This one goes out to kissel1.
My husband desperately needed horse manure and a bale of straw for his vegetable garden, so we took our annual trip to the LA Equestrian Center in Burbank over the weekend. Last year, we easily fit 2 bales of straw and about the same amount of manure (about 4 large trash bags full) in the back of the long-term Tundra. For this trip, we packed the bed of our long-term 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 with just 1 bale of straw along with 4 bags of horse poop (sorry I didn't get the money shot of the bags open in the bed this year).
Even with the intrusion of the Ram Boxes into the bed's usable space (for this purpose, at least), there was plenty room for more, but we only needed that amount (a little straw and composted manure go a long way in a small urban backyard garden).
After shovelling horse doo into the bags in the hot mid-day sun, my husband was really grateful for the Ram's optional ventilated leather seats.
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com @ 6,039 miles
adavis2493 says:
05:16 PM, 08/24/09
Can you not get a bed-liner with the Rambox things?
clarkma5 says:
05:56 PM, 08/24/09
Jeez, I never realized just how much the Ramboxes intrude on the bed space. Having lived with a full-size pickup in the household for 15 years now, I would never order such an option.
actualsize says:
07:38 PM, 08/24/09
Uhh, umm...horse doo? ventilated seats? How many days is this thing going to need to be aired-out before I dare approach it?
My $0.02 on the Ram Box: it's like a step side on the inside, but it has lockable boxes instead of weird-looking fenders on the outside. You get some of the space back via the bins, but certainly not all of it. A plus point of the straight-sided bed is the repositionable divider that keys into the serrated sides.
The Ram Box can only be bought as a shorty 5.5 foot bed, which is a useless length to begin with that is only selected by those who really don't use the bed much anyway, IMHO. People who need a truck bed -- really need one -- get a 6.5 foot or 8 foot bed and therefore don't have the option of the Ram Box.
hybris says:
07:39 PM, 08/24/09
I hope you didn't drive with the tailgate down its kills your mileage (or at least empty it does) not to mention you run the risk of beating the gate to pieces on bumps and any gravel roads or spots you might hit.
ahightower says:
05:59 AM, 08/25/09
See, pickups are actually very "green". You can buy tons of sh!t and grow your own veggies, instead of requiring them to be shipped across the globe to your supermarket.
lowmilelude says:
06:01 AM, 08/25/09
What a load of sh!t.
misterfusion says:
09:27 AM, 08/25/09
"I hope you didn't drive with the tailgate down its kills your mileage..."
That's odd, the conventional wisdom used to be that an open bed with a closed tailgate resulted in a parachute effect that destroyed your mileage. But I recall reading a report in CR years ago, in which they demonstrated that there was no appreciable difference in mileage whether the tailgate was up or down.
cruiserhead1 says:
10:36 AM, 08/25/09
hybris,
maybe they left the tailgate down to take a picture of the contents. Can you gump your way to a logical answer before being a know it all nanny?
throwback says:
11:28 AM, 08/25/09
Bryn, you did not help shovel the sh... stuff? For better or worse remember? That would have been the money shot.
crowb says:
01:34 PM, 08/25/09
@ lowmilelude
Nicely done, sir!
fuhteng says:
01:56 PM, 08/25/09
So who said Bryn was a dude? I know someone did! Fess up guys.
jazrit1988 says:
10:49 AM, 08/28/09
NEED TO KNOW!!! IF A SPRAY ON BED LINER WOULD DE PURPOSE THE BED DIVIDER. BY ADDING A LAYER WOULD IT STILL FIT. WHEN GETTING SPRAY ON BED LINER ASK FOR MINIMUM THICKNESS.