No Fear of Loading: Driving the 2025 Ram Heavy Duty

Ram’s updates to its 2025 heavy-duty lineup aim for the heart of the American Dream.

May 23, 2025

Matt Wolfe

The 2025 heavy-duty Ram pickups had no issues hauling loads up and down the Davis Dam grade. (Ram)

The desert landscapes of the western United States have changed since Mr. Duke and Dr. Gonzo blazed a trail across them in a drug-infused haze. But their advice to buy the ticket and take the ride is still a wise mantra – especially in the serene comfort of a modern full-size pickup.

As inhospitable as southern Nevada can be outside Sin City, the amenities within the climate-controlled and leather-lined cabin of the latest Ram pickups insulate you from those realities. SAE Media was invited to sample the latest heavy haulers in Ram’s portfolio, including the new 2500 and 3500 models with the high-output version of the Cummins B6.7 diesel.

This Dodge Ram SRT-10 from the company’s heritage collection was one of the favorite loads to haul. (Ram)

Our time behind the wheel included some light overlanding as well as runs up and down the Davis Dam grade while hauling loads of all shapes and sizes. No hitchhikers were on hand to give a second opinion on the latest heavy-duty Ram’s capabilities, so our impressions of these great red sharks will have to suffice.

Heavy stuff

Our time with this herd of Rams was spent in and around Laughlin, Nevada. For most visitors, Laughlin is a town that exists to deposit the contents of their 401K into a slot machine in hopes of a redneck-retirement. For North American-based truck engineers, the appeal of Laughlin lies outside the flashing lights of the cigarette smoke-filled casinos.

Completed in 1951, the Davis Dam blockades the path of the Colorado River downstream from the Hoover Dam. It bisects the border of Arizona and Nevada to form Lake Mohave. The dam houses five Francis turbines that annually generate 1,148 GWh of electricity.

This is the backdrop for one of the most important towing tests for truck engineers, SAE J2807, AKA the Davis Dam test . The Davis Dam test requires a vehicle to climb the grade on Route 68 between Bullhead City and Golden Valley, Arizona. The climb is a total of 3,500 ft (1,100 meters) over 11 miles (18 km). The test also requires a starting temperature of 100°F (38°C) while the air conditioning is blowing at full capacity.

Doug Killian, chief vehicle synthesis manager, Ram Trucks, talked us through the importance of the J2807 standard from the passenger seat of a DRW Ram 3500 while we pointed its nose uphill towards the dam with a camper in tow.

“What the standard really does is lend credibility to the numbers we put out,” he explained. “Meeting the standard is a very important part of our criteria and has been since it first came out back in 2008.” Though the standard has been revised several times since, the basic premise has remained largely the same: to create a benchmark for trucks that claim to be the heaviest haulers.

For Killian and his team at Ram, their goal is to go beyond simply meeting the SAE numbers. They also want their customers to feel comfortable while doing so. “We’re putting down big numbers with our competitors,” he said. “But in terms of how the truck goes about it, one area we’re really proud of is customers didn’t realize that a truck with these capabilities could be so quiet and relaxing.”

Killian continued, “My job is basically managing trade-offs, making decisions and deciding which trade we’re going to make. We feel we can stretch the paradigm and break out of the mentality of, ‘well, it has to be done this way.’” Killian was a dynamics engineer at the time Ram decided to forgo leaf springs on the 1500 model, a design change that was seen as a gamble at the time but has now made its way onto the heavier-duty Ram pickups.

The latest Power Wagons show off their off-road prowess. (Ram)

“I think a lot of truck makers are still stuck in the ‘it has to be leaf springs’ mentality. But we thought if we could break that paradigm on the 1500, we could do it on a 2500. We built some prototypes, did some simulation, applied what we knew from our 1500 experience and took a bit of a leap,” he said.

“We wanted to make sure that people can be running less loaded or even unloaded and still have the same ride comfort and handling. Loaded handling is important, of course, but we can also provide good ride-and-handling balance when unloaded. If we can make a 2500 drive more like a 1500 used to and make a 1500 feel like a passenger car, we’re going to get more people that want to buy a pickup truck. What was keeping people out of trucks for years was they liked the interior and the size, but the ride was just beating them up.”

Riding high and low

The new High Output version of the Cummins B6.7 engine is rated at 430 hp and 1,075 lb-ft. (Ram)

Killian detailed what customer feedback has been in terms of the implementation of air suspension into Ram’s heavy haulers. “Managing ground clearance and bed height is one aspect we’ve gotten good feedback on,” he said. “Ride height with a loaded or unloaded trailer is important to a heavy-duty customer. The bed height is also taller on a 2500 or 3500. So rear air suspension became a way to meet the towing and loading needs while also bringing the bed down a little bit.”

