2009 Dodge Ram 1500

Say what you want about the Big Three, they still make the best range of pickups in the world. Big and brash, they can tow a luxury yacht over the Continental Divide with authority, while hosting up to six passengers in sublime comfort. As long as gas is affordable and you can likewise afford the Lexus-like payments on the top models, there’s nothing like them. We put a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie model, the top trim level, to work recently by packing up and heading for a weekend of camping and vintage motocross racing in California. With its crew-cab body configuration, Hemi engine and soft leather interior, the Ram was ready.

Room for Gear

You’d think that a weekend of motocross, one of the simplest and most fun forms of motorsport, would require almost nothing in the way of gear. Not true. Between a helmet, giant boots and body armor, a race bike and pit bike, tent, chairs and camping gear, tools and supplies, a gas can and cooler and loading ramp, plus a passenger and cold-weather clothes, virtually any pickup will fill up fast. Fortunately the Ram offered a host of handy storage solutions inside the cab. Twin glove boxes, generous door pockets, a broad center console and covered storage bins under the flip-up rear seat augmented the cab’s large interior dimensions. We filled up the rear seating area and then some, but left the front of the expansive cab open for the 160-mile drive from the So Cal coast to Tulare, in the state’s central valley.


What remained impossible to store in the cab, including the loading ramp, gas can, folding chairs, etc., were secured in the pickup bed. Secured as in with straps—because as generous as the crew cab is in storage volume, the 5.6-ft. pickup bed remains too short for motorcycles. (It’s worth noting that an 8.2-ft. bed is available on the Ram 2500 model, which also requires a longer wheelbase of 160.5 in. vs. the crew cab’s 140 in. wheelbase, and a commensurately broader turning diameter of over 50 feet.) So with the tailgate down, which incidentally confuses the ParkSense backup warning system, we hit the road early on a Saturday and pointed onto the Interstate 5 freeway.

Power and Performance

The Dodge powertrain guys got the Hemi powertrain right. Rated at 390 hp at 5600 rpm and 407 lb-ft. of torque at 4000 rpm, the V8 sings down the open road at just 1800 rpm at 70 mph. Smooth and responsive, it made short work of the infamous Grapevine, a long uphill grade known for its blistering summer heat and slippery winter snows. The sound levels are just as we like them: a whisper-quiet cab at all but the highest cruising speeds, plus a muted rumble out back.


And speaking of the language of power, the Ram has giant 20-inch chrome wheels and massive 275/60R20 tires. Hip-high to an elephant, these rubber-covered steamrollers provide a giant footprint while easing the Dodge’s ride over road imperfections. We got to looking at them and wondered what those things must weigh. After the trip we took one off and measured 77 lbs.—that’s over 300 pounds of wheels and tires running down the road beneath you. En route, we saw 13.4 mpg on the onboard rolling fuel-economy readout, and later separately calculated 13.7 mpg for our trip. That’s tolerable at $1.60 a gallon but downright painful at $4.50. Time will tell where gas prices actually stabilize.