How offroad worthy is the RAM 1500?

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viclava

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I'm fairly new to this forum, and am wondering how off-road worthy the RAM 1500 in my configuration is. I have a 14 Sport quad cab, 4WD with the auto 4wd, 3.92 rear gearing with anti slip rear-end. As far as wheel base goes, I know the limitations of that, but wondering what people actually do with their RAM 1500's off road.

Just sitting around bored, and anxiously waiting for the ability to get back into the outdoors.

Cheers
 

RVGuy

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It's going to depend mostly on your tires and personal still level than anything. Also, what's off road to you? Other than big rocks, deep mud, and fording water the stock Rams (other than tires) will get you most anywhere you want to go that it will fit.
 

crazykid1994

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Definitely pretty good but you’d need better tires. I had procomp at sports in the stock size with a 2” level and was going through some decent areas with a group of lifted jeeps, 4 runners and a few land rovers. I didn’t get stuck. I believe that to be the stock lsd. It was a good bit of mud and soft sugar sand. As long as you know what you’re getting into and go prepared. One of the lifted 4 runners on 33s got stuck. Well they framed out... now I’m at 3/1 lift and running 35s and have not had any issues whatsoever. Soft sand or mud are a breeze. I’m definitely needing to look into a trutrac swap now though due to the weight of my wheel and tires. They’re 103lbs per corner vs 75lbs on my procomp setup. I can feel the stock lsd isn’t as happy with these tires. I probably should swap my diff fluid too just to be safe.
Edit: I have taken my truck up to the headlights in water while off-roading and no water intrusion. Just make sure to let everything heat back up to dry out before you shut the vehicle off or you can run into other issues.
This was my 2” level on stock rims and AT sports in the stock size. I can’t find the video of me fording water to the headlights unfortunately.

724F37E7-F3B5-4055-83E4-A19AA16327C1.jpeg

edit 2: my truck now and also out with the off-road group I join every once in a while. 0E5C3B54-4076-4E7F-B834-B85F005C7A6F.jpeg 20431FF2-9908-457D-A8BA-6163A7832659.jpeg
 
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BWL

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Compared.to my older trucks with normal.transfer cases and none of the traction control or other gizmos it's nowhere near as good. Compared to a prius it's great. As long as you turn traction control off when it gets steep so you don't get slowed to a crawl and stuck and your transfer case doesn't.overheat and shut down the fwd it'll get you most places.20191022_180127.jpg
 

crazykid1994

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Compared.to my older trucks with normal.transfer cases and none of the traction control or other gizmos it's nowhere near as good. Compared to a prius it's great. As long as you turn traction control off when it gets steep so you don't get slowed to a crawl and stuck and your transfer case doesn't.overheat and shut down the fwd it'll get you most places.View attachment 201891
You have the auto transfer case? The standard transfer case don’t have those problems. They actually have a swap to the regular style transfer case that doesn’t have the auto in them.
 

Tim Garceau

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No front locker means you can only go as far as 2 or 3 with an anti-slip rear driven wheels will take you.
 

kurek

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Everybody's idea of off road is different so talking about how good the vehicle is, will be wholly dependent on your idea of off road.

Talking strictly about a stock Ram they're not mud boggers, they don't have the tires for it. They're not rock crawlers, they're too wide for most of that and don't have nearly good enough approach angles. They're not desert race trucks, they don't have the clearance or suspension or tires for it.

If you put your definition more in line with whether the truck will be suited to pretty rough logging trails, routes to a fishing hole, quarry routes - they're not bad.

They have available skidplates that protect the front diff and the transfer case where you're most likely to smash something on a rough road. The skidplates aren't like full belly armor you might find on a serious rock crawler, but they're strong enough to keep you from splitting your transfer case if you misjudge the size of a rock in a dirt road.

The transfer case does have low range - however if you have the auto transfer case it's less robust than the part time transfer case. The anti-spin rear axle does work very well with the traction control, in particular 2013 and later trucks that also feature the same BLD function that Jeeps have. Here is a video that demonstrates BLD on a Wrangler.

I've never had difficulty finding traction unless I was buried to the frame in snow and there was just no Earth to put a tire on. Sometimes it's necessary to turn off traction control to make the truck permit a little wheelspin, other times it works better to leave that enabled and let the truck find its way. It's good to be able to switch back and forth to find the right result.

The two largest handicaps I've found are the truck's size and its approach angle with the stock bumper. I lifted mine a minimal amount and put a high clearance bumper on it to solve those problems, now the only real handicap is the truck is too large for many jeep trails. I have no doubt it could successfully navigate a lot of them but only if I had complete disregard for the body.
 

BWL

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You have the auto transfer case? The standard transfer case don’t have those problems. They actually have a swap to the regular style transfer case that doesn’t have the auto in them.
Yes I have the auto one. Once the warranty is over I may swap. This one does seem a little better than the one in my 2011 even though they're both bw 44-44 so maybe they're programmed a bit different now. With the traction control off it still applies braking to spinning wheels as it'a not completely of. I had 3.92 and limited slip in both trucks because I never count on the 4wd working if I need it. Also why I have the tow hooks and tire chains.
 

crazykid1994

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Yes I have the auto one. Once the warranty is over I may swap. This one does seem a little better than the one in my 2011 even though they're both bw 44-44 so maybe they're programmed a bit different now. With the traction control off it still applies braking to spinning wheels as it'a not completely of. I had 3.92 and limited slip in both trucks because I never count on the 4wd working if I need it. Also why I have the tow hooks and tire chains.
Yea that 44-44 is a nightmare. I specifically found a truck with the part time 4wd.
 

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