5thGenRams Forums

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Is Off-road package the way to go?

Bt10

Ram Guru
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Messages
660
Reaction score
347
Location
MI
My '21 ordered 7/4/20 delivered 10/1/20 ORP does not have off road pages. The transfer case overheating is in the 4auto mode. 4hi will be fine (winter, sand, etc). There are 2 transfercases, mine is cheap and doesn't have 4auto (clutches).
 

Rlaf75

Takes potshots
Joined
Jul 9, 2021
Messages
1,686
Reaction score
2,132
Curious; it appears that way. But I don't have the Off Road pages like a non-BTS truck.

Also, what's the key differences that make the off road package that much better? Is it the exact same transfer case and drive train? Just skid plates, lift, HDC, rear locker?

I'm mainly curious if the ORP has the same weakness as 4x4 Rams without it: weaker/overheating transfer case.
My 21 BTS has this for the offroad page. If I scroll left it also has a pitch angle meter
 

Attachments

  • 20210809_235622.jpg
    20210809_235622.jpg
    98.8 KB · Views: 79
Last edited:

brian42

Ram Guru
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
1,708
Reaction score
1,334
Location
San Diego, CA
Doesn’t the Off-Road Package also give you a full size spare? I don’t have the package but thought I read that somewhere.
Yes, the ORG has a full-size spare. It's an 18" steel wheel but has the same Falken tire as the rest of the wheels so no temporary-use-only donut.
 

SpeedyV

Ram Connoisseur
Staff member
Site Supporter
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
5,102
Reaction score
4,773
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
Yes, the ORG has a full-size spare. It's an 18" steel wheel but has the same Falken tire as the rest of the wheels so no temporary-use-only donut.
This is partially correct. The ORG comes with an 18" aluminum alloy wheel with an appropriately-sized Falken tire (LT275/65R18). This means the spare theoretically matches the overall diameter of the 20" wheels and tires pretty closely (32.07" vs. 31.91").
IMG_0017.JPG
This is good for an off-road situation, where you need a "real" tire to get out. You still wouldn't want to run a mix of 20" and 18" wheels full-time, as their overall weights are likely quite different.
 

brian42

Ram Guru
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
1,708
Reaction score
1,334
Location
San Diego, CA
I figured everyone gets an 18" spare but I guess the Laramie and above get an "upgraded" spare (aluminum) compared to the black painted steel one on my Bighorn.
 

Redfour5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2021
Messages
364
Reaction score
240
I figured everyone gets an 18" spare but I guess the Laramie and above get an "upgraded" spare (aluminum) compared to the black painted steel one on my Bighorn.
It was interesting on my 2015 Outdoorsman, it had the same size spare and they put it on a Black special edition wheel that was a very expensive option. I had the regular aluminum rims on the truck. I almost bought three more of those wheels... I wondered how that happened.
 

brian42

Ram Guru
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
1,708
Reaction score
1,334
Location
San Diego, CA
The dealership might have swapped it for whatever reason. I'm sure there's some wheel swaps that go on between trucks on the lot as they're sold.

I bought my last truck from a used car lot with a bald and flat spare. I told them it had to be replaced. They did a lot of in-house work (lifts, wheels/tires, etc., to inflate the price) and told them as long as it was the correct size and held pressure I didn't care if they took one of their used tires in the back as long as it had at least 1/2 the tread life left. They ended up just taking one of the premium OEM rims with a tire on it they had stacked in the corner of the shop and sticking that under the truck instead of wasting time pulling the tire off and putting it on my wheel.
 

Redfour5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2021
Messages
364
Reaction score
240
I don't have the RAM Navigation either. Which I don't mind, I use Apple CarPlay and GaiaGPS.
I have level I Bighorn so the small tft. I doubt it has it, someone let me know if I am wrong.
 

dinomufin

Active Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2020
Messages
32
Reaction score
30
I have a 19 Bighorn with the ORP and 8.4. No offroad pages. Man what am I missing out on?
apparently off road pages began in the 2021 model year. My 2020 also doesn't have them.
 

DavidNJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2019
Messages
343
Reaction score
135
I was thinking the same thing, but if you add the anti-spin diff and the protection package, you are already spending more money than the off-road group, which also gives you hill decent control, tow hooks, off-road pages, 1inch lift, and Faulken Wildpeak tires. Seemed like the better value to me. I really liked the Rebel, but you can’t get it with a 6’4’’ box, so this seemed like a good compromise.

