Despite redesigning the 1500-series for 2019, Ram’s leaner, meaner, and more economical pickup was already in danger of being overshadowed by the parade of special edition models pouring out of the factory. While many emphasize style over substance, the inverse is sometimes true — which happens to be the case with the 1500 North Edition.
Visually, there’s not much going on here. It’s definitely the new Ram 1500, but lacks some of the bolder designs that typically epitomize a special edition model. Based on the Big Horn, the North Edition focuses entirely upon adding equipment that might be useful in the snow. Presumably, Fiat Chrysler realized that bold graphics and bright colors lose some appeal when covered in road salt.
Unveiled to the New England Motor Press Association (NEMPA) members Monday evening, the truck will eventually be shipped to dealerships across America — so long as they see snow every winter. The North Edition Ram 1500 comes standard with winter-rated three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) Falken LT tires, one-inch factory lift, 4×4 transfer case (with auto, high and low), electronic locking rear axle, and engine block heater.
Creature comforts include heated seats, steering wheel, and side mirrors. FCA has also deemed the North Edition fit to receive a 12-way power driver seat with 4-way lumbar adjustments, remote starting capabilities, front and rear Park Sense, and a 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen with SiriusXM Travel Link Weather.
While light on visual aesthetics, the winterized Ram does come equipped with a 4×4 decal on the rear fender (likely to reassure other motorists that you are ready to tow them out of a snowy ditch) as well as body-colored bumpers, grille, mirrors, and door handles. There are also cold-weather Mopar floor mats, but those have at least some practical value.
Engine options include either the eTorque 3.6-liter Pentastar or 5.7-liter Hemi V8, the latter of which can tow 12,750 pounds. Adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking and blind-spot monitoring can all be added as part of FCA’s safety tech suite. You’re also able to upsize the center console to a full 12 inches, which adds split-screen capabilities and a 360-degree camera view.
The 2019 Ram 1500 North Edition starts at $45,890, plus a $1,695 destination charge. Available exclusively as a crew cab 4×4, buyers do have the option to customize bed length. However, while futzing around on Ram’s website, we noticed setting a Big Horn up with the North Edition package was actually a few hundred dollars cheaper than FCA claimed in its media release. Maybe that’ll give you some extra wiggle room while haggling, assuming you’re in the market for something customized specifically for a winter wonderland.
[Images: FCA]
Wow, a truck that’s actually aimed at snow-belters as opposed to desert south-westerners, I like it and it’s priced well
This reminded me of my 87 S-Blazer with a “Mountain Package” and Z71 RPO code, biggest thing with the mountain package was the 4:11 gear set iirc.
Which in return makes me wonder – did FCA screw up its axle ratio availability like GM with this new generation of Rams? As far as I know FCA still had 3.92 gear sets going into most of their last gen trucks that made the trucks feel quite lively. Contrast that with GM who used 3:42 gear set as their best gear set (if you could even find that horribly underpowered gear set among the other grandma highway gear sets available) which makes their trucks feel like slugs.
The new Ram 1500 still has the 3.92 axle available on all trims with 4×4 and Laramie on up trims with 4×2 (it is standard on the Rebel). All trims (other than the Rebel with its aforementioned 3.92 axle standard) also have a 3.55 option over the base 3.21 axle.
Excellent.
Next question is the transfer case, the last gen Ram had two transfer cases.
A “fake” transfer case that did not engage 4×4 until the rear axle started slipping – i.e. Had a system of clutches
And a real transfer case that locks in front and rear wheels 50:50 as according to switched position.
Is this still the case?
I like it idea, but it’d be nice if they raised the bar by addressing the elephant in the northern room: rust. Surely there are some things they could do to the underside of their trucks to really beef them up for the salt. More/heavier duty stainless components? More durable paint? Discounted undercoating services for the length of the warranty? Just spit-balling here.
Yes, I would have expected to see an extensive rust-proofing package on such a truck as this.
Handsome truck, though. Would hate to see it eat up with rust before it’s time.
Serious question, not being a wiseguy- so many states find other ways to deal with snow than destructive SALT, when will we see class-action lawsuits filed by motorists against DoTs that insist on ruining our vehicles with salt (and from my experience, entirely too damn much of it)??
Honestly, it’s a cost thing. Try convincing taxpayers to pay more for their county/state/whatever to use a salt alternative. They’ll just live with the rust.
I would love to see salt eliminated though.
I agree, where I live the salt trucks are out with the first flake. Do they really need so much salt?
Here they spray a slurry of MaCl and CaCl as well as adding beet juice. They put it out on the roads before the snow or ice comes. They still put a lot of salt and gravel on after the fact as well.
I am thankful that I dont live in the salt belt. Everywhere I’ve lived, including in the Pacific Northwest, they used sand instead. I realize they don’t get as much snow, but I agree that they should be able to come up with a better alternative to salt. Not only does it damage vehicles, but also bridge structures etc.
JT—Correct on all of that. Also, the eco-weenies actually got one right in that all the salt tends to wreak havoc on the rivers and streams. Seems to me that the repercussions of salt aren’t worth the benefits.
A city near me uses beet juice on the roads. Dunno how well it works, though: I rarely go to the Big Sh!tty.
