FIRST TRIP WITH NEW TRUCK - Montana Owners Club

jackel1959 · 07-14-2011, 05:40 PM

We made our first trip towing the Montana to the Keystone factory in Pendleton, OR on Saturday and back today. All I can say is “WOW”, was I pleased with the performance of the new truck, the high output Cummins and auto tranny. It felt solid and secure with plenty of power for the hills. The ride was comfortable and using the cruise control was no problem at all, even traveling uphill. Downshifts going uphill were few with plenty of power for the pulling. The exhaust brake and tow/haul mode were awesome on the downgrades and I vary rarely even had to touch the brake pedal. The steepest up or down hill grade was only 5% on this trip so I am anxious to see how it performs on some of the 6% grades I often travel.

The coolant temp never exceeded 215 degrees and the transmission temp never went above 170 degrees. The truck’s computer allows you to monitor oil pressure and coolant temperature digitally and those two have an analog gauge in the instrument panel along with voltmeter and fuel gauge. I was impressed that the analog gauges actually change as the oil pressure or coolant temperature changed. The transmission fluid temperature is only monitored digitally, but ran cooler than my previous Ford.

Actual mileage varied from 8.8 - 10.3 MPG. That was towing at 58-61MPH, approx 1800 RPM with 4:10 gears and in tow/haul mode. I am hoping that the mileage will improve as I get more miles on the truck. Right now we have just a little over 1500 on it.

All in all I give this new ride 2 thumbs up for sure

Jack

stiles watson · 07-14-2011, 06:20 PM

Great! Glad you got a good ride. Happy RVing.......

Art-n-Marge · 07-14-2011, 08:18 PM

When you give it two thumbs up, I hope the other fingers are wrapped around the steering wheel.

Nice report. Sounds like it's gonna be a winner for you.

jimcol · 07-15-2011, 01:55 AM

Jack, I have an 09 2500 and felt the same as you when I first pulled with it. So easy compared to my older truck. Everyone told me that mileage gets better around 32K miles. With just under 36K on the truck now I can tell you it is true. I'm getting about 12mpg towing in mixed terrain, but not including mountains. Will know more about that in a couple of months when we venture West.
Where and how are you getting the digital readout of the oil pressure and temp?
Jim

rving2us · 07-15-2011, 02:33 AM

Nice to hear a good report about your 11 Dodge. I am picking one up today and can not wait to get it on the road. We are currently pulling a 3000RK which should not give this truck any problem so now we may be able to upgrade the Monty to a quad slide. Great news, thanks.

pineranch · 07-15-2011, 07:20 AM

I am shopping for something but I need it to have at least 24,500 GCWR and I would rather not it be a dually. Don't think any 2500/250's fit the bill but what about the new SRW 3500/350's?
Suggestions????????
Mike

jackel1959 · 07-15-2011, 08:47 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by jimcol

Where and how are you getting the digital readout of the oil pressure and temp?
Jim

Jim,
The truck has what is called a EVIC (Electronic Vehicle Information Center) in the middle of the instrument cluster. It allows you to select and monitor Fuel Information (MPG, distance to empty), Vehicle Information (coolant temp, oil pressure, transmission temp, brake controller status and engine hours) and to set up some other features like time delay for lights, how the doors unlock, etc.

Jack

jackel1959 · 07-15-2011, 08:53 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by pineranch

I am shopping for something but I need it to have at least 24,500 GCWR and I would rather not it be a dually. Don't think any 2500/250's fit the bill but what about the new SRW 3500/350's?
Suggestions????????
Mike

Mike,
The brochure for the 2011 RAM 3500 advertises 24000 GCWR (SRW) with the 4:10 rear end. I have not been able to find any numbers for the new High Output Cummins or even know if the rating will change. May have to wait for the specs for the 2012.

r,
Jack

Montana Sky · 07-15-2011, 12:29 PM

Jack,

I am towing a 3400RL with my new 11 Cummins and averaging 11.5/12.8mpg at 70mph. Empty the truck is averaging 17/19mpg at 80mph...I do have over 13,000 miles on mine already. I also have the 3.73 rear end so the mileage will be slightly better. Enjoy your new truck.

exav8tr · 07-15-2011, 02:36 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by pineranch

I am shopping for something but I need it to have at least 24,500 GCWR and I would rather not it be a dually. Don't think any 2500/250's fit the bill but what about the new SRW 3500/350's?
Suggestions????????
Mike

Don't the Ford 450's have the higher weight ratings? Seems the last time I looked the 450 was well over 24.5k GCWR. Then again, are they still making the 450 and 550?

jimcol · 07-16-2011, 01:49 AM

[/quote]
Jim,
The truck has what is called a EVIC (Electronic Vehicle Information Center) in the middle of the instrument cluster. It allows you to select and monitor Fuel Information (MPG, distance to empty), Vehicle Information (coolant temp, oil pressure, transmission temp, brake controller status and engine hours) and to set up some other features like time delay for lights, how the doors unlock, etc.

