Traded my '21 Bighorn "Off Road" for a '22 G/T

[cornelius967]

Hello from Southern Illinois! Lifelong Mopar fan; bought my first new truck in March of '21. I've already traded it for a '22 RAM G/T (man, did I dislike that goofy rotary shifter!). I loved my RAM "Off Road" but as we started using it as our "go to" vehicle the lovely wife wanted a few more creature comforts and a little more back seat room for when we hauled some friends with us (the Bighorn "Off Road Package" (ORP) was a QC-6'4" and the G/T is a CC-5'7"). I'm enjoying the new G/T but I must say that the Bighorn ORP had a nicer ride. The ORP was like driving an Imperial on the freeway and a Rubicon in the mountains: the ride was so incredibly smooth on the road! Now I'm trying to figure out how to get that amazingly supple ride in the G/T. I hope I can figure out what to do to get the more comfortable ride back, until then I'll just enjoy the awesome music coming from the sport exhaust!

 

[djevox]

But, where’s the pics!?!


Welcome!

 

[Finn5033]

I’m guessing you had either 18” wheels and tires or 20” wheels and tires on the Big Horn. The GT probably has 22” wheels tires. That’s your ride difference right there

 

[ferraiolo1]

Different wheels and tires, and suspension.


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[cornelius967]

I’m guessing you had either 18” wheels and tires or 20” wheels and tires on the Big Horn. The GT probably has 22” wheels tires. That’s your ride difference right there

The Bighorn ORP had 18" with All-Terrain tires. The G/T has 20" with all-season road tires. I thought that the 20" with less sidewall might be the issue. I might look into locating a set of 18" wheels and put the Falken Wildpeak A/T tires on it. I want that smooth ride again! I'm also considering the Mopar/Fox 2" lift kit to see if the lift was part of the equation that created that absolutely supple ride of the Bighorn ORP.

 

[cornelius967]

The best part of the new G/T! A real shifter! The worst part is in the upper left corner: the "on by default" Auto Start/Stop feature! Somehow the engineers at RAM still make me touch that area where the rotary shifter used to be every time I start my truck! D'oh!

We had a snow/ice storm the day after I got it home from the dealer (one week ago). That's the best it's looked since I got it home. Bought it up in Wisconsin (about 500 miles from home). When it warms up I'll give it a good bath. Hard tonneau, side steps, and Mopar splash guards are on their way.

 

[Shots]

Okay, it took me a while to find it, but I was wondering what the heck a Ram G/T was. I'd never heard of such a thing and didn't see it on Ram's website. I thought it was a trim like the Durango GT, but it turns out it's just a package on the Laramie. I should have pieced it together when you said you loved your Ram Off Road, which is just a package on the Big Horn. Sometimes I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack. How dare you confuse me.

Anyway. You said you actually prefer the shift lever? I had the knob on my '14 when they first started putting them in the Ram so I'm used to it now. It took a little getting used to reaching for a dial instead of a shifter, but I like that it gives me a little more console space. I could see preferring the lever if it was actual linkage, but it's all electronic just like the knob. What is it that you like more about it? Just the feel of shifting it? Or do you rest your hand on it like we used to do with the shifter in our old manual transmission trucks..... ah the good ol' days.

 

[cornelius967]

What is it that you like more about it? Just the feel of shifting it? Or do you rest your hand on it like we used to do with the shifter in our old manual transmission trucks..... ah the good ol' days.

