Sizing up the Dodge Ram and Ford F-150

Ford’s F-150 has a few gadgets of its own, but they tend to focus more on helping the top-selling truck be more truck-like, rather than more car-like. To start, there are no coil springs here. Ford went the other direction, with bigger, longer leaf springs, for maximum payload capacity. Their added length also makes them a little more, well, springy, so the ride is also improved. But it’s still truck-like and not quite as smooth as the Ram.

Like the Dodge, the Ford has an opulently appointed interior, especially on the high-dollar King Ranch and Platinum models. But all the F-150s are afflicted with a hard, shiny, plastic panel that sits incongruously atop the dash like a hat stuck on my daughter’s Mr. Potato Head toy. In every trim level I’ve seen the dash panel looks just plain cheap, and it is in inescapable view, so the driver will be forced to look at it every day (maybe Ford was thinking of the days when the dashboard would be strewn with work gloves and cartons of Marlboros and didn’t think anyone would notice).

The F-150 has electronic gadgets too, just like the Ram. But the Ford has an available built-in trailer brake controller, which is a gadget that makes the F-150 a better truck, rather than just making it more comfortable or entertaining. Other trucks require add-on aftermarket trailer brake controllers, but because this one is build into the F-150, it knows exactly how much the driver brakes and if the truck is engaging its anti-lock brakes, and it knows how to keep the trailer behind the truck where it belongs, thanks to this information. As a $230 option, all pickups should offer this technology for their customers who tow trailers.

Both trucks have trailer sway control programming in their electronic stability control systems, so the computer can selectively use the truck’s brakes to ensure that the wind blast from a tractor-trailer doesn’t start your towing rig swaying back and forth.

Dodge The Dodge Ram has an opulently appointed interior.

Both trucks have powerful V-8 engines, but only the Dodge has a Hemi. Yeah, there is plenty of hype involved with the Hemi, but this is a new, even better version of the 5.7-liter V-8, and it cranks out a stout 390 horsepower, compared to the 320 horsepower for the F-150’s 5.4-liter V-8.

The Ford enjoys the benefit of one more gear than the Dodge, with a six-speed transmission rather than a five-speed, which may contribute to the F-150’s EPA fuel economy of 14 mpg city and 18 mpg highway, compared to the Ram’s 13 mpg and 18 mpg. In my tests pulling a trailer up hills, the Ford demonstrated an advantage in some instances because of its additional gear ratios, but at other times the Hemi’s extra oomph shone through and powered the Dodge to a faster climbing speed.

That test was as close as I could get to television commercial-grade stunts, so I can’t vouch for which truck better jumps through a ring of fire. Either of them is more than capable of doing the kind of work that is appropriate for a half-ton pickup, and they’ll do it as safely and comfortably as today’s technology permits. The difference between them is that the Ram could be considered slightly better suited to be a play truck, while the Ford’s work truck credentials are unbeatable.

More on  Dodge Ram |  Ford F-150

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