2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Review - Towing an Enclosed Trailer, Is It Enough? 

I just bought mine for this very reason! Amazing mpg!

That pretty impressive, I’m in Chesterfield and had to fill up a couple of times in my wife’s traverse when I went last time.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed!

Glad you enjoyed!

Thanks boo

It can get 33 ish mpg highway so…. Better mpg than a Power Wagon 😂

Thanks! 👍

Same here. I have been eyeing one of these for almost 2 years now and the price increase is ridiculous. Considering a “classic” model 2016-2018 just because the new prices are so horrible.

Glad you enjoyed! And yep, you clocked me at One Loudoun. The truck was a manufacturer press vehicle that we had for a week to review, hence the Michigan tags.

They're really nice - ventilated rear seats, even! We'd spec ours differently (a Laramie trim, to start) but the impression of quality trickles down to lower trim levels. Buttons and switches move with a weight and purpose. Very, very nicely done.

Glad you are loving yours! Patriot Blue is a fantastic color, especially on the Limited.

@@OutMotorsports yeah and not to mention I had a 2014 f150 limited back in high school in blue jeans metallic. Gorgeous truck but I'm starting to like the ram better. Not to mention the best fuel mileage too because well powered by ECODIESEL.

Glad you enjoyed - be sure to subscribe!

Glad you enjoyed and you're liking your Rebel! The 5.7 is a great engine but it's pretty thirsty, loaded or not.

Lucky you. The hemi has a low oil pressure problem. Cam and lifters go bad. Engine block oil passages are to blame. A high pressure oil pump from melling or milodon is necessary. My brother is going thru this problem. Seen many have this problem.

Thanks - we're using "corporate" in the sense that it's installed in basically everything FCA sells at this point. Corporate standard if not a Chrysler design, which, as you mention... is not a bad thing.

ZF transmissions are made in Austria design technology and production as well.

@@MultiPartizan1 Chrysler makes the ZF 8HPxx transmissions under license in the USA now and brands them "TorqueFlite 8" or 850RE in some models. But it is still a 3rd party (ZF) design, which has a better track record than the 68RFE and other Chrysler designs from everything I've read.

It does an okay job, though cruise control + towing is not always the best idea. Sometimes, though. Ford still wins on downshift logic when in Tow/Haul mode.

@@OutMotorsports I drive for a living and always use cruise control. Especially with a trailer

We can sure ask! It depends on what is available locally at the time.

Smaller wheels with a taller sidewall on the tire would absolutely help the ride quality. If there was a same-year Ram 1500 that came with a 17 or 18" wheel, look to those wheels/tire sizes. At 144k, though, your shocks/struts are also 100% tired and ready to be replaced.

I have a 2019 Longhorn with 20” rims. I find the ride fantastic. Got the BF duratracks for tires. These tires are a bit of a rougher ride but still, rides nice and smooth. IMO.. cheers

Indeed. Cost of buy-in plus overall ownership cost doesn't make a ton of sense compared to many modern gas engines... though that diesel sound is sure nice sometimes. But, so is the Hemi and now, the Hurricane twin-turbo inline six that Stellantis has is a phenomenal towing engine. We drove it in a Grand Wagoneer: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yi5MyXFKoqQ.html

New trucks are all SO expensive! Worth keeping in mind, though, that you can often get pretty big rebates from the domestic brands, and lower trims can be optioned up like a higher trim. So if Ram is offering a big rebate on a Laramie, it may be more cost-effective to get a "Laramie with all the stuff" and take the rebate vs buying a Limited or Longhorn or whatever.

A little late but they're non functional unfortunately.

It was delivered to us with a full tank and barely moved the needle while we had it. We put about 350 miles on the truck, most of that towing, and might have seen the gauge move a few percentage points, maybe. We can ask the fleet company how often they're putting DEF in it.

This one had the 3.92 gears.