Jack
[/quote]
Thanks Jack. My 09 has the EVIC also. It is in the overhead. It allows me to control the light and lock functions you mentioned as well as the fuel/trip info. After re-reading the owners manual I can't get the temp and pressures. Unless I'm missing something I suspect it is an upgrade since the 09's. Jim

thor · 07-16-2011, 09:19 AM

question for you.the fords and gms use eurea for the emissions. i heard that the dodge does not .what are they doing for the emissions ?

oldelmer1 · 07-16-2011, 10:19 AM

Jack,
Glad to hear you are pleased with your new Dodge, of course, I knew you would be....

Pretty color too

)

Montana Sky · 07-16-2011, 10:29 AM

Thor,

No exhaust fluid is required on the Cummins - that is the main reason I went to Ram over the Chevy. This past winter the dealers have had trucks shut down due to the exhaust fluid freezing up. Gm and Ford claim the tank is heated, but at -15 degrees it must not be enough.

jackel1959 · 07-16-2011, 01:34 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by thor

question for you.the fords and gms use eurea for the emissions. i heard that the dodge does not .what are they doing for the emissions ?

thor,
As I understand it they are using a regeneration type system (another reason I went with Dodge this time) and should be using that for at least another 2 years if my memory serves. The chassis cab models are already using DEF.

Jack

rvghostdriver · 07-16-2011, 05:08 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by thor

question for you.the fords and gms use eurea for the emissions. i heard that the dodge does not .what are they doing for the emissions ?

Thor the Dodge Cummins met the 2010 emissions standards when they came out with the upgraded 6.7L Cummins for the 2007 model year and did not have to do anything else to meet the 2010 standard. I know they have a DPF Diesel Particulate Filter which they all have but the design of the Cummins meets the standards without the urea.

sreigle · 07-16-2011, 05:22 PM

Jack, I'm glad to hear that new truck is doing a good job for you. I think I have told you before how pleased I am with how ours tows our 3400RL. The truck hardly breaks a sweat. When our 2007 was new it got towing mileage about what you are seeing, maybe 1/2 mpg or so better than that. But mine has the 3.73 gears and doesn't have the 800 lb/ft of torque. Jack, I think you'll be very pleased with the performance when you hit those bigger hills. The most we've done with this truck is a few 10 percenters and the highest temperature I saw, using a garmin ecoroutehd to extract the numbers from the truck's computer, was 118 degrees. My 2005 Ford used to run as high as 245 degrees on grades like that. Just east of this park about a quarter mile is an 18% grade (yes, 18 percent), but it's only a little over 1/10 mile long. Still, I'm tempted to tackle that hill when we leave here.

Just to say I've done it. We did a 14 percenter in Utah with the Ford but the fan was screaming and the rpm was way up there.

My Dodge has 80,000 miles on it now and ranges from about 10.5 to 13 towing mpg with occasional readings slightly better. Most of the time it's in the 11.5 to 12.5 range. We run heavy, though, and also seem to always be pushing a significant headwind.

As for breakin, you may have seen in the manual that Dodge says do not switch to synthetic oil until at least 30k miles so the engine will properly break in. That tells me synthetic reduces friction. Anyhow, I waited to make the switch at the first oil change after 30k miles. At around 32k the mileage did go up but not as much as I'd hoped. Then at about 66k or 67k it made a good size jump and has continued that ever since. My thinking is that when I switched to synthetic at about 31k, it was not fully broken in yet and didn't get fully broken in until 66k miles. I'm speculating but that's the only explanation I can come up with.

JimCol, your '09 has the same overhead computer display as my '07. Jack's '11 has many features that were not even options on ours. Those things are making me drool over the new ones and I'd love to have one of them. But the ol' budget says uh-huh. And since this one just got broken in...

-- 7/17 -- edited to correct the mpg numbers after checking my notes.

jimcol · 07-16-2011, 05:43 PM

I hear you Steve. I looked at the new 11's just to pass some time one day. When I got done looking I decided the 09 pulled just fine. Jim

Trailer Trash 2 · 07-16-2011, 06:38 PM

Realy happy for you and the new Ram, I love my 09. As for the use eurea for the emissions, the dodge got another year over ford and gm the cummins met all EPA requirement for the 2011 year they might have to do it in 2012 we'll see, I get 10.5 on a good pull 11 to 12 on a flat towing with 4.11 gears

pbahlin · 07-17-2011, 05:10 AM

I've been towing with my 2010 in Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming on lots of different grades. My experience is that 6% grades require a touch of fuel once in a while to maintain speed. With 7% grades I need a touch of brake once in a while, maybe once every minute. The tow/haul exhaust brake combination seems to be optimized for 6-7%. When you touch the brake, say to lower speed by 3mph or so, the truck seems to take that as a sign that you want the lower speed and it just holds it there.

It's like magic and I'm talking about long hills like Cabbage Hill outside Pendelton and the Cloud Peak Skyway from Cody to Custer

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