Ram 1500 car like ride explained

I see more new Dodge Rams around my parts yearly for the last decade -- than any other make. Great article and thanks for sharing.
 
Even the 4th gens ride like a big 'ol cushy Buick Roadmaster and are super quiet in the cabin compared to most vehicles.

I do think the 17" wheels offer a better ride as well with all that soft sidewall. Not as great handling maybe.

I haven't looked at new truck sales lately, but the pandemic and job looses didn't seem to slow down truck sales.

A used 2019 Ram 1500 that would fetch ~$26K 6 months ago is more like $28K now.
 
I bet the Ram has a nice cushy ride.

But every one I see pulling a trailer or with something in the bed, they squat down reallllly low in the back.
 
I saw one last week with an equalizer hitch pulling a fair sized RV … that had him pretty level …

Back when big block cars pulled RV's that was standard kit (and there are better ones now) …
 
Nice article, thanks. They do ride nice. Nice shifting transmissions too.
 
Originally Posted by buster
Nice article, thanks. They do ride nice. Nice shifting transmissions too.


That ZF transmission in the RAM is far and away the best in the 1/2 ton class. I've owned every make of pickup and they all have there +s and -s. Not one of them is an outright winner in all categories. I liked each and every one and they all offered what I felt was a good value proposition when I bought them and my subsequent experience only served to reinforce that - not a bad one in the bunch. My '16 Ecodiesel was a fine truck and rode like a dream. With airbags it was a capable 6000lb TT hauler. When I checked out all of the 1/2 tons with that load, they all squatted too much in the back without equalizer bars (or air bags).
 
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The others are making that choice on LT's and have been doing this coil gig on full sized SUV's for years …
 
I know this is pretty "anecdotal' evidence, but in Texas nearly all the Dodge trucks I see are used as "cars".


Very, very seldom do I see Dodge trucks used for "work".
Those that do - - complain a lot about them.
 
oversized + overpriced tanks, aka todays 4 dr trucks are NOT for me when a king cab nissan frontier will do at half the cost in most cases. many throw away $$$ on unneeded bloated trucks, but its your $$$$$
 
Originally Posted by benjy
oversized + overpriced tanks, aka todays 4 dr trucks are NOT for me when a king cab nissan frontier will do at half the cost in most cases. many throw away $$$ on unneeded bloated trucks, but its your $$$$$


The issue with the Frontier isn't that it's not a good truck, but that it gets the gas mileage worse than a V8 half-ton, lol.

We had two of them at work and they were reliable, but rode worse than the 1/2 tons, got worse fuel mileage, and had an even larger turning radius.
 
What I found most interesting in that article is that the upper wishbones are plastic glued to a sheet metal stamping.

I rented a '19 Ram Limited last fall and found the engine and transmission very nice, the dash too full of digital stuff for my taste, and it was noisy on the road. Noisier than my base Titan. It had air ride and did ride nice. Ram tranny programming beats Nissan hands down.
 
Originally Posted by AZjeff
What I found most interesting in that article is that the upper wishbones are plastic glued to a sheet metal stamping.

I rented a '19 Ram Limited last fall and found the engine and transmission very nice, the dash too full of digital stuff for my taste, and it was noisy on the road. Noisier than my base Titan. It had air ride and did ride nice. Ram tranny programming beats Nissan hands down.


New body style or old body style? If it was NBS it should have been MUCH quieter. We've owned both and the NBS is much plusher and significantly quieter. Both have the ZF 8spd, same engine, same UConnect...etc.

Amusingly, my dad has the same critique of the dash as you, as we are trying to get him out of his 2000 Expedition and into something safer. He has borrowed our 2019 a couple of times but finds himself feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the tech. I told him it would be similar in any new truck and he didn't find that helpful
lol.gif


The one time he borrowed it to drive to Toronto, he accidentally hit the gear limiter instead of the cruise and didn't know what he had done other than the truck wouldn't go over 60km/h. He pulled over, put it in park, put it back in drive and it was fine, but he was quite freaked out and it was stressful for him at the time.
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by AZjeff
What I found most interesting in that article is that the upper wishbones are plastic glued to a sheet metal stamping.

I rented a '19 Ram Limited last fall and found the engine and transmission very nice, the dash too full of digital stuff for my taste, and it was noisy on the road. Noisier than my base Titan. It had air ride and did ride nice. Ram tranny programming beats Nissan hands down.


New body style or old body style? If it was NBS it should have been MUCH quieter. We've owned both and the NBS is much plusher and significantly quieter. Both have the ZF 8spd, same engine, same UConnect...etc.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5235996/2019-ram-limited-impressions
 
My buddy has a ram 1500 limited with the air ride suspension. I think it rides very hard and pot holes are not absorbed well. Maybe a regular ram 1500 without the air ride suspension would ride more comfortable.
 
I'm not a big fan of the coils, but a friend of mine had a 2011 1500 and it does ride real nice. Especially compared to my leaf sprung F350.

While I would never buy one, I am waiting to see who comes out with the full sized independent rear suspension 1/2 ton. It's going to be Dodge or Ford. Ford has over a decade of doing it in the Expedition but Dodge is more willing to take chances like that it seems.
 
Originally Posted by The Critic
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by AZjeff
What I found most interesting in that article is that the upper wishbones are plastic glued to a sheet metal stamping.

I rented a '19 Ram Limited last fall and found the engine and transmission very nice, the dash too full of digital stuff for my taste, and it was noisy on the road. Noisier than my base Titan. It had air ride and did ride nice. Ram tranny programming beats Nissan hands down.


New body style or old body style? If it was NBS it should have been MUCH quieter. We've owned both and the NBS is much plusher and significantly quieter. Both have the ZF 8spd, same engine, same UConnect...etc.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5235996/2019-ram-limited-impressions


thanks! Yeah, that's the NBS, so I'm surprised to hear you found it noisier, but your complaints about the OEM tires are in-line with ours, they are awful. Once ours are done, it is getting a set of Defender LTX's.
 
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