2014 Ram 1500 Slt on 2040-cars

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Ram ramping up MI truck production, does deal with Texas Rangers

Thanks to a host of upgrades at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Michgan, Ram Trucks is boosting production of the already strong-selling Ram 1500 to build 28,585 more of them a year. That works out roughly to five more per hour, or an additional 100 per day. The major key to the improvements was redesigning 353 assembly workstations to allow employees complete their tasks more efficiently. According to Ram, the expansion was done to meet growing demand for the pickup.
These kinds of comprehensive changes can't happen over night, obviously. From the end of 2013 through the summer shutdown in August, the Warren Truck plant received automation tweaks in the body shop and upgrades to the color booths in the paint shop.
However, the biggest shift was working with "UAW-represented team leaders and operators" to examine every workstation for efficiency improvements. In that analysis, the company identified and altered over 100 problems that could have caused an injury. What really helped to boost the production rate so significantly was moving about 300 parts, or grouping them into kits for better ergonomics, and eliminating walks to grab tools. Once everything was done, about 63 percent of workers at the factory got updated training.

Cummins builds 2-millionth diesel for Ram

Ahead of a new Ram Heavy Duty that will debut sometime next year (check out the spy shots below), Chrysler and Cummins are celebrating a milestone in a 24-year partnership that has supplied the Ram pickup with diesel engines.
In its early years, the Cummins straight-six turbo diesel was rated at just 160 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, and its clattering 12 valves could be heard from a mile away. Its most recent configuration still uses a straight-six layout, but displacement grew to 6.7 liters in 2007 allowing the engine to now produce up to 385 hp and a whopping 850 lb-ft of torque. While a rumored smaller Cummins engine for use in the light-duty Ram 1500 never materialized, the work-ready 6.7-liter Cummins turbo diesel accounts for 80 percent of all Ram HD sales.
Chrysler has not yet announced when and where this two-millionth engine will be on display, but you can read more about the engine and the partnership in the press release below.

2015 Ram 1500 Rebel drops the crosshairs, muscles in with new snout

Emboldened by record sale and increasing market share, Ram continues to spin off derivatives of its fullsize pickup. Bowing at today's Detroit Auto Show, the 10th model based on Ram's 1500 series is the new-for-2015 Rebel, and it's designed to capture the affections of that exceedingly popular marketer's bogey, the "active lifestyle enthusiast." Ram officials figure they've already got the hunt/fish/camp crowd all sewn up with the 1500 Outdoorsman, so the Rebel's imposing snout strikes out in a different direction in search of extreme-sports types – namely customers with dirt bikes, side-by-sides, jet-skis and other powersports toys. If that has you envisioning the Rebel as a rival to the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, think again – "It's not an extreme, desert-racer off-road type product," says Ram boss Bob Hegbloom. If you're seeking an analog from another automaker, look to the Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and we think you'll be in the ballpark. The Rebel's most distinctive styling element has to be its radical new grain-finish grille, which does away with Ram's longstanding crosshair motif in favor of an interlocking design that intentionally won't be for everyone. There are lighting changes, too, with black-bucket headlamps featuring LED accents and matching LED foglights. A non-functional twin-snorkel sport hood, tonneau cover with stamped logo, blacked-out taillamps and unique badges are other model telltales. The Rebel (where have we heard that name before?) makes good use of Ram's air suspension system as an easy way to raise the ride height by an inch, which in turn affords inch-longer suspension travel and lends the truck a more formidable stance while helping clear the 33-inch (LT285/70R17E) Toyo Open Country A/T tires. Flares swiped from the 2500 Power Wagon keep the wider rubber mounted on Rebel-exclusive 17-inch wheels nicely – and legally – tucked in. Further off-road-minded modifications include a close-cropped steel front bumper that offers an improved arrival angle as well as 360-degree tow hooks and replaceable center skid plate. Out back, dual exhausts tuck up into the bumper and out of harm's way, but you might be too busy staring at the billboard-sized RAM tailgate lettering to notice. Ram officials assure us the Rebel's suspension has been recalibrated to cope with the higher ride height and better off-road ability (mostly through the inclusion of Bilstein monotube shocks, a softer rear anti-roll bar and reworked jounce bumpers).