if my needs ever needed a hd it would be the ram.

I have a slew of questions and comments for them but some only pertain to the 1/2 tons. I think one thing that Dodge has been behind on for many years is payload. I'd really like to know if they plan on the airbags as standard or an option to increase overall payload (for the 1/2, 3/4 and 1 tons) like they had on the concept Long Hauler.

The other biggie is if the inline can ever match the HP of the Vee style diesels from Ford and GM. The low HP really held them back in terms of acceleration in the HD shoot out.

we buy chassis 450's and put on a 9' Reading body, rumor has it if you buy a chassis truck the power is down grade for the Ford's is that the same for Ram's 4500s

I can not wait. I will be logged in and ready!

Dump the Iveco, Doblo, and Ducato!!! Ram engineers, go to work and develop a viable American styled van!

now y would they need to improve payload. i think hd specially the 1tons r grossly over rated. sure the frame, suspension, axles n all those goody stuff they improve to make it stronger to withstand heavier loads is all great n dandy. but the footprint size remains relatively the same. manufactures keep adding n increasing the numbers, so when is enough? just think of it this way, a pickup.... add a tuneau cover, no proc for the truck, up that to a topper, ah, still ok, now jump up to a camper... hmm, getting tipsy aint it. keep adding but the footprint remains the same. there's gotta be a pt where they say, ok this is about as much as it can take. this is a crucial factor everyone keeps over looking bcuz we want more n bigger.

why don't you guys at Ram quit with HP and TQ wars and give us better FE is it possible or are we missing something, these trucks have plenty of HP and TQ but the FE never seems to increase by that much, do the emissions make much hard to achieve FE

We want more h.p more torque and more mpg !!!!!

Love the Dodge Ram trucks !!!

@ Buy American Or Say Bye To America!,

I am with you on that one,the Dodge B-series vans were the best sellers at one time 70's-early 90's,until the Ford/GM diesel vans and box/cube vans became more popular in the early 90's..Though the Dodge Van remained the top r.v van until its demise after 2003....

Also,rumor Ford is going to replace the Econoline with a Turkish euro Van !! Not the transit they currently have but the Sprinter style they have in Europe,looks like GM will be the top selling van around ,if they dont replace it with euro trash style van !!

RAM Zone,we need an American replacement for the B-series !! American style,cummins Diesel and 5.7 HEMI !!

I don't think Fiat gets the whole *truck* thing. The commercial side maybe but I'm sure a 'factory' Ram Runner idea was kicked around before gettting squashed a conservative Fiat.

What was the reason for the separate 'RAM' division? Seems like Cummins could no longer partner with Dodge post bankruptcy but RAM is technically a different company.

Power wagon diesel oilfield guys would love this option as well maybe a leather option on it also

Kudo's to Ram for having direct conversations with the truck buying public.

The only weak spots I see with the Ram HD's are the front ends ( ball joint and tie rod) and an inefficient transmission.
One can quibble over fuel efficiency as well.

How about a diesel Power Wagon?

I'll make it simple: I don't want a "Heavy Duty", I want the Jeep Gladiator or a compact (not mid-sized) pickup. They're lighter, more agile, more fuel efficient and more fun. And the Gladiator can go where even a 4x4 HD can't; that long wheelbase is a detriment to trail riding.

DenverMike, the Cummins contract is with Chrysler (the corporation). It was never in jeopardy during the bankruptcy unless Chrysler was to be dissolved.

As for Ram vs Dodge... that is strictly for marketing and accounting purposes, and they are not separate companies... just divisions within Chrysler. If you buy a Ram today, the window sticker, the registration, and the title will all still say Dodge - that is the legal "make" of the truck.

The live chat was great! I only wish they would speak to future products/developments....I know they won't because of competition. Ford and GM need to do this....are you listening Mike Levine?

