Dodge Ram Crew Cab Laramie 4x4 Cummins Diesel Custom New Lift Wheels Tires Nav on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Here's how I averaged 31.5 mpg in a Ram HFE EcoDiesel

Few things could be more American than a bright red Ram pickup parked in front of Mount Rushmore. To get there and back on a single tank of fuel from the nearest major city, however, requires a collaboration of international proportions. This particular Ram is a 1500 HFE EcoDiesel, festooned with badges indicating the presence of an Italian turbodiesel V6 mated to a German eight-speed automatic. Some Rams are even built in Mexico, but this one only boasted a 27 percent Mexican parts content. A rather global truck, this one. It is the sum of its parts, but those bits and pieces were curated by a team of engineers in Michigan. At the risk of hipstering its history, the Ram HFE (High Fuel Efficiency) package was truly custom-tailored for one purpose: Achieving an EPA-rated 29 mpg on the highway, which is 1 mpg better than a standard Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. It did just that. No, it did better than that, but more on that in a minute. The Ram has stuck with its "son of big rig" styling for nearly 25 years; opting for the EcoDiesel V6 means you can fill up next to Peterbilts. My goal was to bypass truck stops entirely. I left Denver early in the morning and aimed to enjoy lunch with Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln looking over my shoulder before heading home for dinner. Mt. Rushmore is about 370 miles away from the northernmost truck stop within Denver, where I filled the Ram HFE's tank and headed northbound on Interstate 25 toward Wyoming and a series of smaller highways that roughly follow an old stagecoach route from Cheyenne to what is now Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. The Ram was such a fuel miser that I could have driven an extra 50 miles each way and still avoided the pumps. It's beautifully stark country: the kind of desolate place where the FM radio does a lot of seeking; that's all the audio I had on board because the Ram HFE is decidedly lacking in comfort and convenience features. To get to an EPA-estimated 29 mpg highway figure, Ram engineers had to goals: To strip weight and improve aerodynamics. In the wind tunnel, the medium-size 4x2 Quad Cab with 20-inch wheels and the Ram Express trim level's one-piece front bumper proved the most aerodynamic configuration of the many flavors of Ram available. Interestingly, testing revealed that adding full-length tubular side steps and a tri-fold tonneau cover normally offered in the Mopar accessories catalog aid aerodynamics.

2020 Ram 1500 4x4 Suspension Deep Dive

What is taking everyone so long? That’s what I continually ask myself each time yet another all-new full-size pickup comes out with leaf spring rear suspension. Meanwhile, this 2020 Ram 1500 pickup represents a dozen years since coil spring rear suspension debuted when its prior generation was still being called a Dodge Ram 1500. Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota and Nissan introduced full redesigns of their pickups well after Ram proved that coil springs were the way to go, and yet leaf springs persist with the competition. IÂ’m not just popping off, here. In the 1990s I used to specialize in pickup truck suspension tuning for the Toyota Technical Center. Leaf springs are crude and loaded with compromises, but thatÂ’s all that truck design engineers ever gave us to work with. I was instantly all-in on RamÂ’s move to rear coils after the first few miles of driving a 2009 Ram 1500 pickup. Empty-bed ride comfort and handling were on another level, but it could still tow and haul. In fact, towing stability proved to be frankly incredible on the normally-treacherous downhill leg of my winding tow test grade. I fully expected everyone would copy it immediately. But they didnÂ’t. Others may have doubted the payload aspects. Ram never did. It soon doubled down and put coils under the back of its 2014 2500-series trucks. IÂ’ve developed other theories that seek to explain why no one followed their lead, but theyÂ’re not worth dredging up because I think the dominoes will soon begin to fall. Spy photos suggest that the next Toyota Tundra will switch to coils, and there are rumors that the Ford Raptor is going that way. ThatÂ’s not much of a stretch because the Ranger Raptor (only available outside the U.S.) already has coil spring rear suspension. WhatÂ’s the big deal? LetÂ’s take a look at the underside of a 2020 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4, the second iteration of the Ram 1500 to employ coil spring rear suspension.   As it has for some time, the front end of the Ram 1500 rides on double wishbone suspension. The truck employs a high-mount upper wishbone (yellow arrow) that positions the upper ball joint up behind the tire sidewall instead of inside the wheelÂ’s barrel. This layout offers improved steering geometry and reduced stress in the upper ball joint, the upper control arm and its mounting points.   Coil-over spring/shock assemblies (green) come standard on all 2019+ (fifth-generation) Ram 1500 pickups whether they have four-wheel drive or not.

Sunday Drive: From a mid-engine 'Vette to a restomod RV

Automotive enthusiasts are a diverse bunch. As proof, we present last week's top posts on Autoblog, starting with some really good spy photos of the upcoming mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette. Will it be sold alongside a classic front-engine 'Vette? We have no idea, but we can't wait to find out. Up next is a pickup truck. Can't get much further from a supercar, right? At least both the Corvette and the 2019 Ram 1500 – which will debut a radical new design that appears to eschew the mini big-rig look of past Rams in favor of something more refined – are both American. Decidedly not American? The Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV. The boxy off-road 'ute looks a heck of a lot like the old one, which is probably a good thing, but we know it'll be fancier and more luxurious than ever before. Check out the leaked images below. Also hailing from Germany, but sharing absolutely nothing else in common at all, is the Audi A4 Allroad. We've been driving this all-wheel-drive wagon for a while now, and we like it quite a bit. And, last but not least, is a 1959 bus that's been converted into an RV. Like we said, y'all certainly are a diverse bunch. Mid-engine Corvette — our clearest pictures yet 2019 Ram 1500 shows its full face 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class revealed in leaked photos 2018 Audi A4 Allroad Drivers' Notes Review | Wagons still rule This Mercedes O 319 restomod camper van shames your VW Microbus Audi Chevrolet Mercedes-Benz RAM Truck Coupe Minivan/Van SUV Future Vehicles Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Special and Limited Editions Performance Supercars mid-engine corvette recap sunday drive