Does your RAM have paddle shifters? My Tundra has a shift lever, but I like it as I use it a lot while towing when I want to control what gear I am in. I don't love the *****, but could live with it as long as there's an easy way to manually shift.

 

Since we're doing our monthly shifter debate, I'll chime in with my love of column mounted shifters. Feels good, is out of the way, blocks nothing. And it enables me to have my bench seat.

 

does not unless you have the TRX (lol) there is a gear limiter control on the steering wheel and tow haul mode keeps you out of 7 and 8th gear i think

 

I see. Thank you for your response.

 

Mags love new Tundra, R&T even called it more advanced than R1T

 

Interesting, the new hybrid Tundra has a traditional starter motor, unlike other Toyota hybrids. It only works for the first start up. No Atkinson cycle

 

Absolutely. If I had an American truck, without question it would have a column shifter.

I hear GM is getting complaints about them being replaced with lousy buttons with the newest gen BOFs. My beater GMC has a satisfying, chunky column shifter. GM got that right.

 

I'm sure it's reliable but the hybrid I'd skip. It has six heat exchangers total. Will that chug to 300k miles with nothing but oil changes and spark plugs?

The standard engine is plenty potent enough, but we're gonna see over the years how reliable it is. I'm sure it will be.

 

One doesn't see huge fleets of Tundras because most companies and government agencies have "buy American" policies, as did the County I worked for as a Fleet Manager. Fleets have "loaner vehicles" for use when assigned vehicles are down, My comment was pertaining to private owners who use their trucks on-the-job, and can't afford to have them out of commission.

I know this is anecdotal (though CR backs it up)...my brother-in-law is a construction manager and made the mistake of going with the Ram. He suffered with a lot of down time over the term of the lease, including two tranny replacements. When the term was up, he quickly asked me to help him go Toyota shopping!

 

I figure I'll end up with one. It's when and not if. It's the hybrid that I have my eyes set on, though. That torque will be amazing, especially for towing.

 

I have a couple of younger family members who work in municipalities doing work for the city. It’s Dodge and Ford for the most part. Sometimes it’s Chevy. Toyota is way to expensive to acquire.

Really makes one appearance how simple the naturally aspirated V8s were huh? One can practically do the same thing with this new Tundra compared to the old V8…but the fuel economy blah blah blah. Heard it all before. . I am thrilled they finally went to a fully boxed frame….the interior is quite nice. . But seriously? No AUTO 4WD

 

Again, this is ToyMoCo listening to the American Truck Market.

Auto 4wd uses clutches in the transfer case in a truck that are essentially hydraulic couplers. There is no mechanical locking on an AUTO 4WD transfer case. you can lock the diffs if the vehicle is so equipped, but the inner workings of the transfer case operate with clutches, instead of mechanically locking a gear into place. These are doomed to failure on all but the easiest off-road terrain. The same reason the Ram Rebel, and all 3/4 ton pickups do not have the option for 4AUTO. The clutches inside the t-case can't take the abuse. in a traditional 4x4 t-case, you get 4HI, 4LOW and 2WD. In all cases, the transfer case is mechanically locked with gears. Put a 4A transfer box into 4HI, it uses a hydraulic coupler (clutch) to "lock" the drivetrain into 4WD. But it is not locked. Put a heavy enough load behind it and you'll blow the transfer clutches. I know, because I had a trailer on my 2015 Ram Laramie and got stuck in about 6 inches of thick mud. Blew the clutches in the transfer case trying to get the trailer out. I have seen guys destroy Auto T-cases without a load just by sending a little too hard.

Most american truck buyers don't want 4AUTO

 

Why has GM had the feature since the late 90s on the 1/2 ton trucks? Not sure when Ford or Nissan brought the feature to market

 

So you're saying in my GMC if I put it in 4 High via the button, that's not true 4x4? Huh? It has auto 4WD but I leave it in 2. It also has working low range.

I put it in auto in slick situations, though. Works like a charm. If I go mudding I put it in 4 High.


Yes. I'm "excited" about this new engine, but I keep thinking of those gigantic cylinders from 5.7 teardowns, they're huge. Old V8 is history but it sure was a good one.

 

No, I am saying that its in 4wd until the clutches fail. All clutches have a point where the forces they're trying to stop exceeds the force they can apply. Think of it as a clutch between your transmission and your wheels. If you use it hard enough, you'll overcome the force of friction and it will begin to "slip". This makes auto 4wd work. The problem with clutches though, is if you overpower them, they slip.

But no, most vehicles that are 4wd are not true 4x4, unless they have limited slip or locking differentials, only one wheel on each axle will spin when stuck. If they have lockers, they can lock the diff so power is distributed equally to each wheel on the axle, so the wheels will both spin, whether they have traction or not. This is why its much much harder to get a vehicle stuck in 4LOW, because the transfer case simultaneously lowers (numerically raises) the final drive ratio and will send 50% of the power to the front axle and 50% to the rear. With lockers, you can break that down further by sending 25% of the power to each wheel. If you have an open diff, only one wheel on each axle gets the power. To tell if you have open diffs or not, jack up the truck, spin one tire in 4wd. if the other tire on the axle spins the same way, you have a locker. if it spins opposite, you have an open differential. If it doesn't spin at all, you have a limited slip. Any vehicle with diff lockers has to be didicated only to offroad, or have a switch to disengage them. Otherwise the vehicle will drag the outside wheel/tire in turn, causing binding/popping, because a locker removes the ability for the outside tire to rotate faster than the inside tire.

If you have an Auto t-case, even in 4HI, you're still limited by the clutch coupler in the transfer case. They do work, and they last awhile, but if you use them like I use my trucks, you'll blow it apart. When mine eats **** its under warranty forever, so I don't care. (Lifetime powertrain warranty-unlimited miles). Ram has offered these t-cases since 2013, and my next one won't have it, even if I have to buy a gas 3/4 ton to avoid it.