New tow vehicle.

lorenbennett

lorenbennett

New Member
Nov 17, 2006
429
Ft. Mohave, Arizona
Just had to let ever one know about our newest addition to the family.
After a road trip to Lake Powell from Bullhead city pulling 2003 260 da with 2005 dodge ram 1500 with hemi, I decided even with all the extra improvements to the truck I just did not enjoy the 6 mpg or the light weight feeling. So I got a great deal in 05 on that truck. Went back to the dealer and said Its not what we need and walked out with a 06 2500 megacab with the cummins. Look out lake powell. :smt038
 
Congratulations! I have been lusting over one of those for a while now, but not sure I could be happy with the short bed. But the large cab sure is nice, and you will have to remember the boat is back there! Ought to double your mileage.

Did you get the automatic or stick?
 
Congratulations you will have a huge grin on your face when you hook up on that 260 and listen to that turbo spool up. No problem for Mr Cummins.

That cab is huge and can haul the entire family and all the required gear for any trip. The kids will have plenty of room and no one will be touching or hitting. That cab is huge.

My biggest load so far with the same rig as yours was 18000 scaled plus the truck, gross was about 25K. No problem. Yes this is a tad bit over the recommended gross but... I usually pull about 8000 or so and get about 13 mpg when pulling the boat 70mph. Combined driving is 17.7 according to the overhead.

You do need to make one easy modification to your truck for your enjoyment. Pull the fuse to the radio. Listening to Mr Cummins is music to the ears.

Have a great day

Paul
2006 MegaCab 3.73 Automatic
 
SearayPaul said:
Congratulations you will have a huge grin on your face when you hook up on that 260 and listen to that turbo spool up. No problem for Mr Cummins.
Click to expand...

I agree! I have had my truck for 5 years, and I am still surprised when I hook up to something new and pull away. Your truck will max out the boost pressure somewhere in the low to mid 20 psi range, I think. This is about 1.5 atmospheres. So instead of breathing 5.9 liters, it is breathing 2.5 times that, nearly 15 liters, with a 20:1 compression ratio to start with. That spells power when the turbo spools up.

I normally get about 20 MPG in the summer unloaded, and it drops 1 or 2 in the winter. I get about 12 to 13 pulling the 270 DA at 60 to 65.

You're gonna love it.

Dave
 
Dave M

Automatic, got bigger truck so I could sleep on longer trips with wife driving. LOL Hey guys on the 1500 I used a "super Spring" to help with the load. Will that still be needed? I pulled it off the other truck before trade in. I use a WD hitch already. Thanks. :smt038
 
That will depend on how much tongue weight that you have and how much you have in the bed. The rear suspension is pretty tuff in these trucks. Last weekend when I ran to the dump I had about 1800 in the bed, I do not have the wt ticket at the moment, and the truck was not squating at all.

Your 260 should not have enough tongue weight to cause you any problems. Ten percent or so is about where you should be. If you are much over or under the 10 percent have the dealer reconfigure your trailer. With my 18k load I knew it was back there and the rear was lower than usual but there were no control issues.

Have a great day

Paul
 
You will find a drastic difference between your previous 1500 and your new 2500. Completely different truck even though they make them look similar. We tow our 280DA.... with twins, generator... and pretty much everything else you can order on the boat with our 2000 2500 cummins. The only thing we had to change was the poorly rated "Class IV" hitch that Dodge attached to their trucks it was only 5k weight carrying and 10k with weight distribution. I do not know the rating of the hitch they bolt to the 2006's.... you may want to check. The reason I mention this is that you may find you are not insured if pulling a trailer which exceeds the weight rating of any of the components you are pulling it with (especially in an accident situation). I purchased a 15k pound weight carrying (16k weigh distributing) Putnam Class V XDR receiver, ball mount, and ball. I do not fool with the weight distribution equipment as the tongue weight is minimal for this truck thus no "ball dip" and the boat is very balanced left to right (port to strbrd). The new receiver, mount, and ball easily exceed the weight we carry in a weight carrying configuration. This config pulls quite nicely.

The megacab is a fantastic truck and the 2006 models still carry the well tested 5.9L cummins. The 2007's built after 1/1/2007 will have the new 6.7 with fun new emissions equipment like a soot catch.. EGR.... I will let someone else test that for a few years.... but this has nothing to do with boats... so I am slapping myself back to boats.

Huge congrats!! I think you will enjoy pulling your 260 with the diesel. The extra torque they are making with the 2006 5.9L is impressive.

