Ram heavy-duty trucks look more conservative than new Ram 1500

Drivetrain and suspension don't look too different, either.

Author:
Joel Stocksdale
Nov 15, 2017

16 Images

We've had a pretty good peek at the
2019 Ram 1500 thanks to
spy shots and
renderings.
(UPDATED January 2018: Here's the full reveal from the Detroit Auto Show.) And from what we've seen of it, it's a major departure from Rams of the past. We haven't seen as much of the Ram heavy-duty line, but these spy shots caught one out on the town, and it appears the
Ram 2500 and
3500 will have a less controversial design.

The big-rig tall grille is still the truck's focal point, but the design is a familiar one, featuring the same look featured on the current Ram's luxurious range-topping trims like the
Ram Laramie Longhorn. We'll have to wait to see if the new heavy-duty trucks will continue to use this grille solely for range-topping trims and if the 1500's new look will venture up to its big brothers, and therefore banish the crosshairs for good.

Regardless of the grille design, the headlights still sit fairly low next to it. That emphasizes the semi-truck design since the tops of the fenders are lower than the top of the hood, which cascades to meet said fenders. The headlights also look potentially carry-over. Really, there are so many similarities it leads us to believe the new heavy duty might be more of a refresh than a completely new design.

Another interesting thing to note is that this Ram appears to use a similar drivetrain and suspension to the current heavy-duty trucks. Like the vast majority of trucks, it has a solid rear axle, but probably with coil springs as Ram currently does. Up front, though, it seems the solid front axle has also been retained. This should be good news for fans of the off-road-ready
Power Wagon.

We're probably still a ways away from seeing the heavy-duty Rams. Last year, we learned a rumor that the
heavy-duty trucks were delayed for an unspecified amount of time. We wouldn't expect to see anything official about the truck until at least 2019, about a year after we expect to see the 2019 Ram 1500 revealed.

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