I did a lot of snow plowing in my "youth". When I bought my Bighorn ORP, I got the Snow Plow Prep Group and was intending to put a snow plow kit on it. We don't get much snow down here in Southern Illinois, but when we do it is a mess because hardly anyone has a snow plow. I kept wondering how the heck I was going to plow snow with that goofy rotary shifter. The modern plows usually have a handheld controller which you can keep in your hand if your shifting a column lever. I realize that there are other methods of controlling a plow but none of them seemed efficient as I thought through the hand/eye coordination needed to plow. The rotary shifter doesn't give that much feedback (light detents) and you have to look at the little light or the tiny letter in the cluster to know which gear you're in (constant eye focus adjustment). There's no "muscle memory" position to know if you're shifting from D to R or back. It would be even worse if you wear gloves while plowing. With the actual floor shifter or column shifter your hand/arm can know without looking what gear that you're actually in (is it perfect every time? NO. But it's more accurate that spinning that little knob that has no left/right stop positions or any kind of external marking to let you know the knob position). I could imagine trying to spin the knob with a plow controller in my right hand hitting the radio and heater controls every time I tried to shift from D to R (and sometimes, cranking the radio instead of shifting into D when I'm looking over my shoulder or adjusting the plow angle on the fly).

Also, the position is a bit low on the rotary knob. I'm 6'2" I have to hunch over a bit to reach down and turn that knob. I might like the rotary dial more if it was up where the Start/Stop button was located (and the start/stop button located even higher between the cluster and the infotainment screen). But I can only imagine how bad my back would hurt if I plowed for 8 hours straight hunching down to reach the knob every time I went from D to R.

And while I'm on the "position" of the knob/4WD controls: what a fiasco that design is! All those easy to push buttons right near one's right knee and the shifter knob. I can only imagine how many times I would reach for the knob with gloves on while plowing and accidentally push one of the transfer case buttons. I accidentally pushed the "electronic shift on the fly" button for 4WD High while cruising down the freeway at 70 mph when I went to scratch my right knee. I realize that the computer will not allow such a shift but still, why put it there when it's so close to one's knee and the shift knob? It's just poor design! I hope some clown didn't get an award and a bonus for that poorly thought through idea.

 

[Finn5033]

Ok I read some threads with guys talking about the G/T’s coming with 22’s. That is still interesting though. I had a 2019 Big Horn night edition that came with 20’s and all season tires. It rode noticeably softer than my 2020 Ecodiesel that had the off-road group. It came with 20’s and the Falken Wild peaks. But the off road group comes with the 1” factory lift and xtra heavy duty shocks. So I’m surprised you notice much if any difference between the two. Unless the G/T has an even stiffer suspension then the off road group

 

[Kaderast]

Is the GT the only package that comes with with the console shifter, or did all the '22 Rams ditch the rotary knob? I can't imagine owning another vehicle without the rotary shifter, maybe the greatest advancement in automotive technology in the last 100 years!

 

[ferraiolo1]

Only the gt and trx.


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[cornelius967]

But the off road group comes with the 1” factory lift and xtra heavy duty shocks. So I’m surprised you notice much if any difference between the two. Unless the G/T has an even stiffer suspension then the off road group

I was too! I was fully expecting to get, at the minimum, the same smooth, supple ride that I had in the Bighorn ORP; considering it would have street tires and an non-HD suspension. When researching the G/T I didn't see where they mentioned a "sport" suspension with the package. I'm researching the Mopar/Fox 2" Lift Kit to see if the little bit of lift and the better shocks help bring out that amazing Imperial like ride from my G/T. I'm willing to go to 18" rims and Wildpeak A/T tires if it gives me that silky smooth ride.

 

[cornelius967]

I should add that I'm not totally against the rotary shifter concept. I just think it could have been implemented a lot more effectively. For example; it could be a pentagon shaped knob so that you knew for sure when you were handling the shifter control (a round knob with the same knurled edge that's not much larger than the radio volume and heater control knobs and within 4.5" of each other is easy to mistake when wearing gloves or just trying to multi-task in a small way). Next, the knob could use slightly heavier detents so that you "know" when you've made a shift. The knob now is so easy to turn you could accidentally bump it and spin it a few detents. The positioning is a bit awkward and it should be by itself; not encumbered with other small switch gear in its vicinity. It would be nice to have it stop when shifted to park or into it's lowest gear selection. I guess "Auto Park" is a nice feature but does it really make things more "efficient"? You still have to turn the truck back on to ACC to get the vehicle to fully "turn off" if you forget to put it into park. Why not just make the driver manually put the knob into "P" to turn the vehicle "off"?

