2014 Ram 2500 Tradesman on 2040-cars

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Power Wagon train: Exploring the Mojave Road

If you're in Vegas with free time and keys to a Power Wagon, taking an interstate home seems pointless when there's a 135-mile desert trail an hour away, an ideal opportunity to live with – and in – this off-roading Ram pickup for three days. So with friends schlepping camping gear to a rendezvous, this test/history lesson was on. The Road The Mojave Road most closely echoes the path 19 th century westbound settlers and eastbound government supply teams followed between the Colorado River near the AZ/CA/NV junction and Barstow en route to Los Angeles. This 35 th parallel route based on Indian trails has also been called the Old Spanish Trail, Old Government Road (how it appears on many navigation system maps), and the Mohave Road. It was preferred for having more temperate weather and reliable water than routes further south. Desert travel particularly was all about water at regular intervals. Much of the Mojave Road is under National Park Service purview in the 1.6-million-acre Mojave National Preserve, encompassing a big chunk of southeastern California. Nestled between two interstates, there are paved access roads to north and south, so you needn't run the entire distance if only a few areas interest you. It is home to geologic formations from mountains to lava beds and tubes, Joshua trees, and after rains like this winter, beautiful wildflower blooms. You'll see old mines and rail lines, and hear the "singing" sand dunes at Kelso (which I'd categorize as more of a monk's chant). We saw birds of prey, wild burros, lizards, and rabbits, and heard or saw evidence of coyotes, cows, and roadrunners. All the while figuring a rattlesnake could be behind any bush. The plan was to enjoy the mesquite scents and make a few stops (the Rock House, Mojave Mailbox) but otherwise make a non-committal east-to-west camping trip of it. Do as much or little as you like, though the NPS does remind you the desert can be an inhospitable place. Cell service is hit-or-miss, and they specifically recommend against relying solely on automotive GPS navigation. Lower elevations average triple-digit highs four months of the year while upper elevations get snow; in February the temperature at our 2,800-foot campsite dropped to freezing while days were sunny and moderate. If the entire road is open, it's about 135 miles from the river to western end, but in February expect portions to be closed, potentially making it many miles longer.

2019 Ram 1500 prototype gives us better glimpse of grille

Though we've managed to see most of the 2019 Ram 1500 from previous spy shots, we're still discovering new details here and there in spy photos. The latest batch shown above feature a truck with camouflage that covers most of the body, but curiously leaves the grille practically bare. The grille appears to be a version of what we saw on the nearly uncovered example from a few months ago. This time, that central bar is uncovered. In some ways, it looks like a sleeker version of the grille found on current Laramie Rams; the holes on either side of the emblem area are slimmed way down, and fit a single line. We can also see that those holes line up with the turn signal/daytime running light elements in the headlights. If you're not a fan of this new grille, the good news is that there will probably be a variety of different designs available, just as there are on current Rams. There aren't many other details to glean from this prototype, though. It appears to be the longer of the four-door models and has an impressive amount of glass area. The tailgate is fully covered, so we can't tell if this has a conventional drop-down gate or the split version we've seen on another prototype. We should know much more in about a month when the Ram 1500 is expected to appear at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show. For more about the Ram including renderings of the final truck, check out our post on what we know so far. Related Video:

Ram extends Black Package to Heavy Duty trucks

If you liked the Black Express package Ram offers on its 1500 light-duty pickup but need the added capability of a Heavy Duty model, we've got good news for you.
This week at the Atlanta International Auto Show, the Ram truck brand is rolling out the Black package for the Ram HD 2500 and 3500 SRW. It features a sinister-looking exterior with 20-inch alloys, fog lamps, grille, front and rear bumpers and badges all blacked out. All the body-side badging has also been removed, unless you go for Cummins power, in which case you still get a chrome diesel badge on the side.
In correspondence with Autoblog, Ram spokesman Nick Cappa explained that the popularity of the Black edition light-duty truck was the impetus for the Heavy Duty edition you see here. "Ram has a reputation for going further on design and custom-looks from the factory," explained Cappa, pointing towards the Express, Sport and Longhorn editions. "This type of forward design-thinking led us to extend the aggressive appearance to the HD trucks, which in the past has been a bit more subtle."