2009 Dodge Ram: No, the “Ram Box” is not some freaky club-dance move.
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Story by Jack Baruth
“Ram Box”. What the heck is it? Well, it’s not a particularly offensive rap song, although it could be. Instead, it’s a rather bizarre secure-storage system built into the 2009 Dodge Ram truck. In this third generation of “big rig” styling Dodge trucks, it appears that Chrysler has decided that it’s not enough to have a new HEMI engine, a completely new frame and body, a new 1500 CrewCab form factor, and a quality regiment that includes 6.5 million miles of testing: they’re actually throwing in the kitchen sink. A pair of kitchen sinks.
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According to our friends at Chrysler:
“RamBox is a unique, segment-exclusive cargo management system that includes four key elements:
- Two weatherproof, lockable, drainable, lighted storage bins that run the length of the 5-foot-7-inch pickup bed, and are as wide as the wheel well, creating a total of 8.6 cubic feet of space;
- Configurable bed dividers;
- An adjustable bed extender that fits on the lowered tailgate that adds 2 feet of additional length to secure loads up to 7 feet long;
- And a cargo rail system with sliding, adjustable cleats for tie-down versatility
Truck buyers want dry, lockable storage, and Rambox not only meets that need, it takes it a step further with the addition of built-in lights and drains. And there’s still enough room between each bin to lay a sheet of plywood flat in the pickup bed.” So there you have it. Actual kitchen sinks in a truck.
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The rest of the 2009 Ram, which debuts at the 2008 NAIAS (“Detroit Auto Show” for people who aren’t scared of the word “Detroit”), appears to be similarly impressive. The debut of the GMT900 pickup trucks in 2006 made the previous-generation Ram look a little rough around the edges, so every effort has been made to improve refinement, including triple-sealed doors, a variety of structural NVH reduction measures in the cab, and most interestingly, a coil-spring rear suspension. This feature, more than any other, shows Dodge is deadly serious about pursuing suburban (with a small “s”) truck buyers. A claimed payload of over 1,800 lbs and a max towing capacity of 9,100 indicate that Dodge hasn’t given up much work-truck ability to make this happen; still, in a market where Toyota is clogging televisions with ads for the Tundra’s 10,000-pound tow capacity, it’s a very considered and calculated decision to choose passenger comfort over a shocking tow-capacity number.
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The interior is chock-full of soft-touch materials, “six-ring instrumentation”, and two-tone upholstery. Side-curtain airbags are standard for front and rear passengers. There’s a MyGIG hard-drive music system and Sirius Backseat TV to keep the little cowboys occupied. If the previous Ram seemed a little short on soccer-mom features, the 2009 is making up the mommy gap with a vengeance.
There was no engine gap in the old Ram; it featured two of the industry’s best-loved trucking engines in the fuel-efficient MDS Hemi and iconic Cummins turbodiesel. That didn’t stop Dodge from adding variable valve timing to push the 5.7 HEMI to 380 horsepower and 404 pound-feet of torque, which is considerably better than Ford’s 5.4 Triton, equal to Toyota’s best truck V8, and only slightly behind the six-liter V8 in the GMC Sierra Denali. The Multi-Displacement System (MDS) has been revised to expand the range of conditions under which the engine will operate in four-cylinder mode. Presumably, Rammers who are towing 9,100 pounds won’t see much of that four-cylinder mode, but for the vast majority of drivers, MDS is a useful addition.
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This is an important vehicle for Chrysler. As fuel prices rise and the economy tightens, the full-size truck market is looking less like the pleasant money-maker of years past and more like a bare-knuckles brawl for every last possible sale. To succeed in this market, the Ram has to please a very wide range of customers – from urban cowboys who Armor-All their tires to construction-site foremen. We’ll be looking forward to seeing for ourselves if the ‘09 has legs to match its coil springs; we already know it has a kitchen sink.
Dodge Dakota meets Chevy Avalanche.
Nice try.
Yet another flop from Dodge.
Dakotas are for people who are scared to drive a real truck because the are too big and Avalanches are cheap looking showtrucks.
Only 9100 lbs towing? Wow that sucks balls!
If you are towing anything more than 5000lbs you shouln't be so cheap and buy a diesel or 3/4 ton at least. 1/2 tontrucks are for boys who can't a afford a real truck , women and Buisnessmen.
The new 1/2 ton Ram blows everything out of the water, just drive one.
I think that the side lock-away storage is kinda cheesy
1. upper bed side mostly gets damaged in construction.
2. they are useless if you like canapy.
3. doesn’t look good.
They make acustom canopy, but aqt the end of the day it is just an option you don't have to get it.
Canapy? Are you one of those homo Frenchies? Isn’t that a thin pancake?
