RAM 1500 IS THE 2019 MOTORTREND TRUCK OF THE YEAR

[Astro14]

When I was truck shopping two years ago, I drove everything. The Ram is an impressive truck. Best in class for ride and handling. I like the Hemi engine. I liked the 8 speed. It seemed well thought out and it was just a nice truck overall. Only thing I didn't like was the rotary switch gear selector. Just too different for me. I prefer a console shifter. Old guy preference, I suppose...

I was very impressed with the truck overall.

 

[SeaJay]

Originally Posted by JTK

What I liked so much about Ram is the readily available and bargain prices of lightly used more basic model 1500 Pentastar 4x4s. It seems that's a thing of the past.


Not many, if any bargains in the new or used pickup truck market at the moment.

 

[StevieC]

I don't like the styling on the 2019 versus the previous models. But the engine/transmission offerings and the interior styling is excellent.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted by JTK
Originally Posted by dave1251


I don't know any big sedan which was rated tow 5+ tons while carring one. Let alone obtain mileage in the teens while doing it. Must have been using the GM 3.8 V6.


I don't of many standard, stock 1500's that can tow 5+ tons. Sure they can, but have to be equipped to do so and a lot of the equipment is on the item being towed..

My poor man Ram 1500 4x4, quad cab with the pentastar and 3.21 gears is only rated to tow around 4500lbs.


All of them have heavy duty towing packages available from the factory that go to 10k lbs. Bone stock with the Max Tow package, my 2011 F150 can tow 11k and it does 9k quite regularly when we hitch our camper to it. The only "issue" is you may have to order the truck. But they are standard and stock in that you don't need any aftermarket equipment (other than an appropriate hitch) and it's warrantied from the factory.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by itguy08
Originally Posted by JTK
Originally Posted by dave1251


I don't know any big sedan which was rated tow 5+ tons while carring one. Let alone obtain mileage in the teens while doing it. Must have been using the GM 3.8 V6.


I don't of many standard, stock 1500's that can tow 5+ tons. Sure they can, but have to be equipped to do so and a lot of the equipment is on the item being towed..

My poor man Ram 1500 4x4, quad cab with the pentastar and 3.21 gears is only rated to tow around 4500lbs.


All of them have heavy duty towing packages available from the factory that go to 10k lbs. Bone stock with the Max Tow package, my 2011 F150 can tow 11k and it does 9k quite regularly when we hitch our camper to it. The only "issue" is you may have to order the truck. But they are standard and stock in that you don't need any aftermarket equipment (other than an appropriate hitch) and it's warrantied from the factory.


Sure-I had my neighbor ask me to pickup a 2,200 pound skid of water softener salt in my Silverado half-ton. I told him my payload is only 1,500 pounds. He said I could drive his brothers F150 to help him out. Go to load the salt and the bed is sitting on the rear wheels. Payload on the F150 is 1,800 pounds. The point being that you will hit payload before max towing capacity on just about ANY half-ton truck.

I have pulled a 30 foot travel trailer to the East coast and back-so I have a little experience here.

There isn't any half-ton on the market that has any business pulling a 11,000 pound trailer-even the payload to handle it.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by 4WD
The new designs have become so bold that they are color sensitive … for example I'd take this GM in black or dark grey … the Ram in silver or dark grey and the grill would not be so in your face …




Any way you slice it. The Chevy is ugly.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by SeaJay
My sense based on observations on the street is that the number of RAM trucks as a percentage of total trucks is creeping up the past year or two. Maybe pricing, maybe features or a combination of the two. But something is going on.



Ram was on a streak of gains until this year. It took FCA to discount 2019 Rams by around 20% to break even with 2017 sales totals. If it was not a September rally of a 15% increase in sales Ram would have lost market share.

It's good for Ram GM rolled out a shiny turd for a pickup.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by SeaJay
My sense based on observations on the street is that the number of RAM trucks as a percentage of total trucks is creeping up the past year or two. Maybe pricing, maybe features or a combination of the two. But something is going on.



Ram was on a streak of gains until this year. It took FCA to discount 2019 Rams by around 20% to break even with 2017 sales totals. If it was not a September rally of a 15% increase in sales Ram would have lost market share.

It's good for Ram GM rolled out a shiny turd for a pickup.

I would agree the 2019 Silverado is one ugly truck. Many are predicting a quick do over on the front end.

 

[SteveSRT8]

This place is always good for a laugh.

When we bought our 2014 RAM Sport we shopped the market hard, drove everyone. Very surprised to find the RAM at such a nice price point with tons of great features and an amazing smooth ride. Almost 80k miles later we are still loving it. A great truck for us and serves my Wife quite well. Protected her well, too, when a crazed Volvo driver smashed into her at a stop light recently. Over 6500.00 worth of damage and my Wife was only shook up a bit.