This 1500 EcoDiesel would do it, but at 24' length, you'd have a better time with a 2500. Beefier chassis will help with the "sail in the wind" effects of a bigger enclosed trailer. Weight-wise, you'll likely want either engine offered in the 2500 (6.4L Hemi gas V8 or 6.7L Cummins diesel) for easier acceleration. We reviewed a Cummins-powered Ram 2500 at the start of the year: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-36k4tscZV9I.html

If you like to tow the enclosed car hauler at 80 mph get the 2500 especially if fuel economy isn’t a bigger deal to you. If you spend your tow time at 65-70 you will like the ED and the money saved at every fill up. Skip the 22” wheels get the TBC, 3.92, & tow mirrors. If over 5,000 pounds Mfgrs recommend using a WDH. Get one with built in sway control. Cat scale it & adjust loading to replace your unloaded steer weight then mark where your car should set in the trailer. Now you should always have a safe stable tow. You can additionally benefit from air bags or Sumo neoprene springs if you don’t like air. I transport TTs & boats commercially for the Mfgrs with my fuel efficient 2014 Ecodiesel 730,000 miles. Set up properly 1/2 ton diesels can be great tow vehicles up to 8k after which you would be better served by a HD truck.

@@vernlochtefeld1626 Most trailer tires are rated at 65mph max. I don’t understand why people tow anything at 80mph. I hear a lot of people bitch about blow outs on travel trailers but I always see them towing at 75mph plus. It’s their own damn fault not the tire.

@@vernlochtefeld1626 with 730,000 miles on your truck, have you had any major problems? I'm on the fence about choosing between a 2500 or the 1500 diesel. I won't be using it for transporting trailers but I do have a tt that weighs 7500 lbs. I've got a 3500 Silverado with the 6.0 gas and it doesn't like pulling it at all.

@@jasonpruett360The EGR cooler developed an internal leak leaking coolant into the exhaust and out the pipes. This had me running low on coolant as there was never a puddle plus the coolant degas tank is pressurized so it only goes so low while the coolant in the motor continues to drop. The low coolant eventually caused it to kill a water pump & push a head gasket. That was at 371,000 miles. Now FCA has a warranty replacement EGR cooler to resolve it. Or people with an aftermarket tune can do an EGR cooler delete kit. The 14 thru 19s suffer from emissions tuning & emissions problems since the government AEM detune. Nothing investing $900 in an aftermarket motor & trans tune combo that comes with tool to swap back & forth for dealerships service visits doesn’t fully address & permanently resolve. Plus picking up power mileage and an engine brake for an even better tuning truck. Great truck after this investment. Unfortunately it’s the over regulated world we have voted upon ourselves fortunately the aftermarket has answered the call.

2WD, 4WD Auto is best left to randomly changing road conditions. We just drove the truck in the dry so no need for anything but RWD.

Gearing on this one was 3.92.

Hey Rean, the dashboard claimed 14.5 MPG with the enclosed trailer, which should be fairly accurate. Naturally-aspirated V8s with this same trailer and load (including Ram's own 5.7 Hemi) will do about 10-10.5 MPG by comparison.

Indeed. Missed that on the window sticker they gave us - the 22s are a part of the Black Appearance Package, though.

@@OutMotorsports You should have used the overhead camera monitoring when you did your turn, the wheels would not have gotten curbed.

That's great, right up until you have any potential powertrain issue and a voided powertrain warranty thanks to emissions deletion. Be careful!

20’ box, 4’ v-nose. 27’ hitch to tail lights.

Not borrowed from a dealership, this was a week-long loan directly from FCA/Ram corporate for the sake of this review.

Gap, about four years ago. 7” inseam if you’re tall.

@@OutMotorsports thanks! I am far from tall but I will figure it out

Sorry to hear about the issues on your 2018! That sounds really frustrating, being stranded is the worst. Ram actually introduced a new EcoDiesel engine (they call it "gen 3") when they launched these "DT" generation 1500 trucks for 2020. Your 2018 Ram 1500 would have been a DS-generation truck with the gen-2 EcoDiesel. Here's hoping the EGR has been improved on the Gen 3 - EGR is something that every manufacturer has seemed to struggle with...

