2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman/express on 2040-cars

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Ram 2500 Power Wagon will be ready to Rebel in 2023

In January, Mopar Insiders acquired spy shots of a couple of prototype 2023 Ram Heavy Duty pickups. One of the development trucks had been fitted with a new set of towing mirrors that were rumored to pack a ton of features. But an olive green Ram 2500 with a camouflaged hood was touted as a brand new model: A Ram 2500 Rebel. MI kept up with spy shots and speculation since, and thanks to an anonymous source who e-mailed an equipment list, received the best evidence yet that there will be an off-road-focused heavy duty Ram on the market soon. Of course, Ram already has the Power Wagon. What's interesting is that the equipment list is for the 2023 Ram 2500 Power Wagon, listing Rebel equipment among the options. The current Power Wagon only offers the 6.4-liter V8 Hemi with 410 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque. According to the optional equipment listed, the 2023 Power Wagon would be available with the 6.7-liter inline-six Cummins tubodiesel. The inclusion of the 68RFE six-speed automatic means this would be the lower-output Cummins with 370 hp and 850 lb-ft; the stouter diesel with 420 hp and 1,075 lb-ft is yoked to the Aisin ASC69RC six-speed transmission. With the options all listed together, we're not sure if a buyer would need to choose a Rebel package to get the diesel, or if the Power Wagon could have that, too. Other items include a Rebel-themed instrument cluster, Rebel suspension and active rear leveling, a Sports Performance Hood, and a Rebel badge for ready identification.  Crew Cab with a 6'4" box and four-wheel drive is listed as the only configuration, matching the current Power Wagon; the 1500 Rebel comes in Crew Cab with a 5'7" box and the option of two-wheel drive. The Rebel wouldn't come with the Power Wagon's locking front differential, nor a winch, it seems. However, the standard gross vehicle weight rating is also up to 10,000 pounds. The 2022 Power Wagon is rated at 8,565 pounds, meaning there could be big increases in payload capacity coming for all Power Wagon buyers.  Other included and optional goodies are expected to be available throughout the heavy duty range, like the 12-inch digital gauge cluster and the power telescoping and folding mirrors that bundle supplemental turn signals, auto dimming, blind spot detection, and puddle lights. An introduction could come later this summer when Ram announces the 2023 lineup.

2019 Ram Heavy Duty gets new face, 1,000 lb-ft Cummins and the towing crown

We've seen uncovered images before in spy shots, but here are the official images and word on the 2019 Ram Heavy Duty pickups. Ram dropped so much verbiage on new features that we'd need the truck's 7,680-pound max payload rating to haul the press releases, so dig in. We'll start with that max payload rating, and the 35,100-pound tow rating. Gimlet-eyed truck watchers will note the Ram HD's max tow rating is exactly 100 pounds more than that available on a Ford Super Duty, meaning the Auburn Hills clan takes the "best-in-class" mantle for a few months. The other big number: 1,000 pound-feet of torque from the high-output version of the 6.7-liter Cummins inline-six turbodiesel, a 70-lb-ft increase over the 2018 Ram 3500 HD. Completing the specs at the top, that HO motor produces all that torque at 1,800 rpm, and makes 400 horsepower at 2,800 rpm. One step down, the standard-output 6.7-liter Cummins puts out 370 hp and 850 lb-ft. Thanks to developments like a compacted graphite iron block, lighter pistons, hollow camshaft, and new forged connecting rods and bearings, the Cummins engine has lost more than 60 pounds. The entry-level motor is a 6.4-liter Hemi gas-powered V8 with an unchanged 410 hp and 429 lb-ft. 2019 Ram Heavy Duty View 12 Photos The HO Cummins pairs to an Aisin AS69RC six-speed transmission, with upgraded hardware and programming for better shifting and oversight of the gravity-warping torque. The regular Cummins mates to a "significantly upgraded " version of the in-house 68RFE six-speed automatic. The 6.4-liter Hemi works with the well-known TorqueFlite 8HP75 eight-speed automatic, bolstered for heavy duty obligations, the first time the eight-speed makes an appearance in a Ram HD. A column-mounted shifter works the gearsets on the Cummins-equipped rigs, a rotary dial on the center stack controls the shift-by-wire eight-speed. The Cummins motors come with two 220-amp alternators. The Hemi V8 gets a 220-amp and a 160-amp alternator, which Ram says is the "first gas-driven application of its kind in either class." There will be six trims available: Tradesman, Bighorn/Lonestar, Power Wagon, Laramie, Laramie Longhorn, and Limited. The HD trucks don't share any exterior sheetmetal with the light-duty 1500, and each trim is known by different grilles, bumpers and wheels.

Ram 1500 to get Pentastar V6 option in top-shelf models

Ram has seen such positive customer feedback from its 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and TorqueFlight eight-speed automatic transmission in the Ram 1500 that it's bringing the powertrain upmarket, and it's now going to be available in truck's Laramie trim level (Laramie Limited pictured above). The new choice means better fuel economy and lower pricing in one of the 1500's higher-end models.
A Ram 1500 Laramie Quad Cab 4x2 with the 3.6-liter Pentastar and eight-speed automatic will retail for $38,775, plus a $1,195 destination charge. It's a savings of over $1,000 over the trim's current starting price.
Ram says the decision to offer the V6 option was customer driven. "Today's V6 engine is a lot stronger than yesterday," said Nick Cappa of Ram Truck media relations to Autoblog. Cappa notes that dealers have reported buyers returning from test drives who can't believe there are only six cylinders operating underhood.