Sam Krahn 
The battle for top-dog stats in the heavy duty pickup scene is never-ending, and FCA just upped their position at the top for some key stats with the 2021 Ram 3500 HD and its Cummins diesel engine. The standout figure is max torque, at a rather insane 1,075 lb-ft. They’ve also increased gooseneck towing capacity to get the best in class title, at 37,100 lbs.
This is all possible with the 6.7 liter Cummins inline six turbodiesel. Ram were the first to hit the 1,000 ft-lb torque mark in a Class 3 truck. DOT Class 3 trucks like the Ram 3500 HD have a gross vehicle weight rating between 10,001–14,000 pounds. Class 2B trucks like the Ram 2500 HD have a rating from 6,001 pounds to 10,000 pounds.
Shortly after, Ford caught up and surpassed them. With the 2021 model, Ram and Cummins have worked together to get that extra 75 lb-ft of torque through increased boost limits from a geometry turbocharger and flow rate increases in the fuel delivery system, beating Ford’s best offering by 25 lb-ft.
The Ram Heavy Duty also has upgrades to the frame’s fully boxed rails and the rear-axle structural crossmember to increase gooseneck and fifth wheel towing capacity. With the improvements, plus a in-house hitch design from Ram Engineering, Ram claims a best in class 37,100 lbs capacity for 3500 HD, beating out Chevrolet’s newly updated HD truck at 36,000 lbs max towing, and the Ford Super Duty at 35,750 lbs. Impressively, this puts the 2021 Ram 3500 HD tow rating ahead of the Ford F-450 pickup, a Class 3 truck, which hits 37,000 lbs max towing.
Traditional hitch towing remains at 23,000 lbs in 2021 Ram 3500 HD trucks. Ford beats out this statistic with 24,000 lbs, but that’s again with the unique offering of the F-450 pickup truck. The more comparable F-350 maxes out at 21,200 lbs. Chevrolet comes third in this department with 20,000 lb conventional towing. The arms race continues, but at the end of the day, no truck can tow more than Ram currently without stepping into Class 3 and above.
Also new for 2021 is an available digital rear view mirror. This functions like a normal mirror, but at the flip of a switch, it can display a real-time video feed from behind. There aren’t any more updates for 3500 truck for the 2021 model year, but the 2500-level Ram Power Wagon adds a 75th Anniversary model. 2021 Ram 2500 and 3500 HD trucks are expected to hit dealerships this month.
The news from the FCA truck brand comes as the Ram 1500 took a three-peat as Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year. But anybody that follows pickup truck news closely knows that these class leading claims are highly, highly temporary. Expect news from Ford and/or GM in the coming weeks or months that will attempt to dethrone Ram as the current king of the hill.