@@OutMotorsports Great reply. Yes, they have a low and high pressure EGR now, so hopefully that will help.

If it were ours, we'd avoid the 22s in general! But always good to remember that factory rubber is not *always* the best choice. So much can be changed/alleviated with different tires.

What gear ratio makes more of a difference. And the EPA rating fails to state what speed they test at for the highway rating. Also with the Ecodiesel. The highway fuel economy can be 5mpg higher after 20k miles. I have a 2016 Ram 1500 Tradesman Quadcab 4wd Ecodiesel 3.92 ratio. The 3.55 and 3.21 behave quite different.

I just bought it so it has 4 option and buttons behind the steering wheel to choose from. 2wd which is default and then 4wd auto and the 4wd high and 2wd low for off reading.

Towing was something like 13? It’s been a while but 12-13 sticks out (compared to 9-10 with a similar gasoline powered V8 truck). Unloaded was low to mid 20s highway. We think.

@@OutMotorsports Was this constant mpg? Were you following the jump in mpg when maintaining speed on hills? Can the 3.0L diesel keep the truck at speed with low rpm like a 2500 does?

According to the official towing guide from Ram, the Hemi V8 is the way to get the highest towing capacity. Tow ratings will always be a tiny bit higher on 2WD trucks as they have more room in their payload thanks to no extra weight of the 4WD system to carry around. This guide is for the 2021 Ram 1500s but should not be markedly different from 2020: www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html

@@OutMotorsports Interesting, I have the 2021 1500 ecodiesel 2wd bighorn am I incorrect on the 12600 towing cap? It’s got the towing/load package with the class IV hitch

Yes, the highest number you can spec a 2021 2WD EcoDiesel Big Horn to on that tool is 10,040 lbs, and that assumes the 3.92 axle ratio. If you have a 3.21 rear end, it goes down to 8,340 lbs. Maximum payload for the truck that is rated to pull 10,040 lbs is listed at 1,810 lbs. You can look at your payload sticker (driver's door jamb, will have a "weight of passengers and cargo to not exceed......" sentence which is your payload number) and that'll help figure out what your actual tow rating is.

@@OutMotorsports thanks for the tips, I’ve got the 3.92

The eco diesel was designed for fuel economy

A 7” inseam from Gap is hardly short, embrace your body girl

I see a truck here not the shorts.

Chevy Chase called...

A lot of buyers seem to love them!

Would you have preferred 'Starbies' instead?

Lol

It's not a race, but being able to safely pull out and pass another car or truck is absolutely a concern with any tow vehicle.

@@OutMotorsports I you have to “pull out and pass another car or truck” while towing a trailer you aren’t planning ahead with your driving like you should be.

@@rwhipple73 Okay.

😂🤣😂🤣

You mean the trailer in the video's thumbnail? That's the trailer we pulled starting at 7:20 in the video. It's an aluminum-construction 20' box with 4' V-nose, weighing in around 6500 lbs with a car loaded up (in this case, a '98 Volvo S70) and tools/wheels/tires. It towed the trailer well from a stability perspective, though power once on the move was a bit lacking as the EcoDiesel only makes ~280 crank HP and that's just not enough to pull off a highway-speed pass. But no, the truck did not "roll over and die" with this trailer, it did quite well.

The difference is this truck exists! F-150 EV and Rivian R1T will also exist soon, whereas Tesla Cybertruck is more or less vaporware.

So you’re driving a Congo Car. How many children did it take digging cobalt with their hands to make your car? Climate Change is the biggest scam in history and EV’s are right behind it.

@@OutMotorsports try towing your trailer more than 100 miles with an electric truck. You will be trading it in for the diesel.