Saddle Up, Cowboy: The Ram 2500 HD Has a New Cummins Turbo-Diesel

Yahoo

18-03-2025

The moment you climb into a Ram 2500, your sneakers become oil-waxed Lucchese, the airplane snacks squirreled away in your carry-on become T-bone steaks, and you'll suddenly find yourself with an opinion on livestock care. You have to give it to Ram—it's a brand that commits to the bit. Whether that bit is the barbed-wire and gunmetal detailing of the high-end Longhorn or the off-road readiness of a Rebel, there's a sense that every engineer and designer on the Ram team can tow a fifth wheel, winch across a boulder, and rope a Holstein. Well, maybe not all of them can throw a lasso, but they certainly know their stuff when it comes to hauling, so it's no surprise that the 2025 Ram HD trucks make light work out of heavy duty.
Externally, 2025 Ram trucks get a light reworking of the front fascia, with new grille designs, a higher mounting spot for the Ram logo, and standard LED headlights, as well as premium LED projectors as an option. Ram continues to offer lockable bed storage with built-in bins in the bedsides and adjustable cleats for cargo tie-down. There are also new wheel designs for different trim levels. Inside, Rams have impressive storage options with sliding consoles, folding rear seats, and plenty of nooks for small items. The 2025 news for the interior is the option of a massive 14.5-inch touchscreen display—2.5 inches larger than before—running the latest Uconnect 5 infotainment system. Trim levels remain the same, starting with the Tradesman, and working up through levels of luxury or off-road ability, climbing through Big Horn, Lone Star, Power Wagon, Rebel, Laramie, Longhorn, and Limited.
The 2025 Ram 2500 and 3500 HD has gas and diesel engine options—the standard 405-hp 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 or a 430-hp 6.7-liter Cummins turbo-diesel inline-6. Both are now backed by eight-speed ZF automatic transmissions. We spent most of our time in the diesel-powered 2500 Rebel, Laramie, and Longhorn, but Ram also offered drives in the 6.4-liter Hemi-powered trucks and with 3500 and chassis cab models to showcase the towing abilities of all the professional-level options. Our starting point for towing demonstrations was at the base of the Davis Dam Grade, a nearly 12-mile-long climb that is used as the SAE standard for setting tow ratings. While engineers haul their loads up and down the grade in the triple-digits temps of summer, our drives were less likely to stress the cooling system—instead, the windshield wipers got a workout, as it was both rainy and windy as we took turns pulling trailers laden with a flashy Dodge Ram 1500 SRT-10, construction equipment, and a party barge twice the length of the truck that hauled it.
Ram provides all kinds of equipment for stress-free towing, offering multiple camera angles, adjustable fish-eye lower mirrors, digital rearview mirrors, blind-spot warnings that incorporate trailer length, and (in the diesel) an exhaust brake that works with the tow/haul mode to ease both planned and emergency stops. When it comes to grunt, with 429 lb-ft of torque from the V-8 and a pavement-pretzeling 1075 lb-ft from the Cummins, there's not even a shudder from these trucks, no matter what's hooked onto the back. The most dangerous thing about towing with a Ram HD is the likelihood of forgetting that you've got anything back there and getting yourself stuck in a drive-through.
A full-size, heavy-duty pickup isn't the ideal go-to for recreational off-roading, although the Rebel—and even more so the Power Wagon, with its winch and electronic front anti-roll-bar disconnect—tread more lightly and with less side scraping than you might expect when venturing into an unpaved environment. The Hemi-only Power Wagon can tiptoe over ruts so smoothly that you won't even spill your gas-station coffee, and while the Rebel is less elegant, the Cummins will uncomplainingly pull you out of just about any situation.
That the new Ram 2500 and 3500s can handle a hill with or without payload and a trailer is hardly news. They are popular work trucks for a reason, and the biggest changes for 2025 are improvements under the hood to the already impressive Cummins turbo-diesel–equipped models. Despite the diesel's unchanged displacement of 6.7 liters, this is a block-up redesign. Combined with the transmission upgrade from six to eight speeds, it gives the Cummins-equipped truck 430 horsepower, 1075 lb-ft, and (when properly equipped) a towing capacity of up to 36,610 pounds. It's quicker too, with Ram saying the new diesel trucks can get to 60 mph in under seven seconds. After putting some miles in, we can affirm that it's almost frighteningly responsive for a truck of its size, and the powerplant is both quieter and smoother than previous Cummins engines.
Ram worked with Cummins to redesign the engine starting at the top with a move from an integrated intake to a bolt-on aluminum manifold that offers a longer intake runner and better charge cooling than the previous design. Intake and exhaust valves are bigger by 2 millimeters, and fuel pressure is increased by 3000 psi to 32,000 psi total. While the changes offer a bump of 60 hp and 225 lb-ft over the previous standard diesel, the new 6.7-liter is also more efficient, with a quicker, hotter-burning catalyst and a new turbo with a smaller, faster-spooling turbine wheel. The cam drive and fuel-pump drive are now helical gears instead of spur gears, which makes the engine quieter, so your neighbors will be happy. Fleet managers will be pleased to hear that service items such as fuel and oil filters have been moved to the top side of the engine for easier replacement. They also might appreciate the ease in ordering, because now that the engine is backed by an eight-speed transmission, there's no need for optional gear ratios. All diesels come with a 3.42 rear-axle ratio. The transmission's low first gear makes pulling easy, and when the truck is unloaded, it can start off in second for fewer shifts and smoother starts. Even better is that all 2500 and 3500 pickups now get the high-output diesel, with a 360-hp and 800-lb-ft standard-output version found only in the chassis-cab models.
From the driver's seat, Ram makes the huge truck as easy as possible to handle. There are grab handles or step-ups in the right place for easy entry. The console is big enough to hold a gear bag, a purse, or lunch for everyone on the job. Front seats are multiway adjustable, and the back seat is big enough for several lumberjacks or a small cow.
The combination of mirrors and cameras means even the smallest drivers can see what's around them—crucial for maneuvering through parking lots when adults can be below the level of the hood and tailgate. On the tech side, Ram offers wireless phone connectivity and a long list of driver aids. There's a new passenger's-side screen and plenty of USB and 120-volt outlets. Our quibbles with this big machine are small. We found the optional larger touchscreen almost too big; this short-armed driver couldn't reach the far side of it without leaning over. We also found the Uconnect 5 to be laggy, especially in moving from navigation to vehicle settings pages, which is disappointing, as we've liked Stellantis infotainment software in the past.
Ram's big trucks start at $47,660 for the Hemi-powered Tradesman and should be in dealerships now. Budget a few dollars extra for the requisite cowboy boots and 10-gallon Stetson.
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