the wanderer

Dude. You're mixing an engine comparison vs a truck comparison. It's not an excuse that the Ram is heavier, it's physics. You need more engine to move a heavier truck, doesn't mean the engine itself is a failure. Now start adding other advantages like extra gears etc. Most people who own the Ram have no clue how fast (or not) it is, features matter, and features create weight. And a single peformance number (wherever you got those) don't mean squat. Motortrend for example, has the 5.3 at 6.4 and 6.6 depending on trim. Guess what, the trim effects performance, because weight. So it's funny that you're bagging on the hemi when it's obvious the Ram has a disadvantageous due to gear count and weight.

I have a very well equipped big horn with 1750 pounds of payload. There are plenty of nearly loaded limiteds with 1200 pounds. Keep in mind that a panoramic sunroof, etorque + battery, ram boxes, air suspension etc all are very heavy features, and none of those are available on your max Denali. So yes, the Ram is better equipped, but I don't see how they can trim some fat. People want the massive sunroof, you can't have your cake and eat it.

The Hemi is down 2 gears compared to the 5.3, and the Ram is also a heavier truck. Lets compare apples to apples shall we? There are enough videos on youtube to show the 5.7 "hanging" with the 6.2, when both are running 8 or 6 gears, such as this one (and keep in mind the substantial difference in torque). I'm no hemi fan girl, but I own one, and it is very capable. Absolutely nothing wrong with its performance, and when comparing apples to apples (similar weight trucks, close gear ratios, same gear count) the hemi will finish in between the 5.3 and 6.2, just like it should based on the power numbers. There is nothing wrong with any of those 3 engines, and I'd be happy with any of them. Ford Turbo's, well, I'll pass on those. But to the OP; you're just going to swap one set of problems for another. Ram is not perfect either, I own one and love it, but if pushed I could come up with a similar list. I have to disable MDS every time I get in. Unconnect refused to turn on for me once in the 1.5 years I owned it, my brakes squeal in reverse on humid days (fix is available but haven't had it done yet). Why do you swap trucks so often? Maybe I'm an odd duck, but I do sort of form a one-way bond with my vehicles which is kind of hard when you swap them every year. Just chill, enjoy your RST, and don't fret when a machine is less than perfect.

Putting in aftermarket shocks is a lot cheaper than losing your shirt trading for a new truck.

As the owner of a Big Horn, welcome to the dark side! You'll be back here though from time to time, like me, creeping around, just checking out what the competition is doing. ?

Really?? That was long enough to know I'd never want a truck that sounded as shitty as a teenager's ricer.

I have a different truck than you, but tried out sumo springs to help with towing my 23' TT. Installed the springs and discovered that they definitely change the unloaded ride quality, which is something I was not prepared to sacrifice. I hooked up my trailer to my WDH, and truck still had a bit of rake to it, so springs helped with that. When testing the truck during a fairly windy day, I was blown all over the road. Ended up dialing in the WDH several times. I use the Husky centerline WDH, and the bars absolutely need to sit perfectly level on the brackets that provide tension to the bars, since the the bar sitting flat gives the most surface area for the bars to rub over the bracket to provide friction. If the bar is slightly on an angle, then the edge of bracket is the only spot that provides friction/sway control. Long story short; sumo springs did not help with sway control in any way (which seems obvious, but they do claim that it should help in this area). Dialing in the WDH is what fixed my issue, and the sumo springs have been returned. My truck sits level now without them, I can live with that.

You can do a lot of repairs for the price of a Land Cruiser.

This quote from you is what I'm refering to: All I'm saying, is that "whose T1" is not fair; it has to be a T1 that you have been driving in order to compare it to your 29 mpg. I didn't say 2019's could match or exceed your current Pepper, just that in order to make a fair comparison, the test has to be conducted by the same person on the same roads under the same usage... and it has to be a similarly equipped truck, because yours is stripped down so far it looks like it escaped the factory on lunch break. Weight kills MPG. The rest of your post is just wandering in circles, I ain't arguing against any of that whatsoever; just that you need to compare apples to apples.

Again you missed my point. I knew you'd try and drag me down into the weeds with a discussion on hypermiling. Let's stay focused here. My point, very clearly stated, was that you can't compare you driving your truck vs another driver driving their truck, and then say your truck is so much more efficient. Read the rest of my post above yours, not going to type it out again. And enjoy your dinner ?

