Last week featured running jokes and mirth on
truck Twitter. It started when the
GMC account played off the
Super Bowl, posting a short video that started with the caption, "The Rams already lost." Then came a picture of a current
Ram tailgate, followed by a short pictorial demonstration of the six-function MultiPro tailgate available on the
GMC Sierra (pictured). Ram responded with a pigskin play of its own, calling
GMC out for a false start and requesting everyone "Check back with us on 2/7/19." That is the first media day of the
Chicago Auto Show.
The easy inference is that Ram has plans to reveal a clever tailgate of its own. The easy question is, will it be the split tailgate we first saw in a patent application in 2014, then in spy photos in 2017? That patent application detailed a gate split down the middle, with a traditional handle on the left-side door. The entire unit could open like a standard tailgate, or, each half could fold down like a tailgate as well as swing out like a door. The Honda Ridgeline has a similar option, but not being split, the Ridgeline's whole tailgate swings out like a door. Another novel feature of the Ram patent application was that the doors could be operated with a touchpad.
When spy photographers caught a 2020 Ram prototype in Detroit with a split tailgate, the split was no longer 50/50, but about 65/35. After snapping the silver truck that day, the split tailgate was never seen again. Thursday in Chicago might be the day that changes, since it's fair to expect Ram to show something that will get the 1500 current with proliferating tailgate trickery.
GMC and Ram weren't finished, though. The Ram 1500 won the Motor Trend Truck of the Year award at the Detroit Auto Show, and two hours after GMC's first tweet, GMC got around to sending this bit of congratulations:
Flag on the play. False start. Check back with us on 2/7/19. Unanimous #MTTOTY #RamTrucks pic.twitter.com/CfEwIuM7PX
— RamTrucks (@RamTrucks) January 31, 2019
The easy inference is that Ram has plans to reveal a clever tailgate of its own. The easy question is, will it be the split tailgate we first saw in a patent application in 2014, then in spy photos in 2017? That patent application detailed a gate split down the middle, with a traditional handle on the left-side door. The entire unit could open like a standard tailgate, or, each half could fold down like a tailgate as well as swing out like a door. The Honda Ridgeline has a similar option, but not being split, the Ridgeline's whole tailgate swings out like a door. Another novel feature of the Ram patent application was that the doors could be operated with a touchpad.
When spy photographers caught a 2020 Ram prototype in Detroit with a split tailgate, the split was no longer 50/50, but about 65/35. After snapping the silver truck that day, the split tailgate was never seen again. Thursday in Chicago might be the day that changes, since it's fair to expect Ram to show something that will get the 1500 current with proliferating tailgate trickery.
GMC and Ram weren't finished, though. The Ram 1500 won the Motor Trend Truck of the Year award at the Detroit Auto Show, and two hours after GMC's first tweet, GMC got around to sending this bit of congratulations:
Congrats on #MTTOTY. Have a hot dog on us... and on an old tailgate. pic.twitter.com/8iMc0xynCx
— GMC (@GMC) January 31, 2019
RAM 1500 Information
