2019 Ram 1500 Rebel Quad Cab: Quick Spin
By Andy Mikonis
When I was offered a week loan of a 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel Quad Cab, it took me a half second to say yes. I'd already driven a few versions of the all-new 2019 Ram 1500s, including a Big Horn crew cab, but this was my first drive in a Quad Cab. With the longer 6-foot, 4-inch bed, I thought this Ram 1500 would be a more useful configuration compared to the limo-long crew cab. My only complaint is you can't get the RamBox cargo storage system in the longer bed length for the 2019 model year. I'm hoping it will be offered down the road.
This non-air-suspension Rebel was equipped with Customer Preferred Package 25W. Its options include the Rebel Level 1 Equipment Group ($2,000,) which adds several comfort, convenience and connectivity items. This ran also had the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine ($1,195); black tubular side steps ($645); a 33-gallon fuel tank ($445); and a spray-in bedliner ($545).
The grand total for my test truck was $51,220 (including the $1,695 destination fee, the highest destination fee of any truckmaker), and it was finished in Bright White. I liked that the tire-tread seat covers that are less pronounced than in the first Rebel. I wasn't a fan of the red anodized trim around the interior, but I do appreciate that Ram is making efforts to differentiate the half ton's trim levels. The interior sported is some nice stitching throughout and soft-touch details around the door and center console.
I took the Rebel to the scale and with its optional 33-gallon tank full, it weighed in at exactly 5,600 pounds. The gross vehicle weight rating on the door jamb sticker was 7,100 pounds, leaving 1,500 pounds of calculated payload — a huge improvement from 2018 when a similarly equipped vehicle (Ram didn't offer a Quad Cab Rebel for 2018) would have been almost 500 pounds less capable. The tire and loading information sticker on the door jamb states the vehicle's payload at 1,651 pounds for passengers and cargo. I've found most half-ton pickups' door sticker payload numbers are a bit optimistic but usually within 100 pounds or so of calculated payloads.
My calculated fuel mileage was 13.9 mpg versus the computer trip calculator reading of 13.2 mpg for mostly city and some urban expressway driving. I wasn't able to put many miles on the Rebel during the weeklong loan, but two weeks later I had the opportunity drive one on an off-road course during the Midwest Automotive Media Association Fall Rally in Joliet, Ill. I watched a '19 Rebel scale some impressive obstacles with confidence, but most of my off-road drive was on a flatter, faster dirt course, which showed off the ability of the Rebel's four-corner coil spring suspension and Bilstein shocks, both of which soaked up bumps and provided a stable driving stance at higher speeds on a dry "two-rutter" course.
A Ram representative at the event said the Rebel's stock coil setup is better suited to more aggressive off-road driving with a taller stance and a touch more standard ground clearance. All in all, I found the 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel Quad Cab to be a competitively priced, sporty package with some real off-road chops. It deserves a hard look.
Cars.com photos by Andy Mikonis
Comments
Still not a fan of the front grill design and oversized RAM lettering on the tailgate. It doesn't look like a "taller stance."
I asked our local dealer if i could drive a new ram with etorque. He put me in a Rebel. I asked about differential gears on the Rebel vs a standard pickup. No real answer. I told him i wanted to drive a truck i might actually buy some day but insisted i drive the Rebel. Then he kept telling me to put my foot in it. When will these dealers ever learn.
If I needed a full size truck the Reel or Power Wagon would be what I would buy. I drive wash board dirt roads all the time and these would get the job done.
Hi, I'm not the real papajim.
That's a nice truck but my goodness are you really supposed to sit 3 adults in the second row seats?
Now that we've settled THAT question, why would I look at a $50k MSRP for quad cab when I can get a crew cab for about the same money? For an extra few inches in the truck bed?
No
I do not need a crew cab. I use the back seats for storage and I need the longer box. Sadly I found you can only up grade the trim level in the quad cab to Big Horn.
ARRRRRRRRRRGH.
