Hey ya'll new to the forum and thinking about buying an Ram. There's only one body style Ram I can see myself and it the Ram Runner body style. Now I'm not saying I want a Runner but the body style year. I think it's an 2010-2011 with sharp body lines on the front fender and side of the bed. Also this is the only body style I've seen these type of headlights on. This photo is from an member on this site.



I'm here to learn more about this Ram and the pros and cons of it. I've been reading that the 4th gen has rusting on the frame after 2 years and I've always been told about the Dodge didn't make the best transmission and so on and so on. I'm here to put that all to rest and get the truth from owners!!! I want to know the goods and the bads, fuel MPG, off road readiness, recalls and how you guys feel owning this Ram and if you would buy it again.

A little bit about myself, I'm a 25 year old U.S. Army SGT on my 3rd deportment here on Bagram Air field. My MOS is 91B all wheel mechanic with 7 in the half years in. My vehicle right now is an 09 HUMMER H3T and it's my pride and joy with nothing written in stone saying I will trade her in. I hit the trails as much as I can and my HUMMER is used the way she was made for. Home duty station is FT HOOD TX, I've there for 3 months and still new to the area. I've been to hidden falls twice and many other trips in NC when i was station at FT BRAGG.

Any info you can help with would be great!!!!!



Mod List
-LMTV Toolbox Chest
-Bilstein Front Shocks
-Leaved Front End
-Tint Windows 25%
-Window Rain Covers
-PCM E-fan Kit
-PCM Tune
-K&N Intake System
-Jet High Flow Mass Air Flow Sensor
-Flowmaster 40 Series
-Custom Side Tailpipe
-Ac Delco Iridium Spark Plugs
-SuperSparkz Ignition Coil Spark Plug Spring Delete
-EBC Green Stuff Brake Pads
-Black OEM Steel Wheels
-285/75/16 Dueler A/T Revo 2
-Front Side Maker Light Grill
-Black Lug Nuts
-Black Out Lights
-Painted Front Grill
-Sound Ordnance B-8PT Single 8" Amplified Flat sub(X2)
-Rockford Fosgate RFK8I Amplifier Wiring Kit 8 Gauge Power
-Sound Ordnance P-69 6"x9" 2-way Speakers
-Sound Ordnance P-65 6-1/2" 2-way Speakers
-Pioneer AVH-P4200 DVD Receiver
-AXXESS GMOS-01
-Tsunami Battery Terminal
-FireStik 4 Foot Antenna
-Molded Antenna Side Mount
-Midland 75822 Hand Held CB Radio
-Pyramid NS12 12 Amp InLine Noise Suppressor
-Husky Mats
-SMA Roof Light Bar (X2)
-Rigid Industries Combo Spot + Flood 40" LED
-Rigid Industries 4" Flood LED (X2)
-48" Hi-Lift X-TREME Jack
-Hi-Lift Jack 4X400 4XRAC Jack Mounting System
-Daystar KJ71030 Lower Dash Switch Panel Kit
-Daystar KU80011 20 Amp Blue Light Rocker Switch Kit (X4)
-Purple Cranium Spider Differential Rock Guards
-Hunner Skids
-OEM UCP
-THOR UCP Plates
-Rocky Road Rock Sliders
-RAD-1 Inclinometer
-Bully Dog Watchdog System
-Tuff Stuff Extreme Winch 12,500
-HMMWV Winch Plate
-Custom Front Bumper
-EGR Hood Shield
-H2 Hood Handles
-Custom Colorado LED Cluster
-70's Cadillac Fuel Dool License Plate
-Lockable Fuel Door

 

Anything?

 

Well I'm sure that the vast knowledge on this site can provide a lot better information than I can, I will give you what I have learned and experienced.

MPG it's tough to say what you will get given the list of mods that may go on, however I am thrilled with the mileage that I get. I have actually exceeded the mileage on the window sticker. I can get 25 - 26 mpg (Imperial gallon not U.S. gallon) on the highway. I have a 2011 Outdoorsman edition which is completely stock.

