Meet Our New Long-Term Tester: 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Sport:

After talking to our viewers, forum members, and fans on social media like Facebook and Instagram, over the past year the 5thGenRams.com staff have taken that information and have purchased a long-term pickup for the site and YouTube channel.

The truck we purchased is an all-new 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Sport Crew Cab 4×4. Based on feedback from our followers and forum members, people were tired of seeing the new Rebel trucks in a comparison test and wanted to see a trim-level that really hasn’t been focused on.  While the Big Horn (Lone Star) trim-level is what we were initially looking at, the demand for more hands-on content with options like the new 12.1-inch Uconnect Touchscreen Infotainment system quickly made us look at the Laramie package. 

As the entry-level luxury trim, the Laramie package was a good base for the truck we wanted. So let’s dig into what came from the factory as optional equipment on our new long-term tester…

• Granite Crystal Metallic Clear Coat – $200
• Sport Appearance Package – $2,495
  • Black Interior Accents
  • Full-Length Upgraded Floor Console
  • Laramie Body-Colored Grille
  • Leather-Trimmed Bucket Seats
  • Sport Performance Hood
  • RamCharger Wireless Charging Pad
• Bed Utility Group – $845
  • 4-Adjustable Cargo Tie-Down Hooks
  • LED Bed Lighting
  • Spray-In Bedliner
• Laramie Level 2 Equipment Group – $4,595
  • 19-Speaker Harman Kardon Premium Sound System
  • Automatic High Beam Headlamps
  • Blind-Spot with Cross-Path Detection
  • Heated Second-Row Seating
  • ParkSense Front and Rear Park Assist with Stop
  • Rain-Sensitive Windshield Wipers
  • Rear Under-Seat Storage
  • Remote Tailgate Release
  • Rear 60/40 Folding Split-Reclining Seat
  • Single-Disc CD Player
  • Tailgate Ajar Warning Lamp
• Front and Rear Rubber Floor Mats – $135
• 5.7-liter HEMI V8 MDS VVT Engine – $1,395
• Panoramic Sunroof – $1,495
• Rear Wheelhouse Liners – $195
• 12.1-inch Uconnect Touchscreen Infotainment System – $1,395
• 22-inch X 9-inch Granite Crystal Polished Painted Wheels – $1,295
  • 285/45R22XL Goodyear Eagle BSW All-Season Tires

The truck is only missing two options that were on our must-have list. The power running boards and trailer-brake controller will be added by our local dealer as parts come available in the upcoming month. But with a sticker price of over USD $61,000, this Laramie Sport isn’t a cheap truck.

While we have had time behind the wheel of almost every trim-level of 2019 Ram 1500 pickup, we haven’t been able to spend the time to do some proper testing to answer questions we receive on a daily basis. Because the vehicles we test are provided by our friends at Abbotsford Chrysler and White Rock Dodge, they are vehicles on sale to the public, and we only have a limited amount of time and can not rack up miles on them, to give you in-depth reviews. This new long-term Laramie Sport will change that.

Over the next several months, we plan on keeping the truck virtually in its stock form to get a lot of reliable data feedback on our long-term tester. We do plan on putting a lot of miles on this new truck over the next year, so forget those quick fuel economy tests, we are going to be putting this truck through the average person’s daily routine. We bought the meat and potatoes powerplant, the legendary 5.7-liter HEMI V8. Yes, no eTorque system as this is the most popular configuration of the all-new Ram 1500. We also got our truck with 3.21 rear gearing (upon request of our viewers), who wanted to know realistic MPG and towing abilities with the standard rear gearing.

We also plan on doing several towing reviews with the new truck during this summer, there will be several long-distance trips across several states and throughout Ontario, and we will answer some of the most important questions you have about technology, capability, daily living with the truck, and most importantly build quality. Yes, build quality has been a common issue in the early builds of the all-new Ram 1500 and 5thGenRams has purchased a truck that came of the line not even a month ago.

We will also be looking at your questions and trying to answer them with this long-term Laramie Sport as well. Over the next year, we will be building content for not only current Ram 1500 owners, but future Ram 1500 owners who have questions regarding the 5th generation Ram.

I’d personally like to thank my hometown dealer, St. Clair Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram for taking care of us as good as they did and help finding us the exact truck we were looking for. They will also be the dealer we will be taking the truck to for all of our routine maintenance as well as installation of our Mopar accessories (like the Mopar factory power running boards and trailer-brake controller) in the near future. 

Now to get a first-hand look at what we are going to be doing with this truck, be sure to be subscribed to the 5thGenRams/HDRams YouTube channel. There are already a ton of reviews, spy photos, information and other content on there, but we will also be adding a long-term Laramie Sport section on there as well. You will even see some of behind the scenes content, that you won’t see here on the site either, so make sure to subscribe. 

Be sure to post your comments below, of what you would like to see us do with this truck.