First drive Ram 1500 diesel

As of 2013 Ford F150 and Toyota Tundra are tied for 1st with the most American made parts.
Honda Ridgeline was 3rd
Cadillac Esc was 4th
Ram, GM, Chev and the Avalanche all tied for 5th.
FWIW

This is getting kind of silly. Everybody outsources, has for years. Almost every OEM under the sun uses or has used an Aisin (basically a Toyota subsidiary) transmission in one or more of their vehicles, Ford has used Toyota technology in some of their hybrids, GM has used Honda engines (Saturn Vue), VW sells a minivan that is a rebadged Dodge Caravan, on and on and on.

FishOnOne wrote:
The trend with RAM trucks is they continue to outsource there engines and transmissions.

Says the Ford man, who built ALL of Ford's diesel engines for years and years? Nav who? VM diesel is owned by Fiat,as in "in house". Our 8 and 9 speeds are ZF transmissions built by us using their design with our input. So by that standard the new Ford/GM transmissions coming down the pike some time late 2014-2015 are not in house then right Troy?

Yep we use the Cummins 5.9 and now 6.7 to the ENVY of Ford and GM. Hell Ford even bought up Cummins stock in an effort to get their hands on their engines. Didn't work out to well for them and they soon sold off their shears in Cummins.

Fiat had joint ventures with GM and Ford long before Chrysler. So whats the point of your post Troy?

Don

Some have the mentality that if it's not made in the USA, that is outsourcing and costing Americans thousands of jobs.....Heck, Volvo, Mercedes, BMW outsource from us...tickles me to death to get their business..We ship calipers to a VW plant in Mexico....one good turn deserves another...

Fiat Chrysler is now a merged company and VM Motori is a wholely owned subsidiary. How is using a VM Motori engine in a Ram outsourcing?

jus2shy wrote:
I thought that Mack engines are Mack-specific Volvo engines (basically Volvo Diesels built to Mack's specifications). Mack is part of Volvo now. International still builds their engines... now complete with Cummins emissions solutions.

Pretty good summing up.

rhagfo wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
The trend with RAM trucks is they continue to outsource there engines and transmissions.

They outsource their big diesel to one a company that is recognized as one of the top manufactures. Same can be said of their medium duty transmission (GM does the same thing).

What other engine and transmission are they outsourcing? And if someone can do it better and cheaper than they can, why build that part itself? Circle it back to an RV discussion where everything is outsourced. Why is that a bad thing?

The only HDT that builds their own engines is Mack, all other HDT put just about any engine transmission, rear end you want in them.

Ram is putting a VM Motori diesel in the 1500 Ram, which in the latest issue of Diesel Power Magazine (March 2015 Ram vs Ram) turned in some great mileage numbers. Average mpg was 22.83, best was 28.47 and towing was 19.46. The towing mileage was with a trailer over the trucks tow rating of 6,700# at 7,020#.

Ram never re-branded the Cummins engine, in fact they proudly state since day one Cummins Turbo Diesel.

I thought that Mack engines are Mack-specific Volvo engines (basically Volvo Diesels built to Mack's specifications). Mack is part of Volvo now. International still builds their engines... now complete with Cummins emissions solutions.

itguy08 wrote:

There's plenty of mud to go all around but there is a reason Ram has always been a distant 3rd.

Are you sure your name isn't Travelnutz?

This thread started out as a really good one, but that is no longer the case.

Bionic Man wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
The trend with RAM trucks is they continue to outsource there engines and transmissions.

They outsource their big diesel to one a company that is recognized as one of the top manufactures. Same can be said of their medium duty transmission (GM does the same thing).

What other engine and transmission are they outsourcing? And if someone can do it better and cheaper than they can, why build that part itself? Circle it back to an RV discussion where everything is outsourced. Why is that a bad thing?

The only HDT that builds their own engines is Mack, all other HDT put just about any engine transmission, rear end you want in them.

Ram is putting a VM Motori diesel in the 1500 Ram, which in the latest issue of Diesel Power Magazine (March 2015 Ram vs Ram) turned in some great mileage numbers. Average mpg was 22.83, best was 28.47 and towing was 19.46. The towing mileage was with a trailer over the trucks tow rating of 6,700# at 7,020#.

Ram never re-branded the Cummins engine, in fact they proudly state since day one Cummins Turbo Diesel.

FishOnOne wrote:
The trend with RAM trucks is they continue to outsource there engines and transmissions.

They outsource their big diesel to a company that is recognized as one of the top manufactures. Same can be said of their medium duty transmission (GM does the same thing).

What other engine and transmission are they outsourcing? And if someone can do it better and cheaper than they can, why build that part itself? Circle it back to an RV discussion where everything is outsourced. Why is that a bad thing?