Riding High in a Ram from Down Under: An Australian Drives the Ram 1500 from L.A. to Detroit
By James Stanford for PickupTrucks.com
Australian correspondent James Stanford has always written about the trucks we don't get to drive in the U.S., like the Ford and Holden Utes and Volkswagen Amarok. But this time we've dragged him to our shores and placed him in a big American pickup. We hope you enjoy what James thinks about driving the Ram 1500 from L.A. to Detroit.
Australia is like the U.S. in a lot of ways, but there are also significant differences.
You have baseball. We have cricket. You have NASCAR. We have V-8 supercars. You have pickup trucks. We have utes.
Australians buy a mix of car-based utes and cheap Japanese commercials (made in Thailand), but you can’t get full-size pickups like the Ford F-Series, GMC Sierra or Ram. Any attempt to sell them in the past has been unsuccessful because only a handful of Aussies really “get” pickups.
To understand why Americans like pickups so much, last January I drove a Dodge Ram 1500 from Los Angeles to Detroit.
A few key criteria had to be met before starting out. It needed to have a V-8, a nice 5.7-liter Hemi and a crew cab for all the stuff my lovely wife would inevitably buy along the way. (I didn’t think it would all fit in the tub — Aussie for “cargo box” — out the back.)
First impressions
I must say that I was impressed with the Ram 1500 Laredo 4x4 the first time I saw it. To be more accurate, I was nearly blinded by it. It was a sunny day in Los Angeles, and the reflection from all that chrome was dazzling.
A pickup this big is intimidating to an Australian, and for the first few hours I wondered why I chose a Ram for the trip.
It was fantastic inside, full of leather and all of that space, but the Ram was so wide that I struggled to stay in my lane as we rolled along in thick traffic on the freeway out of Los Angeles. It was strange to sit up so high in traffic because our utes and utilities are so much shorter.
We steered toward Death Valley and watched the scenery change to dry desert as I got used to the Ram. It might have seemed massive to me, but I was soon passed by even larger pickups.
What surprised me most was just how quiet the Ram was. I thought it would be like our commercial utes, which are pretty noisy. But it was so serene inside.
From Death Valley to Sin City
Our route took us along some fantastic dirt tracks that run through Death Valley and past some ghost towns from the mining days, including the abandoned gold-mining town of Rhyolite, Nev. (named for the area's volcanic rocks and sand), which is now a scene of installation art that includes a series of ghosts. The artists must have a sense of humor.
These places reminded me of the Australian outback. The Ram was so comfortable cruising. It felt at home covering huge distances, eating up the miles with the engine just ticking over.
Our route took us up from Death Valley eastward into Nevada, near Area 51 on what is called the Extraterrestrial Highway (U.S. State Route 375). We stopped at the Little A 'Le' Inn pub and store in Rachel.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any aliens; they may have moved on to Las Vegas, which is where we spent the night. The gaudy lights of Sin City reflected off the Ram’s chrome grille and bumpers.
The heat is on
We resisted the urge to blow all our fuel money and moved on toward the Grand Canyon. The next morning, we found the Ram under a thick coat of snow, which never happens where I’m from. Digging it out was novel and fun, for a few seconds.
I have to admit that until this point, the Ram’s heated steering wheel seemed like a waste of money, but I changed that view instantly in the low temperatures. When your fingers are ice blocks, the heated wheel and seat are up there with the greatest automotive inventions of all time.
The Grand Canyon turned out to be even more beautiful than the brochure, thanks to a top coat of snow. Wow!
Within a few hours, we were out of the snow and rolling through Arizona into New Mexico.
A run on an old section of Route 66, which was pretty bumpy, showed just how good the Ram’s ride is. I expected a rough, jolty ride, but the Ram rolled along as well as some of our Australian car-based utes, thanks to its rear coil-sprung live axle and multilink suspension. It was a bit more cumbersome around the corners, but it was always predictable in its path.
Let it snow
A few hundred miles later in Denver, I had my first full-on snow driving experience. The snow was coming down so hard that the road was completely covered, and two-wheel-drive cars were sliding everywhere. Luckily, the Ram had four-wheel drive and new tires that seemed to have a lot more grip than anything else — that is, until I wanted to stop.
I had a few hairy moments trying to slow the Ram as we slid toward a group of stopped cars. Given my inexperience, I decided to just drive super slow and leave lots of space in front of me. I was passed by a few people on the highway, including an older lady, but I can handle that.
The Ram Box
In Colorado, I started to appreciate the optional Ram Box tub storage bins. These lockable compartments were handy for bits and pieces you didn't want to leave in the cabin, and I learned that when filled with snow, they make excellent chillers. They keep soft drinks cool for the trip and other beverages ice-cold ready for when we pull up for the night.
I appreciated the Ram Box, but the $1,800 asking price is too high. The trip on the interstate from Denver to Kansas City was an eye-opening experience. A severe winter storm came through the day before, and we saw crashed cars every few kilometers, some stuck on the center barriers, others in ditches.
After watching a hockey game in St Louis, we headed up through Iowa, stopping at the Iowa 80 truck stop, which is apparently the world’s largest, and it certainly gave that impression.
In the home stretch, we decided to check out Hell, Mich., a tiny town just out of Detroit. No kidding, it's actually called Hell. Interestingly, it was snowing there on the day we arrived.
I savored the V-8 engine during the last few miles into Detroit, taking the opportunity to open it up and enjoy that sweet sound.
The Hemi propelled the Ram along pretty fast, too. Not that it’s a racecar, but it’s nice to have all that power in reserve.
The Ram has a fuel calculator, but it presented the information in miles per gallon, while Australians use liters per 100 kilometers. The fact is, I didn’t really want to know our mileage because I suspected it to be a gas guzzler.
It worked out to 14.8 mpg, which seems like a lot, given most of the run was at steady highway speed, but I wasn’t expecting any miracles.
The cold truth
Our arrival in Detroit was a bit more exciting than expected because I left an unopened can of Coke in the cabin. Not a drama in Australia, but the freezing temperatures led to a dramatic explosion that sent sugary, iced caffeine all over the cabin. It was all clean again after a few hours.
As I handed back the keys, it was time to hand the Ram back and reflect on what I learned.
A) Cans of drink should not be left in vehicles in winter.
B) The Ram is a much better vehicle than I could have imagined.
I’d love to drive one of these back at home, as long as someone paid for the fuel, so it’s a shame there are no plans to build it in right-hand drive for us Australians. How about a swap? We’ll give you some Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon utes, and you send the Ram.
That way, everybody wins.
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