Grownkoski Blog: dodge ram 3500 turbo diesel lifted

Sunday, October 16, 2011

dodge ram 3500 turbo diesel lifted

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Dodge Ram trucks have been named Motor Trend magazine's Truck of the Year three times; the second-generation Ram won the award in 1994, the third-generation Ram Heavy Duty won the award in 2003, and the fourth-generation Dodge Ram Heavy Duty won in 2010. The Ram is currently built at the Saltillo Truck Assembly in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico and at the Warren Truck Assembly in Warren, Michigan, United States.

The first-generation Ram trucks, named for the Ram hood ornament that first graced Dodge cars in the 1930s, was introduced in 1981. Dodge kept the previous generation's model designations: "D" or Ram indicated two-wheel drive while the "W" or Power Ram indicated four-wheel drive. Just like Ford, Dodge used 150 to indicate a half-ton truck, 250 for a three-quarter-ton, and 350 for one-tons. Standard cab, "Club" extended cab, and crew cab versions were offered along with 6.5 ft (2.0 m) and 8 ft (2.4 m) bed lengths and "Utiline" and "Sweptline" styled boxes. Externally, the first-generation Rams were facelifted versions of the previous generation Dodge D-Series pickups introduced in 1972. The new model introduced larger wraparound tail lamps, single rectangular headlamps, and squared-off body lines. Variously-configured Slant-6 and V8 gasoline engines were available. The interior was updated and included a newer style bench seat, and a completely new dashboard and instrument cluster. Among the options offered on the Ram were front bumper guards, a sliding rear cab window, power door locks and windows, and a plowing package for the 4-wheel drive version (referred to as the Sno Commander).

These trucks, though popular with fleets, sold poorly compared to the Ford F-Series and the General Motors C/K Trucks, with just under 100,000 units sold most years of their production. Part of this was due to the dated cab and chassis design which had been in production since 1972. Additionally, the interior had been given few updates since 1981.

A Cummins B Series engine was also added to the engine lineup and for the first time, Dodge saw sales go up. The Cummins could be coupled with a heavier-duty version of the A727 automatic or a 5 speed manual transmission and was available on 250 and 350 pickups and chassis cabs. This diesel engine option was drastically different from Ford and GM diesel engines optioned at the time. The Cummins featured direct injection, where the Ford and GM diesels featured Indirect injection; this also meant the Cummins didn't have to rely on glowplugs. The Cummins was a straight-six engine where the GM and Ford diesel engines were V8 engines. As well, the Cummins was turbocharged, while the 6.2L GM/DDC and 7.3 IDI Ford/IH were normally aspirated.