THREE - PEAT

THE RAM BRAND DOES IT AGAIN WITH ITS STELLAR PICKUP PLATFORM RUN RIOT

- CHRISTIAN SEABAUGH

The least interesting thing about our 2021 MotorTrend Truck of the Year is that it’s powered by a 702-hp supercharged V-8.

The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX is a truck that resets the standard of what’s possible. It is a game-changer, both on and off-road: a truck equally capable towing and hauling as it is ripping donuts in a field or whipping sports cars in drag races. The TRX is not just the 2021 MotorTrend Truck of the Year— the unprecedented third consecutive time Ram has won—but the new benchmark that all super trucks must beat.

At its core, the Ram 1500 TRX is an engineering exercise, and a remarkably impressive one, at that. Although the TRX shares its 1500 badge with our 2019 Truck of the Year, truthfully it’s easier to point out the few similarities than the differences.

The extensive reimagining that the Ram team did to create the TRX started with its chassis. Although the TRX is nominally related to the 1500, Ram engineers modified 74 percent of the frame in order to meet the ambitious goal of making the TRX the ultimate go-anywhere performance vehicle. The TRX’s frame is thicker, shaped differently, and boxed, and it uses more high-strength steel to ensure this Ram can avoid the fate that befell many early Ford F-150 Raptors—bent frames from off-road jumps.

The new frame also allowed the Ram team to modify the axles and suspension mounting points to support the TRX’s street-legal trophy-truck mission. The front axle shifted forward to help fit 35-inch Goodyear Territory All-Terrain tires (custom specced for the Ram) on 18-inch wheels, and the beefy Dana M250 rear axle is mounted to the chassis via new five-link rear suspension mounting points. Thanks to the new axles and tires, track width increased by 6.0 inches versus the standard 1500.