For more than a decade now, consumers have treated full-size pickups as everyday transportation. The trend has prompted automakers to continually build more comfortable and luxurious trucks. For 2009, Dodge has redesigned the Ram 1500 pickup, making it more refined and user friendly than ever.
Any new full-size pickup must have the goods to compete with the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and Ford F-150, the perennial best sellers in the class. To take on those rivals, Dodge has added a crew cab body style to the Ram, upgraded the powerful Hemi V-8 engine and added innovative storage features.
The new crew cab replaces the mega cab, which used chassis components from Dodge’s heavy-duty trucks. The crew cab seats up to six and comes with a 5-foot-7-inch bed. Two other body styles are offered: the two-door regular cab and the extended quad cab with rear access doors. The regular cab comes with 6-foot-4-inch or 8-foot beds, and the quad cab has the 6-foot-4-inch bed.
Base Rams are pretty Spartan, but amenities accumulate as you move up the line. Trim levels ascend from base ST to SLT, off-road-oriented TRX, handling-biased Sport and top-of-the line Laramie. The ST has vinyl upholstery and steel wheels. SLT adds cloth upholstery, cruise control and power accessories.
The TRX has off-road-oriented shocks and on/off-road light truck tires. Add four-wheel drive and the TRX also gets tow hooks, skid plates and a limited-slip differential. In addition to Dodge’s 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, the Sport model comes with bucket seats, fog lamps and 20-inch tires. The luxurious Laramie is fully loaded with features such as leather upholstery, heated seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, power pedals, hard-drive radio and a rearview camera.
All models come with a full spate of safety features, including dual front airbags, front side airbags, curtain side airbags, anti-lock brakes with brake assist and hill start assist, electronic stability control with rollover mitigation and trailer sway control. Rear- and four-wheel drive are offered. The base four-wheel-drive system includes low-range gearing and should not be engaged on dry pavement. Optional for the Sport model is a full-time four-wheel-drive system that can be left engaged on dry pavement and also includes low-range gearing.
Engines start with a 215-horsepower 3.7-liter V-6, which is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. Also offered is a 4.7-liter V-8 that makes 310 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque and can run on E85 ethanol. The top engine is the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, which is upgraded for 2009 to produce 390 horsepower and 407 pound-feet of torque. Thanks to Dodge’s multidisplacement system, which shuts down four cylinders under light engine loads, the Hemi V-8 is fairly fuel efficient. In fact, all of the Ram’s engines get fuel mileage in the mid-teens in the city and the high teens on the highway. Both V-8s come with a five-speed automatic transmission with Dodge’s AutoStick manual shift capability.
Inside, the Ram’s interior is improved for 2009. While most of the dash is still hard plastic, fit and finish is better and it feels more substantial. The controls are clearly marked and easy to reach. Chrome trim around many of the dials adds a touch of class, and the tops of the doors and the armrests are nicely padded. On the road, the Ram interior is as quiet as any truck available today.
Customers can also choose many optional amenities. Dodge’s UConnect Tunes and UConnect GPS systems have a hard-drive to store music and picture files, and the GPS version adds a navigation system. Other options include ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 10-speaker Alpine surround-sound audio system and rear DVD player with Sirius backseat TV.
Room and storage are plentiful. The driver has lots of head and leg room, and the tall ride height provides a clear view of traffic ahead. Available power adjustable pedals help shorter drivers, but I’d also like a telescoping steering wheel. Taller rear passengers will want more leg room in the quad cab, but the crew cab has limolike rear-seat room.
Small-items storage includes a deep center console, a dual glove box and handy door pockets. The innovative storage features start with a pair of removable under-floor bins in the rear floor. More impressive is the crew cab’s optional RamBox storage system. It comes with 3.7 cubic-feet of lockable, drainable storage space in each bed rail, enough to fit a total of 240 soda cans plus ice. Also included are a cargo bed divider that doubles as a bed extender and a bed rail system with sliding, adjustable cleats to tie down and secure various types of loads.
Dodge has improved the Ram’s ride as well. The main culprit is the new coil-spring rear suspension. Other pickups have rear leaf springs that cause bounding motions over bumps. The Ram’s coil springs iron out those motions, yielding a smoother, less busy ride.
Otherwise, the Ram is like other big pickups, leaning in corners and reacting poorly to quick changes of direction. Thanks to the size and height, the Ram is also cumbersome in tight spaces.
The downside to the coil-spring suspension is limited towing capability. With the 5.7-liter V-8, the 2009 Ram can tow up to 9,100 pounds. While that is a hefty amount, it’s less than all other full-size pickups and some 2,200 pounds less than the redesigned 2009 Ford F-150. Maximum payload is 1,850 pounds, which isn’t the lowest in the class, but it’s close.
The limited towing capacity is not a reflection of the Hemi V-8’s engine performance. The Hemi gets the Ram moving with ease and provides willing passing punch. It also has enough torque to tow with confidence.
The Hemi is more impressive in the Sport model with the optional R/T package, which comes with more responsive transmission tuning and a higher rear-end gear ratio. Dodge says the R/T can reach 60 mph in less than 6.0 seconds. Other Hemi models are probably a second or so slower, depending on body style and equipment.
Those who don’t want to pay for the Hemi can choose a 3.7-liter V-6 or a 4.7-liter V-8. The V-6 is adequate for everyday driving and the 4.7-liter V-8 is no slouch, but I’d recommend the Hemi because it offers more capability with little fuel mileage penalty.
Thanks to recent high fuel prices, big pickups are no longer the best choice for everyday transportation. However, if you tow or haul cargo the new Ram is more refined than ever, making it a pleasant way to experience pickup capability.
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