2012 Ram 1500 Sport-black on 2040-cars

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GM also sheds parts from its pickups to boost payload ratings

The row between Ford and Ram over who boasts the best-in-class tow rating for heavy duty pickups has revealed a number of things. Chief among them is a report that Ford removes items like the spare tire, jack, radio and center console from its vehicles in a bid to lower its base curb weight and therefore keep the truck's gross vehicle weight rating down.
For those that need a refresher, GVWR is the vehicle's curb weight plus its maximum payload. A lower GVWR allows Ford to station its F-450 among the so-called Class III pickups, despite the fact that internally, it has the makings of a more brutish Class IV truck.
Ford explains away these deletions, saying a customer could order their vehicle in such a manner. It has also come to light that Ford is not the only automaker to engage in such practices.

2019 Ram 1500 spy shots further hint at a trick tailgate for the Chicago Auto Show

It seems all but guaranteed that the 2019 Ram 1500 is going to get some kind of fancy tailgate for the 1500. The latest evidence comes from our spy shooters who just caught an extremely suspicious truck running around with the whole bed and tailgate area covered. Everything other than the bed is ours to see, so Ram is obviously trying to hide something out back. We reported this morning about some Twitter shenanigans between Ram and GMC during the Super Bowl last night. The back and forth between the two companies resulted in Ram hinting that we'll see something new at the Chicago Auto Show this Thursday. Here's the Tweet thread below: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In dissecting these spy shots, there isn't a whole lot to tear apart. We've got a normal Ram 1500 with a secret or two in the rear. As we zoom into the small patch of white we see through the camouflage, the normal outline of a recessed handle is somewhat visible. It's hard to determine exactly what is under there, because the recessed area is black and doesn't define itself next to the black camouflage. We can say there might be a grab handle in the normal spot you'd find one. There seem to be countless forms for this tailgate to take shape in. Spy photos of a Ram over a year ago with a strange 60/40 split caught our eyes that would probably have the option of opening in a barn-door style. Fiat-Chrysler has experience with split tailgates with its foreign-market Fiat Toro pickup, plus the company filed a patent on split tailgates a few years ago. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. A split design is most likely, but if we let the speculative parts of our brains run amok, we could even see a swing-out style tailgate similar to the Honda Ridgeline as possible. A major benefit to Ridgeline's swinging tailgate is easy access to the bed itself, as well as the in-bed trunk. None of the competition has such a useful area under the bed. But it would be hard to see Ram introducing its own trunk, especially when it offers the RamBox bedside storage system. Still, speculation can run wild on this one. The nice part about this mystery is that we won't have to wait long for the solution, since Ram has indicated it'll be solved at the Chicago Auto Show. We'll be on the ground there to try out whatever new-fangled tailgate Ram has to offer. Related video:

Ram's new six-figure TRX Sandblast Edition hides in plain sight

The Ram 1500 TRX gets a new appearance package for 2022, this time leaning into the 702-horsepower supercharged supertruck's desert-shredding antics with a new Mojave Sand exterior paint and accompanying accent package. Together, it's called Sandblast. And it's brown. "Our customers want to stand out from the crowd and the new Ram 1500 TRX Sandblast Edition allows them to do just that, while offering the segment’s best combination of performance, capability and technology," said Ram boss Mike Koval Jr. "WeÂ’re constantly expanding and exploring new ideas to meet the needs and fuel the imagination of our passionate customers and this is the latest example of how Ram trucks deliver features that will continue to win over more and more buyers." The appearance package builds on the existing TRX "Level 2" build. In addition to the unique Mojave Sand finish, 18-inch bead lock capable wheels and the Sandblast graphics package, it receives Light Frost interior accent stitching, "TRX" embroidery on the seats, unique carbon accents and a HUD display with the TRX finished to match the Sandblast's exterior.  With destination, the Sandblast will set you back $100,080 including destination — almost exactly $20,000 more than a base-model 2022 TRX. And that's not including the markups. Good luck.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.