Giant Ram Dong = dougy/wesley/billy.. take your choice.
They are all one in the same. so ignore the idiot response’s… dumbo drives a dodge. would you expect any less?
Giant Ram Dong, or who ever you are
No I don’t have or ever will have canapy on my trucks, but there are alot of people that do, and I’m sure that it will be the reason for them not to buy a new dodge
I for one like it!
Great use of waisted space. Hope it is an option for those that use a canopy.
Good job Dodge!
Sign me up!
Holy crap – waht a bunch of whiny piss ants ! Mike: You have not even seen this vehicle, but you think it is a flop Justin. The 9100 lbs of towins is ball sucking. (1) Dodge has stated that it wants the 1500 to be the #1 commuter truck (2) if you would not buy something because it is 900lbs short of the ‘magic’ number, go suck on a Ford or Toy pipe. Giant Ram Dong -take the ‘canopy’ out o you ars. 60% of 1/2 tons are crew cabs. 40% of those have some type of covering. DAVE – thank God. Someone who is not some damn negative. I’ve never owned a Dodge anything. Iown a ‘06 F-150 CrewMax 5.4. I’ve driven the new GMC/Chevy. I just drove the Tubdra and, short of a ‘vette, it is the best vehicle I’ve run. The ‘09 Ford does not look like a homerun, but Dodge does. It has everything a “this is my drive to the office, & Home Depot Truck. Plus there is a place for my wife to put groceries during the winter. If the Ram drives as 1/2 as nice as it looks Dodge is going to pull in market share. We are loosing the world wide auto battle. You guys have read 10 articles & never even turned the ignition. How does this Ram compare to your draweings of this model or predictions from last year. Guys – lighten up. Dont be so negative? After you put 100 miles on one – then write a review.
My year-old Ram has been in the shop for seven weeks, and I get it back today. It has less than 5000 miles on it.
I couldn’t give a crap about sinks and and 6-ring instrumentation and 9100 pound hauling capacity, all I see is “dealership trips” when I see the accessories that are bound to break and die in a Chrysler product. I won’t buy another Dodge, regardless of how many rings the instrument panels have or how soft-touch the interior is, until I have some confidence that they can make car I can keep on the road more than 10 months out of the year. Even if it never breaks again, it will be the least reliable car I’ve ever had. And I owned an Alfa Romeo. Won’t own another Ford, my Taurus was a deathtrap that was at the dealership at least 15 times, won’t own a GM product, this Cobalt loaner with 1200 miles has more groans and rattles than my 69 Chevy c10 did when it was 25 years old.
Toyota, here I come! I may trade my POS in today on the way back from the dealership before it breaks again. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear about some build quality improvements from Dodge, I’d love to be able to consider buying an American car again some day. Fancy guages? They’ve gotta be kidding.
Finally a American company competing with toyota. We all knew gm wasn’t capable of it. Hell their still using a 4 speed transmission with a pussy 315 h.p. engine. It must suck to be the slowest truck on the market. Thanks Dodge for 380 h.p. and over 400 foot lbs of torque. If only justin, lester, and mikey could afford one. Is it mike or john now.
I JUST GOT THE 09 DODGE CREW CAB WITH THE RAM BOXES…ITS THE FRIGGGIN BEST TRUCK I HAVE HAD IN YEARS..I HAD A 05 THAT JUST GOT TOTALED AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS A GREAT TRUCK,,,NEVER BROKE DOWN,,,,NEVER…….NO RECALLS,,,NOTHING …NOW THAT THE 05 IS GONE I HAD TO GET A NEW TRUCK AND I WENT WITH THE 09 CREW CAB IN PEARL BLACK, AND ITS BITCHIN HOT….
MIKE, N.Y
Now that is one bad ass truck. If only gm could compare. I guess now that ford has a 6 speed transmission gm is the only one sucking dick with the way outdated 4 speed. Figures gm has always had junk.
Now thats one bad ass looking ride
Hell yea! Now thats a truck
I want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve got an ‘07 Quad Cab Ram with the Hemi,and it’s great. Had to change the goofy-looking bug-eye taillights,but that’s fine. This ‘09 is a good-looking truck. I’m pretty happy with all the storage my truck has,but this one has a lot more. I used to wonder why you always see the trucks driving around with the Reading beds that have all kinds of compartments,yet they never did that with a standard truck bed. Now they do. Nice.
This is the coolest Dodge Ram ever. Incredible towing capability and more storage space. Headlamp design is obviously better than the previous model. Also has a great interior. This gotta be sitting in my garage.
