RAM Report

A couple of readers have asked how I'm liking the RAM and what kind of gas mileage I'm getting.  It's still early days, but I'm pleased with it overall.  It's comfortable, quiet and has plenty of power.  Trish says she enjoys driving it more than the Tacoma.  So far on this trip, it's averaged 11 MPG.  That sounds terrible to those who aren't used to towing RVs for 1000s of miles but it's better than expected.  It appears the MPG is better when towing at highway speeds than it is in city driving, not towing.  Wild ass guess on percentage of towing miles vs non-towing city miles so far on this trip: 80/20.

It isn't a high end model and that's just as well because I have little use for many of the high end bells and whistles.  However, there are several worthwhile convenience/comfort/appearance features that I've installed myself - at half the dealership price.  New vehicles have a variety of options like appearance package, convenience package, performance package.  My collection of improvements, called The Pimp Package, is detailed below.

Bed step shown in lowered position.  In raised position it fits snugly under the bumper.

The pickup bed is 34" off the ground, can't step into it without a stool, stepladder or ....... the bed step.  I didn't know there was such a thing until recently when I discovered it while researching pickups and options.  It was easy to install, no drilling, remove a few bolts, add a few bolts.  You can use your toe to snap it up and down or ease it into place more gently with your hand.  What a great widget!  I've shown it to a couple other guys that tow 5Ws and both were excited about it, said they were going to get one ASAP.

Aluminum storage box in front of the 5W hitch was added at the last minute, mainly to have a secure place to stow our Honda generator.  There's a bunch of other stuff in there, too.

The floor of the cab is also high so I added running boards.  Now, instead of being a giant leap for mankind, it's one small step for man - and a slightly larger step for woman.  Okay, okay, you got me: it's actually two steps whether you're male, female or TBD.*

Mudflaps.  I was surprised they weren't standard equipment and I asked the salesman about it.  He said the body of the pickup was high enough that mudflaps weren't really needed.  Really?  There's a law of nature that limits flying gravel, mud and water to a maximum altitude of 8"?  Dumb shit!

Carpet floor mats are nothing more than dirt and stain collectors in my view.  You have to vacuum them a couple times a week or they look like crap.  I always replace them with rubber or vinyl mats first thing.  This time I went with after-market custom mats.

Seat covers are also a standard add-on item.  They protect the original fabric and improve the 'feel' and appearance.  For years I bought el cheapoes off the rack at a department or auto parts store.  More recently I've graduated to custom-fit covers, made for the specific vehicle.

The final touch, installed today, is a custom fit dash cover.  This is a first for me.  RAM 2500 dashboards are roughly 1.3 acres in size and there's some glare when it's sunny.  No more.  Now we have a soft, non-glare, brushed suede surface that looks and feels great.  Trish says she's going to lie up there and squirm around while I'm driving.  Could be distracting.

*To Be Determined.