“It's really not as much about ride comfort,” he explained. “Air suspension in theory is not going to ride better. It’s got a lower spring rate, but the math is still the same in terms of F=kx. The biggest difference between air springs and a leaf or coil spring is its just less friction.”

Killian also discussed the differences in ride frequency goals between suspensions. “In the case of the 3500, where the air suspension is more of a helper because we still have a leaf spring, we’re shooting for a ride frequency around the low twos. Generally, a dually is a good place for the air suspension because we can hit these higher towing numbers but keep the low level attitude of the truck. Thanks to the air suspension, we can have a variable ride frequency without a variable rate spring, which will have to sag to hit that ride rate. We can get a higher ride frequency at a level ride height with the air springs.”

Killian explained where the 2500 Ram falls in terms of ride-and-handling goals in the product lineup. “For the 2500, we’re really trying to make an effort to split that gap between the 1500 and 3500,” he said. “The 2500 fills a gap for people who maybe want to haul their camper but only do that for a few months in a year. Those customers don’t want to feel punished while driving unloaded the rest of the time, so that’s a market we found the 2500 fits really well for.”

Cummins up the mountain

The ZF eight-speed 8AP1075 Powerline automatic transmission features a numerically lower first gear than the outgoing six-speed unit. (Ram)

While the power and torque figures of the new 6.7-liter HO Cummins diesel – 430 hp (320 kW) at 2,800 rpm and 1,075 lb-ft (1,458 Nm) at 1,800 rpm – will be the selling point for most buyers, the pairing of this engine with the eight-speed ZF 8AP1075 Powerline automatic transmission has Ram’s engineers equally excited.

“We’re able to keep the engine in its most efficient operating zone,” Killian said. “You can see we’re running around 2100-2200 rpm,” pointing at the tach as our Ram 3500 motors up the Davis grade. “We can keep the engine tighter into its peak performance and efficiency zone with this gearbox. First gear has also gone from roughly a three-to-one ratio to over a four-to-one. When you’re not in tow haul, it’s normally going to be starting in second gear from a standstill.”

The addition of the eight-speed transmission also allowed Ram to streamline the final drive options for diesel customers. For 2025, only a 3.42 rear axle ratio is offered. The gearbox features a five clutch-pack design with two open clutches in any gear. Torque converter lock with turbine torsional damper for low lock-up speeds is available in all gears. Seventh and eighth gears are overdriven while sixth is the direct drive gear.

The combination of the high-output Cummins mill and the ZF-supplied eight-speed auto is impressive. Our drive up and down the Davis Dam grade with a fifth-wheel camper in tow felt like a routine run to Vegas to catch a Debbie Reynolds show. Though I’m sure parking would be a struggle for such a rig.

Off the road again

Once we were finished our trailer towing trials, the Ram team let us loose with the latest version of the Power Wagon on the desert trails around Laughlin. These roads won’t be confused with anything from the Mint 400, but they still provided ample opportunity to test the Power Wagon’s capabilities. Our Power Wagon was a 2500 model equipped with the 6.4-liter Hemi V8. While its torque numbers fall well short of its Cummins stablemate, the 405-hp (302-kW) V8 had ample grunt to move the truck up and down the trail.

There’s no getting around the Power Wagon’s size in tight quarters. But the full suite of cameras provide a 360-degree view of whatever obstacle you’re about to unwittingly bash into. The Power Wagon makes you feel like a more skilled overlander than you really are. That’s an observation, not a complaint. There were several tight passes that our trio of trucks had to maneuver through, but thanks to the electronic sway bar disconnect system (and the expert guidance of Ram’s engineers), we made it through without adding any new pinstripes.

Near the end of our trail ride, there was an open section of sandy whoops that we were told could be done at speed. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to use the skinny pedal, we obliged the request of our guide and proceeded to see who could set the high score on the speedometer for the roughly quarter-mile section of open trail. We can confirm that while that section of road tested the limits of the Power Wagon’s suspension travel, the trucks completed their Baja sprint without incident despite achieving speeds greater than we traveled at on the freeway back to the hotel.

Getting a fix

While the American public has long had an appetite for strong hallucinogens, their psychedelic addiction to pickups still outpaces anything that the cartels can offer. Ram has continued to be one of Stellantis’s strongest strains, and the more potent diesel offering courtesy of Cummins is sure to bring more power junkies to their door.

That power is tempered by the efforts the Ram engineering team has poured into making their heavy-duty offerings more approachable for recreational users. Not every truck buyer is looking to go on a wild trip. Most just want to take a nice journey.