Though most customers are initially attracted to the Ram for its bold
exterior design, there is a great deal more good stuff to be discovered
on the inside. Tops in the good stuff category is roominess. The interior
design guys figured out a way to do the instrument panel and the seats
in such a way as to provide more room in a standard cab layout and a whole
bunch more room in a Club Cab layout than anybody else, although Ford's
new F-Series trucks have since largely matched the Ram's roominess.
The instrument panel looks distantly related to that of a Jeep Grand
Cherokee, and, of course, it is, with the same radio equipment and similar
switchgear, instrument graphics and placements. Is this bad? No way. It's
a good layout, with a few dollops of color to keep it visually interesting,
and very few customers cross-shop Grand Cherokees and Rams anyway.
The leather-covered seats in our test truck were unique in our truck
experience, built with an enormous amount of cushiness, so that your body
sinks down into the seat and is well supported from backside to shoulders.
The SLT six-way power seat with manual recline is divided 40/20/40, with
a huge fold-down center section that doubles as an armrest and writing
table, with a substantial storage box inside that incorporates divided
spaces for coins, cassettes, maps and the other odds and ends we all carry.
While the new leather seating option is very spiffy, some other elements
of this truck's interior decor are not. We think Ford and GM truck interiors
are a bit closer to design unity than the Ram. The tan leather interior
gets a black instrument panel, which is a normal combination, but there
is a lot of hard plastic of varying tan tones and grains that brings down
the impression of quality. There are only two exposed screws in the Ram
interior, a big improvement, but still two too many.
One of the slickest things about the interior is the optional storage
rack system fitted to the back wall of the cab that allows an owner to
get the absolute most out of the space behind the seat in a standard cab
Ram. We love this storage rack, and wish other truck makers would get with
the program.
The storage system has a deep, full-width tray at floor level, divided
75/25, a cargo net behind the right seat, and two stacked trays behind
the left seat. The trays are heavy duty plastic, permanently installed
and designed to carry real loads. Each door also has a generous set of
storage bins arrayed along the bottom edge.
We've driven every engine the Ram has to offer at one time or another,
and we love the V10's amazing torque. But we must caution you that it not
only costs $975 more than the standard V6, but that its gas-mileage performance
over the life of the truck may put you in the poorhouse. If you don't absolutely
need the V10 engine for big-load heavy duty work, we recommend the 5.9-liter
V8, which has been in the Dodge system for ages, as has the less muscular
5.2-liter V8. And for that matter, the basic V6 in the standard 1500 series
is a stout-hearted hauler in its own right.
Having said that, the optional V10 in an unladen Ram 2500 4x4, will
rip across an intersection faster than any other truck on the market, and
its league-leading 450 pound-feet of torque are mighty handy for anything
from off-roading to hauling four-horse trailers--up to 13,000 pounds. Only
the optional turbodiesel engine comes close in torque, at 440 lb.-ft.,
and will certainly offer better fuel economy and durability over the long
haul.
The front suspension on a Ram 4x4 is a coil spring setup with four leading
arms, a track bar and a stabilizer bar to keep the front axle assembly
located fore and aft and side to side, and the rear suspension is a conventional
leaf spring/live axle setup to carry the loads. We found that at this weight
rating in a 4x4 the suspension was choppy with no load, and the heavy duty
nature of the suspension places the body so high off the ground that shorter
passengers had trouble climbing in and out, even with a grab bar on the
A-pillar. No problem for a tall, macho guy, but certainly for kids, pets
and significant others.
The one thing we didn't like about the Ram's dynamics was the steering,
which was light enough and quick enough, but had a dead space on center,
and seemed to require constant adjustments during straight ahead travel.
It's not a problem in town, but freeway wander is a small but persistent
trait at higher speeds.
The disc/drum brakes, on the other hand, were exemplary in their power
and straight-stop behavior.
Over frost heaves, potholes, snowdrifts and ice the Ram was remarkably
and utterly free of squeaks, rattles and shudders, a tribute to an excellent
chassis design as one of the reasons it has been getting such high quality
marks from J.D. Power, Strategic Vision and other survey companies.