Getting Info

[DivrGuy]

Although my screen name suggests that I own a Rebel, I'm actually driving a Frontier. But I've admired the Rams for a long time and love the new body style. I recently stopped and drove a Rebel that caught my eye, and I'm hooked. I love the ride and features of all the Ram's, and the blacked out grill and bumpers of the Rebel look great, but that black interior with ruby red trim is what seals the deal. The red trim really makes it pop. I came very close to pulling the trigger on one at the lot, but decided that if I'm spending that kind of money on a truck I better make sure its exactly what I want. I'm thinking I want level 2 group, 12" nav, subwoofer, blind spot, air ride, e-torque hemi, bedliner, rambox. Going to drive some more, as I haven't driven an air ride yet, nor seen a rambox in person or heard the subwoofer. So I'm here gathering info and opinions, researching all the options that I'm considering. I've been a member of many car and truck forums over the years, so I know the proper etiquette is to "search first and ask questions later", so if I ask what seems like a stupid question, I promise I made a sincere effort to find the answer first. So I'll see ya around the forums.

 

[Old Ray]

Just some general observations, usually wrong, because I'm old.
I have had a Limited since July but its a mostly a garage Queen.

Under the "what if" heading, have I told you I'm old, (oh yah, I forgot) but I find the 12 inch screen very distracting, the climate and audio controls all have to be touch screen entered, which in some cases requires screen changing. My daily compute is on a twisty narrow snow covered ski hill road with on coming traffic in my lane, not the time to be looking at the screen. I realized now that I would prefer old school knobs, blind memory adjustment. The sound system is the best one that these old ears have ever heard. Why do you want / or need the E torque, or the ram boxes? I like the air ride, best riding truck (of many) that I have had.

Watch out for the tow mirrors, they do not power fold.

 

[DivrGuy]

I'm a little old too Ray, and I get the tip on the 12" screen. That's one of the things I want to try out as I have only read about it and seen pictures of the display. I may find it to be overkill as well, but I like what I have seen so far. As for e-torque, I was on the fence about it, and could really go either way. I know that if it does what it claims, it will take about 5 years to pay for itself, but I plan to keep this truck a long time. But I live in south GA, and I read where one guy said that on hot afternoons, the e-torque never shuts down the engine because of trying to keep the ac cooled down. So I still may flip on that one, based on what I find here. And today I stopped on the way home from dropping my wife at the airport and looked at a couple of ramboxes. I think I've decided against it, as the things I usually keep under my seat will fit in the in-floor storage boxes under the back seat. I always get a hard bed cover for my trucks to keep scuba gear, so anything that doesn't fit in the in-floor compartments can still be locked in the bed.

 

[Electrical]

I didn't think I'd like the red interior trim on the Rebel... until I saw it in person. It looks very nice in person!

 

[RonH]

You are wise to step back and do some research before buying the first truck you see. You'll be spending upwards of $45-50,000, and you should get exactly what you want, even if that means ordering one and waiting or buying out of state. My Limited has nearly all the options, and that makes it a totally different animal than a Rebel. Choosing individual options usually boils down to personal preference. So you can take my opinions with a grain of salt.

eTorque V-8 -- I thought I wanted the eTorque until I drove an eTorque and a regular Hemi V-8 back to back. I thought the regular V-8 was more responsive than the eTorque. This might have been an issue that was specific to the particular eTorque truck I drove, and not a characteristic of all eTorques. But another thing I noticed was that the eTorque has Start-Stop, whereas the regular V-8 does not. I had a Jeep Cherokee with Start-Stop, and I was always turning it off or cursing when the engine shut off because I forgot to turn Stop-Start off. I figured that even though the eTorque is supposed to improve the transition when restarting the engine, I'd probably be turning it off most of the time anyway. So getting the eTorque seemed not a good idea to me. I have the regular V-8 in my truck, and I sure don't miss the Start-Stop at all. Not to mention the extra $1300 for the eTorque.

Rambox -- I wasn't sure at first I wanted them, but now that I have them, they are really useful for storing a bunch of stuff I'd rather not have cluttering up my back seat area. They have lots of uses, including secure rifle storage and even as a cooler. Definitely a nice option to have. One drawback of the Rambox is that you'll need a tonneau designed to fit the RamBox, which will reduce your tonneau options. Also, if you go with one of those hard covers that lifts up in the rear, you'll have to open that cover every time you want to access the RamBox. I'd think that would get old real fast.

Bed Utility Group -- Regardless of whether you choose the RamBox or not, you might want to consider the Bed Utility Group (BUG). That option should give you the bed rails and bed lights, and maybe even the bed divider. (You should probably check exactly what you get with the BUG on the Rebel, as BUG options vary between models.)

12-inch Screen -- The 12-inch screen is impressive. It is one of the features that makes the Ram stand out from the competition. If you show off the truck to your friends, they're going to notice that 12-inch screen. I don't find that soft (screen-based) controls are hard to use or annoying, but then I've had them on my Mopars since 2012. Those vehicles all had the 8.4 Nav UConnects, and the 12-inch screen is a step above. I absolutely love the 360-view on my Limited, but I don't think that option is available on the Rebel.