I agree with everything but would add two points, both on tires. First, the OEM Wildpeak on the Ram is not the same as the AT3W aftermarket Wildpeak which has gotten great reviews. I don't know how different since I haven't seen any back-to-back reviews. On cars, the Michelin PS4, standard on many cars and a favorite at Hyundai/Kia/Genesis is not the highly praised PS4s which was introduced on Ferraris 9 years ago.

Second, the tire is still a 32" diameter. The Rebel with a similar suspension has a 33. People have fitted 34s.

Some notes: the traction control on Jeeps seems to make the locking diffs irrelevant for any of the driving you would do in a pickup. There are lots of videos showing the traction control doing the work in all sorts of muddy terrain. The V8 Wrangler and the TRX don't have locking front diffs. The Ram never had a locking front diff. The Rubicon comes with a locking front diff and they are common for off-road builds which don't have traction control as a consideration.
 

jedgar81

Active Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2020
Messages
47
Reaction score
66
Location
Bend, OR
I agree with everything but would add two points, both on tires. First, the OEM Wildpeak on the Ram is not the same as the AT3W aftermarket Wildpeak which has gotten great reviews. I don't know how different since I haven't seen any back-to-back reviews. On cars, the Michelin PS4, standard on many cars and a favorite at Hyundai/Kia/Genesis is not the highly praised PS4s which was introduced on Ferraris 9 years ago.

Second, the tire is still a 32" diameter. The Rebel with a similar suspension has a 33. People have fitted 34s.

Some notes: the traction control on Jeeps seems to make the locking diffs irrelevant for any of the driving you would do in a pickup. There are lots of videos showing the traction control doing the work in all sorts of muddy terrain. The V8 Wrangler and the TRX don't have locking front diffs. The Ram never had a locking front diff. The Rubicon comes with a locking front diff and they are common for off-road builds which don't have traction control as a consideration.
The wrangler 392 does have a locking front differential, and all Jeep Rubicons have traction control, stability control, and locking differentials. For desert, mud and higher speed driving traction controls can come close to the performance of a locker, but for rock crawling or even a technical trail a pickup can do a true locker gives you a ton more control so you can be easier on the vehicle and more precise.
 

ej23

Active Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2019
Messages
30
Reaction score
23
I agree that the Wildpeak AT3WA are not the same as the aftermarket AT3W. Different tread pattern, less tread depth and a lower tread wear rating. After about 16,000 miles, it seems to me like they are wearing pretty quickly.
 

Redfour5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2021
Messages
364
Reaction score
240
AT3W's are the Falken "version" of KO2's with a tread warranty imho. I am not disparaging as I know people who are KO2 afficianado's who wanted to save some bucks (not that many) and maybe get a bit more wear out of a set and are satisfied with them. Apparently, there are two versions of the AT3's, same tread, but one without a tread warranty. I am almost sure I remember my tire guy telllng me that as we discussed KO2's and Falkens. The one without sounds a lot like a KO2's.

But you wanna see wear, I have had three sets of KO2's and around 40K was all I got out of them taking care of alignment and rotation. My first set I took as long as I could and they start losing traction in certain settings (snow/hard rain/turns) and simply are not up to what they were for the first 36K...noticably. Actually, they were still good for off roading (light off roading nat forest roads etc.) That is why they do NOT have a tread warranty. But, when they are on, they are tough to beat imho, unless you are a hard core off roader, so I bit the bullet and kept getting them up here in MT. I will see on the falken AT3WA's. Oh, anyone who buys a truck without anti-spin deserves what they get...and tires are only a marginal help. My 2013 was pretty basic and didn't have it. My tire test is at the "mailboxes" for my neighborhood. They are on a grade and everyone stops there. They get "polished" in the winter. It was hopeless in 2WD and I just immediately put it in 4WD when stopping there. The anti-spin in my 2015 worked perfect and you could feel it working back and forth as it took me right up the hill.

