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Would you drive this? 1985 Dodge Ram D250
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:51 am
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:51 am
If you are a Dodge/Chrysler fan, you'll love this thread.
Would you drive a 1980s Ram pickup?
Background:
In the late 1970s, the Chrysler corporation sought to be more competitive against Chevrolet, Ford, and GMC pickup trucks. They initiated an update their Dodge pickup truck lineup. The result was D/W Ram (The "D" moniker indicates that it's two wheel drive, while "W" indicated four wheel drive).
The engine lineup consisted of a variety of 6 and 8 cylinder engines - including the extremely reliable 225 slant six motor borrowed from other Chrysler products. A 318 and 360 cubic inch V8 were also offered.
The new Dodge Ram sold very well at first, but it's popularity quickly declined. Chevrolet, GMC, and Ford were quick to update their vehicles. The issue was that Dodge was using the same basic cab and frame dating back to 1972.
Why it matters:
By 1987, the Dodge was completely overshadowed by the updated GM C/K pickups. Chrysler needed a way to make their older trucks stand out. Their answer was to drop a heavy duty agricultural/truck motor into their Ram pickup. 1989 was the first model year you could get a 5.9L Cummins I-6 12 valve diesel - which was an absolute beast of a motor, forcing Ford and General Motors to scramble to offer a viable competitor.
The example below is a prototype Ram D250 with the 12 valve Cummins engine. It was built in 1985.
We all know that Ram is a more innovative, attractive , and reliable truck than any Ford ever was. While that's obvious today, it wasn't apparent until Ram used the Cummins diesel engine in 1989.
Would you drive this?
Would you drive a 1980s Ram pickup?
Background:
In the late 1970s, the Chrysler corporation sought to be more competitive against Chevrolet, Ford, and GMC pickup trucks. They initiated an update their Dodge pickup truck lineup. The result was D/W Ram (The "D" moniker indicates that it's two wheel drive, while "W" indicated four wheel drive).
The engine lineup consisted of a variety of 6 and 8 cylinder engines - including the extremely reliable 225 slant six motor borrowed from other Chrysler products. A 318 and 360 cubic inch V8 were also offered.
The new Dodge Ram sold very well at first, but it's popularity quickly declined. Chevrolet, GMC, and Ford were quick to update their vehicles. The issue was that Dodge was using the same basic cab and frame dating back to 1972.
Why it matters:
By 1987, the Dodge was completely overshadowed by the updated GM C/K pickups. Chrysler needed a way to make their older trucks stand out. Their answer was to drop a heavy duty agricultural/truck motor into their Ram pickup. 1989 was the first model year you could get a 5.9L Cummins I-6 12 valve diesel - which was an absolute beast of a motor, forcing Ford and General Motors to scramble to offer a viable competitor.
The example below is a prototype Ram D250 with the 12 valve Cummins engine. It was built in 1985.
We all know that Ram is a more innovative, attractive , and reliable truck than any Ford ever was. While that's obvious today, it wasn't apparent until Ram used the Cummins diesel engine in 1989.
Would you drive this?
This post was edited on 7/1/20 at 8:53 am
17
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:52 am to goofball
no
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:53 am to goofball
Nope.
A 1985 Chevy, Yes!!
A 1985 Chevy, Yes!!
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:54 am to goofball
only if I didn't care about arriving at my destination.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:54 am to goofball
Dodge was far and away the ugliest truck during that time frame.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:54 am to goofball
Sure.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:56 am to goofball
My buddy’s friend had that truck back in the late 80’s. It had some giddy up for sure. I liked it although the interior was cheap looking. One of the things I remembered most about it was how fast the electric windows would open and close. Like crazy fast.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:57 am to goofball
Probably got them tranny problems
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:57 am to bbvdd
quote:
only if I didn't care about arriving at my destination.
