the wanderer

At least you still have an engine left, "I do cars" YT channel just dismantled one of these and it's horrifying.

Isn't it scary how one bumbling clown at the top can make very destructive decisions that tank the entire organization? Makes you think, doesn't it.

HPL's oils don't foam, not even a tiny bit.

HPL has a dedicated cleaning product. They recommend throwing 1 quart of it in along with your previous oil choice and running that for a while to start a slow-er clean. Once you've done that for a few OCI's, then you run their real oil which is exceptional at cleaning. If you call/talk to Dave, he'll never recommend using their main oil directly on an old dirty engine as it will clean so much as to overwhelm the filter. All that to say, yes, HPL definitely cleans. Not only does it clean, it is the complete package. It has loads of moly and other antiwear ingredients and friction modifiers, it uses the best VII's to prevent shear down and carbon deposits, their oil has 0 foaming etc etc. It's not a one trick pony, it's the entire package, the real deal. You won't find a better oil at that price nor would you need to either.

385 hp is not going to cut it unless they continue two v8's and make the 385 very noticably better with fuel efficiency. The 2025 Ram HO is putting out 540 hp with 520 lb-ft of torque, so a 6.2 replacement will need to play in that area. Ford will be doing an update soon as well, you know they will not concede the 0-60 time to Ram for long. So again, a 6.2 needs to up the game considerably. I would like to see a 6.2 replacement with 500+ hp, pushrod, dual injection, no dfm, 10 speed. For the smaller v8, focus on fuel efficiency. Keep it 350-ish hp, tuned for mpg, with architecture similar to 6.2. Maybe a tow mode that drops efficiency in favour of more power low down but this could be wishful thinking and not possible.

That goes completely opposite to the rest of the industry which is using smaller and smaller engines turned up to level 11 to reduce emissions.

It's not just the payload (which is a big enough problem). These ratings don't distinguish between a 20 foot flatbed hauling steel at 13k pounds with no wind resistance, and a 35 foot toy hauler loaded to the max. Those are 2 totally different towing scenarios.

Towing this weight in any half ton is an absolutely terrible idea unless its a one time thing 20 mins down a rural road. They build 2500's to do this.

Just put in katzkin leather. Much higher quality leather for the same price.

Great job in this thread guys, y'all impressed me with your perceptive thoughts and lack of brand bias.

Here is what you wrote: You cannot say everyone else has moved away from range extenders when Ram is the only option. If you're referring to truck EV's in general, then no, manufacturers have NOT moved away from EVs. They are doubling down on them, though yes there is a small dip this year that number will continue to grow through the years. In other words, the RATE of adoption has slowed, but we're (society) still adopting them more and more each year. Think of it this way: you mash the go pedal in your truck; 0 to 10 comes very fast, 10 to 20 is slower, 50 to 60 is even slower. The rate at which you're accelerating is slowing down over time, but you're still speeding up on the whole. That's whats happened to EV sales, the adoption rate has slowed temporarily but it is still growing. And this product (generator + EV in a truck) is the most attractive option of all the EV truck options out there. Which is my original point.

What you're missing is that EV's are here to stay, the ram charger is the most capable and logical choice for an EV type of truck. Time will tell whether a 620 hp towing machine without any range anxiety fairs better than the pure EV. To me it's clear that the only thing that will kill this truck is price, and that is up to Ram how they deal with that.

Ram is responding to pressure from the government, as we all will in future car purchases. Today we still have a choice, that choice is going to be crushed over time. If big v8's are no longer an option and we have to have batterys on board, this is the way to do it. Yes it still has an ICE on board but presumably its rated much cleaner for the environment because the ICE doesn't get used all/most of the time during regular commuting etc. If you think the other brands moved away from EVs then you're not paying attention in the slightest.

That particular v6 is a strong engine. As long as it has enough power, it will work fine. Maybe they'll design an engine around this use case in the future, but I'll take that pentastar over literally any other engine they've produced in the last decade when it comes to reliability and how long it will last. The other options in their lineup I believe are all turbos or not strong enough.

Couple hundred pounds is exactly the problem. The batteries already weigh signficant amounts, payloads in todays luxurious half tons are in the 1100 to 1400 pound range, diesel is not going to do anything but add more weight, plus add emissions BS which adds more weight and more things to go wrong. It's completely the wrong approach. The current v6 is not necessarily the best engine for the task, but ICE vs diesel definitely is the right way. All you need is an engine strong enough to power the generator, and ICE engines run cleaner with less issues long term while also weighing less. Then there is market perception, most people still don't want to touch diesel because "its smelly and dirty and gas stations are limited". Right or wrong, the same truck using a diesel will probably sell less "just because".