Transmissions now are rock solid in my opinion. I don't believe that Dodge has had issues with transmissions since around 2003 when they released the electronic transmission that they run now.

Basically I love my truck a bit more every time I drive it. It is BY FAR the best and most enjoyable vehicle that I have ever had and I've had a bunch.

I'm not saying that Dodge is perfect and sometimes you can get a lemon, but in my history I've found Dodge to be the most reliable. I have owned and driven all of the major manufacturers except Toyota, Nissan and Mazda. I had repairs in all of them (Ford being the worst followed closely by an 1989 GMC 1500) but I have NEVER had to do anything but routine maintenance to my Dodge trucks.

My wife grew up in a GMC family and she has fully converted now too!

Rust on the frames??? This is the first that I've heard of this. I had the underbody rock guarded on my truck so I know for sure that I don't have issues, but I haven't heard of anybody else having issues either.

 

well,the Ram Runner isn't like the Ford SVT Raptor that you just buy, you have to build it, supplying your own Ram 1500 and using Ram's parts you purchase and put on the OEM vehicle.

 

Great info and thank you!!!! Have you taking you Ram out on some of the hard wood trails? Back at Hood there's a lot of back roads and some mild rock trials that I take. My H3T is most times one of the longer wheel base vehicles that I go with but with all my belly armor and my sliders I never really worry about it.

Something else that comes to mind with me is that I'm 5'6" nothing and my H3T fit me perfect, it consider in the small truck section. The body style Ram I posted seems just within my limit on a large truck. I've driven an 1500 fully loaded Ram before I shipped out and it just seemed to massive with the large hood grill and that I had to unclip the seat belt to reach the glovebox.

I'm hoping to check out an 2011 Ram 4x4 when I get back and see if it still seems to large for me. My H3T a 5' bed with a storage box and my spare tire. With all that in there there isn't much else I can stick in there so a lager bed with be a pro. I'm already getting 15MPG on the street and 18 on the highway with a 25 gallon tank that takes $80 to fill every other week.

 

I'm tracking that with the stage 1, 2, and 3 kits. Turns a $50,000 truck into a $80,000 with some bolt on parts. I can have fun upgrading myself but I think see somewhere that they are using the body style from 2010-2011.

 

Bought my 2010 Ram Sport about two years ago now and have never regretted it once. Was one year old when I got it, was a little leery about it because the day I bought it gas prices shot up 11 cent/litre (42 cents/gallon) and here I was buying a 390 hp truck.. but it was so much better on fuel than my 2001 F150 with the 5.4L I never regretted it.
Lots of power, I love the interior on the 4th gen with the bucket seats and center console, it is comfortable to drive even on long trips. The Hemi makes passing a breeze on 2 lane highways with lots of traffic, and the only things it has been in the shop for was a recall on the front end, the upcoming recall on the pinion nut, and I had the PCV valve replaced because it was leaking and letting oil into the cylinders. FYI I'm going to get my Billet Tech catch can today which should completely eliminate that problem..
I have nothing bad to say about these trucks, I agree that sometimes you may get a lemon and that's unfortunate, but there's no way to predict that either.

 

I'm still building up info but haven't found much on how off ready they are. I believe the TRX 4 is the off road model but I don't know what all comes with it. Anyone has more info on the TRX 4?

 

Have you tried a google search...? Lots of info out there on this truck.
Coming into forums and asking usually only gets you opinions, not facts,
but if thats what you`re looking for, just opinions, then i`m sure tons of the guys here can help you out.

 

For the Ram Runner you would have to get it built with mopar parts, you can get a 2009-2011 , and i imagine 2012 would work too. There's a bit of information on this site about it. The ford raptor is a pretty sweet truck also, but it is a ford in the end.

Did you consider the Power Wagon? If your doing rock crawling sounds like this truck would be a good option, comes with skid plates and winch, but is pretty big.
http://www.trucktrend.com/roadtests/...t/viewall.html