2006 Dodge Ram Mega Cab 3500

[Charger4U]

2006 Dodge Ram Mega Cab 3500 SLT

This Trucks Features Include:

• 5.9 liter Cummins HO Turbo Diesel - 6 Speed Manual
• Power Locks - Power Windows - Power Steering
• Front Center Armrest - Business Console
• 17" x 8.0" Steel Chrome Clad Wheels
• AM/FM Stereo With CD Player And Four Speakers
• Light Khaki Metallic Clear Coat/Color
• Fold Away Power Trailer Tow Mirrors - Tow Hooks
• Engine Block Heater
• Front Hood Protection Shield

Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel

Bright Grille

Carpet Floor Covering

Cruise/Speed Control

Electric Shift-On-The-Fly Part-Time Transfer Case

11.50 Rear Axle

3.73 Axle Ratio

Cloth 40/20/40 Bench Seat

Air Conditioning

Remote Keyless Entry

As Pickup Trucks, become less of a work vehicle, manufacturers design Quad Cabs that seat 5 comfortably and luxuriously, but that wasn’t enough for Dodge. At the 2005 Chicago Auto Show, Dodge raised the benchmark immensely by introducing the Mega Cab. The Mega Cab option extends the leg room of the Ram Quad Cab by 8 Inches, and a whole 20 inches longer than the total cab length of the Ram Quad Cab. Amazingly the rear leg room of the Mega Cab exceeds the front leg room of a Ram Quad Cab.

The Mega Cab option is available on Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 Trucks. Mega Cabs are also available in two trim levels, SLT and Laramie. SLT being the not stripped of everything trim level but not loaded either, Laramie filling the loaded trim category with optioning up to 55,000 Dollars!! Mega Cabs also are fitted with these engines, 5.7 Liter Hemi V8 (345 HP, 375 TQ) standard on the 1500 and available on the 2500, The other option is the stump pulling Cummins Turbo Diesel (5.9 Liter, 325 HP, 610 TQ) standard on all 3500 Mega Cab's but available on the 2500's. Dually's are also offered on the 3/4 ton and 1 ton Mega Cabs, (a 1,235 dollar option).

Although the Mega Cab is radically altered in comparison to the regular Ram Quad Cabs it is instantly recognizable as a Dodge Ram, with its big rig styling and prominent chrome crosshair grille. The Mega Cabs extra thick C Pillar and almost 3 foot wide rear door opening can look awkward at first glance, and may even give a custom appearance.

The Mega Cabs interior is immense, HUGE would be the term used to say the least. Dodge used the frame of a Ram Quad Cab Long Box and docked 22 inches off the bed length but added it to the cab room to make a total cab length of almost 10 Feet. As mentioned before also gained is, a bigger than sounds, 8 inches more of rear legroom. Those 8 inches makes a rear legroom measurement of 44.3 inches, longer than that of a Maybach Ultra Luxury Sedan! Me and my tall sibling at 5' 11" (me) and he 6'4", we need more legroom than most so not surprisingly we love the additional leg room compared to our previous 2003 Dodge Ram Quad Cab, And I can tell you that my father at 6' 6'' says he can fit comfortably. (For those who don’t know, those brother and father references are because i am 13 y.o. so yea i am a passenger.. for now). Dodge has made tremendous improvement to the rear seats, they are so much more comfortable. Especially the middle seat, rather than a just a cushion to fill the gap, it actually looks and feels just like the rest of the seats.

Dodge greatly improved places to store anything from empty coke bottles to first aid kits to luggage or just.... stuff! These places include, under the rear seats, behind the rear seats, under the front middle seat, and in the front middle seat. Dodge has a pretty versatile interior on these Mega Cabs. The Mega Cabs rear seat folding options are very cool, you can fold all three seats flat down, like in the picture nearest above, or you can fold just the top half of the seat down. Folding the seats flat down (via a button on the side of the seat) exposes a huge flat holding area complete with strap hooks if in case it is necessary to strap down your cargo.