IF, you live anywhere with snow, get a tire with the snowflake symbol at least. Check tire rack for reviews on hydroplaning and if wear is important, at that. is my recommendation. I have a Jeep Renegade as a daily driver and after 18K miles on the OEM Continentals, I went and changed them out for the Falken's AT3A's. Picked up and inch and they are much, much...did I say much better on national forest roads and snow and ice...
 
Last edited:

CaptainCJ35

Ram Guru
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Messages
531
Reaction score
431
Decision pretty much comes down to whether you want the e-locker or lsd
I go back and forth on this. I feel like how I use my truck 99% of the time, the LSD would be more beneficial because it's always "on". Particularly on slippery paved roads.

The E-Locker has a much more limited use case, and has to be activated by the driver... hopefully before you get stuck. That said, the locker is much more effective in low traction situations.

Really comes down to how you want to use your truck and where.
 

brian42

Ram Guru
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
1,708
Reaction score
1,334
Location
San Diego, CA
I don't treat my truck like a Charger Hellcat but it doesn't take much for the rear to break loose in soft/wet conditions, especially leaving a stoplight and driving across the white crosswalk paint lines.

If I think it's going to be an issue I will lock the rear at the light and then unlock it once I get going after the light turns green. I usually will disengage around 20 mph but it will automatically disengage at 25 mph (then I'll just push the button to keep it disengaged).

I went back and forth on the ORG because of the e-locker only option as I've only had LSDs up to this point. It's been a non-issue and it's nice to "lock it up" and have both wheels drive from the get go, especially since I off-road.
 

lkjk

Active Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2021
Messages
99
Reaction score
85
I ordered the elocker and protection group, which basically costs the same as the ORG, but whatever options I had wouldn't let me order the ORG (southwest edition maybe, not sure)

For the price the ORG is a very good deal, and unless youre in a scenario like mine where you couldn't get it, i'd order it
 

DavidNJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2019
Messages
343
Reaction score
135
The traction control which I believe also uses the brakes should function in most situations. There are numerous Wrangler videos showing it doing the job when you would expect to have locked diffs in use. The TRX has an open front diff relying on the traction control. The e-lock which has no differential at all is really a slippery/loose surface thing and I'm pretty sure only engages until 25mph or so.

AXLE LOCK SYSTEM — IF EQUIPPED
This vehicle is equipped with an electronically locking rear differential. When engaged, this differential locks the axle shafts forcing the wheels to spin at an equal rate. The locking of the rear differential should only be engaged during low-speed, extreme off-road situations where one wheel is likely to not be in contact with the ground. It is not recommended to drive the vehicle with the differentials locked on pavement due to the reduced ability to turn and speed limitations.

Axle Lock Button
The locking rear axle is controlled by the AXLE LOCK button. Under normal driving conditions, the rear axle should be unlocked.

During the command to lock the rear axle, the indicator light will flash until the axle is locked. After the lock command has been successfully executed, the light will remain on solid.
Operating in 4WD LOW the locker can be engaged up to 40 mph (64 km/h) and will remain engaged throughout the 4WD LOW speed range.

Operating the locker in 2WD, 4WD AUTO, and 4WD LOCK/HIGH, the locker can be engaged up to 20 mph (32 km/h). While driving with the locker engaged, if speed exceeds 25 mph (40 km/h), the locker will automatically disengage, but will automatically reengage at 20 mph (32 km/h).
NOTE:
Left to right wheel speed difference may be necessary to allow the rear axle to fully lock. If the indicator light is flashing after selecting the rear axle lock mode, drive the vehicle in a turn or on loose gravel to expedite the locking action. The axle locker could become torque locked due to side to side loads on the rear axle. Driving slowly while turning the steering wheel from a left hand turn to a right hand turn or driving in REVERSE for a short distance may be required to release the torque lock and unlock the axles.

To unlock the rear axle; push the AXLE LOCK button. The AXLE LOCK indicator light will go out when the rear axle is unlocked.
 

brian42

Ram Guru
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
1,708
Reaction score
1,334
Location
San Diego, CA
The e-lock which has no differential at all is really a slippery/loose surface thing and I'm pretty sure only engages until 25mph or so.
In 2WD you can't engage it until under 20 mph and it will automatically disengage at 25 mph, which is annoying.

In 4LO you can go as high as 40 mph with the e-locker engaged, but the Owner's Manual does not recommend 4LO above 25 mph ("Take care not to overspeed the engine").
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top