GMC Sierra AT4, much better
Fiat double cabs had embarrassingly low payloads. I remember one owner at the store I worked that was terrified to put 1 ton of wood pellets in his Fiat double cab. Never had that issue with any other half ton owner. Some were definitely going over but for a short hop once in a while a truck should stretch. 2 Tons in a dually was not uncommon. The craziest guy I ever loaded took 2 tons in a beat to hell early 90s F250. I advised against it but he told me not to worry about the mule just load the wagon.
@JeffS
Is papa the pipe bomb mailer?
Both could be in Florida.
I am not saying he is. I'm just asking.
RAM will be surging ahead to overtake Chevy this year.
What you're looking at here folks is the 2019 Truck of The Year! Already 1-0 in head to head comparisons with the 2019 Silverado.
What an interior !! GM continues to get it's interior design inspiration from Fisher Price.
2019 Silverado:
Poor Fuel mileage from "game changing" 4cyl.
Retro 1988 interior.
Soon to be #3 selling truck brand.
The Ram (including the Rebel) is probably the best-looking truck on the market and absolutely the best-looking full-sized truck; though I have one major complaint that has to do with that ridiculous front-hinged half-door access to the extended cab. That front-hinged door kills the utility of easy access to the back from the street on either side. Now, if they had only built it smaller...
Red pleather... about as far as you can possibly get from a timeless interior. Pretty good chance five years from now this interior will be considered outdated and hideous. Otherwise a nice truck, but a no-brainer to kill the red pleather, or offer a choice that the general public might actually buy.
Papajim ain't the fake pipe bomber. That's clearly a democrat or Bernie supporter, ie one of BAFO's people if anything.
@Terry
No radical politics for Papajim.
Papajim is rumored to be up near the US/Canada border freezing his tender butt off in a tree stand. Who knows why---he's still got venison from last season in the locker.
papajim is on the run and fleeing the United States.
Big Al has won.
Terry how does the saying go. It's better to keep ones mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it and remove all doubt.
Updated table of rear legroom, bed length, and overall length.Some manufacturers left out because I tired of the marketing falsehoods. Standard garage length 235".
18RamQuad__34.7"__6'4.3"__229.0"
18RamCrew__40.3"__6'4.3"__237.9"
19RamQuad__35.6”__6’4.3”__228.9”
19RamCrew__45.2”__6’4.3”__241.8”
ColoradoCrw__35.8"__6'2"___224.6”.
TacomaDCab_32.6"__6'1.7"__225.5".
Ridgeline____36.7"__5' 3.6"*_210.0" (* Only 4’11.5” at top)
Ram claims they upped the quad cab legroom 1", but the overall length didn't change. I think their marketing was just playing "fast and fancy" so they could keep up with midsize legroom marketers. Keep in mind that all these bed lengths are measured at the bottom with the tailgate closed. One needs to subtract 2-3" to get the length measured from the top. And Ridgeline takes the cake with 4" difference from top and bottom measurement.
@angelo
Papajim called on the satellite phone to say you gotta stop with this measuring-tape crap. A double post.
Please look up "germane" in the dictionary. Michael Jackson's brother? No, the OTHER definition.
Papa will be back from the boonies in a few days. Please no more posts about non-germane topics.
Nice but the Ranger will steal the show;
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/sema/2019-ford-ranger-gets-the-sema-treatment/ar-BBOWwC2?ocid=spartandhp
TFLtruck.com claims the Ranger has the biggest crew legroom in its' class, but the Ranger brochure doesn't even have a dimension for it. Otherwise, I would of put it into the table above. However, if their marketing can't share that information, I unfortunately didn't feel Ranger was even worthy of being listed.
Angelo:
Per the Ford Aussie site, the Euro-spec Ranger has 902 mm [35.5"] of rear leg room. I do not know if the US spec version of the Ranger has more than this figure.
