diesels are ideal for towing any trailer Escape makes, but a person needs to be aware of these emission systems complications. The truck needs to be taken out and driven hard at least a couple of times every time you fill it up, if all you're doing is running errands around town. The good thing is it's very quiet, doesn't smell like a diesel, and has never blown black smoke, so the system seems to work very well.

[rvanwyngarden]

I am using a 2016 GMC Canyon diesel, and am very happy. I get 20 mpg towing at 70-75 across the Great Plains. I recommend 4WD and the long bed. The short bed would require a sliding hitch. I’ve needed the 4WD in muddy campgrounds. Turning ratio is good. The only downside was having to have a custom 5th wheel hitch installed, as at least at that time no manufacturer had one setup.
Prior to that I had a Nissan Frontier. Was good but did have a limited turning ratio. I definitely recommend a 4 door crew cab. You don’t need the high axel with these.

[padlin]

The long bed being 6'2"?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rvanwyngarden

I am using a 2016 GMC Canyon diesel...
...
The short bed would require a sliding hitch.

Originally Posted by padlin

The long bed being 6'2"?

Yes, that (74.0") is the Colorado / Canyon long bed length; the short bed is 5' 2" (61.7").

[trainman]

Wow, a lot of answered questions here, probably many have there good and bad points when it comes to towing, fuel mileage, and riding comfort. I would stick with a 1/2 ton pickup by one of the big four manufactures. I'm not a fan of the mid-size pickups, mainly because of size of the vehicle, why not get full size for just a few bucks more and in many cases the 1/2 tons are even less and you get more truck for the buck, just look at the manufacture incentives on them. All being said, I'm a V8 guy for towing with this size trailer and with today's 8-10 speed transmissions will just about work with all rear end ratios for good pulling power a any speed. Too many of you out there want to do the work yourself when it comes to shifting the transmission to suit your needs, that is BS in today's new vehicles, let the computer do it for you, it can think much better then you can. These new turbo engines are nice as long as you have a warranty, but when the warranty go away the cost of working on the turbos is very expensive and only dealers will have the correct test equipment to work on them, Joe Blow down the street can most likely get your old V8 fuel injected engine going again. All being said the big three are all working hard to build the best tow vehicle out there, I personally don't think any of them are doing a bad job. The cost between many of them can be $10,000 difference and the results can be very little in total performance, spend your money wisely and you will always feel you came out ahead. I just went with a new Ram 1500 4x4 Crew Cab with the Hemi V8 and the 3:21 axle, it pulls our trailer very well and the transmission computer handle the road conditions with out a problem.

trainman

[Chotch]

Originally Posted by trainman

Wow, a lot of answered questions here, probably many have there good and bad points when it comes to towing, fuel mileage, and riding comfort. I would stick with a 1/2 ton pickup by one of the big four manufactures. I'm not a fan of the mid-size pickups, mainly because of size of the vehicle, why not get full size for just a few bucks more and in many cases the 1/2 tons are even less and you get more truck for the buck, just look at the manufacture incentives on them. All being said, I'm a V8 guy for towing with this size trailer and with today's 8-10 speed transmissions will just about work with all rear end ratios for good pulling power a any speed. Too many of you out there want to do the work yourself when it comes to shifting the transmission to suit your needs, that is BS in today's new vehicles, let the computer do it for you, it can think much better then you can. These new turbo engines are nice as long as you have a warranty, but when the warranty go away the cost of working on the turbos is very expensive and only dealers will have the correct test equipment to work on them, Joe Blow down the street can most likely get your old V8 fuel injected engine going again. All being said the big three are all working hard to build the best tow vehicle out there, I personally don't think any of them are doing a bad job. The cost between many of them can be $10,000 difference and the results can be very little in total performance, spend your money wisely and you will always feel you came out ahead. I just went with a new Ram 1500 4x4 Crew Cab with the Hemi V8 and the 3:21 axle, it pulls our trailer very well and the transmission computer handle the road conditions with out a problem.

trainman

🤔 For many, the main attraction of the midsize truck is the size. As to manually overriding the transmission, with the right set up of motor, gear, and tranny put in tow mode and go. On a less than perfect set up the option of over riding the transmission may be a big help. And as for Joe Blow down the street, he had better have all the equipment necessary to diagnose your V8’s electronic engine management system, fuel injection, variable cam timing, multivalve set up. The new v8s share most of the technology of my Ecoboost except for the turbo. Your Ram one of the fancy versions with all the bells and whistles, you might consider an extended warranty to keep the navigation, seats and Bluetooth working.😎

[RicVic]

I think you are right on Chotch

[Ggtr1996]

I hope soon to be a 5.0TA owner and now gathering info regarding the tow vehicle. I am very interested in a 2019 F150 supercrew 2.7 5 1/2 foot bed. Your thoughts please? What kind of mpg are you getting? Any problems? Thank you. Gary Sr.