Hits and Misses in comparison to our previous truck.

As you can imagine, this Mega cab is a lot better in a lot of ways compared to our previous 2003 Dodge Ram 3500 Quad Cab ST (5.9L CTD) but there are things that our old truck had but this didn’t. A lot of sound insulation has been added to the Mega Cabs, and it is very noticeable, much much quieter.

____Hits___________________________

More Rear Seat Leg Room, Of Course!

Improved Under the rear Seat Storage

Behind the Seat Storage - This I like, lots of room.

Behind The Seat Tool Box - Not very deep (like 5 inches) but it serves its purpose.

Storage Compartment on the Rear Doors - Me Likey.

Second Row Air Conditioning - Not junk at all, blows good.

More Cushioning on All of the Rear Seats - Comfy!

Air Conditioning Vents - I Like there design.

Rear Armrests - Good when no 3rd passenger.

3 Front Cup Holders - Includes a popout ashtray container, fits all cup holders.

____Misses_________________________

Rear Cup Holders Are Concealed Behind Middle Seat - We always have a third passenger.

No Pop out Holder On Center Console - This we used to hold change rather than the dinky change holder in the front middle seat armrest.

Electronic Shifter to 4WD to 4LO etc - I don’t like this because, What if the electronics fail?

Lumbar Support is Manual - (Which may be because it’s an SLT not a Laramie)

Statistics

Price: We got almost 7-8,000 in rebates, to make around 37,000 we traded in our 2003 Dodge Ram 3500 Quad Cab HO CTD with 93,000 miles and received 19, 500 for it.

Engine - Cummins HO Turbo Diesel 6 Speed Manual

Transmission -Manual

Transmission - Features Overdrive

Engine - Number of Cylinders: 6

Transmission - Number of Forward Speeds: 6

Engine - Location: Front

Engine - Displacement - Cubic Inches: 359.0

Fuel Economy- City: Anywhere from 10 - 14MPG Highway: Anywhere from 15 to 20 most of the time.

Engine - Displacement - Cubic Centimeters: 5880

Engine - Fuel: Electronic Fuel Injection

Final Drive Ratio: 4.10

Engine - Displacement - Bore: 4.02

Engine - Valvetrain - Number of Valves: 24

Engine - Displacement - Stroke: 4.72

Engine - Standard Horsepower: 325 @ 2900 RPM

Engine - Standard Torque: 610 @ 1600 RPM

Engine - Configuration: 5.9L I-6 HO

Engine - Compression Ratio: 17.2

Engine - Valvetrain - Configuration: OHV

Final Drive Ratio - Standard: 3.73

Towing

The Cummins engine is an awesome engine, (My father used to be a Cummins mechanic and he seems to believe firmly in this engine). Here is some towing information. The specs for the 2006 Dodge Ram Mega Cab Dually are impressive. This model comes standard with heavy-duty engine cooling, an auxiliary transmission cooler, and side mirrors designed for towing large loads. With a payload capacity of 3,240 pounds, a gross combined vehicle weight rating of 23,000 pounds, and a maximum trailer weight of 15,600 pounds, it’s no wonder the Dodge Ram Mega Cab Dually is at the top of its class. Minimum payload capacity for the Dodge Ram Mega Cab 1500 4WD is 1,880 pounds with a minimum trailer weight of 7,200 pounds. Maximum payload capacity for a 3500 2WD with the Cummins turbo diesel and automatic transmission is 2,970 pounds with a maximum trailer weight of 15,900 pounds.

Conclusion

Overall the Mega Cab is a great truck. A Mega Cab is well worth the money, they’re so quite, they ride nice, the legroom is tremendous, the seats are very comfortable for a second row. Although they don’t get great mileage but why keep from buying a great vehicle just because of mileage? If you’re looking into buying one, I say go for it. Id get the 5, 500 dollar Cummins engine too.

Pictures

Slideshow with text. Please Watch.

I hope my reviews been great! It took around 12 hours total so im getting front page attention like others did, right admin?

