Better than: An old ratty truck
But not as good as: Simon & Simon Power Wagon
GRM Bang For The Buck Index: 52.13
Yes, another Dodge Ram truck has passed through our hands. This one, however, was fitted with several Mopar accessories: rear DVD player, custom seat covers, mag wheels, bed cover, etc. It's true, Mopar's offerings aren't limited to the Viper, SRT-4 and 'Cuda.
Unfortunately we don't have a detailed list of these add-ons, so we can't provide any specifics. We can relay the info that was on the official window sticker, as our truck had the 6.7-liter Cummins turbo diesel ($7615), six-speed automatic transmission ($405), limited-slip differential ($325) and ParkView rear camera ($200). Its GVW rating was 9600 pounds.
If you need a big, honking truck, the U.S. manufacturers are still ready to deliver. I'm not thrilled that the Mopar seat covers didn't fit so well, though. Let's hope that's something limited to our particular test truck.
I'm not sure about this one. It seemed like a really nice truck that was let down by dealer-installed parts. When it came to us, I was surprised by the amount of features that didn't seem to work; the third brake light was inoperative, the headrest mounted DVD players wouldn't come on, and even the horn didn't function. I was most disappointed by being unable to engage the exhaust brake, which is a pretty compelling feature in a consumer-oriented rig like this.
All of these components or their connectors run through the passenger compartment, so I'm going to hypothesize that everything worked from the factory but the folks who did the custom seat material left a few plugs undone when putting the interior back together. At least I hope that's what happened.
From a performance standpoint, the big Ram never left us wanting for more power. We loaded it up with gear from our visit to the PRI Show, but the truck didn't seem to even notice a bed full of magazines and booth display equipment.
If you're shopping for a tow rig the Ram is absolutely worth a look. Just don't get the custom interior.
I'm a strong proponent for the use of add-on parts. But in the case of this Dodge, more is definitely not better. Someone must have checked the "erroneous speedo" and "busted horn" boxes on the dealer option sheet. Or perhaps the extra tall, Toyo Open Country off-road tires were causing grief. The installer never compensated for the tire diameter increase. The tread pattern was causing the tacked-on goodies to vibrate themselves loose. Appropriate for a stripped down work truck, the Open Country tires are out of place on a hyper-optioned "toy" like our test truck.
Ride quality and steering/braking response are intolerable over any paved distance. What a shame. The Dodge Cummins makes an ideal towing platform. Decent fuel mileage is accompanied by seemingly endless torque. It's easy to amortize the $7600 Cummins option by keeping the truck forever. I hope we get another Dodge Cummins to test. Only this time, please keep the mismatched doo-dads away from an otherwise purposeful truck.
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