2011 Ram 1500 2wd Reg Cab 120.5" St on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ford F-450 claims best-in-class towing, company abandons practice of removing items to boost payload number

The ongoing heavy-duty truck battle between Ford and Ram is showing no signs of slowing down. The Blue Oval is trying to remove at least one point of contention between the two brands by testing its 2015 F-450 Super Duty using the Society of Automotive Engineers J2807 towing standard, which Ram also uses. In the new evaluation, the F-450 is rated at a max towing capacity of 31,200 pounds. That's an identical amount as under Ford's own, previous test.
"We leave no doubt with customers that the F-450 pickup truck has best-in-class towing of 31,200 pounds - whether tested using our own internal towing standards or SAE J2807," said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president for Global Product Development, in the company's release.
At the same time, Ford is also changing how it calculates the F-450's payload. Instead of using its minimum curb weight as before, the brand is now using the truck's base curb weight. The revision lowers the pickup's rating to 5,300 pounds, compared to 5,450 pounds previously. The company said in its announcement that the reason for this is "aligning its payload rating practices with other manufacturers to make it easier for customers to compare vehicles." General Motors made a similar switch for its pickups in August.

2021 Ram 1500 pickup earns IIHS Top Safety Pick award with updated safety equipment

Thanks to changes in option-package content, the 2021 Ram 1500 crew cab pickup achieves a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). For 2021, the Ram adds Pedestrian Protection as part of the optional Advanced Safety Group, which allows the forward collision prevention system to detect people walking in front of the vehicle. Pedestrian collision mitigation is one of the requirements for earning an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating. In IIHS testing, the Ram's pedestrian-protection system avoided hitting the pedestrian dummy or braked enough to moderate the impact in all tests save for one where the vehicle is traveling 37 mph and the pedestrian is walking in the same direction. Still, the overall results of the vehicle-to-pedestrian tests and the vehicle-to-vehicle collision avoidance tests, where the Ram avoided crashes at 12 and 25 mph, were deemed "Acceptable" and "Superior" respectively. The Ram also achieved a top score of "Good" in the agency's various crash tests. The final hurdle to achieving an IIHS award is headlight performance. For the Top Safety Pick+ level, all available headlights must score Acceptable or Good, and for the one-rung-down Top Safety Pick, at least one available headlight option must score Acceptable or Good. The Ram 1500's SmartBeam curve-adaptive LED headlamps were the only ones to make the grade, which landed the Ram at the Top Safety Pick level. The award applies only to the 2021 Ram 1500 Laramie, Laramie Longhorn, and Limited optioned with the Advanced Safety Group and SmartBeam headlamps. Based on IIHS testing so far, the Ram is the first full-size pickup to achieve a Top Safety Pick award for this year. Related Video:

2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon caught completely undisguised

The next-generation Ram 2500 Power Wagon was spied without a hint of camouflage covering it on the road. New headlights and taillights are full LED units, and they look epic. The design is reminiscent of the 1500, but Ram definitely put a slightly different spin on them. It resembles the Ram Rebel to a certain degree, but with a dose of more hardcore truck-style to it. We're digging the look for now. Traditionally, the Power Wagon is a much more off-road ready Ram. We'd expect this one to have the same locking differentials front and rear, a front anti-roll bar disconnect and a lead for a winch cable, leaving it the only factory truck that offers a winch. The engine is most likely the same 6.4-liter V8 with 410 horsepower too. Its bumpers are entirely new, along with the fender flare design on this truck. It all comes together and gives the Ram Power Wagon its traditional look while still meshing with the complete redesign the 2019 Ram 1500 received. How Ram let this 2020 model year truck venture out into the world uncovered is mighty confusing. Maybe Ram wanted everyone to see it? We'll only be guessing for the time being. The 2500 Power Wagon is expected to make its debut in 2019. We'd imagine the most likely scenario for that one is at the Detroit Auto Show in January where the redesigned 2019 1500 was revealed. For now, feast your eyes on the next Power Wagon to grace our roads. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.