Since news that Ram was set to release a 1500 powered by a diesel, our Assistant Sales Manager, Tyler Lucas, has been following every detail of these trucks. Once word got out that they were available for ordering at the dealers, Tyler’s 2006 Cummins Mega Cab went up for sale and a trip to the dealer was underway. With all of his options determined and the truck ordered, he followed the progress of the truck’s build through Ram’s website nearly every day. This feature on Ram’s site is pretty cool for most, as you can follow your truck as it moves through its various stages of build, from electrical to paint, to rolling off the assembly line. For Tyler, this probably made him more anxious than not knowing.
Finally, on June 5, the day had arrived and Tyler was able to pick up his new project. Wrapped in the new Maximum Steel Metal paint scheme with 20” black rims, the truck is definitely impressive. Once back at the shop, the hood immediately flew open for everyone to start identifying what is where. The stance of the truck is pretty straight forward, as its completely in line with the gas powered alternative 1500’s from Ram, as well as having identical interiors. Really, until the hood is up, the only distinguishing factors are the EcoDiesel badges on the doors.
Now, where do we start in customizing this truck? At the time this newsletter is being written, the options are pretty limited due to availability of these trucks to the aftermarket manufacturers. Slowly, products are starting to weep their way into the market place, such as exhaust systems and cold air intakes from aFe (Advanced Flow Engineering) and tuners from Steinbauer. As soon as we’re able to pry the keys away from Tyler for a few hours, we’ll see what kind of parts we can get installed for some in-house testing.
Whoa! I want to hear more about the 1500 EcoDiesel. How does it compare to the 2500 Cummins? Does Tyler like it? What does he plan to haul/tow with it. Does this mean I need to stop sneering at 1/2 ton pickup trucks?
Melissa, thanks for the inquiry. The ram EcoDiesel diesel is a tough beast to compare to the Ram 2500. Ram built this vehicle not to necessarily compete with the current offering that is capable of hauling an exorbitant amount of weight but rather a vehicle that would excel at superb fuel economy and light to moderate towing. So far Tyler is very pleased with this truck with even coming off of a 2006 Ram Cummins. He frequently uses the truck to tow a 28′ boat and it does very well both in regards to pulling power as well as fuel economy. A great amount of this can be attributed to the 8 speed automatic transmission.
I would preferred the the inline six configuration The V8 is much harder to work on On the six you can get to both sides of the engine very easily I like things simple