Have a 03 Dakota with a V6, and i’m pretty happy with it. Only question i gotta ask…does it come in manual trans? I kinda like having the ability to throw the keys to my friends and know that they arent gunna go joy riding in my truck =]
The truck is simply beautiful. Power to spare. Everything has been improved upon. I had good experiences with Dodge trucks. I have a ford now and do not have that warm fuzzy feeling.
$42,000 dollars however still has me in the Ford.
The problem with the “RamBox” is that you can’t open them if you mount any kind of conventional behind-the-cab toolbox, rack, cap, “canapy” (or canopy), toneau cover, hard cover- whatever. Anything that mounts on the top rail is screwed – it either makes the Ramboxes unusable, or the top rail accessory unmountable. What the F were they thinking? Did anyone at Dodge go out and see how people actually use a pickup truck? Except for maybe Mr “Pain in he Ass retired guy” who has a pickup only because he thinks it makes his crinkled up old lady look hot, when is the last time you saw a working pickup truck without something mounted on the top rail of the bed?
Bottom line – the top-opening design is stupid stupid stupid – could have made the same thing accessible from the inside of the box, or even the outside, like some of the aftermarket mods.
BM
hey dumbass it is just an option!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The “RamBox” isn’t a standard feature for the Ram 1500. If you’re planning on mounting something to the bed rail don’t get the $1800 RamBox option on the truck. I’m glad Dodge is being innovative and hope they sell a ton of them with or without the RamBox option. In fact, I’d like to get one with the RamBox but I’m having a hard time finding any. They were suppose to be late availability option for the 09. I guess with the economy and the slow down/stoppage in production, availability will be pretty scarce at least for awhile. The truck looks great and has good numbers. My concern is longevity and reliability. My leaning is toward getting a Tundra, but I have a lot of friends who work at Chrysler and in the current economic environment, I feel bad not supporting an American company (even though I know the Tundra is built in the USA by Americans it ain’t the same).
I have one and I have no complaints with it. I have no plans to use it for construction or put a “canapy” (thats actually ‘canopy’, you should have paid attention in high school) on it. It is pretty impressive. I store my army stuff in the boxes for easy access, and yes the boxes do double as a cooler. I am quite satisfied with it.
You self described experts should wake up. Get the Ram Box if you want the side storage and the regular box if you want to mount something on it. This is a great option, makes a truck work for me and I’m buying it. This is the greatest truck made for the majority of 1/2 ton pickup owners.
Hey Blough Me. I have owned my new Ram with the Ram Boxes for a month now. And is still awesome, awesom ,awesome. I can haul all my gear in and put anyone of my three motorcycles in it comfortably. It was totally worth the 41 grand my retired ass payed for it.What a hater.If you want a luxuriously comfortable pick up that can be adapted to all sorts of recreational activities, this is it.
Looks like Dodge has done it again with another quality rig. What’s with all the stupid hate comments below? Who cares about having a truck with the highest tow capacity when you’ve got a 390 HP Hemi that gets over 20 MPG, & a comfortable ride. I’m liking those beer coolers that are built into the bed! Kick ass. I want one!!!
These "Ramboxes" are brilliant! Disregarding every other function of the truck, the innovative storage is one of a kind and brilliant thinking and engineering. This idea needs to and I´m sure will be copied and improved by all other truck builders world-wide.
For all you haters regarding the canopy….Dodge is coming out with a toneau cover that works with the rambox………No matter what awesome truck and who gives a shit about 9100 lbs -vs- 10,000 lbs. How many assholes hall 10,000 lbs around anyhow. If so maybe they should lose some weight.
keep in mind this is a half tone……. if you haul more than 9100LBS you need a 3/4 or better dumb ass.. i have owned a 2003, 2005 and now a 2009…. Dodge my hard core GM Bro. even says WOW it's not a Dodge anymore, They brought it to the next level. But i will say, the ram box is kind of dumb i hope they give it up. I live in oil country Canada we test our trucks up here and this one is doing just fine… i love it keep it up Dodge. As a side note mine in Canada loaded came in at 52,000.oo those who hate can't afford to play i guess. Cheers
Just bought one last week. Works just fine for me.__As for you gripers about the towing force.__You are so stupid, that even if it had 100,000 lbs __You couldn't pull you heads out of your asses!__Like the previous man said:__who gives a shit about 9100 lbs -vs- 10,000 lbs. How many assholes hall 10,000 lbs around anyhow.__Unless it's your fat uglyass ole lady!__In which case, you should buy the biggest hummer they sell, or better yet, how about a tank?
Picked up a loaded laramie crew cab 09 , forth 1500 this MF is sweet great features , toys RAM was not what i was looking for because i was gonna cap it but couldn't find it set up my way cause up factories haulted production, but picked up white with interior tan leather ……………HAPPY