( https://www.weigh-safe.com/TFL ) Get the most capable, smartest, and safest hitches at Weigh Safe! ( https://www.johnsonautoplaza.com/ ) Thanks to our friends at Johnson Auto Plaza in Brighton, CO for providing both Ram 2500 trucks for us to evaluate. Check out their huge inventory at the link! ( https://www.completetrailersco.com/ ) Thanks to our friends at Complete Trailers in Brighton, CO for supplying the trailers used in this MPG test! ( https://www.allTFL.com ) Check out our new spot to find ALL our TFLstudios content, from news to videos and our podcasts! Which truck really offers the best MPG and value for towing, especially with today's higher fuel prices? We find out in this Ram Hemi vs. Cummins test on the Denver 100 MPG loop! ( http://www.patreon.com/tflcar ) Visit our Patreon page to support the TFL team! Watch more videos from TFL Studios: The Fast Lane Truck ( https://www.youtube.com/tfltruck ) The Fast Lane Car ( https://www.youtube.com/tflcar ) TFLoffroad ( https://www.youtube.com/tfloffroad ) TFLbike ( https://www.youtube.com/tflbike ) TFLnow ( https://www.youtube.com/tflnow ) TFLclassics ( http://www.youtube.com/tflclassics ) TFLtalk (https://www.youtube.com/tfltalk ) TFL Podcasts: TFL Car Chat Podcast ( https://redcircle.com/shows/tfltalk-car-podcast ) TFL Talkin' Trucks Podcast ( https://redcircle.com/shows/tfl-talking-trucks-podcast ) Carish Podcast ( https://redcircle.com/shows/carish-podcast ) #ram #truck #review TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 0:43 Filling Up 2:43 Starting the Denver 100 - 2026 Ram 2500 Cummins (Big Horn) 5:30 More on the 6.7L Cummins (Updated for 2026!) 6:15 Diesel MPG Loop Continued 8:25 Trailers and Hitches (Weigh Safe/Complete Trailers) 10:39 Payload info for 2026 Ram 2500 (Cummins) 11:05 Johnson Auto Plaza (Find your next Ram truck!) 11:20 More on the Ram 2500 Cummins 13:41 Switching to the Ram 2500 Hemi (Warlock) 17:00 Under the Hood (6.4L Hemi V8) 17:55 Gas MPG Loop Continued 21:03 Hemi Gas V8 Results 22:25 Cummins Diesel I6 Results 24:50 So...Which One is Best to Buy? Closing Thoughts
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I have a 2016 3500 cummins and my daughter just bought a 3500 6.4 hemi. Diesel in Virginia is $1.75 to $2 more than regular 87. I have a 5th wheel camper that weighs 15,500 loaded and have towed it with both trucks. Yes the cummins doesn't work as hard but I was blown away by how well the hemi did. You would have to tow a lot of miles to just break even. The thing is the hemi doesn't have all the unreliable emissions equipment
You should also do the Def cost figured in there. Which would be a more accurate cost per cost of driving the two.
I have a Bighorn 2500 with the Hemi. I tow quite a bit but also drive unloaded quite a bit. The price of diesel here and the maintenance costs in addition to the extra $12k up front cost made the Cummins too expensive for me
You pretty much proved how I feel about diesel verses gas. I have had both in a 2500 and 3500 trucks. Drivability is so much better with a diesel. But the extra cost of engine and fuel and as diesel ages, you start to get into DEF issues. Unless the bulk of your driving is towing, it just not worth it, IMHO.
Diesels have the use case to saving time since you don't need to stop for fuel as much, but this really shows that unless you have a business where all you do is haul heavy stuff, you're better off getting the gasser.
You also discounted the tires but the tires could make up to a 2 mpg difference when you run aggressive offroad tires.
Just got rid of my gmc 1500 with the diesel for the ram 2500 with the hemi. I got so sick of the diesel issues... I tow a 7000lb camper once a month so the hemi made the most sense to me for my case
I would love to see the same comparison with the current Ford models.