Air Suspension -- Again, this is a feature that makes Ram stand out. The quiet and smooth ride is what attracted me to the new Ram, and the air suspension is a contributing factor to that ride. With the Rebel's aggressive tires, some of that quietness may be sacrificed. But the Air Suspension will still give you some adjustability height-wise that you wouldn't have with the standard suspension.

Other Options -- Read around on this forum about the Rebel 12 and Level 2 packages. You may want the features in either or both of those packages. The power-folding mirrors are included in the Level 1 or 2 packages; however, if you add the Trailer Tow Group, you will lose the power-folding mirrors. There are quite a few complaints on this forum from folks who are not happy they don't have the power-folding mirrors. If you're going to tow a trailer, just order the Trailer Brake Control as a separate option. The Class IV hitch is standard on the Rebel.

Again, all this is just my opinion. Your tastes may vary.

 

[naz]

I did not order the eTorque I am taking the $1300 and see how far I can go on that in gas.

 

[DivrGuy]

Ron, thanks for the tips.

I've driven e-torque and regular hemi. I didn't notice a difference in responsiveness, but the drives were separated by a couple of days. Maybe I'll go back and do back-to-back like you did. The start/stop didn't bother me as it was very smooth. I drove a new Silverado Trail Boss with start/stop and didn't like it as well. You can hear the starter grinding with each start. It's still quick, but its annoying. With the Ram, there is no starter grind, the electric motor starts the roll and the engine just comes to life. I even did a fast switch from brake to gas, trying to catch it unprepared, and it just spun the tire a bit from me jabbing the gas pedal. It was smooth to me. If it were half the price, I would get it. As it is, I'm on the fence.

BUG - I've looked into it and seen it. I wouldn't turn down a truck I found on the lot because it had it, but my current truck has the rails with adjustable cleats and I don't use them often. And at least on my current truck, they almost get in the way of my tonneau cover rails which clamp to the bed rails. When I try to adjust the cleats, they only go so far and they bump into the tonneau cover rail clamps. And I use the hard retractable covers. I don't like the solid one-piece lift-up covers. Currently have a BAK, but will probably go with Retrax this time. With the retractable covers, you give up a little bit of bed space behind the cab, but when you do need your bed open, you don't have to block your back window like you do with a flip cover.

I already caught the thing about the tow group mirrors not having power fold. Can't tell you how many trucks I have looked at online that had everything I wanted, only to go "Doh!!! It has trailer-tow group!!! Crap!!".

And yes, I didn't mention it, but I plan to get Level 2 group. But I'm disappointed to hear that the 12" screen won't have the 360 view on Rebel. I wasn't sure if it would or not, as I've not seen it mentioned anywhere in the Rebel descriptions.

 

[SpeedyV]

Ron, thanks for the tips.

I've driven e-torque and regular hemi. I didn't notice a difference in responsiveness, but the drives were separated by a couple of days. Maybe I'll go back and do back-to-back like you did. The start/stop didn't bother me as it was very smooth. I drove a new Silverado Trail Boss with start/stop and didn't like it as well. You can hear the starter grinding with each start. It's still quick, but its annoying. With the Ram, there is no starter grind, the electric motor starts the roll and the engine just comes to life. I even did a fast switch from brake to gas, trying to catch it unprepared, and it just spun the tire a bit from me jabbing the gas pedal. It was smooth to me. If it were half the price, I would get it. As it is, I'm on the fence.

BUG - I've looked into it and seen it. I wouldn't turn down a truck I found on the lot because it had it, but my current truck has the rails with adjustable cleats and I don't use them often. And at least on my current truck, they almost get in the way of my tonneau cover rails which clamp to the bed rails. When I try to adjust the cleats, they only go so far and they bump into the tonneau cover rail clamps. And I use the hard retractable covers. I don't like the solid one-piece lift-up covers. Currently have a BAK, but will probably go with Retrax this time. With the retractable covers, you give up a little bit of bed space behind the cab, but when you do need your bed open, you don't have to block your back window like you do with a flip cover.

I already caught the thing about the tow group mirrors not having power fold. Can't tell you how many trucks I have looked at online that had everything I wanted, only to go "Doh!!! It has trailer-tow group!!! Crap!!".

And yes, I didn't mention it, but I plan to get Level 2 group. But I'm disappointed to hear that the 12" screen won't have the 360 view on Rebel. I wasn't sure if it would or not, as I've not seen it mentioned anywhere in the Rebel descriptions.

For those of us that paid ~$800 for eTorque (over the non-eTorque HEMI), it was an easy decision. I can see why you'd be on the fence about it now. I'm a "techie", so I love having the 48V generator, the seamless stop/start, and the extra launch torque. I haven't towed with mine yet, but I expect that off-the-line boost will smooth things out when starting out under load.

If you go with RamBoxes (which I have and think are awesome), you may want to do the BUG in order to get the RamBox-specific divider. It secures very tightly at any point along the bed, due to the ribbing that the RamBox bed provides.

It sounds like you know better than to get the tow mirrors. They gain you little in terms of visibility, and they cost you some nice features.

Good luck with your purchase!