Advice to crazed Volvo drivers: Do NOT hit a RAM in the rear end!

 

[demarpaint]

My only beef is I don't like the automatic transmission gear selector. I would rather have a shifter taking up space in the center console, which doesn't bother me in the least. Other than that it's Ram over Ford and GM, any day of the week.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted by CKN

Sure-I had my neighbor ask me to pickup a 2,200 pound skid of water softener salt in my Silverado half-ton. I told him my payload is only 1,500 pounds. He said I could drive his brothers F150 to help him out. Go to load the salt and the bed is sitting on the rear wheels. Payload on the F150 is 1,800 pounds. The point being that you will hit payload before max towing capacity on just about ANY half-ton truck.

I have pulled a 30 foot travel trailer to the East coast and back-so I have a little experience here.

There isn't any half-ton on the market that has any business pulling a 11,000 pound trailer-even the payload to handle it.


I've hauled a scoop of top soil in the bed of the F150 (about a ton) and while it sits low I don't remember bouncing off the bump stops either. IIRC payload is evenly distributed so popping all that in the back isn't a true test.

Let's do the math with that 1800lb payload.... They say for a trailer tongue should be 9-15% of the GVWR of the trailer. 11000 * .09 = 990 11000 * .15 = 1650 . Close @ 15% and doable at the rest of the weights. You do need a GOOD weight distribution hitch though. Some also have more payload - IIRC if you order an F150 with Max Tow and Max Payload it is a hair over 2000 lbs.

Not to get into a peeing match but I also know of what I speak. We pull a 35-ft, 9900lb GVWR travel trailer with an F150. Just shy of 10k miles on that combination over the East Coast. It's not a lot of miles, it tows great, so much so that my wife can drive it. I'd have no issues going most anywhere with that combination.

 

[JTK]

Max payload per the sticker on my 2017 Ram 1500 quad cab is 1683 lbs, with a max seating of 6 passengers. If you have 4 bigger dudes in it, there's ~1000lbs right there. Not a whole lot left for cargo.

I'm not knocking the Ram or pickups in general. I love mine. It's just odd that it seems the more they grow in popularity, the less "truck" they become.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by JTK
Max payload per the sticker on my 2017 Ram 1500 quad cab is 1683 lbs, with a max seating of 6 passengers. If you have 4 bigger dudes in it, there's ~1000lbs right there. Not a whole lot left for cargo.

I'm not knocking the Ram or pickups in general. I love mine. It's just odd that it seems the more they grow in popularity, the less "truck" they become.


It's interesting how much it varies.
- 8ft box Pentastar regular cab, 1,870lbs
- 6'4" box Pentastar Quad cab, 1,880lbs
- 5'7" box Pentastar Crew cab, 1,820lbs

The moment you go up in engine (and thus, weight), the lower the payload goes. For example, our EcoDiesel with the 6,950lb GVWR only has a payload of 1,330lbs, despite its 8,560lb towing capacity. HEMI-equipped tops-out at 1,790lbs for a 4x2 Quad cab w/6spd. 4x4 Crew 5'7" w/8spd is 1,520lbs, same truck w/Pentastar is 1,6230lbs.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by itguy08
Originally Posted by CKN

Sure-I had my neighbor ask me to pickup a 2,200 pound skid of water softener salt in my Silverado half-ton. I told him my payload is only 1,500 pounds. He said I could drive his brothers F150 to help him out. Go to load the salt and the bed is sitting on the rear wheels. Payload on the F150 is 1,800 pounds. The point being that you will hit payload before max towing capacity on just about ANY half-ton truck.

I have pulled a 30 foot travel trailer to the East coast and back-so I have a little experience here.

There isn't any half-ton on the market that has any business pulling a 11,000 pound trailer-even the payload to handle it.


I've hauled a scoop of top soil in the bed of the F150 (about a ton) and while it sits low I don't remember bouncing off the bump stops either. IIRC payload is evenly distributed so popping all that in the back isn't a true test.

Let's do the math with that 1800lb payload.... They say for a trailer tongue should be 9-15% of the GVWR of the trailer. 11000 * .09 = 990 11000 * .15 = 1650 . Close @ 15% and doable at the rest of the weights. You do need a GOOD weight distribution hitch though. Some also have more payload - IIRC if you order an F150 with Max Tow and Max Payload it is a hair over 2000 lbs.

Not to get into a peeing match but I also know of what I speak. We pull a 35-ft, 9900lb GVWR travel trailer with an F150. Just shy of 10k miles on that combination over the East Coast. It's not a lot of miles, it tows great, so much so that my wife can drive it. I'd have no issues going most anywhere with that combination.