Those Cummins engines completely outlasted the gasoline powered Fords at the time. Ford had to scramble to get an alternative.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 8:58 am to goofball
Yes
Posted on 7/1/20 at 9:05 am to goofball
quote:
Those Cummins engines completely outlasted the gasoline powered Fords at the time. Ford had to scramble to get an alternative.
you're right the engines did.
The transmissions...
not so much.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 9:31 am to bbvdd
Nor the rest of the truck, if the transmission didn't fail in itself then then the support crossmember would rust out try to drop it in the road anyway. Dodge still can't figure out U-joints.
Plus Dodge created the "cab forward" design in the light-duty truck market, frick them for that too.
Plus Dodge created the "cab forward" design in the light-duty truck market, frick them for that too.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 9:33 am to Clames
quote:
Plus Dodge created the "cab forward" design in the light-duty truck market, frick them for that too
Yea, this.
As for the OP, no I would not. I'd like to have the engine though
Posted on 7/1/20 at 9:40 am to goofball
As long as it has a 12 valve and 4wd I'm in!
Posted on 7/1/20 at 9:42 am to goofball
I can smell interior of that truck just by looking at the pictures.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 9:44 am to bbvdd
quote:
The transmissions...
not so much.
Most of those rigs had a manual.
The ultra-powerful diesel would shred the typical automatic transmissions. In fact, it would cause chassis flex in the longer wheelbase models for a while. Chrysler couldn't offer the diesel in all cab styles for some years for that reason.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 9:45 am to sleepytime
Drove one of those early ones with a manual once. Could let the clutch out at idle and away you went.
Good motor for the time. Rest of the truck was shite. I seem to recall they had problems with the frames cracking in them.
Good motor for the time. Rest of the truck was shite. I seem to recall they had problems with the frames cracking in them.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 10:00 am to goofball
I'd drive it straight to the shop and take the motor out. Leave the rest of the pile of shite there.
My grandfather had an '89 (I think) Ram. It didnt have that long bed like the one pictured and I loved riding around with him in that truck. He had to stop driving it on the road and just use it around the property at his house because it was too unreliable
.
As someone else mentioned earlier, the power windows in those old Rams were crazy fast. I wore that passenger side window out in that truck. I was amazed at how much faster it was than any other vehicle.
My grandfather had an '89 (I think) Ram. It didnt have that long bed like the one pictured and I loved riding around with him in that truck. He had to stop driving it on the road and just use it around the property at his house because it was too unreliable
. As someone else mentioned earlier, the power windows in those old Rams were crazy fast. I wore that passenger side window out in that truck. I was amazed at how much faster it was than any other vehicle.
Posted on 7/1/20 at 10:14 am to Theboot32
quote:
As long as it has a 12 valve and 4wd I'm in!
They looked very good with four wheel drive. The update that Dodge made to the grill for the 1991 model year was very good. They carried that design until 1993 as shown in this example:
The problem is that the competition was far more modern looking, as shown below with these 1993 model year examples:
While the 1993 Ford F-150 shown above still has drip edges on the door and a cab design from 1980 - the Ram's dated back to 1972. The Ford was MUCH newer by comparison.
The Chevrolet products looked space age by comparison, as their design dated back only to 1988:
Frankly, Ford has never had a better looking truck style than they did in the early 1990s. And General Motors had a truly innovative product with class leading V8 engines at the time with the 1988-1998 C/K series - likely the best truck you could get in the early 1990s. They were both (Ford and General Motors) objectively better than the Ram unless you wanted a diesel engine.
Dodge's response was a redesigned pickup for the 1994 model year. The styling and cab were very good, but the aging gasoline engines and very old school automatics were entirely carryover from the now 20 year old units in the D/W series Rams - save for the cancellation of their slant six.
This post was edited on 7/1/20 at 10:18 am
Posted on 7/1/20 at 10:15 am to goofball
frick yeah I’d drive that. I would drive any 1985 pickup if it’s in good shape.
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