2023 Ram 3500 Laramie Longhorn on 2040-cars

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2019 Ram Heavy Duty will have more than 170 available Mopar parts

When it comes to factory-backed modifications, few do it better than FCA's Mopar division. Just look at all the gear that's ready at launch for the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator pickup. In the past month or so, we've seen the debut of the Ram 2500 Heavy Duty and 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis cab models. At the tail end of the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, FCA revealed a whole host of Mopar parts for the heavy-duty Rams. The display truck is a 2019 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Big Horn with the 6.4-liter Hemi done up in FCA's Blue Streak paint. Most of the parts are going to be ready at launch, though Mopar says some are just concepts at this point. Actual parts include a black powder-coated "Ram Bar" in the bed fitted with five 5-inch LED lights. The lights are triggered by a switch box in the cab. Other Mopar parts on the truck include a bed step and fender flares as well as interior bits like rubber floor mats and stainless steel door handles. The truck is also fitted with a number of parts that aren't actually available. That includes the 17-inch beadlock wheels fitted with Goodyear tires. There are also rock rails and a bed-mounted spare that's good for up to 37-inch tires. Outside of the truck, Mopar will have a number of parts available at the 2500's launch. Customers can get a trailer camera, fifth-wheel hitch, gooseneck ball kit, bed extender, bed liner, a cargo ramp, toolboxes and more. Related Video:

Ram wants its midsize truck situation 'fixed soon'

The rumors of a midsize Ram pickup are like a metronome — sometimes in motion, sometimes dead. This week the rumor is alive, so reports Automotive News. Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley admitted during an earnings call that the lack of a mid-sizer is "a clear hole in our portfolio," and that the Ram product development team is "focused on it." Puzzling that out means finding "a cost-effective platform in a region where we can build it with low cost and it still being applicable in the market." But he wants a solution found soon. During the product roadmap presentation FCA made in June last year, late CEO Sergio Marchionne said the middling pickup would be built in Mexico. That tidbit came after years of Marchionne saying the brand would get in the segment, only to have the idea shot down by Ram bosses. At the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, a year after the midsize Dodge Dakota went off the market, Marchionne said the brand would reinstate a new-generation Dakota, with a better-than-50% chance it would be unibody. In 2013, then-Ram president Reid Bigland said the chances were tiny because the numbers didn't add up. The two men got on the same page, in favor of, in 2014. In March 2016, Marchionne said, "I like that space a lot," and "It's a good space to be in." Exactly one month later, then-Ram CEO Bog Hegbloom said the idea was dead because he couldn't make a business case for it. Come early 2018, even Marchionne had joined the naysayers. He told Automobile, "We did not think it was necessary to re-enter that market after our last experience." The snag was, and remains, that a smaller truck has "a cost structure very similar to our Ram 1500. We have not found an economic way to get this done." Four months later, there's a midsize pickup on the product roadmap. Then, at this year's New York Auto Show, Ram Trucks boss Jim Morrison told us Ram had no plans yet for a smaller pickup, although the division continues to look at its options. Last September an Automotive News report forecast the truck to be built in Toledo alongside the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator pickup. When Car and Driver asked for clarification about Toledo or Mexico, FCA pointed to Marchionne's comments referring to Mexico. It appears that's the angle Manley and his team are still trying to make work. The Saltillo, Mexico, assembly plant now builds Ram's heavy-duty trucks, but observers expect HD production to move to the U.S. to make room for the smaller pickup.

270,000 Ram pickups in ‘salt belt’ recalled to fix sagging fuel tanks

Drive a Ram 1500? Maybe it's time to give your fuel tanks a look. FCA is issuing a voluntary recall of over 270,000 Ram 1500 pickups to prevent their fuel tanks from sagging. A corrosion-related problem, the issue can be identified either visually by looking at the undercarriage, or by listening to any scraping noises, as the brackets for the fuel tanks straps corrode and can cause the tanks to hang low. FCA says in its statement that the recall is limited to 270,254 model year 2009-2012 Ram 1500 pickups that have been registered in states belonging to what is called the "salt belt," that is, the District of Columbia and the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Some 27,000 trucks will also be recalled in Canada, a thousand in Mexico and some 5,300 others. The tanks themselves are made of high-density polyethylene, and as such do not rust out: The problem is related to their fixings. The tanks won't be detached, as if a bracket fails, the remaining structural components will still hold the tanks. FCA also says no related incidents or injuries have been reported, nor have there been any fires — but the brackets are definitely worth getting fixed. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.