2024 Ram Heavy Duty vs. the Competition
Exceptional Versatility
Most heavy-duty pickups will have a pretty wide range of trim levels and body configuration options, that’s normal for vehicles that need to be able to do a lot of different kinds of really tough work. But Ram goes a bit further, offering things like two different offroad trims, and serious luxury interiors to make long-haul towing trips a much more pleasant experience. The Rebel trim gives you a blend of offroad ability and towing and payload hauling ability. When whatever you’re towing or carrying needs to go offroad, the Rebel is the truck for that. The Power Wagon is a full-on offroader, with class-exclusive features like a front locking differential and an electronic disconnecting front sway bar. It’s a level of offroad performance that is simply not available on any competing heavy-duty pickup.
Endless Capability
As you would expect from a heavy-duty pickup, the Ram Heavy Duty is available with both gasoline and diesel engine options. The standard engine for both the 2500 and the 3500 is a 6.4-liter gasoline HEMI® V8 that produces 410 horsepower and 429 lb-ft of torque. This means the Ram Heavy Duty is highly capable even in base form, with a towing capacity of 17,730 pounds and a payload capacity of 4,000 pounds for the 2500, while the 3500 can carry 7,680 pounds of payload and tow 18,210 with the base engine. The difference between the two comes from the fact that the 3500 is available with a dual-wheel rear axle, and this is one of the primary distinctions between the 2500 and 3500. Because of this, the offroad trims are only available on the 2500, while the 3500 gets more of the towing-focused equipment, but quite a lot about the two variants is otherwise the same. For more serious hauling and towing, there is a diesel option for the Ram Heavy Duty. The 6.7-liter Cummins® I6 produces 370 horsepower and 850 lb-ft of torque. For the 2500, that means a towing capacity of 19,990 pounds and a payload capacity of 3,150 pounds. The 3500 can tow 22,660 pounds and haul a payload of up to 6,830 pounds with this engine. But one more piece of towing-focused equipment you can get on the 3500 is the high-output version of the diesel engine, which bumps horsepower up to 420 and torque up to 1,075 lb-ft. With this engine, the 3500 can tow 37,090 pounds and carry a payload of 6,560 pounds.
Critical Acclaim
Ram trucks are all much beloved by the automotive press. Excellent handling and best-in-class interiors are frequent subjects of their reviews, and the Ram Heavy Duty gets this kind of praise the same as the volume-selling smaller 1500. Car & Driver* put the Ram Heavy Duty on their 2024 Editor’s Choice list, but more importantly, named it as the #1 truck in its class. MotorTrend**, the other big established name in automotive journalism, also ranked it #1. As Car & Driver put it “the Ram has the best interior in the segment with luxury-car-level detailing, extreme comfort, and a clean, modern design, while the highest trim levels offer premium materials.” Simply put, if you want to know how the Ram Heavy Duty measures up to the Ford Super Duty or Chevrolet Silverado HD, you don’t have to take our word for it, the experts agree, it’s the best.