Colo/Canyon: 35.8"
Taco: 32.6"
Frontier: 33.6"
@redbloodedxy
Randy R from the Ranger news of last week says this version of Ranger isn't really ground up new, so your 35.5" will have to do for now. I bet Ford does some quick and fancy with that number since there is no industry standard way to measure it. Unlike a box length that anyone can tape measure.
Crew Legroom: I should do more work understanding how this measurement is done before I make comments. I guess if the front seat was all the way back, and we took a tape measure from the bottom most protruding of the front seat, and then measured that up to the crew seat's most forward portion, that would be the answer. BUT wouldn't that produce a measurement of the hypotenuse of a triangle. I mean there doesn't seem to be an easy way to go into a showroom and do this measurement unless one brought a straight edge ruler with them. Seems a bit un-standardized. At least with the box, they'll say 6'2" from the bottom with the tailgate up.
Show me a standard Leg. Last time I checked, they were all kinds of shapes and sizes. HaHa. a 10 year old is definitely going to have smaller legs and knees.
Angelo the ram wasn't playing with numbers on the truck. The front bumper shortened and the cab got longer. Go look at one in person and it's pretty easy to see.
@Ram man
Great news. At least someone is trying to shorten up the front end of these full-sizes.
But that will require a 2018 and 2019 be put side by side and one jumping in and out of the Quad cab area of both. Not sure 1" difference is worth my time. Because unless I could jump in both of them easily, a sales guy might waste a bunch of my time walking around the lot.
The only right ups I hear about is how the Ram Crew cab legroom gained ~4-5". No-one talks about the Quad Cab version like you mentioned. A lost marketing opportunity in my opinion. I'm skeptical since that would require two cabs to be redesigned: ie the Quad cab and Crew cab. I'd go look if I saw some literature stating your fact, but until then it is hearsay. Welcomed hearsay, but still hearsay.
Of course if they cut another 2" from the front end, and made the quad area 2" more, then that would be real interesting.
@Ram man
Clearly the literature is there, ie the brochure I referenced in the first place, but it would be nice to read more. Maybe, I'll check it out.
How are you so sure Ram wasn't playing with the numbers? Are you in the dealership circle?
If you know, then how does one arrive at 35.6"?
From the picture above, one could measure from the crack of the seat fold-up, along the incline, and then directly across to the front seat,
Or, maybe from the crack of the seat fold-up, directly across to the front seat.
Now that I think about it, the first one seems more logical and easier.
@Clint
That's funny. ...Just load the wagon. The ones beat to hell have done it all. She was ridden hard, and put away wet, often.
@Ram man
I dunno, that quad door looks the same, and the entry looks the same too. The distance between the front and back seat, I'm just hard pressed to think has really changed.
19RamQuad__35.6”__6’4.3”__228.9”
19RamCrew__45.2”__6’4.3”__241.8”
Comparing these two sets of lengths:
9.6" legroom increase equates to 12.9" overall length increase.
I guess the extra 3.3" comes from recline angle.
From a professional turd polisher's perspective, the rear cab in either configuration is rather tight, compared to an F150 which is wide open, relatively speaking.
Oh, and don't put too much weight on those bottom plastic pieces at the edge of the carpet, the old "classic" rams are fine but the new ones are flimsy as hell. I have yet to break one but I am 150lbs. Some fatass could likely break it with their weight. Never had a similar issue with a comparable ford or chevy.
@FormerFordFanboy
This data on Ford is ~2yrs old, but I believe it's still the same:
F150 Quad__33.5”__6’6”__231.9”
F150 Crew__43.7"__6'6"__243.7"
The whole idea for me has been to fit a 1/2ton with a decent size rear cab area and 6.3'-6.5' box in a standard 235" garage. Can't have a bloated crew area too, that can fit in a garage.
I think what happens with the crew cab area is that both the legroom and recline angle increase, and the overall effect is now a bloated crew length. Surely some love it, but again, then with a 6.3'-6.5' box it won't fit in a 234-235" garage anymore. The numbers above don't lie!
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