2019 Ram Heavy Duty

Making nice: Ram’s big trucks get a style and tech update

- Scott Evans

Modern truck customers want more than a bed, a seat, four wheels, and a trailer hitch. Much more. They’re telling truck makers they want three things, and they want them in perpetuity: more power, more technology, and more comfort.

For the first, Ram and longtime partner Cummins went back to the drawing board and cooked up an all-new diesel that shares only its displacement, cylinder count, and layout with the engine you know. The all-new 6.7-liter turbodiesel I-6 is lighter, smoother, and more efficient, and in optional trim it can churn out a simply ridicu lous 400 hp and 1,000 lb-ft of torque (standard output is 370 hp and 850 lb-ft).

Bolted into a Ram 3500 dually, the monster motor can tow a class-leading 35,100 pounds. Even the narrower Ram 2500 is no slouch, pulling 19,780 pounds on a standard Class 5 hitch. Helping it do so are a pair of six-speed automatics—both thoroughly re-engineered to improve shift quality and refinement, and one beefed up to handle the high-output engine. As you might expect, there are also two transfer cases, one of which has been likewise strengthened for max towing. The manual transmission has finally been retired.