In 1994, the Dodge Ram shook-up the pickup world with a tough, "big rig" design that took Dodge from an afterthought to a major player in the truck market overnight. The powerful overall design and instantly recognizable horse-collar grille of the 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 provided an excellent base for the 2003 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty, without the need to modify the overall shape.

"From the beginning of the design process, we knew that the boldness of the Dodge Ram 1500 design would lend itself extremely well to the Ram Heavy Duty," said Rick Aneiros, Vice President of Design and Ram Design Team Leader. "With the boldness of our 2002 Ram design, we didn't have to create a new image for the heavy-duty trucks. Tough, capable and powerful are the key elements of all Ram trucks, and they are perfectly expressed in both light-duty and heavy-duty designs. The Ram 1500's grille, for instance, was designed to be large enough to incorporate the extra cooling needs necessitated by the heavy-duty powertrains to come."

The most evident change on both the regular and quad cab designs is their dramatically sloping windshield. This feature gives the Ram cab a strong, powerful look. The deep compound curvature of the glass integrates into the full lines of the body panels. The large front doors are squared off at the bottom to fit with the new rear doors. The doors extend to the bottom of the sills, which helps give the truck a more robust look by eliminating the bottom cut line.

The doors on the new Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 overlap the windshield pillars, and the windshield glass also overlaps the pillars, providing a smooth visual transition to the doors. Continuity of surface development is expressed in all the exterior panels. Fullness and crown added to the hood surfaces, doors and fenders are amplified in the roof, cab back panel and rear window.

Text and photos courtesy of DaimlerChrysler