With a choice of Full-size Pickups on the market today, all providing plenty of utility, they are a far cry from the job-site work vehicles they originally intended for. Once, a basic hood, cab and cargo box configuration, today’s pickups are well styled and luxuriously appointed, fuel efficient and filled with technology. Some even have become high-horsepower sport trucks.
What makes the 2019 RAM 1500 stand out is the level of luxury, technology, and styling. RAM’s long history for hard working rugged pickups under the Dodge and Power Wagon name, the brand is known more for its brawn than beauty. A quarter of a century ago, when RAM was just a model designation within the Dodge lineup, they did something no other pick up had done. They made the exterior more muscular in appearance with a big-rig front hood and fender style. For 2019, RAM has again stepped ahead, producing a pickup that is stylishly well appointed, inside and out, even in its lowest work truck trim.
Models
No matter what model: Tradesman; Big Horn; Long Horn, Laramie; Rebel; Laramie Long Horn; or Limited, each has added touches of luxury and technology. The iconic RAM articulated fenders are now smoothed and more rectangular as the brand defines what a pick up can be. Add to that a well-appointed interior, large 12-inch infotainment touch screen, and plenty of storage, a hallmark of its FCA heritage. The rotary dial gear shifter, pushbutton start is just some that you notice right away. The design of the interior with comfortable seats will reward you for short or long trips.
QuadCab or Crew Cab
While the original single cab pickup is still available in the Tradesman, a work truck model with just a front seat. Most buyers are using pickups like a family car and want more car-like amenities. And why not? Full-size car comfort and seating for five, a cargo bed for carrying cargo and towing capacity makes the pickup quite versitle. While both have full-size rear seats, the Crew Cab has a shorter cab with smaller rear doors. While the Quad Cab offers four full-size doors that open into an enormous amount of interior space.
Powertrain Choices
The gasoline powerplants have been given plenty of refinements, including gains in fuel economy as well as power. Technology like eTorque, a mild hybrid system, in the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 and optional in the HEMI® V-8. The eTorque combines a belt driven motor generator with a 48-volt battery pack enabling quick and seamless start/stop function and short duration torque addition to the crankshaft in certain driving conditions. An advanced cylinder cutoff system on the 5.7-liter HEMI keeps fuel consumption down while still providing the power of a V-8 when needed. At this writing a diesel option has not been announced.
New generations of the TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission provide improved efficiency. Frame-mounted active vibration dampers and active noise cancellation provide a quieter cabin making engine vibrations practically nonexistent.
You still have the option of 2-wheel drive (rear drive wheels) and 4-wheel drive.
Technology
RAM uses advanced technology throughout the vehicle with more powerful engine control computers and mechanicals. What drivers and passengers interact with is what will sell this vehicle.
RAM 1500’s HUGE 12” tablet like center display is an option, though the smaller 8.4-inch and 5-inch displays are nothing to dismiss. The Uconnect® System provides a direct link between handheld devices and the truck. So be it just the entertainment controls, or expanded navigation and data, you are connected to the world around you.
Ram understands that in today’s connected world everyone brings a device with them, and sometimes more. The need to recharge has not been ignored. Four advanced USB ports (regular and micro USB, two up front and two in the rear,) as well as 12v outlet and a inverter to power 110v outlet inside and there is an option for it in the rear RamBox®.
Build
With fuel economy always importnat, building lighter vehicles has led some manufacturers to focus on lightweight materials like carbon fiber, aluminum, and plastic. RAM, on the other hand, has taken to using 98 percent high-strength steel which improves durability and helps with weight reduction.
Cargo
The RAM will move most anything you ask it to. Payload means not only hauling but towing. RAM’s maximum payload has increased to 2,300 pounds, and maximum trailer tow to 12,750 pounds. The pickup bed in the Ram 1500 has a maximum cargo bed volume of 61.5 cubic feet, with dimensions perfectly sized to hold 4×8 sheets of plywood, even with the RamBox® option.
Available RamBox® cargo management system, is a no-brainer, using the wasted space on the flanks of the cargo bed with two lockable (available with remote access via the key fob) storage bins. Use them as a cooler, they have drains. Use them for storing tools, they can be lit with optional LED lighting and have a 115-volt power outlet (for plugging in chargers and more.)
Pricing
Starting at $31,695 a new 2019 RAM 1500 can easily top out pushing seventy grand. The good thing is that you can pick and choose trim levels and options. With a number of factory incentives and deals from buying services, you may have access to.
While RAM dealers are giving tremendous savings on the outgoing 2018 RAM models, the 2019 Ram is well worth serious consideration due to the amount of engineering that has gone into improving it over the previous generation.
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