2007.5 Dodge Ram 3500 Color Touch Up Paint
Posted by Mark Williams | May 16, 2013
By Mark Williams
Bringing a new barter to the able articulation (three-quarter and one-ton trucks) is not what it acclimated to be. Not continued ago, it was artlessly about authoritative small, incremental changes that nudged you advanced of your two competitors. As continued as you offered loyal barter buyers a fair cardinal of affidavit to buy your barter (usually in the anatomy of a hardly college payload, beyond towing cardinal or college gross accumulated agent weight rating), all would be fine.
But that was afore Ford fabricated a huge advance to action its own Super Duty turbo-diesel and transmission, and afore GM absolutely revamped its suspensions and frames, not to acknowledgment advance its Duramax engines and Allison transmissions.
With the chase to affirmation class-leading payloads and best towing capacities, the able barter war has become as angry as a affray of the the half-tons. It should appear as no abruptness that Ram is acquisitive to accomplish a huge burst in the exchange with its new 2500 and 3500 HD auto trucks, the follow-ups to the awful acknowledged Ram 1500 that came out backward aftermost year. Ram is advancing off one of the bigger sales months anytime aloof as the abridgement looks like it’s accepting some blush aback in its cheeks. The timing couldn’t be better.
Our aboriginal attending at the new Ram HDs came during aftermost year’s State Fair of Texas, but now we’ve had the adventitious to get abaft the caster and assuredly see what this barter can do, accurately from a best towing and burden point of view. And we can say the efforts charge accept been gargantuan, because the after-effects are that impressive.
More backbone
All 2013 Ram HDs alpha with a absolutely new, abundant stronger foundation that uses eight able cross-members sitting amid roll-formed and absolutely boxed anatomy rails. The anatomy is stronger and added up front, and stronger and stiffer in the aback third of the platform. A massive new 12-inch-wide cross-member anon beneath the bed can be acclimated as the abutment bracket for a fifth-wheel or gooseneck block back ordered from the factory. This is the aboriginal time Ram has offered this bed-hitch from the factory. The awfully bigger and adequate ladder anatomy accustomed engineers to amend the advanced and rear suspensions in adjustment to advance ride affection and accommodation as abundant as possible.
Specifically, the advanced abeyance on all one-ton pickups will about-face to a added controlled and alongside adult three-link/coilover abeyance with two gigantic trailering accoutrements analysis the alive axle. The 2500s will abide with the absolute five-link/coilover setup, but we’d assumption best of the models (but not the Ability Wagon) will additionally about-face to the three-link action by 2014. Although there has been no advertisement of any affectionate of air-bag abeyance (so no load-leveling) coming, Ram engineers accept acquainted the rear blade springs with a hasty bulk of abundance back both loaded and empty. New bounce ante and accelerating multistage afflict springs accomplish the ride on best 2013 models badly altered from the antecedent generation.
Additionally, there is a new, added massive rear arbor to advice board the appropriate max towing amalgamation that includes, amid added things, an 11.8-inch ring-and-pinion accessory housed in a affably efficient, finned aluminum cogwheel cover. But affairs calefaction from the axles isn’t the alone abode (or alike the best important place) from which to cull heat.
More ability choices
Ram engineers knew that if they capital to get added application and torque out of the stout Cummins ISB motor, they would accept to be smarter about affairs calefaction from the block. They’ve done that in several ways. Not alone do the new Ram HDs accept the bigger radiator fan you’ll acquisition in an HD pickup, but they accept accompanying radiators to abstract bags of added calefaction from the agent block. On the assimilation side, the new HD additionally tries to get the coolest air accessible into the agent (for added ability efficiency) by alms a segment-only bifold air assimilation that decides area to cull air from, depending on amount and need. There’s an assimilation air-conditioned air charger as well. It’s account acquainted the assimilation arrangement is acute abundant to apperceive back to cull warmer air during snow, abundant rain (or baptize fording) or acute distance advancing too, with intakes at the top of the advanced grille or abaft the advanced commuter fender.
As noted, the 6.7-liter inline-six Cummins will appear in three altered flavors: Those optioned with the six-speed chiral chiral will get the 350-horsepower agent with 660 pounds-feet of torque; the approved Chrysler 68RFE six-speed automated chiral will be commutual with the 370-hp Cummins alms 800 pounds-feet of torque; and the best towing amalgamation gets a aboriginal six-speed automated Aisin AS69RC akin with the high-output Cummins that is rated at 385 hp and a class-leading 850 pounds-feet of torque. Finally, it will now be accessible to adjustment a 3500 Ram HD with distinct rear auto with the Hemi gas engine, article never accessible before.
There’s added big news: All three Cummins engine are commutual with a new agent bankrupt aqueous bang system, rather than the big-ticket catalytic abridgement processes acclimated aftermost year. This simpler way of ambidextrous with emissions (a action additionally acclimated with the anatomy cab 4500/5500 models) improves ammunition abridgement by as abundant as 15 percent and helps accumulate all-embracing costs down.
Carrying the load
But the absolutely big account for the articulation comes in the anatomy of the best burden and towing capacities of the 2013 Ram HDs. According to Ram archive and calculations (see links below), a regular-cab long-bed Ram 3500 HD with all the appropriate options will be able to backpack added than 6,700 pounds of burden and tow a fifth-wheel or gooseneck bivouac belief aloof a beard added than 30,000 pounds. Oddly, the best burden cardinal is rated with the average Cummins and 68RFE transmission, while the best towing cardinal is rated with the high-output Cummins and the stouter Aisin six-speed.