My 20-year old F350 shows very little rust except the bed arches after spending its entire life in Western Ohio. Ford did a pretty reasonable job of e-coat and top coat on the cab and front fenders/hood but the bed is a mess. Who in the world thought (or still thinks) that putting a fiberglass wick inside the sheet metal hem around the bed wheel arches wouldn’t tend to hold salty moisture against the steel surfaces? FCA trucks and GM’s suffer from the same issue.
Good point, that would certainly get MY attention.
I like this concept of a northern-centric truck, but with those Wild Peak A/T tires, it’s really not great in the snow, it would certainly perform notably better with actual dedicated snow tires with a softer compound and heavy siping.
Yeah. This package really isn’t anything super special if you’re really worried about snow driving.
Its designed to be useful in the winter, but I doubt they expect people to only drive it when its snowing.
A cool snow package would be to include an extra set of OE wheels with snows mounted on and making sure the TPMS system was easy to reprogram between the two (some cars have a switch mounted inconspicuously and memory for two sets of sensors).
100% agree. This would make for a genuinely useful winter package.
On a related note, how many buyers will just drive with the winter tires all year? My guess of ‘all of them’ may be off but not by much. The value of winter tires diminishes if you wear them down using them all through the year.
(The cynic in me guesses that 99% will drive on the one set of tires because they’re already stretched thin with the 144 month amortization period. So when the tires wear out after a couple of years they’ll replace them with the cheapest set of North Korean tires they can find. Problem solved! Just ten more years of paying on the truck!)
Here in Oregon, little to no salt is used. Studs and/or chains is how we roll. Luckily we don’t get much here in the PDX area but when we do, it’s the apocalypse. As a car nut and a generally winter-averse person…F living in a wintry climate. It’d take a STUPID salary to get me to live in salt-land. Stupid enough that I could afford a disposable car to soak in the brine and keep my nice one(s) tucked away safely out of that shitslurry.
This was my first thought as well. Just another useless “edition” from Ram. It should come undercoated from the factory if it wants to be the “North Edition”.
I was stationed at Sault Ste Marie one winter and even new, undercoated Air Force trucks showed rust by Spring.
So will this package be available (or standard) in Canuckistan? Article says America; not sure how inclusive the definition of America is for today’s purposes. (Maybe it’s just ‘Murica?)
Ram. That is one good looking truck.
GM – take a lesson. Your new trucks are really really bad. FUGLY.
I do like the new Ram, but the GMs are not bad. The Fords don’t do much for me, especially after driving a few.
Hey! Deadweight! Notice me! Notice me!! I use your buzzwords and echo your opinions! I’m a good little minion!
Lol
I dunno, seems like a commonly held opinion John.
2018 Silverado Centennial Edition and Ram North Edition
They look the same.
Don’t say your family is ugly, you look just like them.
That’s a pretty nice looking rig. I don’t usually go in for the more subdued colors but that’s a nice shade of blue, especially with near nonexistent bright work. But as per usual, I hate those wheels passionately. 20”, flat faced and a boring design makes for a trifecta of reasons they would be on Craigslist the second I hit the driveway. The Rebel (especially the first ones) has always had the best factory tire/wheel package.
Has this winter intended version got any improvements in corrosion resistance? There’s a lot of recent Rams with the rear wheel arch rusted through…the kind of stuff that didn’t appear on my 99 S-10 until it was 15 yrs old.
Living in MN I can’t remember a time when I saw a 2009+ Ram with rust. Having owned many vehicles it comes down to taking care of your vehicle and washing often.
A little personal responsibility goes a long way
They’re definitely out there, but so are GMT900 Chevies with fender rot. No, the most egregious rusters of that generation truck in my opinion are the ’09-’14 F150 crew cabs. There’s something about the way the cab corner is designed where it must accumulate moisture and road dirt, my coworker has a 2012 with perforation in the cab corners. I’ve seen a few really bad ones with rot along the entire rocker panel.
Good looking truck and nice color. First thing I’d do to it though when I got it home would be to take a hot air gun to that stupid “4X4” decal on the sides of the box. I’d have to remove that stupidly big RAM emblem on the tailgate as well.
Should come standard with a nice set of factory mud-flaps to keep all road salt and sand from being thrown up into the body and nice big heavy duty form fitting floor mats that keep your salty/sand/snowy feet from ruining the interior carpet.
Would be easier to order it from the factory with out them, or request the dealer remove as part of the purchase agreement. You don’t always have to grind on the price, grind on what you can get for the price they are asking. Tint, mats, hitch, badger removal etc.
Yup. We never take a car home with the dealer sticker on it.
We have a 2000 Durango in the upper midwest and it has the fender flares/running boards form the factory. I think those have helped quite a bit on saving the body.
I wouldn’t be so convinced Flipper, generally speaking all of those things serve as more potential moisture and dirt traps. Now, the flares and running boards might cover up some gnarly rust and make it less visible, that much is true.
Do you prefer aftermarket badgers?
It’s not about simple undercoating to save these cheaply made, high-profit trucks, it’s about filling all the body cavities with appropriate moisture and corrosion proofing. They all rot from the inside, every generation. Ask me how I know. Loved the truck, the single base-coat/clear coat, zero-apparent factory rust protection, not so much. Rusted out faster than a 3-year old late-model Mazda. Shameful.
And the rear bumpers, why? Why all the rust, still? Just blast a quick dab of rhino-liner in there on the assembly line and be done.