2025 Ram Heavy Duty: Muscle for the Job, Grit for the Trails

Laughlin, NV—The heavy-duty truck market comes down to just three players: Ford, General Motors and Ram. For a very long time, these three American manufacturers have been engaged in a merciless battle to attract or retain customers who need to haul and tow heavy loads and carry out many other arduous tasks.

Ford and General Motors have both recently overhauled their respective truck lineups, so now it's Ram's turn to raise the bar and make its case as the ultimate solution for work and play. The company invited a few members of the automotive press to Nevada to discover the updated 2025 Ram Heavy Duty models and their capabilities.

• Also: 2025 Ram Heavy Duty Boasts Several Upgrades Including Beefier Cummins
• Also: More Ram Heavy Duty Trucks Recalled for ABS, ESC Issues

More Than Meets the Eye

At first glance, the cosmetic revisions seem to be limited to a redesigned front end, but if you pay attention beyond the more aggressive snout—especially the matte black grille on select models—you’ll see that the 2025 Ram HD boasts several key enhancements.

Up front, LED headlights are now standard on every trim. Under the hood, the Ram Heavy Duty retains a 6.4-litre HEMI V8 engine delivering 405 hp and 429 lb-ft of torque, but the optional 6.7-litre Cummins turbodiesel inline-six engine gets a bunch of upgraded components including the engine block, cylinder head, pistons, intake manifold, turbocharger, intake and exhaust valves, not to mention the intake and exhaust system.

And unlike last year, only the H.O. (High Output) version remains available, the reworked engine delivering 430 hp and 1,075 lb-ft of torque—unmatched among standard turbodiesel engines in the segment.

But that's not all. The old six-speed transmission has been replaced by an eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic unit. There are mainly two reasons for the move: reduce fuel consumption by around 5 percent and deliver more linear performance with smoother gear shifts. Also, the axle ratio of the limited-slip rear differential has dropped to 3.42 on all diesel models. This not only improves fuel economy, but it also simplifies the ordering process for customers. As for the V8-powered Ram Heavy Duty, the manufacturer continues to offer 3.73 and 4.10 axle ratios.

Inside, those familiar with the cabin will still feel at home. However, the digital offering expands with a new 14.5-inch centre touchscreen (in addition to the 8.4- and 12-inch options) and an optional 10.25-inch passenger-side display. The latter shouldn’t come as a surprise since Jeep's larger SUVs already offer one. Available on higher trim levels, it allows the front passenger to view content via an HDMI cable or assist the driver with navigation and even transfer maps to the centre screen.

A 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster in front of the steering wheel and digital rearview mirror are also available. Elsewhere, the wireless charging pad now accommodates two phones at the same time.

Whether standard or optional, all of this technological paraphernalia is great, but another more “traditional” feature caught our attention in the 2025 Ram Heavy Duty. The steering column-mounted shifter is back on every model, now with electronic operation. We found it still a bit heavy to manipulate, but definitely lighter than the good old sticks of past models. The shift knob, which has the benefit of taking up less space, is limited to the Ram 1500 lineup, incidentally.

The J2807 Standard a.k.a. the Gruelling Davis Dam Test

The drive program naturally included an on- and off-road portion designed to assess the capabilities of the 2025 models, but the primary reason for our presence in Laughlin, Nevada was quite simple: the manufacturer wanted to highlight what it takes to meet and exceed the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) standards. Introduced in 2008 and then revised in 2020, the J2807 standard is the benchmark for any truck when it comes to towing. Over a distance of approximately 18 km, the vehicles must travel along Highway 68 between Bullhead City and Golden Valley, Arizona. Laughlin, a much smaller version of Las Vegas, is only a few miles away, where the state of Nevada ends between California and Arizona.

Thanks to unseasonably cool weather, the climb up Davis Dam wasn't as demanding as it can be in the middle of summer when temperatures often top 40°C. Ram engineers told us it's not uncommon to see cars parked on the side of the road with their impossibly hot radiators needing to take a break. We ourselves passed two older sedans that had their hoods popped open during our ascent.

The first of these driving tests involved a 2025 Ram 2500 Tradesman equipped with a 6.4-litre HEMI V8 (a model aimed at fleet customers featuring cloth upholstery, traditional gauges and a front-row bench seat). With the trailer full of sand, the combined weight to tow was 8,450 lbs. We could feel it while driving, yet it posed no problems at all for the truck aside from a major increase in fuel consumption. On that note, the engine’s speed never dipped below 3,000 rpm.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the towing test involving a 2025 Ram 2500 Laramie equipped with the Cummins turbodiesel engine pulling a trailer with a V10-powered 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 pickup on it. The total load was just 8,100 lbs and it showed when accelerating. With all the available low-end torque, the truck made the job look easy the entire time.  

For the final towing test, a trailer carrying a big red Case tractor was hitched to a 2025 Ram 3500 dually. Considering that maximum towing capacity is rated at 36,610 lbs (with a gooseneck hitch), pulling the load of just under 20,000 lbs was almost like a piece of cake whether going uphill or on the way back, where the engine brake came in handy to slow the vehicle being forced down by this heavy mass.

How is the New Ram HD Off the Road?

Heavy-duty truck owners aren't the biggest off-road driving enthusiasts, but it's still interesting to see what such a big pickup is capable of. None is better in that department than the Ram 2500 Power Wagon, which is designed and geared to withstand extreme conditions and abuse. The anti-roll bars, for instance, can be disconnected in order to tackle very demanding obstacles more easily.

New for 2025, the combination of a Rebel chassis with a Cummins engine proved to be a surprisingly good performer. While it lacks some of the hardware found on the Power Wagon, it never flinched on a specially arranged off-road course that would have caused every mainstream SUV to stop dead in their tracks.

Our Verdict

This 2025 mid-cycle update was necessary for the Ram Heavy Duty trucks. Competition is fierce in this segment, and the company has no intention of giving up a single inch to its two archrivals. Critically, prices are going up, but only slightly, while the simplified model lineup offers more standard content than last year.

The turbodiesel powertrain, which accounts for 80 percent of Ram HD sales, has received significant upgrades, and the cabin is more technologically advanced than ever. With Tradesman, Big Horn, Power Wagon, Rebel, Laramie and Limited models on the menu, Ram is able to meet the needs of most customers, too.

The big question left to answer is whether these Mexican-built trucks will be affected by the trade war between the U.S. and Mexico (and Canada). Not even the brand's executives seem to know at this time.