2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman/express on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ram 1500 Rebel OTG concept shows up in a patent filing

Stellantis filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 12, initially found by Car and Driver, in the generic category "Automobile Body." But the images within portray a specific vehicle: The 2020 Ram Rebel 1500 Off the Grid (OTG) concept from the 2019 SEMA show. That concept dipped a regular old Ram in a vat of Mopar and third-party accessories, the result a rig built for bugging out. Off-the-shelf and custom Mopar gear included a larger grille with flow-through RAM lettering, a steel front bumper with integrated off-road lights, a high-rise snorkel, side steps doubling as rock rails, a two-inch lift kit, and fender flares over beadlock wheels wrapped in 35-inch Goodyear meat. The Ram Power Wagon donated its 10,000-pound Warn winch, the Ram Tradesman donated its rear bumper for a better departure angle and vinyl interior flooring. This could be considered the base form of the truck, and it's what the patent drawings illustrate — a rig Stellantis could put on a dealer floor in 48 hours. The third-party accessories are missing. On the concept, those were a Yakima rooftop basket and utility rack with more LED lighting, a rooftop tent, awning, and solar array, and a bed-mounted slide-out cooking area and cooler from Dometic. With factory-built hardcore off-roaders even more popular than they were in 2019, the question is whether Ram plans to throw a Rebel-based hat in the ring. Muscle Cars & Trucks wonders if Ram is considering dividing its performance truck lineup into a big-bore go-fast TRX side challenging pickups like the Ford F-150 Raptor and a hardcore expedition side taking on pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2. The concept Rebel OTG was powered by the 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel with 260 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque, which would be another big differentiator on a showroom floor. Or, as C/D muses, this could be a template for a Mopar special edition, something Ram can test the waters with before committing. Or, as with so many other patents, it could be nothing. If nothing else, it's nice to see Ram still thinking about it. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

V8-powered 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor R spied testing alongside Ram TRX

Spy photographers captured Ford engineers testing what appears to be a 2022 F-150 Raptor R alongside a Ram TRX this week, giving us a sneak preview of the first major battle in the coming war for super-pickup dominance.  Ford has remained tight-lipped about the Raptor R's performance specs. We know only that it will be powered by a V8 (likely a variant of the 760-horsepower, supercharged 5.2-liter unit from the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500), and that it's due to break cover some time later this year. Given that the 702-horsepower Ram TRX will be the Raptor R's only competition (and pretty much the only reason it exists in the first place), Ford's decision to benchmark the fast Ram is a bit of a no-brainer.  The Blue Oval's performance engineers have years of practice when it comes to building high-performance off-road trucks, so despite Ram's first-strike advantage and Hellcat trump card, the TRX might actually be the underdog in this fight. Why? Well, based on what we've seen of the EcoBoost-powered 2021 Raptor so far, it should weigh at least 500-600 pounds less than the TRX, and while we expect that gap to shrink with the addition of the bigger engine, it's likely that it will still favor Ford, and perhaps significantly.  While the larger, supercharged V8 will certainly weigh more than the EcoBoost V6, it's still an all-aluminum engine (all SRT motors are based on cast-iron blocks) and Ford still has the advantage of its lightweight body panels. There will likely be more to the Raptor R's chassis modifications than a new set of engine mounting points, since the existing Raptor was not engineered to handle an 800-horsepower engine, but even with the chassis modifications necessary to handle that power, we expect the Raptor R to be the featherweight of the two.  Since Ford plans to get the Raptor R into production for the 2022 model year, we shouldn't have to wait much longer to find out just exactly how it shapes up against Ram's big dinosaur. Stay tuned. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Some Ram truck buyer is about to get the 3 millionth Cummins diesel engine

Dodge made a Cummins-built turbodiesel engine available in one of its trucks for the first time during the 1989 model year. Over three decades and a name change later, the company announced it ordered the 3 millionth engine from Cummins, and it's about to drop it in a truck. The 3 millionth engine is patiently waiting on a pallet until it's needed on the assembly line. Ram noted the oil-burning six will be installed in a 2019 3500 Longhorn Crew Cab Dually, a model built for both towing and cruising. While the firm knows who ordered the truck, it chose not to release the owner's name to maintain an element of surprise. The dealership that sold it is planning to host a celebration, so the buyer will only find out that he or she purchased a piece of Ram and Cummins history when arriving to pick it up. The Longhorn isn't the kind of truck you're likely to see on a construction site. Priced in the vicinity of $60,000, it's an upmarket variant of Ram's tow-it-all Heavy Duty pickup decked out with leather upholstery, an eight-way power-adjustable driver's seat, two rows of heated seats, and an 8.4-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system. The high-output Cummins 6.7-liter six adds $11,795 to its base price, meaning the truck receiving the 3 millionth engine costs around $75,000.  Cummins has made several different engines for Dodge- and Ram-branded trucks since 1988. It crossed the 200-horsepower mark for the first time in 1996, and built its first engine with over 500 pound-feet of torque in 2001. The current Cummins, the variant going into the milestone truck, is a mighty, 6.7-liter straight-six that serves 400 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque.