The heavy duty Ram Power Wagon is getting an overhaul next summer that will bring the high-output 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engine to the rough-and-tumble platform for the first time. But if you look closely at Ram’s photos of the new truck, you might notice something’s missing. Need a hint? They photographed the truck with the nose in shadow for a reason.
For the longest time, Ram’s engineers faced a conundrum: the customers wanted a diesel Power Wagon, but fitting the big oil-burning I6 under the hood proved a challenge. As you might imagine, cooling an engine that produces 1,075 pound-feet of torque is no trivial feat, and a lot of the necessary plumbing needs to be routed through the truck’s nose, where cool air can most readily reach it.
No problem, right? Ram offers the 6.7-liter Cummins in all of its HD trucks, so basic fitment wasn’t the issue. The complication lay in the Power Wagon’s unique feature suite, which not only needs to leave space for features like a disconnecting front sway bar, but has also traditionally come with a standard front-bumper-mounted winch. Of the the major items jockeying for the same real estate, it was deemed the least mission-critical, and subsequently sacrificed to the gods of torque.
“The thing that was always the impediment to it was the winch,” Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis told members of the media invited to a backgrounder in December.
“Some people say, you know, the winch is going to block air flow from charge air cooler. Some people say the winch is going to add too much weight in conjunction with the diesel engine,” Kuniskis said.
The data said it couldn’t be done, Kuniskis told us. And to hear him tell it, the decision came down to the wire.
“I said, ‘Okay, fine. Screw it. Get rid of the winch. We’ll figure it out later,” Kuniskis said. “All the other capability’s there,” Kuniskis said. “And we’ll see what’s right. I don’t know if simulations are indication of real world data, but we’ll find out.”
Given more time, Kuniskis said, “they would have figured it out.” For the time being, those who opt for the Cummins will have to live without a factory recovery tool. And if demand is there, I’d venture a friendly wager that Ram will find a way to make the winch work with the Power Wagon’s next update. If it matters to you, let your dealers know.
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