The History Of The Dodge Truck

Grab History By The Horns

The Evolution of the Dodge Truck

The history of the Dodge truck has been a very colorful one. From the very first model, built by The Dodge Brothers Company in 1914 and modeled after Ford's Model T, to the 2004 Hemi powered Dodge Ram truck that we see on the road today. Dodge trucks have come far over the years, from advances in body styling to advances in motor technology.

The early years of the Dodge truck, 1918 Ð'- 1950, proved to be the designing years of the truck. The original intention of the Dodge truck was to be used in the military during World War I, as ambulances, chassis cowls, repair trucks, and cargo trucks. After the war, the Dodge Brothers, revamped the design of the original military ambulance, and started marketing it to the general public. Over the years, Chrysler bought the company and the engines and structure were redesigned. ( Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard) When Chrysler bought the Dodge Brothers, they intended to produce a truck that could compete with the already popular Ford and Chevrolet. In the 30s the truck went from looking like a cargo van, to the design that we know today as a truck. Most of the truck was originally produced out of wood and metal. In the 40s the trucks were designed to maintain a heavier workload and became known as Ð''job rated pickups.' The engine was more powerful and the payload allowed for a heavier capacity. At this time, the trucks ranged from Ð'Ð...-ton capacity to 3-ton capacity. Each different payload capacity of truck had a different engine size that offered different ranges of horsepower and a different transmission setup. (Bunn, http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/history/history.html)

The Dodge truck of the 1950s Ð'- 1980s proved to be the popular truck of their era. A sleeker styling and highly advanced for trucks of their era. The features of these trucks put them well ahead of the competitions trucks. The horsepower increased, as technology was increasing. The trucks were offered with bed sizes ranging from 6-Ð'Ð... foot to 9 feet long and the payload capacity increased as well, as the trucks were being designed to allow for greater weight transference between the front axle assembly and the rear axle assembly. Of course, like with any other truck, as the years went on, the body style would change and the features that made the truck unique would change as well. In the late 70s and early into the 1980s, the appearance of the truck went from the rounded style of the 50s and 60s to a more boxy appearance. Dodge/Chrysler also started offering extended cab and six-man cab (four door) trucks. They also started offering two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive trucks as well. They started offering diesel powered motors as well as the traditional gasoline powered motors.

The Dodge truck of the 1980s Ð'- 2000, proved to be even more popular than that of the 50s through the 80s. The trucks were redesigned and offered more options. The front grill assembly of the early 80s Dodge Ram (as it became known) looked similar to that of the grill assembly of the late 70s early 80s Ford F series pickup. Motors increased yet again in horsepower and body styles were constantly being changed. The Dodge Dakota was also introduced in the early 80s. A smaller version of the Ram, and more economical, the Dakota proved to be as popular of a truck as its big brother, the Ram. The Cummins turbo diesel was introduced in 1989 and all Rams that featured this motor were labeled Ð''Power Rams'. The Cummins was a six-cylinder motor, which is much simpler and less costly to service than the traditional gasoline powered V-8. In 1994 the Ram pickup was redesigned to a sleeker appearing truck. Dodge continued this body style up to the year 2002, when they redesigned it, yet again, to the truck seen on the road today. The 1994 body style of the Ram offered three different options in trucks, the 1500 (which is a light duty truck), the 2500 and 3500, both heavy duties. The 1500 offered V-6 and V-8 power plants, the 2500 and 3500 both offered V-8, V-10 and Cummins power plants. The 1500 and 3500 are the more commonly seen Rams.

From 2001 to the present day Ram, a lot has been changed. The body style for 2001 stayed the same as that of the 1994 to 2000 Ram. In 2002, they body style of the Ram changed to put the Ram styling ahead of the Ford and Chevrolet competition. Dodge continued its streak of being ahead of the class,