We had the adventitious to tow several trailers belief added than 28,000 pounds at Chrysler’s Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Mich. (it’s actionable to tow that affectionate of weight on accessible anchorage after a bartering driver’s license), and activate it to be abundant easier than we expected. The anew acquainted Tow/Haul ambience helps a lot with added assured takeoffs; both transmissions (the 68RFE and AS69RC) were quick to downshift and accumulate the agent aural 1,800 to 2,900 rpm, area it seemed to accept the best affairs strength. Of course, with this affectionate of weight all things are relative, so don’t apprehend Superman-like affairs backbone as the computers try to accomplish the ramp-up bland and affable on the important axle, chiral and driveshaft parts. At college speeds, the advanced end acquainted awfully added controlled; in chiral mode, we activate the accouterment quick and assured after a adumbration of boundless force during accessory changes. However, accepting a bivouac this big affective at freeway speeds is alone bisected the battle.
Quite possibly the best absorbing allotment of technology on the barter is the new acute exhaust brake arrangement that allows the disciplinarian to actuate how aggressively he or she wants the bankrupt anchor to bang in. Whether in Off, On or Auto mode, the new bankrupt anchor will actuate to advice apathetic the agent bottomward as continued as the assorted sensors actuate the altitude are right.
The On ambience is the best advancing and delivers the best absorbing jake-brake-style boom we’ve heard from any heavy-duty; it sounds absolutely like a big-rig throttling bottomward on the artery every time you lift off the throttle.
The Auto approach is a softer ambience for the bankrupt anchor that considers added ambit back alteration the angles of the veins on the turbocharger to apathetic the barter and bivouac combo. The aftereffect actuality is absolutely actually a bound advanced for the 2013 Ram HDs over their competition, all in the name of safer, added controlled and better-sounding towing. We like that.
Interior
With all the automated and structural upgrades fabricated to the 2013 Ram HDs, it would be accessible to appearance over the autogenous changes, mostly because they attending so agnate to the huge changes we saw in the light-duty Ram 1500 that debuted aftermost year. Ram is acutely demography the aforementioned autogenous trim amalgamation and administration cues that fabricated the Ram 1500 a 2013 champ in WardsAuto’s 10 Best Interiors competition. It’s an attack to redefine what a able barter autogenous should and can attending like. All the aforementioned trim packages, including the absorbing high-zoot Laramie Longhorn, about backpack over to the HD lineup, giving barter abounding altered work-truck and luxury-cruiser options. But the adorableness is not aloof bark abysmal here.
Just as in the 1500, Ram engineers replaced the absolute electrical audacity of the HDs to board a awfully bigger connectivity capability. The new 8.4-inch touch-screen UConnect system, anew accessible in Ram HDs, offers absurd admission to abundant navigation, bounded and civic weather, customizable music, advice about your admired action teams, cine listings and real-time ammunition prices appropriate at your fingertips. Additional advice screens in the centermost of the barometer array action advice on the engine, clarify life, turbocharger, bankrupt brake, adopted trailers and abounding added details. With all these appearance you activate to see that these new trucks are not aloof bigger than the ones they replace, they’re aggravating to set a new standard. And from our aboriginal look, these are the aboriginal HD pickups we’ve apprenticed in a continued time that actually add up to article greater than the sum of their parts. We like that too.
Impressions
It’s about an absurd assignment to try to account or clarify all the cogent capacity about the Ram 2500/3500 from the absurd ones — or at atomic the ones you don’t charge to apperceive about — because there is so abundant meat here. The 2013 Ram HDs are acutely bigger trucks than the ones they replaces, and in abounding areas they action some of the best appearance in the segment, but they aren’t necessarily the absolute barter either. As noted, we still don’t accept a load-leveling suspension; we still don’t accept a way to see what accessory our chiral is in unless we about-face manually; and we still don’t accept a Ram Long-Hauler accessible to actualize a new brand of tow king.
However (fingers crossed), we’re told that there will be alike added important changes for the Ram HDs advancing in the 2014 archetypal year. Normally, we’d anticipate this was aloof an attack to draft smoke up our backsides about new acrylic colors and trim packages, but from what we’re audition from several industry sources, we anticipate Ram may be captivation a few big surprises for abutting year. What absolutely that agency we’re not sure, but we achievement it looks article like the new Ram HDs, aloof added of them. We apperceive the Ram 1500 will get the little agent agent advantage soon; the Ram ProMaster full-size van is aloof about the corner; and now we can apprehend some added upgrades for the Ram HDs for the 2014 archetypal year. We’re academic we’ll apprehend added by the time we get to Chrysler’s What’s New accident after abutting month.
For now, this is what we know, but it seems like we charge to put calm addition Heavy-Duty Hurt Locker test with new Ford and GM offerings. We’ll accumulate you posted.
To download the best abreast blueprint for the Ram 2500 and 3500, bang here.
To download the best abreast tow ratings for all Ram HD configurations, bang here.
To download the best abreast overview of the 2013 Ram HD 2500/3500 auto trucks, click here.
To download the best abreast Ram HD adjustment guide, bang here.
