MM Retro Write-Up: 1994 Dodge Ram Pickup

IN A NUTSHELL: Macho-styled, and arguably the most important new Dodge/Ram truck ever introduced.
























^^^^^^^Cummins Diesel




At one time, many decades ago, Dodge trucks were quite significant, particularly with the large well-known 6x6 Dodge military trucks of WorldWar II and the later 4-wheel-Drive Power Wagon of the 1950s. After that, however, despite their durable and reliable engines and automatic transmissions, Dodge full-size pickups languished on the market in comparison to the significantly more popular Ford F-series trucks and their Twin-I-Beam front suspensions and the Chevy/GMC C/K Fleetside/Silverado/Sierras. The Dodges actually competed more against minor-league players like the Studebaker, International, and Jeep pickups than they did against Fords and Chevys. This was for a number of reasons, but among them were the tendency of Dodge trucks, like many other Chrysler products, to be sloppily-assembled, crudely-finished, unreliable, and beset with rust problems. Studebaker and International (International Harvester), of course, went out of business, and Jeep stopped making pickups for several decades, resuming again only fairly recently with the Wrangler-based Gladiator pickup…..so Dodge trucks, at least, lost some of their competition for awhile, which helped them keep at least one foot in the door of the domestic full-size truck market. That, plus the fact that the Dodge trucks were generally a little more popular with fleet-orders than they were with private-sales…..Dodge negotiated good prices for those fleet and bulk-orders.

And that full-size truck-domestic market is extremely important. It consists of what are arguably some of the most dedicated and loyal fans in the country….particularly with the F-Series and Chevy C/K Silverado…the GMC Sierras also have their fans, but are more upmarket and not as widely-driven as the Silverados. Up until around 1994 or so, the F-Series/Silverado dominance of this field was an almost impossible nut to crack….and even ever-popular Toyota with its ill-fated attempts with the T-100/T150 and First-Generation Tundras went almost nowhere trying to penetrate it. Tundras did not really begin to sell in large numbers until the mid-2000s and its Second-Generation. Dodge tried marketing their trucks, without a whole lot of success, not only under the Dodge nameplate but also the Dodge “Ram” sub-designation (later to be re-organized into a whole new independent Ram-Truck division).

By the early 1990s, however, the Dodge marketers (and one must remember that this was before the Daimler/Mercedes takeover of Chrysler in 1998 and Mercedes calling the shots) decided it was time to toss out the rule-book (which clearly wasn’t working) and, and in the effort to catch the F-Series and Silverado, try something radically different. And different it was….quite significantly. For 1994, the all-new generation Dodge Ram pickup was ready. And it took the auto-show circuit that year by storm….and I can still remember the attention it got at the D.C. Auto Show that year. Gone was the traditional slab-sided three-box-styling that had characterized Dodge trucks for decades. Gone was the sloppy fit/finish of previous Dodge trucks. one was the typical Chrysler crap-hardware and trim inside and out, although the new hardware wasn’t all that much of an improvement from a durability standpoint…Chrysler has never excelled in that field. As I recall (although I am not 100% certain of this), Dodge even dropped the exterior wood-gain siding that they had offered as an option for many years (something I’ve always liked the looks of).

But the real eye-opener was the totally-new front-end, which, as I mentioned above, clearly tossed the old rule-book out the door. The hood was massively high, with a large honking/gaping grille and a classic droop-fender-effect on the sides, which clearly mimicked the look of the big-rig/semi diesel trailer-trucks which carried so much freight and cargo across the country. Inside, the all-new interior featured a ultra-wide console up front, between the seats, with large containers and a portable top to the console that could be used as a mini-office for the (then) ever-increasing popularity of laptops and personal computers Almost overnight, it transformed the Ram trucks from so-so second-rate competitors of Ford and Chevy to a credible, and even desirable alternative. This was one of those rare moments in truck history when a new model makes a big impact on the market..as the Ford Lightning all-electric truck is doing today. But, even so, the F-150 and Silverado sold in such huge numbers, both to fleet-buyers and private individuals, that even the new 1994 Rams weren’t going to knock them out of first and second-place overnight, although a few years ago, the Silverado DID lose second-place to the Ram for a brief period, primarily because of the Silverado’s dated interior and the remarkable road-manners of recent Ram 1500-Series trucks, which offer coil-spring suspension and a remarkably smooth and quiet ride compared to the traditionally leaf-sprung truck-suspensions and lack of sound insulation.

But, back to the 1994 Ram. I would add that this new design was unveiled by none-other than Bob Lutz himself…someone I have always had a high opinion of in the vehicle business. It also introduced (then) new seating/configurations into the truck business….in addition to regular cabs, the 2-door Club Cabs and the 4-door Quad Cabs. Under the hood, engine-options backed up the Macho/big-rig styling…..a base 3.9L V6, the tried-and-true always-durable 5.2L and 5.9L V8s, and, for really heavy loads, the ultra-powerful Cummins turbo-diesel straight-six and 8.0L Magnum V10. Transmissions ranged from three different versions of the 4-speed automatic to two different 5-speed manuals and a six-speed manual. A shortened 3-door SUV version, the Ramcharger, was offered in Mexico but not in the U.S…..this, IMO, was a marketing mistake, as the large full-size 3-door Ford Bronco and Chevy Blazer SUVs could have used a Dodge competitor. (This, BTW, was a REAL Chevy Blazer, not the IMO ridiculous mid-sized crossover Mommy-Wagon with the Blazer name on it that GM is hawking today).

