2008 Dodge Ram Pickup 3500 Review

Introduction
You'd have to be a little nutty to buy a 1-ton dually pickup truck and not really need one. Sure, those double tires and wide truck bed look tough, but the stiff-legged ride created by its beefed-up suspension can make highway cruising a jittery affair. Plus, driving a dually around suburbia is only one step removed from piloting a Norwegian Cruise liner down the Erie Canal. The 2008 Dodge Ram 3500 exists for truck buyers who need serious towing capacity, whether they're lugging around Secretariat's relatives or their own relatives in a 30-foot Fleetwood trailer. In other words, posers need not apply.

The Ram 3500 features a dual-wheel rear axle (except for short-bed Quad Cabs) and is available in two-wheel- and four-wheel-drive configurations, with the latter being controlled electronically on all but the lowest trim level. The four-wheel-drive 3500 has a solid front axle and recirculating-ball steering setup, while the two-wheel-drive model gets an independent front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering.

The 2008 Dodge Ram 3500 competes against the Ford F-350 and the impressive new 1-ton trucks from GM: the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra 3500s. The Ram trails the GM trucks in terms of interior quality, but is much more competitive where it really matters. When equipped for maximum towing, the Ram trails the big GMs by only 150 pounds. The F-350 offers significantly less, though Ford offers a more capable F-450 model.

Powertrains and Performance
The Ram 3500 dually is available with rear-wheel or four-wheel drive and comes standard with a 5.7-liter V8 engine. It makes 345 hp and 375 lb-ft of torque. For the V8, a six-speed manual transmission is standard and a five-speed automatic is optional. The latter comes standard with the Laramie trim. Most buyers go for the optional 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel inline-6 that produces 350 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. This big mill can be paired to a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic. For the diesel, Dodge also includes an exhaust brake. This is an unusual feature for a from-the-factory pickup, and is designed to provide additional stability and braking power when towing very heavy loads. The Cummins is also the first diesel engine in the truck market to meet the more stringent 2010 federal emissions requirements.