Ram 4500 & 5500

[JFreeman]

Does anybody know if DC has any plans on building these heavier duty trucks.

 

[Dean Upson]

Rumor has a 4000 being built in April.



Dean

 

[JHayward]

http://www.arifleet.com/home.asp



Check this out - Job 1 in April for DX4000 Ram. Freightliner is launching an automated 6 speed manual built by Mercedes this spring, too. I'm wondering if (hoping) these events could be related... 6 speed automated manual replacing 48RE? Whishful thinking, I guess...

 

[Dkevdog]

Unless they build it in a newly designed REAL crew cab, they'll be wasting their time and money. They'll never compete with Ford and GM in the upper end truck market until they do.



Kev

 

[TBrennan]

The 4000 is just a 3500 Cab & Chassis model.

 

[rmcnamee]

Wouldn't surprise me if Dodge didn't offer a bigger cab on the DX4000. I love my Dodge (I've owned 3 since the redesigned Ram came out in '94), but they keep missing the boat and falling behind Ford year after year. Like other TDR members have said, if Ford dropped a Cummins into their Super Dutys, I'd be driving one. If DC really wants to turn the heat up and give Ford a run for their money, they should consider offering the consumer:



1. Regular cab

2. Quad Cab (extended cab) in either long or short bed

3. Crew Cab in either long or short bed

4. Crew Cab, short bed, DRW

5. Regular, Quad & Crew Cab & Chassis with optional fifth wheel hitch and accessory compartment for the "big" haulers out there

6. Regular, Quad & Crew Cab 4500 series

7. Regular, Quad & Crew Cab 5500 series (optional rear air suspension, fifth wheel hitch/hauler conversion & 2 speed aux. trans. )

8. Contract Cummins to design a strong, powerful, reliable & fast diesel engine

9. 5 speed auto trans.

10. Manual locking hub option

10. Captains chairs

11. Better interior & exterior colors and combinations of colors.

 

[KCJackson]

Don't look for Dodge to go after every Ford SuperDuty model... not gonna happen. DC would rather have you move from a Ram to a medium duty Freightliner. Ford Motor Company has no such separate truck line, and they just move you through the F-series to the 750 medium.



The niche models like the DRW shortbed are also not worth producing. Dodge will sell around 450,000 Rams this year - which will be an all-time record. Ford sells almost twice that number. Chevy and GMC combined produce almost twice that. They have the plant space and resources to produce such models. Ford and GM both claimed in the past t\that crew cabs were only around 3% of total sales (prior to the recent additions of half ton crews). Three percent of Ford F-series production is double of the same perecentage of Dodge Ram production. DC can't afford to produce the niche models when they would likely only build half as many as the other guys. You're talking different frames, different cabs with new doors and diiferent rooflines, and other costly changes.

 

[gsbrockman]

Originally posted by Dkevdog

Unless they build it in a newly designed REAL crew cab, they'll be wasting their time and money. They'll never compete with Ford and GM in the upper end truck market until they do.



Kev

I'll settle for the "un-REAL" crew cab and a Cummins instead of a PowerJoke that has a REAL {?} cab, 5 quarts of diesel in the crankcase, crappy power, ****-poor injectors, re-flashes that don't work, and a manufacturer that won't stand behind their product, let alone admit there's a problem.

Greg



:-{}