Though still not quite selling in F-150 or Silverado numbers, the new droop-fender styling was obviously a big initial success, so Dodge and Ram basically kept it for a number of years……and vestiges of it can still be seen today in the latest Ram trucks, almost 30 years later. Though most of the attention today is on hybrid and battery-powered electric-trucks such as the Rivian, Ford Lightning, and the (IMO) ridiculous pyramid-shaped Tesla Cybertruck, the original 1994 market-changing Dodge Ram will go down in the annals of truck history as one of the most significant new models ever introduced.

And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Memories

MM

 

Thanks for the trauma lol! I had one of those snap a frame rail on the lift once.....

 

Which version of the Ram was it? Considering that top versions of the dualie-rear-wheel Ram 3500, with the Cummins diesel, can tow up to 30,000 lbs. with that frame-rail, it must have either taken a LOT of force up on that lift or have been an old truck that wasn't cared for, didn't have the salt washed off the frame, and had rust and corrosion on the frame.

 

Really? I thought only American Toyota Trucks had rusty frame rails

 

Yowzers, after someone has to check their drawers after something like that happens comes the very awkward phone call to the customer.
Sir, "we lifted your truck to service it and your frame broke in half". Whaaaaaaat! lol

 

Any truck, foreign or domestic, can suffer that kind of damage or failure if the frame is old and corroded enough. And, in fact, the frames on domestic trucks, given proper care, are probably stronger than the C-Channel frames Toyota once used.

 

Oh these things rust like crazy, all of them are on frame patch 2-4 here and are known to just rot away. The one that went on me was a 1500 but all of them do it, it's actually hard to lift them up since there are no solid points left on most of them.

Now that said, I did one time have a southern truck come in, it was unreal being under one that was perfect.

 

It happens, doesn't really have too much risk to me but I've had about 10 trucks with failed frames I've noticed once in the air. The body was the only thing linking the halves together in a few cases.

 

As a kid in the 90's, I really wanted one of these after watching Twister.

But it's really a case of me being glad, in retrospect, that I never got my wish. Outside of the reliability of the cummins diesel engine, these trucks had no redeeming qualities. They rusted like crazy, the interiors were absolute trash(you can find videos on youtube of smashed dashes because of how they crack in the sun), the transmissions were made of glass, they were not available in a crew cab option, they had all the typical electronic issues of a Dodge/Chrysler product, etc.

My friend has a 98 2500 with the diesel. The engine is great. The truck is on its second bed, which itself is also rusted pretty badly. We live in the desert, this isn't right. The interior is busted up pretty bad, the speedometer doesn't work, the windows kinda work, radio doesn't work at all IIRC.

 

Mine was early 2000's and looked like pic below and as can be seen looks a lot like the older models posted by mmarshal.

It was a 3/4 ton with the Cummins Turbo diesel and no rust whatsoever -like new underneath- but it came from Texas if I remember.
I had the local landscape supply load a pallet straight off the fork lift and laid it in the bed and drove home no problem.
You're looking at over 2k pounds a pallet.

This truck could pull down a house no problem.

Problem with the Turbo Diesel is finding one that's not rusty and to inspect the bed and frame before buying to make sure it never had a 5th wheel bolted & installed to it cuz nobody wants the truck that was used as a car hauler in a previous life.

 

Yes, many Rams of this generation have a fair amount of rust on them (as does a white one my neighbor owns).....but it must be remembered that the oldest of them (the 1994s) are almost 30 years old now. Time marches on.

 

Have fun finding any interior parts, such as dash's........I will say one thing is they ride better then the Ford's thanx to coils vs leaf's. '98.5- '02's are the one you'd want, thanx to Cummins adding a 24v ISB........

 

LMCTruck.com, they have everything possible and it's all new plastic tech that doesn't degrade or have any issues at all.

 

What 90s pickup truck didn't rust? Every time I venture back to the rural Midwest I'm shocked at how rusty everything is. Farms are just littered with trucks that either have multiple frame repairs w/rusted bodies or are just completely succumbing to rust and sitting in the grass.

 

Everyone at the time that saw the picture of these trucks before they first came out was saying, "oh that's terrible", "that thing isn't going to sell", "it's ugly", etc., etc. And a lot of that was from employees at our dealership. But then when the actual trucks started coming in they were the hottest thing we had going at the time. We had waiting lists for the trucks especially the 4x4's. I can't remember if that first '94 model run was regular cabs only or if club cabs came out the first year. I think the quad cabs (dual opening club cab doors) was 1995 or 1996. Those were even hotter especially in the diesels.

The one negative thing I can remember from that initial year or so was the Goodyear Wrangler mud & snow OWL tires that were coming on the loaded Laramie SLT 4x4's. They were horribly out of round and you could not balance them. We had so many angry customers from those things. First they had to wait forever for their truck only to have it bouncing like crazy around 50-55mph. Customers were wanting Dodge to pay to have the tires swapped over to something else which occasionally they would do if we got another set of new Goodyears and they were also out of round.

But wow were those trucks popular. We went from having almost no demand for pickups to almost everyone it seemed wanted one. We finally had something to go against Ford and GM with.