Changing the gear ratio is completely irrelevant (because it has the same effect on both a 4/6 and a 10 speed; it will give more power to each gear, (multiplies torque) and less MPG in the final gear (revs are higher now then they were before), so it doesn't change anything as far as 4 vs 10 gears goes) Moving from a 4/6 to a 10 speed is about both power and efficiency. It's both. You're not thinking this through. When is a truck most efficient? Low rpms. So you want to always be as low as possible in the RPMs, while making "just enough" power to do the job. More gears means when you downshift for slightly more power, you can downshift to a lower RPM (with 10 gears) than you can with a 4/6 speed, without having to rev way up. If you have a 4 speed, a downshift jumps way up in the rpm range. With a 10 speed, a single downshift is just a few hundred (maybe 400) rpms, that might be all you need to do to make the power you need, so therefore any higher than that is wasteful and inefficient. When is a truck making most power? High up, usually around 5000+ rpms. Under WOT (ie needing max power) having more gears allows you to keep your revs as close as possible to that single peak HP spot. Did you watch the Engineering Explained YouTube videos on CVT's? You should watch them. CVT's are the ultimate transmission for both power and efficiency. Under WOT, it holds your RPMS at peak HP, with no transmission shifting dips. Under coasting/steady driving, it keeps your RPM's as low as possible, just enough to do the job and without revving higher than needed. A 30 speed transmission would be pretty much identical to CVT; 1 gear for every 170 rpms. We don't have that. 20 speeds would be almost as good; 1 gear for every 260 rpms, don't have that either. 10 speeds is next best, 1 gear for every 520 rpms, we do have that. 8 is worse, 6 is even worse, and 4 is absolutely dismal (1 gear for every 1300 rpms).

No need to shout. You posted above: Driving 55 is definitely hypermiling in most people's books, as is "minimizing rolling resistance". The point is, you're taking pains to get the most mpg out of your truck. Most people don't, so for a true apples to apples comparison (and this is my main point, not whether you're hypermiling or not): You have to drive your current truck, and you have to drive a new 2019, drive them the same way, at the same speed, on the same roads, in the same conditions; then compare. Saying you get X while other users get Y, does not mean their truck is necessarily worse (or far worse), much of your gains in mpg is due to your driving style and usage and because you're driving what is basically a stripped down shell.

The 2.7 is a fascinating motor. I don't know whether to love it or run from it, just not been around long enough. But yeah, if the longevity holds out, that might be my next truck. Apparently it's supposed to be just as strong as modern "light diesels", and they designed/tuned it for truck duty right from the start. It is very close 0-60 to the 5.3, but passing power is not as good there due to turbo needing to spool up.

But to be fair, you admit to doing various hypermiling techniques, so a fair test would be you with your same techniques/driving style/truck weight in a 5.3. (because you also have a really basic truck, average 2019 is going to be probably couple hundred pounds heavier than yours). Can't really compare your mpg vs other users. There was one user on this forum a year ago ("wiggle-something-or-other" was his id) when I was about to buy one, who claimed he got 27 mpg in the new 2019's with a 5.3/8 speed. I doubt it, but who knows.

Right, so now the 4.3 and the 5.3 are cruising on a rural road at 55 mph. 5.3 is doing it's thing, reduced cylinders. The 4.3 is on 6. Slight hill shows up, the 5.3 scoots back up to 8 cylinders, the 4.3 has to downshift. So yes at that point RPMs are higher than the 5.3, but it's still using only 6 cylinders instead of 8. Less gas there? Who really knows. You're thought is that the 4.3 will use more gas, and possibly so; but if that 4.3 had 10 gears, like the 5.3, the advantage would only swing more and more in favour of the 4.3, because the jump it needs to downshift too, can be as short as possible (which I see you do agree with, so that's great). Already now with a 6 speed (4.3 uses 6, does it not? Maybe it's up to 8 now, I haven't been keeping up to date) there is some debate, which gets better mileage; that debate will only swing further and further in favour of the 4.3 if had another 4 gears to work with. So I do think the 5.3 has more of an advantage due to transmission gears, than it does due to cylinder deactivation. I can add another data point and say that in the Ram with the MDS, it does next to nothing in terms of fuel savings. I've gotten 25 mpg with MDS disabled, and when I do allow it to operate it is barely active, so even the bigger hemi needs to use 8 cylinders the vast majority of the time. Apples to oranges of course, my big horn is probably heavier than the average LT/SLE as well, but still. Anyway, the 4.3 would look far better up against the 5.3 than it does now, if they were both using the 10 speed.

Read my first post; my claim is that the 4.3 v6 suffers from a poor transmission, and bumping that up to 10 speed would be a "game changer". I'm not comparing two engines, I'm comparing 4.3 with a 6 speed vs a 4.3 with a 10, and how much better that 4.3 would be with a 10 instead.

Completely incorrect. Your engine has a small range where it is making peak power (say for example, 5500 RPMs). If you have 4 gears in your truck, the second you upshift you drop out of your power band and "whomp", there goes your power. If you have 10 gears, each shift drops you from 5600 to 5200, keeping you right in your peak range. The less gears you have, the more you drop between shifts. Again, go watch this on YouTube, it's explained very easily using charts, math and whiteboards.

