2009 Dodge Ram 1500: Beep, Beep, Beep...

ocramida, I think you're being over critical. They probably didn't feel like wasting money on sensing the tailgate being down. They probably even figured the driver would be smart enough to push a button on the dash.

It's kinda funny, but not a big deal.

Shortsighted? give me a break. If the tailgate is down it is a hell of a lot easier to see behind the truck...DUH AND they put a button on the dash to turn off the sensor. So far the Ram has been a hell of a lot more reliable than the Nissans in the fleet.....or last years Fit.......Or the C class mercedes.......

At least you get to see if your in the process of running over a child....

And what about the camera? Do you think they could have worked that out?

kinda funny; not exactly the end of the world, is it?

Since the vehicle in question is a pickup truck, the camera problem seems unavoidable. The only way that they MIGHT have overcome it would have been to place the camera in the license plate surround, like with those third-party DIY kits. But even if that were the case, the view would STILL be partially obstructed by the overhanging tailgate.

Besides, I'm sure there is some legalese in the manual about driving with the tailgate down at your own risk.

i dont think it's being over critical since they really should have seen this and come up with a solution. i mean the whole point of using the bed extender is to put longer items in the bed which means you probably need the back up camera even more. the only solution i can see is if they put a camera on the top of the tailgate where that black plastic trim is so when you have it down it wont face the ground. but of course this would never happen because of cost.

jsc4321

Thanks for the assist. My main gripe is that at the Ram (er...-Ram's) cost of ~50K it's the details that matter. 50K is a helluva lot of cash and I for one would expect to have a means of preventing smashing my tailgate into an obstruction backing up. As jsc4321 states it's a situation where the back-up camera (and arguably the beep sensor) makes even more sense.

I know it's not the worst mistake in the world to make, but small oversights like this don't exactly make me confident in the vehicle as a whole, nor of the engineers that designed it. Who knows what other potential issues they overlooked.

Fundango

In the spirit of giving Ram- Ram the benefit of the doubt, I wouldn't totally blame the engineers. It's possible this was picked up during testing/design review but was deemed "minor" by the bean counters.

...still I agree that it makes you wonder about other cut corners.The Ram Box is another example. Again for 50K and the fact it's supposed to be a "durable" truck, who in their right mind would build the Ram box out of plastic?

Haha, took the words right out of my mouth. I'm all for cutting corners, but on a vehicle this expensive, would gladly pay the extra $10 or whatever it would have cost to have the camera deactivate when the tailgate dropped. Just seems sloppy to have the camera facing the ground and the sensor going crazy when the tailgate is down.

Insta-F41L!

"I know it's not the worst mistake in the world to make, but small oversights like this don't exactly make me confident in the vehicle as a whole, nor of the engineers that designed it. Who knows what other potential issues they overlooked."

ROFLMFAO you guys slay me!!!!! If you cant see how silly that statement is I dont think we even speak the same language! Classic straw man attack! Does the fact that the Ram has been flawless so far mean anything to you? Oh I thought not. Who cares if it does not wink out when the tailgate is down? Did you ever think that most Rams made wont even have this feature??? Or would you be upset if it did not offer this feature? Come on...set up another straw man to knock down!

Okay its saids in the manual how to turn off the camera when placing in reverse. Remember the camera is optional. What do people do when there isn't one, IDK use your mirrors to see wat behind you. What if the person removes the tailgate all together what then? You shouldn't be driving a truck if your worried about this. The big point on having there camera is for hooking up a trailer. These feathures are a luxory if yur worried about it dont get the feature. The rambox is a great idea, yes it needs a little more work but its a first of its kind. Making it out a plastic is a simple idea, it adds little weight, plastic is a great material if you know about plastic material. There are plastics out there taht are stronger the some steel. Yeah STEEL.
You people make me sick. If you take half of the luxury feature out of the truck it would still be a great truck. TRUCK not german sedan. You get what you paid for

@jazrit:
" There are plastics out there [that] are stronger the some steel. Yeah STEEL."
No there isn't. Unless you are talking about fiber-reinforced composites, be it carbon or kevlar. These materials are composites, not plastics in the conventional sense.
The bottom line is, making a pickup truck storage bin out of thin, fragile plastic is outright criminal.

ocramida, I'll give you the Rambox. Edmunds experience with it has me much more concerned than the camera/beep issue. I'm curious to see if durability turns into a common issue with the rambox.

ocramida,

I must ask you, since you are griping about the backup camera not being useful when the tailgate is down, where exactly would you like Dodge to mount said backup camera???

