No lumber. No towing. No hard hat job sites. Just bicycles and fruit.
A couple of weekends ago a put our long-term 2009 Dodge Ram though the Suburbanites Truck Test.
The rigorous battery of tests included:
1) Haul the wife and kids around like any other car, SUV or minivan.
2) Haul the family and their bikes to the beach for a leisurely afternoon ride.
3) Haul us down to Irvine (60 freeway miles or so one way) to the pick your own strawberries farm. (And no I didn't do donuts in the farm's dirt parking lot. Okay, so I did.)
By Sunday night I concluded that the coil sprung Ram is my favorite of the full-size truck choices. It's perfect for my city boy needs. Its ride and comfort levels are exemplary and its interior appointments are without a doubt class leading.
Still, not so sure I would get the Ram Box.
Scott Oldham, Editor in Chief
chochmastergen says:
11:35 AM, 06/24/10
I just noticed but I cant believe you guys didn't get a bedliner for this thing. I know it has those gimmicky divider things, but you could have at least gotten a spray on, or at the bare minimum put one of those rubber mats down. A truck with a bare bed just looks cheap to me. Especially when its all scratched to hell like that.
half_ton says:
12:22 PM, 06/24/10
Now matter how many glowing reviews of this thing I read (I've read A LOT of them) I can't help but wonder how performance could be maximized with a 6-speed or better tranny . . . I also remember the MANY times my 06 JGC was in for mostly minor repairs AND the fact that in the first year of it's redesign the 09 Ram had four recalls.
I want to like this truck and belive it will suit it's owners ok for the most part but I'm still a little scared of it . . . the 8-speed tranny can't get here soon enough.
bodyblue says:
12:43 PM, 06/24/10
What reason could there be for an eight speed tranny in a light duty truck? Five is just fine for this use....how much more can it do that it does not do now?
Falconx84 says:
01:48 PM, 06/24/10
What?! No pics/video of the dirt doughnuts? I'm disappointed... I thought I knew you guys better...
half_ton says:
03:01 PM, 06/24/10
"What reason could there be for an eight speed tranny in a light duty truck? Five is just fine for this use....how much more can it do that it does not do now?"
More gears allows towing AND fuel economy to be maximized. That is why except for the Titan every other full size pick up offers a 6-speed. Even though the Ram has won comparision tests and received favorable reviews the 5-speed is a noted demerit for this truck.
Add this to the fact that Chrysler will soon be building the ZF 8-speed tranny and it makes sense for the refreshed or next-gen Ram to have one.
I'm disappointed bodyblue . . . your enthusiast liscense may be revoked over this.
threemopars says:
07:04 PM, 06/24/10
Lets clarify those "recalls":
1. "CHRYSLER IS RECALLING 504 MY 2009 DODGE RAM 2500/3500 PICKUP TRUCKS HEAVY DUTY CAB CHASSIS WITH MANUAL TRANSMISSION AND POWER ADJUSTABLE PEDAL PACKAGE"
2. "CHRYSLER IS RECALLING 65,896 MY 2008-2009 LIGHT AND HEAVY DUTY DODGE RAM PICKUP TRUCKS. THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MODULE MOTOR ASSEMBLY MAY BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO WATER INTRUSION THAT COULD RESULT IN PARTIAL OR COMPLETE LOSS OF WINDSHIELD WIPING CAPABILITY."
3. "CHRYSLER IS RECALLING 36,793 MY 2009 DODGE RAM LIGHT DUTY PICKUP TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH MANUAL TEMPERATURE CONTROL (MTC) ONLY"
4. "CHRYSLER IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 CHRYSLER SEBRING; DODGE AVENGER AND NITRO; JEEP LIBERTY, COMMANDER AND GRAND CHEROKEE; AND MODEL YEAR 2009-2010 DODGE RAM TRUCK. THESE VEHICLES MAY HAVE BEEN BUILT WITH AN IMPROPERLY FORMED OR MISSING BRAKE BOOSTER INPUT ROD RETAINING CLIP."
So one of them doesn't even apply to this Ram, and only one could potentially cause a serious driving issue.....yes it's such poor "quality". *Rolls eyes*
audisport says:
06:43 AM, 06/25/10
The 5 speed auto is pretty sturdy and reliable. It's not that bad. The 8 speed will obviously bring MPG up a few but it's not that the 5 speed auto is horrible.