Huh? More gears = more opportunity to have the lowest possible RPMs, while still delivering the requested power. If it needs to downshift because it can't maintain enough power in the current gear, then it will downshift to a lesser RPM (with 10 gears) than it would have if there were only 6 or 8 gears. Less gears = higher jumps in RPM. Think in extremes, and it becomes very clear. What is better, a 2 speed gear box, or a CVT? The CVT, because it has infinite gears. Whatever speed you are driving at, whatever power you require at that speed, the CVT will optimize it for you. The 10 speed is closer to "infinite gears" than a 6 or an 8. I suggest you watch "Engineering Explained" on YouTube who has done multiple videos on this. 10 speed all the way brother.

You're definitely wrong. More gears = more chance to keep the engine in optimal range for power + effiency. Couldn't care less about the Ford, they suck all around anyway. I owned a Jeep GC, 2012 with the 3.6 pentastar and a 5 speed mercedes tranny. Total dog. Same engine + jeep 2 years newer with an 8 speed ZF and the thing just came to life. Ram 2500 6.4 hemi with a 6 speed, total dog. They dropped the 8 speed ZF in it, transformed it completely, she's a fast girl now. You have 10 speeds, nothing wrong with downshifting. That's the whole point, but when you have more gears, it needs to downshift to a lesser RPM than a 6 or 8 speed would make it downshift to. You're right it's not rocket science, so how do you get something so simple so wrong? ?

Don't be so sure about that today; the v8 is running on reduced cylinders quite often, so probably 4 or 6 while on rural/freeway. The biggest issue I have with the 4.3 is typical GM BS; they give you the crummiest transmission available, and leave the 10 speed for the more powerful engines, when in fact, those engines need the 10 gears less than the 4.3 does. Just like they do in the HD world; the gas gets a 6 speed when it really needs 10, and the diesel gets 10 when it can probably work just as well on 6 or 8. Ford and Ram are far better in this respect, and it's one of the reasons why I refused to buy a GMC this time around. Drop the same 10 speed in a truck with the 4.3 and I bet the game changes, fast.

The Laramie Longhorn is actually the worst offender that way. The limited is better. But yeah, the stupid ram's head is part of the "brand", and I don't mean brand as in "Ram", I mean "target audience", rednecks, cowboys, macho's etc., I hate it with a passion. Not everybody who buys a Ram fits that description, some just want a truck and the pricing is right, but Ram seems to attract that particular group of people far more than either Ford of GM/Chevy. The 2019 refresh has done a lot in some ways to tone it down. The exterior is more classy than before, but then you still get that oversized ram horn (which grew in physical size). Thankfully my Big Horn is quite civil that way, the price was just too good to pass up. But I won't say I haven't been tempted more than once to grab a chisel and gut the horns off of my steering wheel, it's an abomination.

You can look into the sumo springs instead of running air bags. They are maintenance free and replace the bump stops. They are a progressive "spring", so the more they compress down the more work they do to keep you level.

I think most people like to jump on the bandwagon and hate on the Chevy HD just because that's the in thing to do. It's not "handsome", but it looks tough and rugged, and far better in person. I mean scroll a couple posts up and look at the stuff they were making 50-70 years ago, it was considered a great truck back then. Can you imagine that design style as a 2020 truck? It would get laughed to death. I would definitely consider a Chevy HD from an exterior perspective. The fact that the gasser is only at 6 gears is a complete and total deal killer, and that is the real WTF if you ask me. Nobody is selling 6 gear trannys anymore, except the cummins, but at least there you get 1000 pounds of torque to help out. That new gas engine desperately needs the 10 speed if chevy wants to compete against Ford's massive 7.3, and even Ram 6.4 which is at 8 gears now. Chevy and GMC need to stop futzing around with those old school trannies and do like Ford; 10 speed across the board. They need to do this like yesterday, but no they're just trying to play games and push people into upper trims.

Chevy is generally a little cheaper for the same truck, at least in my area. I think both can look stunning, just depends on trim and how they are spec'ed out. I don't get the "oh noes, the chevy looks like a camaro" comments. For a start, that doesn't mean it's bad, most brands have a design language that carries through into most/all of their models. And if you look hard enough and have enough of an axe to grind, you can find similarities between many models and brands. Chevy - Camaro GMC - Ford Ram - Toyota Tundra Nissan Titan - yesterdays leftovers.

The GMC has improved in this image; the grill is less in your face, the rims are still too obnoxious but better. The chevy looks "off" here. It's missing smoked windows, and has no wheel well liners or running boards, all of which immensely improves the appearance of any truck.