I guess the camera issue is unavoidable on a pickup given the packaging constraints (putting on the bumper would potentially hamper its use with a trailer), but incessantly beeping backup sensors is a lack of attention to the details. Still, adding it was probably relatively expensive since I'm guessing the tailgate is not fitted with a position switch.

I'm still waiting for y'all to forget about using the camera and making the Ram a short term test truck:)

Dodge, er, "Ram," needs to add some wire mesh to their bed extender's large porous holes, as items such as 2x4s won't be safely contained. They'll just slide right through and end up on the road.

Jay, you can turn off the sensor so it wont beep.

fsunole

I think the back-up camera could be added to one of the tail light assemblies and angled slightly so that you could see what was directly behind you with or without the tailgate down.

BodyBlue
I find it funny that you're griping about criticism of a 50K truck when you gripe up and down about Mazda's 23K cars. Personally I think Mazda does a helluva lot better job with details such as these in their sub 30K cars. Dodge wishes they had such a well rounded 23K car like the Mazdaspeed, but they don't, and their history more than supports a habit of cutting corners to the bone. Also at what price point would you expect such poor design choices to be unacceptable? 70K? Oh and at 50K I expect cars to be reliable. So this is not a straw man attack. It's just pointing out some poor design choices, which may or may not have been caught by Dodge or caused by their bean counters.

Bottom line it's a 50K car. At that price it should be about perfect in execution. I would rather they forget about the back-up camera rather than make it half useful.

IMO

Funny the criticisms car people level at trucks.
This rates as nothing compared to the plastic liner RamBoxes. The RB's are a valid concern.

This is the best 1/4 ton pu on the market today. It's not perfect, but nothing is. Price has nothing to do with "perfection". Paper clips are perfect and you can have a handful for 50 cents.

"ROFLMFAO you guys slay me!!!!! If you cant see how silly that statement is I dont think we even speak the same language! Classic straw man attack! Does the fact that the Ram has been flawless so far mean anything to you? Oh I thought not. Who cares if it does not wink out when the tailgate is down? Did you ever think that most Rams made wont even have this feature??? Or would you be upset if it did not offer this feature? Come on...set up another straw man to knock down!"

Ok, I'll just get this out of the way first: do you know what a straw man argument is? Look up that phrase before attempting to use it.

As for your other points:

1) Who cares if it does not wink out when the tailgate is down?

A number of people judging by the comments here, not to mention, the Inside Line editor who cared enough to put up an entry about it. You also apparently missed the point of my comment.

2) Did you ever think that most Rams made wont even have this feature???

Sure, but your point is? That's like arguing that since most Civics won't come with nav systems, it's fine if they happen to be rubbish. Nope, poor engineering is poor engineering, no matter how unpopular the device.

3) Or would you be upset if it did not offer this feature?

Not particularly. Are you trying to say that because the device is non-essential, that it's fine if it's poorly engineered? Poor engineering is poor engineering, no matter whether an essential device or not. And like every device or feature that comes on a car, if it wasn't well thought out, it's a blemish on the car's record.

Enough poorly thought out features on a car (back-up cam, Rambox is a start; another example are the visors on the Fit) and yes, eventually most people will begin to question the engineering that went into the car. And if you still find that to be "ROFLMFAO", it's probably not worth trying to explain to you.

"I would rather they forget about the back-up camera rather than make it half useful."

How is it half useful?? When the tailgate is up it works perfectly. When the tailgate is down you can see behind the truck much better anyway. The attacks on the Ram are just silly. It is not as if the sensors dont work or cant be turned off if you dont like the beeping. How long do you keep your car in reverse anyway? So the screen shows the ground for 10-15 seconds? How painful for you......Not one person who is making a big deal out of this will be buying a Ram anytime soon anyway.

"Sure, but your point is? That's like arguing that since most Civics won't come with nav systems, it's fine if they happen to be rubbish. Nope, poor engineering is poor engineering, no matter how unpopular the device."