Remember-payload is figured with the driver and no passengers. You really don't want to be that close to payload max. Any one considering a scenario like yours above should consider a bigger truck. Based on average payload-a 5,500 pound travel trailer is the "sweet spot" for half tons. And there are PLENTY of nice ULTRA LIGHTS out there that fit those specs.


With all due respect-even on the truck forums that I frequent-even if a guy pulls a thousand pounds over what his truck is rated he says "it pulls fine".

 

[pezzy669]

Originally Posted by Garak
Originally Posted by KalapanaBlack
...Nissan redesigns the Frontier every 23 years, and they phoned in the Titan for Generation 2.

The Frontier is becoming a more and more attractive choice for people who want to be able to buy a truck without a bunch of unnecessary and unwanted addons, not to mention fuel injection technologies that annoy a lot of people here.


You mean until the coolant and tranny fluid mix and the transmission goes kaboom? Have they fixed that yet?

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by JTK
Max payload per the sticker on my 2017 Ram 1500 quad cab is 1683 lbs, with a max seating of 6 passengers. If you have 4 bigger dudes in it, there's ~1000lbs right there. Not a whole lot left for cargo.

I'm not knocking the Ram or pickups in general. I love mine. It's just odd that it seems the more they grow in popularity, the less "truck" they become.



If 4 dudes are a thousand pounds all of you need weight watchers.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by pezzy669
You mean until the coolant and tranny fluid mix and the transmission goes kaboom? Have they fixed that yet?

Some say they have. I have no idea. Of course, GM, Ford, and Dodge have no reliability or service issues.

GM shafted every full sized truck and SUV owner for almost the entire single digit decade of this century. Ford forgot how to equip a reliable diesel engine about 16 years ago, and have less idea how to specify an oil for one. Dodge trucks, as far as some here tell it, need $20 a quart oil to not sound like marbles in a blender.

They all have their faults, and my point is I prefer simplicity in trucks. Luxury features in trucks never work as well or last as long as luxury features in real luxury brands. Look at every high mileage truck out there with leather seats. It looks like the driver must have had cheese graters strapped to his hind quarters. Forty year old Benzes with twice the miles have their leather holding up better. Your Benz interiors - I probably wouldn't look twice at the leather if I were buying them 20 years down the road after you more than quadrupled the mileage; they'd be just fine. On some of these trucks, what did they detail with, a Weed Eater or a chainsaw?

If you gave me a truck with cruise control and climate control, you could take just about every other feature out of there, including the radio, and I'd be satisfied. At least with that, I could probably choose better aftermarket, as opposed to some abomination that wishes to mate with a telephone, with the ceremony presided over by Gates or Wozniak.

The only person I really know around here who was really into this Nissan Frontiers would trade it in on a new one every couple years, so if there were any bullets to be dodged with coolant and ATF mixing, he probably didn't have them long enough.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted by CKN

Remember-payload is figured with the driver and no passengers. You really don't want to be that close to payload max. Any one considering a scenario like yours above should consider a bigger truck. Based on average payload-a 5,500 pound travel trailer is the "sweet spot" for half tons. And there are PLENTY of nice ULTRA LIGHTS out there that fit those specs.

With all due respect-even on the truck forums that I frequent-even if a guy pulls a thousand pounds over what his truck is rated he says "it pulls fine".

Payload is figured with the truck with a full tank of gas and nothing else. It doesn't include a driver or anything else Ford Towing Guide Pg 39.

No offense taken but I hear that "you need a bigger truck" all the time on the RV and truck forums. It may be different out West but for us it works well in the East. If we listened to some on those forums, we'd pull with nothing less than an F350 Dually with a Diesel. The way I figure it these large companies publish the specs and as long as you stay within them you will be safe. With this litigious society we live in there's no way they would sanction something unsafe.

We did equip with one of the better hitches (Equalizer) and in most situations it does tow well. Only thing it does we don't like is porpoise on some roads but from what I gather that's inherent in most travel trailer setups. It tows well and my wife can even drive it. I have no hesitation doing 300+ miles a day and do at least once a year. We've had panic stops and a few mistakes along the way and it's handed it all well and feels safe.

 

[spasm3]

One of my camping friends has a 14 ram. I like it. Of course he has more gears than my avalanche, but he can walk away from me on hills when we are towing our travel trailers.

 

[PimTac]

"No offense taken but I hear that "you need a bigger truck" all the time on the RV and truck forums. It may be different out West but for us it works well in the East."





No offense but we have these things out west called mountains.


A lot of these ratings have to be in perfect circumstances . Flat ground for example. Add in a 20 mile grade up with a 30 mile headwind and the circumstances change.