2025 Ram Heavy Duty pickup's base diesel offers 1,075 lb-ft | Reviews

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• Ram’s 2025 Heavy Duty makes Cummins HO the base diesel, offering 430 hp and 1,075 lb-ft
  
• The 3500 can tow up to 36,610 lbs via a gooseneck, or 23,000 lbs on the hitch
• A new 10.25-inch screen on the passenger side helps the interior remain best-in-class

In the perpetual mine-is-bigger-than-yours battle that is Detroit pickup trucks, Ram has completely hauled the covers off its Heavy Duty pickups for the 2025 model year. We say “completely” because the brand already first showed us the face of these machines some months ago, debuting photos of the spider-like multi-pupil headlamps on snazzy trims back in September. Now, however, we have more details about its powertrain and interior — two spaces over which buying decisions are won and lost in the HD pickup arena.

First, the engines. Ram has curb-stomped the standard-output Cummins diesel for 2025, as we predicted some spell ago. This means all Ram HD oil-burners will heave out 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb-ft of torque from a 6.7L straight-six engine, a sum possibly enough to alter the rotation of Planet Earth. Anyone seeking propulsion from a gasser may avail themselves of the familiar 6.4L Hemi V8, good for 405 hp and 429 lb-ft of twist. The new-old boss Tim Kuniskis says there is nearly a three-quarters take rate on the diesel.

Alert readers may notice that all variants of the Ram HD may now get the high-output Cummins, an engine no longer restricted to service in the one-ton (3500) class of truck. This will help with bragging rights at the campground. Speaking of towing, Ram says the 3500 Heavy Duty can haul 36,610 pounds on a gooseneck setup; while the conventional hitch maxes out at 23,000 pounds of trailer.

But, like we’ve explained in the past, those figures are generally for a very specific cab-powertrain configuration. The typical 2500 or 3500 will top out at much less — but still more than enough for the vast majority of shoppers.

Ram says this engine packs a redesigned block and head, larger valves, different turbo, and new intake when compared against other years. An eight-speed automatic, with its shift lever sprouting from the steering column like an overgrown larch the way nature and the Dodge Brothers intended, is the transmission.

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Visual changes to the exterior of these trucks include a new front fascia, with standard LED headlamps on all trims. Work trucks get amber turn signals in lower half of the freshly bifurcated front peepers; while zootier models adopt a quad-lamp design which looks either like one of those terrifying spiders with multiple pupils or Clark Griswold’s family truckster, depending on who you ask. (Neither of those descriptions are likely to endear this writer to anyone sitting in a Stellantis corner office, but I’ll reserve final judgment until seeing the ‘25s in person.) A variety of new-style grilles will also be on offer, again dependent of trim level.

Inside we find screens galore, including the newest must-have in this segment: a 10.25-inch touchscreen tablet in front of the passenger. Ram says this digital real estate will have a trio of major functions, as a co-pilot with navigation and device management; for entertainment via HDMI port; and to offer the ability to view the exterior cameras. If you think this is the type of needless frippery about which owners of six-figure HD trucks like to boast, you’re exactly right.

The centre stack can be equipped with either a 12.0-inch or new 14.5-inch touchscreen display (an 8.4-inch screen is standard in poverty spec) the former being upgraded over last year with better resolution and split-screen capabilities. There’s another 12.3-inch screen serving as a gauge cluster ahead of the driver.

Available dual wireless chargers can juice two phones at once, while an optional digital rearview mirror can take its feed from a rear-facing camera instead of having to peer past the heads of backseat urchins. Power telescoping trailer tow side mirrors allow the driver to deploy them needlessly while not towing as a vehicular version of manspreading move the mirrors away from the truck to improve sight-lines when hooked to a trailer.

As in past years, the burly Power Wagon gear can be opted on a Tradesman trim, while the Off-Road group with its Bilstein shocks and all-terrain tires can be had across the board (save for on Power Wagon and Rebel, which have their own off-road gear). This means one can continue to build a countrified Longhorn or tony Limited with good shocks and knobby tires. That’s a win in our books.

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Elsewhere on the truck, an on-board 2.4-kW power inverter can be spec’d and can offer up power through a pair of covered outlets located inside the cargo bed. With the engine running and transmission in Park, users can turn on the inverter via the touchscreen and with a switch in the cab. The engine will then apparently run a high idle to support the inverter demands. It isn’t immediately clear if this option is dependent on the type of powertrain, or if it’s available in conjunction with the RamBox.

A yaffle of exterior camera angles are on tap, too depending on trim and yer appetite for checking option boxes.

The Ram Heavy Duty lineup is built in Mexico, meaning Ram will be watching the threats of a 25% tariff very closely when Trump takes office. Expect sticker prices to jump by a couple of grand to start. The truck is scheduled to arrive in dealerships during the first quarter of 2025.

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