2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman Regular Cab Short Bed on 2040-cars

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Truckmakers squabbling over who can sell Jimmy Fallon a pickup

Snagging a celebrity endorsement is a big deal for automakers, as evidenced by the recent efforts of the Detroit Three to try and woo The Tonight Show's newest host, Jimmy Fallon, into one of their trucks.
After announcing during Wednesday night's show that he was in the market for a pickup truck, Fallon set off a firestorm of efforts on Twitter, with both Ford and Chevrolet petitioning the funnyman to test out a truck. According to Ad Age, Ford recommended the King Ranch edition of its next-generation F-150 while the show was still airing. Chevy, meanwhile, waited until the next morning to pitch a Silverado to Fallon.
The winner of this social media feeding frenzy, though, was Ram. Promoting a variation of its "Guts, Glory, Ram" tagline, the Auburn Hills-based manufacturer created the hashtag #GUTSGLORYFallon. It even went so far as to park a Ram 1500 outside 30 Rockefeller Center in New York, where The Tonight Show is filmed. On the back of the Ram sat a sign, reading "Big enough, Jimmy? Test it out," referencing a joke from the Wednesday show.

2019 Ram 1500 prices released: What pickup will cost, by trim

One of the final pieces of information about the 2019 Ram 1500, and one of the most important, is finally here: the price. A base model Ram Tradesman, which nets a V6, the smaller four-door cab, a 6-foot 4-inch bed and two-wheel drive, starts at $33,340 with destination charge. That's a a bit over $1,000 more than the cost of the same outgoing Ram 1500 Tradesman. But you'll also get new features such as the eTorque mild-hybrid system and a touch-screen infotainment system with Uconnect. At the other end of the spectrum, the top-rung Ram 1500 Limited Crew Cab 4X4 V8 now starts at $59,035, an increase of almost $4,400 over the old model. Although the base price of the most basic and the most opulent Ram 1500s have gone up, some other things have become cheaper. You won't have to pay as much to upgrade to a V8, for instance. The plain 5.7-liter V8 with its 395 horsepower is $255 cheaper now, costing $1,195. To get that engine with the eTorque system costs more at $1,995. The RamBox bed-side storage bins are $300 cheaper now at $995. The Rebel trim has a better entry-level price, too. The base version with the smaller cab, four-wheel drive (the only drivetrain available with the small cab) and V6 with eTorque starts at $46,340. That just slips under the $46,690 price of the outgoing base Rebel with two-wheel-drive, and is over $2,000 less than the old Rebel with four-wheel drive that started at $48,790. Of course, the outgoing model was only available with the larger "Crew Cab" four-door body. Adding that larger body to the new Rebel will probably offset the cost savings. Here's the entire 2019 Ram sheet of base prices by trim/configuration: Related Video:

266,000 Ram pickups recalled for side-curtain airbag issue

Stellantis is voluntarily recalling an estimated 212,373 Ram pickups in the U.S., another 49,334 in Canada and Mexico, and a final 4,540 trucks in other markets over an issue with the side-curtain airbag inflators. During the manufacturing process, moisture could have found its way into the inflators. The moisture could cause the inflator to rupture and eject debris into the pickup cabin, even without an incident that deploys the side-curtain airbags. The OEM says it knows of one rupture and no injuries. Stellantis said it will let owners know when they can bring their vehicles in for service free of charge, the fix being replacement of the side-curtain airbag. The trucks at issue were all produced between the 2015 and 2020 model years. They are the Ram 1500 Classic, and Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup and chassis cabs. Some inflators sold as replacement parts are also implicated. The current-generation Ram pickup launched for the 2019 model year isn't affected.  The automaker's statement included the line, "The inflators were produced by a supplier implicated in a similar recall by another auto maker." This could refer to GM's July recall of 400,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups from the 2015 and 2016 model years. The inflators came from Joyson Safety Systems, the company that bought Takata's assets in 2018 when Takata went bankrupt, and were produced in Mexico. Joyson appears to still be suffering indigestion from that purchase, the company announcing the discovery of falsified seat belt testing data from the Takata era just two months ago. The problem ingredient in Takata inflators was identified as ammonium nitrate, a volatile compound designed to explode to inflate airbags in a crash. The chemical reacts poorly to moisture and humidity, and when exposed, can explode with excessive force, blowing apart the metal container it's stored in and sending shrapnel into the cabin. Stellantis, though, said the airbags involved in this recall don't contain ammonium nitrate.   Ram owners with questions can call the Stellantis help line at 1-800-853-1403. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Best Midsize Pickup: Ranger vs Gladiator vs Tacoma vs Colorado