Good For: Trying new things. A full size 4x4 truck is hardly a new thing. But I am continuing to try new things to do with it to build the case for owning one. Even a short bed gets jobs done, which was perfect for a bale of hay. Trading away some bed length for more cab space is not always a compromise. That rear seat folds up and can swallow all the bags of alfalfa that did not fit in the exposed bed. The interior space improvements over older trucks is noticeable. The 5.7L HEMI is a great engine, and the 8-speed transmission lets it rev happily as you get on the highway, but always has an effective tall gear when you want to calmly sip the gas.
Compromises: I tried to find merits of Mopar's shift to the dash mounted gear selector dial, and all I can come up with now is cost cutting. There seems to be a theme of that among all the cheap feeling plastic, even in high touch components like the steering wheel and parking brake release. I suppose some of this saving is passed to the consumer, as the equivalently equipped Ram always seems to be a couple thousand dollars cheaper than the Chevy or Ford, but when these trucks cost $40k you wonder if it is better to get something nice rather than nickel and dime.
Overall reaction - Two thumbs Up: The "2019" Ram is already out, giving us more new things to try beyond the 2018 model I drove. So far I'm not sold on the new things. When I am done trying it is likely that I will just end up buying an old GMT400.