2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman/express on 2040-cars

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Full-size trucks are the best and worst vehicles in America

You don’t need me to tell you that Americans love pickup trucks. And the bigger the truck, the more likely it seems to be seen as an object of desire. Monthly and yearly sales charts are something of a broken record; track one is the Ford F-Series, followed by the Chevy Silverado, RamÂ’s line of haulers, and somewhere not far down the line, the GMC Sierra. The big Japanese players fall in place a bit further below — not that thereÂ’s anything wrong with a hundred thousand Toyota Tundra sales — and one-size-smaller trucks like the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado have proven awfully popular, too. Along with their sales numbers, the average cost of new trucks has similarly been on the rise. Now, I donÂ’t pretend to have the right to tell people what they should or shouldnÂ’t buy with their own money. But I just canÂ’t wrap my head around why a growing number of Americans are choosing to spend huge sums of money on super luxurious pickup trucks. Let me first say I do understand the appeal. People like nice things, after all. I know I do. I myself am willing to spend way more than the average American on all sorts of discretionary things, from wine and liquor to cameras and lenses. IÂ’ve even spent my own money on vehicles that I donÂ’t need but want anyway. A certain vintage VW camper van certainly qualifies. I also currently own a big, inefficient SUV with a 454-cubic-inch big block V8. So if your answer to the question IÂ’m posing here is that youÂ’re willing to pay the better part of a hundred grand on a chromed-out and leather-lined pickup simply because you want to, then by all means — not that you need my permission — go buy one. The part I donÂ’t understand is this: Why wouldn't you, as a rational person, rather split your garage in half? On one side would sit a nice car that is quiet, rides and handles equally well and gets above average fuel mileage. Maybe it has a few hundred gasoline-fueled horsepower, or heck, maybe itÂ’s electric. On the other side (or even outside) is parked a decent pickup truck. One that can tow 10,000 pounds, haul something near a ton in the bed, and has all the goodies most Americans want in their cars, like cruise control, power windows and locks, keyless entry, and a decent infotainment screen.

2020 Ram 3500 heavy duty interior spied

The 2020 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks continue their steady testing regimen, and the engineers are still keeping the trucks under careful wraps. Or at least they are with the outside. As the photos above show, some test drivers got a little sloppy with interior coverings, and our spy photographer took advantage of the situation. And the good news is that the interior will be basically identical to that of the 2019 Ram 1500. We say good news because the Ram's stylish interior and well-thought-out controls are part of why it's our favorite fullsize pickup right now. This particular model has the 8.4-inch UConnect touchscreen infotainment. Since the entire center stack is the same as the 1500, we wouldn't be surprised if the monster 12-inch display were to be available on high-end trims. The small 5-inch infotainment will probably be the standard option. Another interesting detail is that this test truck does not have the rotary shift dial shared with the Ram 1500 and various other Chrysler products. Instead, it has a traditional steering column-mounted shift lever. As for the outside, nothing new is revealed to us. We shouldn't have to wait too long to see the production truck, though. We expect it to be revealed early next year. What we've seen so far seems to indicate that the heavy duty Rams will have styling a little closer to the old model than to the new 1500. Still, expect grilles and other cues from the lighter duty model, just translated to a slightly different shape. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Four Wheeler crowns Ultimate Factory 4x4... who wins?

Nearly every automaker doing business in the SUV or pickup truck segments offers a package designed to improve the off-road capabilities of its wares. But, of course, not all such factory kits are created equal. How, then, to separate the wheat from the chaff? Gather each of them up and put them through their paces, naturally.
The folks from Four Wheeler and PickupTrucks.com joined forces to run just such a comparison test, with the winner named the Ultimate Factory 4x4. A total of seven vehicles showed up to the fight: the 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, 2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2012 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X and Xterra PRO-4X, 2012 Ram Power Wagon, and 2012 Toyota 4Runner Trail and Tacoma TRD T|X Baja Series.
With the contestants in place, the whole crew put each vehicle through a battery of tests that included skidpad and acceleration measurements, a hillclimb, a rocky stairstep course and a rock garden. Considering the nature of the beasts, on-road ride and comfort were not part of the routine.