let the bashing begin

Good stuff. I hope that this is the start for more great things coming from Ram (Chrysler)!

i like it. im a die hard ford guy, and my dad just bought a 1500. its a really nice truck. i test drove one of the last year 3500 diesel DRW trucks, and it was even nicer.

It was the Cummins engine in the Dodge Ram that started it all in 89. Yeas the other two dad diesels but nothing that could hold a candle to the turbo cummins followed by an intercooled version. Mike....do you still have a link to the "history of dodge trucks" diesel section .... think it might be a good time to re-post this just to let everyone know how the modern heavy duty trucks came to be. Thanks.

@Judd: Here you go, sir: http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/history/segment12.html

Good job Mike! Cant wait to test drive the New HO Cummins.

Do we have 2 Lou's ????????

The Ram's are very nice trucks. I'd say the 1500 is the best looking truck on the market.
The HD Rams arre sharp looking trucks as well.

Good to see some news coming from the second best selling HD trucks on the market.
Hmmm? Wonder who is in third?
Bob - any comments?

These power wars are mind boggling.

I'd rather see an MPG war.
That will happen next. These trucks are almost at the limit for CDL's.

Mike,

Did you get any shots of the leaf springs in the back? I would be interested to see what they have done to increase the tow ratings.

Any word on the GVW with the max tow package?

Also,

Any word on increasing ratings on the 2500 or 3500 SRW models?

I do have a question.

AAM makes both the GM and Ram front and rear axles. GM now has a larger bolt pattern(8x180), and beefed up axles. Focusing on just the rear axles(the GM ones I think have larger shafts, tubes, etc), does the Ram still have the old 8x6.5 bolt pattern and pre 2011 axle it shared with the 2010 and back GM trucks? Or has Ram recieved the same axle upgrades as the GM?

Love this truck. Clicked on the link for History of Dodge trucks and only wished they cost the same back then

"A well equipped 1989 Cummins powered W350 Sweptline pickup with automatic and the Prospector III Package carried a retail price of $19,483.00. This price included everything but sales tax and license. The Cummins engine was a $2,043.00 option."

Drooool!!!!

@ Frank
yes a lot cheaper that was before the Government got a hold of Diesels

the f450 and f550 are close to the limits of the CDL and the f650 is the limit but can handle more and f750 is over which you need a CDL

not just that but the f650 can use commercial 310hp CAT diesel engines.
even the big rigs/ 18 wheelers only have 350-500hp and 1,000-2,000lbs tq.
why the hell do we need 400 hp in a f250 or 2500 next we are going to have the 500hp war and then 600hp 1,200lbs tq.
just build smaller diesel better fuel economy
Bec. fuel is going up and we all know what happen to trucks last time sales went down

Excellent vid Mike!! That 3500 dually has me drooling!! That truck is so nice, I love my '97 12-valve, but that new Dodge Cummins is such a nice rig.

A few question for ya Mike:

1.) Is the new power rating for the 6.7L Cummins going to be an H.O. option or is it a power rating increase for every Cummins across the board??

2.) What transmission options are their for the new H.O. ratings 6.7L Cummins? Will the 68RFE auto and G56 manual both still be options or will we have to choose between the two?

In Dodge Cummins history, you could only get H.O. engines (5.9L 24-valve and 5.9L Common Rail) with a manual (NV5600) tranmission.

Thanks Mike!!

@Garrett:

1.) H.O. Cummins is the new standard engine for 6-speed automatic HD trucks. MT trucks only get the standard Cummins.

2.) Only the 68RFE is available with the H.O. Cummins

It's certainly interesting how you can only get the H.O. engine today with an auto! Totally the opposite of what it used to be.

Well put Tom. Mike Levine, I presume the high output will be the ONLY option now, right? Given the choice I'd opt for 350/650, assuming a slightly lower price point and better MPG.

Thanks Mike!

@UncleBud: The HO Cummins (350/800) is only for automatic. Standard Cummins (350/610) is only for MT.

Power ratings are just a marketing tool to me really, I would modify the 6.7L Cummins and the rest of the truck (slightly) pretty quick after I got it anyways :).

Looks good for Ram. Now with all three of the diesel manufacturers making such big numbers with their trucks, it seems entirely reasonable for them to develop a smaller displacement diesel for those buyers who need only say 250hp/500tq. It sounds like an optional drivetrain like that would take a lot off of the price for people who tow 10-15k, but don't really need this much power. The gas motor is a good option for those people, but a smaller diesel could really be the best of both worlds.

If they all brought out small diesels, the power wars would just continue with those too.

keep up the good work ram!!!

Mike, two corrections...
1 - the manual transmission (G56) Rams get a rating of 350/610 - they never had the 650 lb-ft rating (that was 68RFE only).
2 - the mention of "up to 40 additional hp" did not refer to the peak of 350 (so it would never hit 390, even temporarily). It refers to the additional horsepower gained while the new torque curve is above the previous flat torque line. On your graph, you'll see that the hp line is indeed as much as 40 hp higher than the previous rating between the rpm points where the new engine is producing higher torque.