Id love to see this with the 3.0 Diesel vs the gas version in the 1500 trucks! I absolutely loved this comparison for the Heavy Duty though! You guys are awesome!
Gas is $3.37 and diesel is $5.50 where I live in southern Indiana. Shocking to see gas and diesel only off by 60¢
I have towed with both an Ecoboost, 7K pounds, and F350, F450 diesels with 13K, they all got the same fuel economy. The bigger tank on the Diesel is what made it less of an issue, though the engine braking on the diesels far exceeds the gas! Also the Ecoboost gets HOT running the IKE, the Diesel doesn't care. Those two factors alone, the engine braking and effortless towing is why I prefer the diesel.
The diesel shop I work at here in the Midwest we constantly have the suburban husbands buying brand new diesel trucks and high school guys who buy the buckets with 400,000+ miles coming in the shop wanting tunes, deletes, repairs and then get all wound up about the price when I give them a quote. Mind you when I ask what they are using the truck for so we can tune it for the use case 9 times out of 10 they just want it to sound good or roll coal. Of course we get the need more power to pull a trailer a few times a year. A lot of us at the shop have old diesel trucks at home (mostly forever projects) cause this is what do for a living and was a hobby before that but if you look in the parking lot nearly everyone dailies a sedan, minivan, or half ton gas truck.
ULSD came into use in 2007. It's a by-product of gasoline, therefore less expensive to make. The problem is in additives and that is multiplied further due to regulations. Adding the Diesel Particulate Filter is an EXTREME fuel waste. It's even worse on the engine than no load to full load impo. We've gotten used to wasting fuel and money at the behest of our moronic government.
Maybe tires and suspension were responsible for the sway on the Hemi? Plus those aggressive tires don't help with fuel economy. Great video!
Should do the same test but with a little more weight in the trailer
Back in the day diesel was cheaper by a lot… then the first gen Cummins came out and we never looked back
Always enjoy the truck videos. Can you guys do a video comparing this Hemi to the Godzilla? Both being 2025-2026 model years. I purchased the 2025 Ford F250 Tremor 7.3 Godzilla and I would love to know how they compare. Thank you
Our truck camper rig weighs 19,020 lbs. fully loaded. Obviously with that kind of weight our F550 had the 6.7 Powerstroke with 4.30 gearing. Truck is a 2024. We have the super single conversion with 41.25" military tires. We get anywhere between about 10.5 to 12.3 on the highway depending upon wind and various highway factors. Also, due to the military tires carring all that weight, we keep our highway speed to 62mph. We chose the diesel because I believe the diesel will handle that heavy load day in and out much better than any current gasser on the market. It would be fun to see how a 7.3 Godzilla would do over the long time. We now have 60k on our truck and have had no issues. We did change out the CP4 at 3,000 miles and replaced it with the DCR. If we are up in northern Canada somewhere, I don't need to worry about a poorly designed furl pump failing. We use Archoil in every tank full.
( /TFL ) Get the most capable, smartest, and safest hitches at Weigh Safe! ( / ) Thanks to our friends at Complete Trailers in Brighton, CO for supplying the trailers used in this MPG test! ( / ) Thanks to our friends at Johnson Auto Plaza in Brighton, CO for providing both Ram 2500 trucks for us to evaluate. Check out their huge inventory at the link!
We have a Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi CCSB. We used to tow a 34', 11k GVWR 5th Wheel. Plenty of power. Average about 16 mpg empty and averaged 8-11 mpg loaded and towing depending on terrain and conditions. Extra weight of the diesel can help hide it, but the coil springs on the 2500 are what cause the shimmy, wiggle, and chucking when towing. 3500 gets you leaf springs for Ram. Personally speaking, after thousands of dollars and many hours with techs and experts spent trying to make the 2500 work, if we did it over again, I'd go for the 3500. Add in the long bed for the wheelbase, option the 50 gallon fuel tank for range convenience when towing, and you've got a stable, comfortable, reliable mule that can handle a lot of folks' everyday needs.