Ram: the best-riding truck in America, managed like a fire sale
Published · Researched 2026-09-21
The verdict
Ram builds the half-ton I'd most like to drive and the one I'd least like to own blind. In two years Stellantis killed the Hemi, shipped a turbo six that drew a federal class action, earned the worst Consumer Reports score ever handed to a pickup, and then reinstated the V8 like the whole thing was the plan. It was not the plan. Underneath is a genuinely great truck — best ride in the class, towing past 11,000 pounds — wrapped in a powertrain saga you navigate year by year. The Ram 1500 is a two-model lineup where one model doesn't exist yet and the other is a history lesson in launch strategy.
Where Ram wins
The truck itself. The DT 1500's coil-spring rear suspension gives it the best ride of any half-ton — press consensus, owner consensus, nobody arguing. The cabin is the class benchmark, and feature-per-dollar on the mid trims is why owners keep buying: a September 2026 post in the 38,000-member owner group shows a shopper doing a serious pre-purchase gut check on a 123,000-mile 2019 Limited at $26,000 out the door. The Hemi's 2026 return was greeted like a rescue: 2,500 Canadian reservations in under 24 hours when order books opened, which tells you everything about how the 2025 strategy landed and how deep V8 loyalty runs. Towing manners get genuine owner praise. And the pricing is softening in your favor: 2026 runs $40,275 (Tradesman) to $87,075 (Tungsten) before destination, but a Tulsa dealer was advertising $11,000-plus off a Tradesman as the market prices in the headlines. If you want the concept on paper, the range-extended REV's claimed 690 miles of total range and 663 hp would be a real answer to charger anxiety — when, or if, it ever ships.
Where Ram loses
Where do I start — the lawsuit or the score. The 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo six that replaced the Hemi for 2025 is the subject of the Norberg v. FCA federal class action, filed August 25, 2026: stalling, limp mode, misfires, hesitation, sudden power loss, parasitic battery drain, overheating. One plaintiff's 2025 Rebel threw warnings at 1,200 miles; the dealer kept it over a month, never found the cause, and replaced the brake booster. The complaint cites 100-plus NHTSA shutdown reports and alleges dealers are "unable or unwilling to adequately repair" the trucks. Then Consumer Reports gave the 2026 Ram 1500 a 5 out of 100 — "the worst pickup truck Consumer Reports has ever evaluated" — listing keyless-entry battery drain that strands trucks overnight, melting catalytic converters, coolant leaking into the intake, a fire-prone trailer brake module, and blanking dashboard screens.
The pre-Hurricane ledger, named unprompted by the owner group: eTorque motor-generator units developing bearing failures at low mileage; the 5.7 Hemi's exhaust-manifold bolts breaking and manifolds warping; the lifter tick; air suspension failures and the rear-window leak, so established that shoppers name them in their first post. OTA updates that keep modules awake and drain the 12-volt overnight are the modern garnish.
And the second "model," the Ram 1500 REV, is the strangest entry in this project. The battery-electric version was cancelled in September 2025; the REV badge was reassigned to the former Ramcharger, a range-extended truck with a Pentastar generator, 663 claimed hp, 690 claimed miles of range. Production was delayed again in September 2026 to approximately April 2027. No confirmed pricing, no EPA figures, no owners, no data. Forum sentiment is skepticism, not excitement — early believers watched the product they wanted get cancelled and the name recycled. Every spec is a manufacturer target until production says otherwise.
The matchups
Ram 1500 vs Ford F-150: the benchmark fight. The F-150's 10R80 10-speed is the community's favorite villain: CDF-drum failures, $5,000–$10,000 repair quotes, a certified class action — and the escape hatch is the "23+ 5.0L is the bulletproof one" thesis. Both trucks have a first-year-powertrain problem and a known-good V8 answer. The F-150 wins on ecosystem: 40+ years as America's best-seller, parts everywhere. The Ram wins on ride and interior, full stop. Nice truck to live in: the Ram's V8. The truck the whole country can fix: the 2023+ 5.0L F-150.
Ram 1500 vs Chevrolet Silverado 1500: Ram's engine drama is one bad launch; GM's is a slow-motion saga. The 6.2L L87 drew NHTSA recall 25V-274 (597,630 US vehicles) for rod-bearing failures — then NHTSA opened an Engineering Analysis in August 2026 after 499 reported failures after the recall fix, with GM itself reporting ~7,000 similar. The 5.3L has batchy DFM lifter failures. A 2025 Silverado (outside the L87 window) is a cleaner buy than a 2025 Hurricane Ram by a distance. But the 5.7 Hemi's problems are manifold bolts and lifters — maintenance-scale, not federal-scale.
Ram 1500 vs GMC Sierra 1500: mechanically the Silverado's twin, sold at Denali prices. Same L87 recall, same lifter batches, same 10-speed, same engineering-analysis overhang. Read the Silverado paragraph and add "pay more for leather." The Ram compares fine on one axis: at least Stellantis's V8 disaster is one you fix with a manifold-bolt job, not a replacement engine on federal watch.
REV vs F-150 Lightning / Silverado EV: the phantom matchup. The Lightning and Silverado EV exist; the REV doesn't. GM's EVs show real growing pains (drive-unit failures, buybacks), but they're growing pains of a real fleet. No verdict is possible on the REV — only a wait for April 2027.
The support question
Ram's dealer network is vast and the parts pipeline is deep — standard American-truck strengths, and recall work is free. The weak points are specific and current: Hurricane electrical/software diagnosis, where lawsuit exhibits show dealers keeping trucks a month-plus without finding the fault; OTA updates that strand trucks with dead batteries overnight; and the eTorque MGU bearing job, which exists as a rebuild-shop revenue stream because dealers see it often. Canada gets a sweetener: 10-year/160,000-km powertrain coverage on 2026 Hemi models. The REV has no support reality at all — no trained techs, no parts pipeline, no data.
Who should buy / who should skip
Buy the Ram for the best-riding half-ton with a proper V8, and buy it precisely: a 2021–2024 Hemi truck inspected for manifold bolts, air suspension, and rear-window leaks, or a 2026 Hemi now that it's back — ideally with a dealer discount off that $40k–$87k sticker walk. The V8 Ram is the honest answer to every question the Hurricane raised. Skip the 2025 Hurricane trucks at any price until the class action and the 5/100 are history instead of headlines — a first-year turbo with active litigation is not a discount, it's a liability. Skip the REV entirely: do not put a deposit on a spec sheet. If you need an electric truck today, the Lightning is the thing that exists.
The bottom line
The Ram 1500 is the nicest half-ton you can sit in and the scariest one to buy on a 2025 window sticker — so buy the V8 they brought back, never the turbo they had to apologize for.