Great i can voice my opinion of my new 2010 Cummins 3500 Laramie, $50,000 piece of junk, never shifts right, front end ball joints and axle joints replaced already, tie rod broke in parking lot, paint is so cheap it chips in an instant, not too happy with it.

Darn I missed it. I'm suire we were well represented. Whether or not they listened is another story.

We want more of this:
TOWING
TORQUE
M.P.G
HP! HP! HP! HP!
the trucks are perfect we glad they got new tranys after waiting 10 years but glad to see them finally get here but we want more m.p.g with more hp and torque,and towing and payload,and offer a diesel engine in the power wagon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and i am tired of hearing the 1500's are getting a diesel stop talkin and put it in already!
GO RAM TRUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like the Ram line will try to forgo turbo heavy Ecoboost like designs for something more appropriate for towing and fuel economy. What else could it be besides a diesel? Here's a response from the chat:

"Ram Truck: Jake, we are not standing still on our powertrain plans, I can assure you. However, there are some drawbacks with the ecoboost that we would hope to avoid. For example, Turbos are not the first choice for most truck customers and they generate a lot of heat while towing. Also their fuel economy suffers at lot while towing. Stay tuned for Ram.... "

I want fuel economy with capability and less hp/tq war nonsense.

"...Turbos are not the first choice for most truck customers and they generate a lot of heat while towing...."

How many diesel pickup owners out there willing to give up your turbocharger? I think the turbocharged engine is the main reason why these people are buying-up the diesels. Let's go back to the N.A. 6.2L (Chevrolet/G.M.C.) and N.A. 6.9L (Ford) diesels and see how many sell. After the turbochargers were added (5.9L, 6.5L and 7.3L) that is when it became "cool" to have a diesel.

i think they were refering to 1/2ton gassers with turbo's. on a diesel, it makes more sense, diesels burn cooler than gassers. ive mention b4, the draw back of the ec f150 was heat, evident by the mountain climb against the ram.

Yep, Ford isn't giving all of the low down on the Ecoboost.

Diesel burns hotter than gas....it puts out more BTUs per gallon. That is why mileage is better with diesel....same amount of energy with less fuel. So modern turbos don't have much of an issue with heat when properly cooled. Superchargers don't have the heat issues that turbos have so they are better in that area. The power need to turn the supercharger takes away a little fuel mileage though.

The whole turbos are crap and can't work in the heat thing is getting old. What has powered our massive tractor-trailers for practically forever?!

I have no doubt old, cheap turbos wents bust on people in the 80's and early 90's but this tech is thoroughly vetted now. I bet on average the original turbos make it to the scrap yard along with the original engine they came in around 250-300k miles.

This being said I too would prefer a modest sized diesel that may not be terribly fast but acceptable in terms of acceleration but got great unloaded MPG's. Look at Mercedes new 3.0 Bluetech. It has 255hp (240 for our market I think since we still use old, dirty fuel) and 455 lbs of torque. This is more than any diesel heavy duty had until about 2004. It would be more than enough for most 1/2 ton and likely 3/4 trucks. I bet in fleet use for 3/4 tons the take rate on the 3.0 would be greater than the 6.7 because of cost and lack of need for max towing at a 0-60 time of 8 seconds.

On a side note did anyone read the Motortrend article on GDiesel? It sounds promising to meet increased emissions regs with slightly more power and 12-15% better mpg's for about the same overall cost as normal grade 2 diesel. If they could get the algae to make the diesel and landfills for the natural gas then we'd be pretty well set.

Hey Snowman, why don't you post here under your Summithnk name?

@Ian... I think you are confusing me with someone else. I've been posting under Snowman for 2 years now, not sure who summithnk is????????

@Snowman - did you get a chance to talk to the Dodge engineers about your truck?

From:Dr. Daved Yorke
Bank UBS AG Switzerland
Postfach 8098 Zurich
Switzerland
Postal Account: 80-2-2
SWIFT: UBSW CH ZH 80A
[www.ubs.com]
Email:dr.dave_yorke02@yahoo.com


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