I'd also like to see us go back to PRNDL or PRND21. These young engineers may never have had to use 2nd gear start to get out of a sticky situation. For all the folks that whine about the "nanny state", they seem to be OK with corporations thinking for them when it comes to consumer products. I'd like to be able to decide which gear I'd like to be in for certain kinds of situations. More importantly, I've got decades of experience making those decisions for myself. If I get into a sticky situation I let my experience and muscle memory decide how to respond. I think it's "less safe" for me to be expecting one thing and then have the newly engineered "solution" start doing something totally unexpected. I was caught completely off guard the first time the truck jammed on the brakes by itself the first time I backed out of my drive and it thought I was going to run into my neighbor's bushes (I thought I had hit a tree or maybe my neighbor's kid).

 

[ferraiolo1]

I
I'd also like to see us go back to PRNDL or PRND21. These young engineers may never have had to use 2nd gear start to get out of a sticky situation. For all the folks that whine about the "nanny state", they seem to be OK with corporations thinking for them when it comes to consumer products. I'd like to be able to decide which gear I'd like to be in for certain kinds of situations.

Easy there killer, you still can manually select the gear and start off in 2nd. You just have to put it in drive and then click the button to 2nd.

Absolutely no reason to use PRND21 on new transmissions that are electronically shifted.

We aren’t whiners, we just know how to adapt to evolving technology


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[cornelius967]

You just have to put it in drive and then click the button to 2nd.

Which button are you talking about? Are you talking about the Electronic Range Select (ERS) buttons? Because the manual states that not all RAMS come with this option.

This is how ERS works: The Electronic Range Select (ERS) shift control allows the driver to limit the highest available gear when the transmission is in DRIVE. For example, if you set the transmission gear limit to 4 (fourth gear), the transmission will not shift above fourth gear, but will shift through the lower gears normally.

So, that function doesn't allow you to choose "2" as a gear. Maybe when you were "adapting" to evolving technology you forgot how to read (the manual).

In the G/T I can select a gear manually but not every RAM has the ability to pick gears.

 

[ferraiolo1]

If you put it in 2nd It allows you to start in 2nd, but no higher gear if I remember correctly. My gm trucks with the gear selector buttons were the same way. And you can also still select gears with that button. Down shifting and up shifting. The high gear limitation is one feature of those buttons.

And even the gt it will only let you select the gear it deems suitable, for instance it won’t let you go into 2nd from 5th unless the rpm’s are correct.


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[cornelius967]

If you put it in 2nd It allows you to start in 2nd, but no higher gear if I remember correctly.

Again, perhaps you forgot how to read while you were adapting to new technology. The text in my post was copied DIRECTLY from the Online Owner's Manual (I used "copy and paste" technology to put it in my post!). You don't have to "remember correctly". It doesn't work the way that you think it does. It will "shift through the lower gears normally." if you select a gear above 1. So maybe PRND21 would be helpful to those that wish to start out in 2nd gear when stuck in snow or mud.

 

[ferraiolo1]

And yes you’re right. Just tried it, I thought it functioned the same as a different brand that didn’t have prnd12. So it’s still not needed. It’s just a software difference in the tcm

But It still allows for up and down shifts with the button. The high gear limit is just one function of it.

But luckily your paddles will let you start in 2nd

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[cornelius967]

So it’s still not needed. It’s just a software difference in the tcm

But It still allows for up and down shifts with the button. The high gear limit is just one function of it.

Just so we're clear: Not all RAMS are equipped with ERS. Some RAM owners have no way to control what gear they are in whatsoever.

The heading in the Owner's Manual is: "Electronic Range Selection (ERS) Operation -- If Equipped"

Which is why I am of the opinion that a PRND21 selector would offer EVERY Ram owner to have some ability to select which gear is available to them upon take off. I understand that it is of no use to you. But others might like the flexibility of having some input into their driving experience.

 

[ferraiolo1]

or ram should offer every truck with ers!




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