71473788-S.jpg
 
280 SeaRay said:
The megacab is a fantastic truck and the 2006 models still carry the well tested 5.9L cummins. The 2007's built after 1/1/2007 will have the new 6.7 with fun new emissions equipment like a soot catch.. EGR.... I will let someone else test that for a few years.... but this has nothing to do with boats... so I am slapping myself back to boats.

71473788-S.jpg
Click to expand...
2800 SeaRay, I talked to the dealer today, and they claim that only the chassis-cab model for 2007 will use the larger engine and the soot catcher box. They state the current 5.9 L engine that is now in the 2007 model meets the requirement for soot that takes effect Jan 1. So it may still be safe to buy a Megacab to pull ones boat after Jan 1 2007.
 
While I can't say to much in your choice of Trucks, :wink: You will be very happy in the 2500. :grin: Good going. :thumbsup:
 
Just wanted to update everyone. Unloaded the first 500 miles are giving me 17mpg around town and 21mpg las vegas and back. Huge difference climbing the hills. No change in speed at all in the hills. :smt038 :smt038
 
That's a sweet truck! And the huge cab is a big bonus. Now if Dodge will start making a cab as large as the Ford F250/F350 crew cabs, we'd be in business!
 
slack250 said:
That's a sweet truck! And the huge cab is a big bonus. Now if Dodge will start making a cab as large as the Ford F250/F350 crew cabs, we'd be in business!
Click to expand...

He has the Mega cab. It is already bigger than the Ford crew cab. So big you can only get it in the short box though. :smt089
 
lorenbennett said:
Just wanted to update everyone. Unloaded the first 500 miles are giving me 17mpg around town and 21mpg las vegas and back. Huge difference climbing the hills. No change in speed at all in the hills. :smt038 :smt038
Click to expand...

I am curious what speed you are travelling to Vegas and back and getting 21 MPG? It took me about 15K or 20K miles for mine to get broken in before I could get over 20 at 65 MPH or so. That is really good for a new truck. I am glad to hear that the mileage is still up there on the new ones.

You shouldn't see a difference climbing the hills. :grin: Running normally without boost, the engine has about a 20:1 compression ratio, so the 5.9 is breathing the same volume of air at 2000 RPM as a gas engine would at 4000 RPM. Or is you compare them both at 2000, then the Cummins can flow twice the air as a gas engine, equivalent of about 11.5 liters.

And when you put your boat on it and really put a load on, the turbo will spool up, and your boost can get into the low 20's. That more than doubles the air flow again, giving an equivalent air displacement of over 22 liters. :thumbsup: They say a turbo diesel engine is just a big air pump.

I think you are making me jealous. Mine is 5 years old now, and does not have the mega cab.
 
Yea, your right. I guess I didn't realize just how big the Mega Cab really was!

2007 Dodge Ram MC * 2007 Ford F-250 CC
Front Headroom 40.8 in. * 41.3 in.
Rear Headroom 40.5 in. * 40.8 in.
Rear Leg Room 44.2 in. * 41.7 in.
Weight 6529 lbs. * 5927 lbs.
MSRP $35,490 * $31,520

:huh:
 
OK... I love my truck... but 21 mpg?? thats sweet! :thumbsup:
Hopefully mine will get a bit more once its broken in good. It's nice not to see any differnce between pulling and w/o tho.
 
I had the cruise control set at 68. There a couple of 6 or 7 percent grades leaving laughlin up to searchlight. Goes from 450 feet to around 2500 feet elevation in 10 miles. Could hear a deepening sound that got louder as I started up the hill. Kinda cool. Hope to put boat on it this weekend. We don't winterize here either and she got dirty the other day when a storm came through and the cover came off so down to a bath. Will let you all know how that goes. :smt038
 
My Mega Cab makes 20 mpg if you keep the tach below 2000 and no load. At 2000 and above mileage decreases. I do not worry about fuel milage. This truck was bought to work. Going up that grade was no big deal. Try 7 percent with the 260 hooked up and tells us about your experience. You may need to tow that grade several times just for fun.

Dave I believe the injectors are bigger in the 06 model and they have programed the fuel management program accordingly. If your not using Mr Cummin's power they meter in the fuel accordingly. Need the power and the fuel is there along with boost. Very simplistic explanation but everyone can get the idea.

Have a great day

Paul
 
If anybody wants to know how to build more boost out of their Cummins, let me know. I will warn you now, it is not for the faint of heart (in other words, if it is still under warranty, don't touch it). And I am sure that some of the diesel guys here will have heart failure if they hear what can be done, but it works.
 
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