Dodge RAM

Thursday 26 February 2015
The Ram Pickup (formerly the Dodge Ram) is a full-size pickup truck manufactured by FCA US LLC (formerly Chrysler Group LLC). As of 2010, it has been sold under the Ram Trucks brand. Previously, Ram was part of the Dodge lineup of light trucks. The name Ram was first used in 1981 on the redesigned Ram and Power Ram following the retiring and rebadging of the Dodge D Series pickup trucks as well as B-series vans. The truck is named for the Ram hood ornament that first appeared on Dodge vehicles in 1933. The Ram Truck is in its fourth generation as of the 2009 model year.
Ram trucks have been named Motor Trend magazine's Truck of the Year five times; the second-generation Ram won the award in 1994, the third-generation Ram Heavy Duty won the award in 2003, the fourth-generation Ram Heavy Duty won in 2010 and the current Ram 1500 won in 2013 and 2014. 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.
As of 2014, the Ram truck Series are available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru (Ram 2500 only), Brazil (Ram 2500 only), and the Middle East (Ram 1500 only) in LHD only.
The first-generation Ram trucks & vans introduced in 1981 were named for the Ram hood ornament that first appeared on Dodge vehicles in 1933.[1] Dodge kept the previous generation's model designations: "D", "B" 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 one-half ton truck, 250 for a three-quarter truck, and 350 for one-ton truck. 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, with a three pod design - a speedometer in the center, with the two side pods containing an ammeter on the top left, a temperature gauge bottom left, a fuel gauge on the top right and an oil pressure gauge bottom right. Models not having a full gauge package had only indicator lights in the place of the temperature and oil pressure gauges. Among the options offered on the Ram were front bumper guards, a sliding rear cab window, air-conditioning, cruise control, tilt steering column, power door locks and windows, AM/FM stereo with cassette tape player, and a plowing package for the 4-wheel-drive version (referred to as the Sno Commander).
The Club Cab was dropped from the lineup after 1982, but Dodge kept the tooling and re-introduced the Club Cab a decade later in the 1991 models. The four door crew cab was dropped after the 1985 model year, and was never re-introduced.
Base D100 models were added for 1984, replacing the previous "Miser" trim level available on the D150. A "Ram-Trac" shift-on-the-fly transfer case was added for the 1985's Power Rams, and both the crew cab and Utiline flared bed were dropped for 1986. Also for 1986 was the first year for a new crossbar grille and slight front end styling changes. Engines were updated for the 1988 model year. The Slant-6 was supplanted by a 3.9 L (240 cu in) fuel-injected V6 with 25% more power. The 5.2 L (318 cu in) engine also received electronic fuel injection in 1988. Because of a new computer controlled fuel injection, ignition and ABS system, more vehicle information needed to be displayed through any warning or notification lights; so inside the cab where a small compartment was once located on the dash, a new "message center" with four small rectangular light spots, contained the check engine light and other tell-tales including one for the parking brake and the ABS if the truck was so equipped. The message center later contained wait to start and water in fuel lights on diesel models. Diagnostic fault codes were stored in the computer's memory, and cycling the ignition key three times would allow the computer to flash the trouble codes through the check-engine light for diagnosis of some problems.
The Ram 100 model designation was dropped and these models folded back into the "150" range for 1990 due to the introduction and sales success of the Dodge Dakota pickup. Additionally, the instrument cluster was slightly revised; the ammeter was replaced by a voltmeter while maintaining the 3-pod arrangement of the speedometer and gauges.
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.

Technical data:
- engine: 6 cylinders
- capacity: 3960 cc
- horsepower: 90 HP
- gearbox: 5+1
- top speed: 145 km/h