Although we usually cover vehicles that spend much of their life off-road, we know that many of you are towing your off-road toys to your favorite backcountry destination. You need strong trucks that cannot only tow well on the highway but also be able to get to your staging area off-road so you can unload your other vehicles for play.
With that in mind, we were excited to receive a brand-new Dodge Ram 3500 Quad Cab 4x4 dualie pickup equipped with the new Cummins 6.7 inline-six turbodiesel and 68RFE six-speed automatic transmission. The Cummins produces 350 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque and includes a factory-installed exhaust brake. New this year, like all diesels, to meet stringent federal emissions requirements, the Cummins has new emissions controls. Do the emissions controls hurt performance? We plan on driving this truck for a while to answer that very question.
We can tell you right from the start that the new 6.7 diesel is quiet - so quiet that people think there's a gasser under the hood. We're getting about 11-15 mpg average from a brand-new vehicle. The Cummins doesn't really break in until about 7,000 miles are on the clock, so fuel economy should improve. We also need to tow some heavier loads to break in the diesel. We can always find the right gear with the new six-speed automatic and its two overdrive gears. Although we haven't towed anything heavy yet, we can tell the exhaust brake will be a major help in the mountains we live and tow in. So far, we can report there have been no strange clouds of white smoke or other unnerving things happening with our emissions diesel engine.
The rest of the big Dodge is like others we've tested in the past. The suspension is a four-link (or five-link if you count the Panhard rod) coil-spring front and leaf-spring rear. The solid axles in our truck feature the stock 3.73 gears that are fine for towing the loads we expect. There's a 35-gallon fuel tank for exceptional range. The hydroformed frame is strong - much stronger than what was offered in trucks just a few years ago. Our truck came with a Mopar under-the-rail bedliner and trailer tow mirrors.
Inside, the Ram includes about every comfort option available. There are power adjustable pedals, dual-zone heating and A/C, heated leather power seats, navigation with Sirius satellite radio, a rear DVD entertainment center, and power windows, including a power rear slider. Would we put all these options in an off-road-only truck? No. Would we want them in our highway cruiser that hits the dirt about 10-percent of the time? Yes!
We plan on putting this truck through its paces and reporting on our experiences with it. We may not get to keep it as long as we had the Power Wagon, but we'll have it long enough to see if it runs as well as it promises. Keep reading.
The big radiator, intercooler, tranny cooler, and A/C condenser keep things cool. | 
The front suspension continues Dodge's tried-and-true four-link design with coil springs and a separate shock. | 
The Ram's solid frontend has 3.73 gears. The drag link and tie rod are beefy enough to handle the stresses of steering a 1-ton truck. |
A Mopar under-the-rail bedliner came installed in our truck from the factory. | 
LT235/80R17 E all-season General AmeriTrac tires came mounted on 17-inch Dodge steel wheels with chrome covers. | 
Dual LT235/80R17 E General AmeriTracs ride on steel Dodge dual wheels in back. We think the chrome covers look good. |
The Ram has a 35-gallon fuel tank for good range. The green cap reminds us to use ultralow-sulfur diesel fuel only. | 
The front row seating fits three adults or two adults and a child easily. The driver and passenger seats are both power. | 
The center seatback folds down for a convenient armrest and storage console with a 12-volt power point. |
There's even more storage under the center seat cushion. | 
Our Ram came with power windows - even a power-sliding rear window. | 
Instruments are easy to read and include a speedometer, tachometer, odometer, trip meter, voltmeter, oil-pressure, water-temperature, and fuel gauges. |
The Dodge Ram Quad Cab comes with roomy back seats in which even adults are comfortable. | 
The rear seats fold up, and a flat-load floor folds out for carrying bulky items inside the cab. | 
The rear-seat DVD entertainment system keeps rear occupants from getting bored on long trips. |
There's roomy storage underneath the flat-load floor and rear seat cushions. | 
The navigation screen is easy to read and operate. | 
Hooray! This Ram came sans stupid mini floor console. The cupholders fold up and out of the way, giving the middle passenger some legroom. |
This Ram came with optional power pedals. Also, the switch for the cargo light allows that light to give off a romantic glow... | 
The Ram's rear features a big 11.5-inch ring gear. Of course, the gears are 3.73 here too. The suspension features leaf springs with overloads for heavy loads. We think the shocks could be upgraded to better aftermarket units. | 
The dual-zone HVAC controls are within easy reach. Below them we have controls for the heated seats, exhaust brake, and power rear window. The REC navigation radio has a six-disc changer, MP3 player, navigation, and Sirius satellite radio. |
The new 6.7-liter Cummins I6 turbodiesel produces a whopping 350 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. It also has emissions controls, including catalytic converters. Do the emissions controls adversely affect performance? We'll see. This engine is so quiet that some people think there's a gasoline mill under the hood. You can even let it run in drive-thru bank and fast-food windows. Seat-of-the-pants performance seems to be better than the 5.9 it replaced. The six-speed automatic has two overdrive gears and a column switch that allows complete control over what gear you're in. The factory exhaust brake gives even greater control over braking. |  |  |