Dodge has really gone all-out with safety, convenience, and performance features not previously found on any of the heavy-duty trucks on the market. Dodge boasts the first use of side-curtain airbags on a truck (there are also driver and passenger frontal airbags); the big Ram is the first heavy-duty truck to include power-adjustable control pedals; there's standard ABS; the wheels are 17-inches in diameter; and the four-wheel disc brake rotors are 13.9-inches-in-diameter (front and rear), the largest in the HD class.
We really like the concept of the new Heavy Duty Ram, especially the single rear-wheel option on the 3500 and the straight front axle, both of which would make an excellent platform for a lifted, tall-tire truck that's truly heavy duty. Check the options list for either the Cummins Turbo Diesel or Magnum V-10 gas-burner and that stylish short bed/Club Cab body, and you have the makings of a Super Duty killer.
| SPECIFICATIONS |
| Vehicle | : | '03 Dodge Ram 2500/3500 |
| Body style | : | Regular Cab long bed, Quad Cab short bed, Quad |
| | | Cab long bed |
| Engines | : | 5.7L Hemi Magnum V-8, OHV, two-valves-per-cylinder, |
| | | roller cam and lifters, sequential multi-port EFI, |
| | | cast-iron block with aluminum heads, 9.6:1 |
| | | compression ration, 345 hp at 5,600 rpm, 365 lb-ft |
| | | of torque at 4,400 rpm. |
| | | 8.0L Magnum V-10, OHV, two-valves-per-cylinder, |
| | | roller cam and lifters, sequential multi-port EFI, |
| | | cast-iron block and cylinder heads, 8.6:1 compression |
| | | ratio, 305 hp at 4,000 rpm, 450 lb-ft of torque at |
| | | 2,800 rpm. |
| | | 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel I-6, OHV, four-valves-per- |
| | | cylinder, turbocharger, intercooler, electronic |
| | | common-rail EFI, cast-iron block and cylinder head, |
| | | 17.2:1 compression ratio, 305 hp at 2,900 rpm |
| | | (high-output 49-state engine with manual trans.), |
| | | 555 lb-ft of torque at 1,400 rpm (high-output engine |
| | | with manual trans.) |
| Transmission | : | Five-speed manual Overdrive, six-speed manual |
| | | Overdrive, five-speed automatic Overdrive, four- |
| | | speed automatic Overdrive. |
| Suspension | : | Front 2WD: IFS, upper and lower control arms, coil |
| | | springs, antisway bar, gas-charged dampers. |
| | | Front 4WD: Live axle, Quadra-Link, five-link system |
| | | with four longitudinal links and track bar, coil |
| | | springs, antisway bar, gas-charged dampers. |
| | | Rear 2WD and 4WD: Live axle, longitudinal leaf |
| | | spring packs, gas-charged dampers, auxiliary springs |
| | | on 3500. |
| Brakes | : | 13.9-inch diameter discs with twin-piston calipers |
| | | (frontand rear), four-wheel ABS |