I like the new Ram HD, but it cannot win a shootout I'm sorry to tell you. I'm sorry but some time you have to actually win and stop coming in dead last. I like the Ram, I think it's a good truck, but it honestly has zero chance in another shootout or another "Rumble in the Rockies" type of thing.

y like the dodge diesel,,,ford is best in class,y still try to found witch class they tack about...gm y bet you the next diesel is something big,,,,,,but dodge this is a nyce truck wow..

800lbft of tq!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

n some peeps was complaining that the 700+lb ft of tq 3-4yrs ago that tundra hd rumored to have in their future diesel was way too much n that nobody needed that much. looky looky.... 800lbtq from the domestics. hmmm... how quick peeps forget.

but anywho....... 800lbtq isn't enough. i'll wait for a 2000lbtq 1ton diesel so i can idle up the boat ramp when i load my boat up.

lol!!!!!!!!!!

The H.O. motor is only available in the automatic and not the manual? I guess we know which transmission Ram (Chrysler) has more faith in?

@ Mike Levine- 2 things
1st- Did Dodge do anything different with their suspension and/or frame?

2nd-You are my personnel hero, I want your job (except the beating of trolls off your site)

@RoadTrip: Sorry, that was sloppy on my part not double-checking the torque figure for the MT. The 390 hp figure came from Ram chief engineer Mike Cairns, but I'll re-listen to the audio recording I made by tomorrow to double check.

"The H.O. motor is only available in the automatic and not the manual? I guess we know which transmission Ram (Chrysler) has more faith in?"

Not unusual, a manual trans or more specifically clutch is open to a lot more driver abuse and subsequent wear, warranty issues, unhappiness...

Good article, and great looking trucks. Good thing us Americans have some great choices out there, the Big-3 are making some amazing trucks these days. Good Job Dodge, would love to have an Outdoorsman after the price drops a bit (well quite a bit actually, maybe I'll buy used unless I could get a new one under 30K).

tom334: agreed sir, the power numbers are crazy!

interesting to see how it does. I think though that it will still struggle at hwy speeds.

If I read it right they are going to give it 4.10 gears in order to give it 800 TQ.

Ford is using 3.55's for the most part.

Fuel ecomony is not going to be as good.

scott, you read it wrong. All 6.7's w/ auto get 800 TQ. To get max towing you have to go with the 4.10's.

Ram got the worst fuel economy in the shootout and they all had 3.73 in DRW 1 ton. Your Ram may be DOA for fuel econ if you get 4:10's along with a lead foot.

Not unusual, a manual trans or more specifically clutch is open to a lot more driver abuse and subsequent wear, warranty issues, unhappiness...

On the 2010 Camaro S.S. and Challenger SRT8s, you get the higher output motor with the manual transmission. The automatic cars are de-tuned.

Looks like Ram is going to get rid of the manual trans. soon, just like GM and Ford. Ya , Ram needed a power upgrade, but the steering ,braking, handling still need to be improved to beat the other 2 (especially the new GM). I own the 2010 Ram 3500 and get beat up hills all the time. The auto trans 68rfe is a weak transmission and can't put the 650 tq they have now , and 800tq ,even with upgraded torque converter, will wear the 68rfe out rapidly. Otherwise Ram is getting a little better, but still really far behing GM and Ford. Sucks for me right now but i get new truck in 6 months, it will NOY be the Ram(too many small issues, and with the tie rods snapping on the 2010's i don't feel at ease with RAM much. Most likely the Denali HD 3500 will be my next towing beast. If Ford changes the look of their truck it will be a toss up.

@Judd

I hate to break your heart, but Ford was the first to use a commerical grade diesel engine in a pick-up. Way back in 1983 Ford offer a optional Internation Harvester 6.9L IDI diesel which was for its time a very stout, durable, and reliable engine. I remember seeing farmers pulling very heavy farm equipment with F250 and F350 equipped with the 6.9L diesels. Neither Dodge nor GM had anything comparable. The engines and the trucks were extremely overbuilt for durability. This engine was the forerunner to the 7.3 Powerstroke.

@Judd here you go to real knowledge. http://www.forgottendiesels.com/6.9_ford.html

Thanks for the info but i was refering to more modern direct injected turbo diesels. Sorry for the confusion.

I see a 2011 Dodge ram 3500 Crew Cab Dually with the tow max package in my future!!!!!!! Nice

Vamos Ram!!! Go Ram!!!!!!!!!!

First the truck is ugly.....secondly cummins itself is far behind the pack which is bad for a company who just pretty much builds motors. The 6.7 powerstroke will prove to be a much more reliable more powerful motor than this cummins a part will be even behind the duramax from GM. I will keep my powerstroke and still wont own a cummins I would buy a duramax over one and that's sad

I tow a race car all over the state of Texas. I just traded my 2009 Duramax for a 2011 Dodge Ram 3500. No comparison. The Cummins will be around 400K miles down the road. Im a chevy guy at heart but know a better product when I see it.