Edited August 7, 2006 by Charger4U

[Charger4U]

I realize that nobody asked for me to type this but, i spend 15 hours writing a review, just as good as any adults, but out of 110 views not one smug adult can say anything cause that silly 13 year old boy wrote it, what does he know about cars? :angry2:

Edited August 7, 2006 by Charger4U

[Drew Dowdell]

it's a good write up charger...

I think the fact that you haven't had any responses is because this is a GM site and we're all stoked about the new Chevys and GMCs.

[DetroitNut90]

Nice review Charger. It has a very professional appearance & tone to it.

I know that you appreciate the extra legroom. I sat in one of them at the Washington Auto Show-man was it nice to stretch in. A bit of a hike up into it, though.

[Charger4U]

Nice review Charger. It has a very professional appearance & tone to it.

I know that you appreciate the extra legroom. I sat in one of them at the Washington Auto Show-man was it nice to stretch in. A bit of a hike up into it, though.

176860[/snapback]

Thanks, Yes it is a bit of a hike, but we plan to get some running boards, along with a Sliding rear window, and aftermarket Keyless remote start..

[DetroitNut90]

Remote start...I'd like one for my truck, but it's beyond my budgetary means at the moment.

I have a quick question. How does it accelerate? I've heard stories about diesels being painfully slow or being pretty quick. How's this one stack up?

[Charger4U]

Remote start...I'd like one for my truck, but it's beyond my budgetary means at the moment.

I have a quick question. How does it accelerate? I've heard stories about diesels being painfully slow or being pretty quick. How's this one stack up?

176868[/snapback]

You know me and my dad have never timed it, but 610 ft lb's of torque you can get going pretty darn fast in a hurry.Chipping your diesel is pretty popular giving alot more torque and horspower, thats on our wishlist too.

Edited August 7, 2006 by Charger4U

[The O.C.]

I realize that nobody asked for me to type this but, i spend 15 hours writing a review, just as good as any adults, but out of 110 views not one smug adult can say anything cause that silly 13 year old boy wrote it, what does he know about cars? :angry2:

176852[/snapback]

Hey what's the driveability like with the 6-speed manual? Is the clutch heavy? Is the shifter smooth?

I bet it's like driving a semi.....!

[The O.C.]

I have a quick question. How does it accelerate? I've heard stories about diesels being painfully slow or being pretty quick. How's this one stack up?

176868[/snapback]

The modern diesels.....even the truck diesels.....really aren't slow anymore. I think the slowest I've seen in any recent buff mag test still dropped well below 10secs 0-60....and I think that was a Ram Cummins....I think it was like low-to-mid 9sec range 0-60.

Seems to me that the GM Duramax was a pretty consistent mid-to-high 8sec range on the 0-60 run.

[Charger4U]

Hey what's the driveability like with the 6-speed manual?  Is the clutch heavy?  Is the shifter smooth?

I bet it's like driving a semi.....!

177092[/snapback]

If heavy as in hard to push down, ive never compared it to anyhting else to know for sure. About the semi comment, almost but i dont mind it!

[Charger4U]

The modern diesels.....even the truck diesels.....really aren't slow anymore.  I think the slowest I've seen in any recent buff mag test still dropped well below 10secs 0-60....and I think that was a Ram Cummins....I think it was like low-to-mid 9sec range 0-60.

Seems to me that the GM Duramax was a pretty consistent mid-to-high 8sec range on the 0-60 run.

177094[/snapback]

Yea i have heard the duramax's are pretty fast, but ive never heard of buying a diesel for its speed.

[CMG]

I realize that nobody asked for me to type this but, i spend 15 hours writing a review, just as good as any adults, but out of 110 views not one smug adult can say anything cause that silly 13 year old boy wrote it, what does he know about cars? :angry2:

Put a smile on my face, or WHAT?

You were THIRTEEN years old, and you wrote that? I'm bloody impressed!

I would have never guessed you were a youngin unless I read your posted age.

Congrats Charger4U.

GREAT job. From the heart.