How is this poor engineering? You really think that the camera coming on in reverse for 10 seconds to be poor engineering? You have to be kidding.

"Enough poorly thought out features on a car (back-up cam, Rambox is a start; another example are the visors on the Fit) and yes, eventually most people will begin to question the engineering that went into the car. And if you still find that to be "ROFLMFAO", it's probably not worth trying to explain to you."

The Ramboxes need to be made out of something stronger...that is a poor engineering CHOICE. The design of them is just fine. All vehicles have comprimises built in. Do you question the class-leading rear suspension? Or the beautiful and functional interior? Or the Hemi? Or are you just a Dodge hater that was just waiting for anything to jump on the Dodge for since the imported cars have not been doing well in the IL fleet this past year? And yes I will continue to laugh at anybody that make the huge leap from a camera that does not turn off when the tailgate is down to the truck is engineered poorly. Anybody that thinks that indeed make me ROFLMFAO :)

Couple of points:

1) Your attempt to distinguish between choice and design is misguided. They are one and the same. Engineering design incorporate choices in materials, obviously.

2) Yes, poor engineering to design a reverse cam that bugs out when the tailgate is down.

3) Compromises must fit within the intended purpose of the vehicle. The best compromises are the ones that do the least to detract from that purpose. The weak materials used in the Rambox appears to have been a poor compromise considering the vehicle is intended to be a heavy duty pickup and the cost savings couldn't have been more than a few bucks.

4) No offense, but your notions on what kinds of "design choices" and compromises are acceptable in a vehicle is similar to the type of thinking that got Detroit into the mess they're in right now. And no, haha, I don't have any strong feelings either way towards Dodge. When you deal with as many corporations as I do in my line of work, you realize how ridiculous it is to become attached to any corporate entity. I just call it like I see it.

fundango

I couldn't have said it better myself. +10

Not much more to say on the subject...Oh and while a paper clip is perfect it also isn't 50K. I expect more from my 50K.

You guys are funny. Not haha-funny... like a bunch of eunuchs arguing about the best position- funny.

Ok cruiser you are right! I surrender.

I can not believe you guys are talking about this being " poorly engineered". Are you guys serious? While I agree they could have disabled it automatically having the tail gate down, I do not see this being near anything "poorly engineered". Did you guys tiny brains think of reasons why it won't automatically turn off. Let's put on our big boy hat and think. First, if it did disable automatically, uneducated people would think its broken, Secondly, Having the camera on while the tailgate down isn't going to help you that much but it could still help you see something potentially hazardous that is already under the truck. Thirdly, I'm sure someone would try to sue dodge saying they hit something because of the camera/sensors were turned off. Fourthly.. well you guys get the point. Does any other truck offer a backup camera built in, and standard sensors? I don't think so. If you can't stand this "poorly engineered" truck then go buy a S10 or something and shut up. It's honestly so pathetic how you guys are trying to bash this truck for this.

For example, in the above picture the editor put on.. with that camera on... you could see a bike tire or something before you run it over. While the camera being down like that isn't going to help you prevent running into something behind the tailgate..you should be able to see behind that if your tailgate is down anyways. Also, the person that suggested they move the camera to where the license plate is.. that is an OK idea until you think of this. 1. that's not going to help you attach a trailer, you could potentially smash the camera with the trailer trying to align it up, and you wouldn't get a good view from it besides a wide angle flat view, with the camera attached inside the tailgate at an angle.. you can see directly below the truck along with a few feet outwards. I see the design they did as the best possible.

The rambox, i don't know if i would call "poorly engineered", maybe just a bad choice of material to use. I agree the plastic in the RB should be upgraded, however, for what most people are going to use it for, I think it will be okay.

grnarn@ They were just looking to bash the Ram and run. But when they called on it they came back and really tried to convince themselves they were right. I said the Rambox used a bad choice of material just like you did. If this would have been a foreign make of truck the same people would not have said a word. If the Dodge would have dropped a tranny or been in the shop for electrical problems I would have said the same things about it as I did about the Nissans and the Honda Fit.....but the fact is both Dodges in the IL fleet have performed very nicely and I know that makes some people mad.