Road Test Review: 2011 Ram 5500 Chassis Cab
Why don’t all pickup beds come with control levers? Not only would they turn your truck into a more versatile tool, they would be cool and fun, too. In our mind, the only thing better than having an empty heavy-duty full-size bed ready to work is an empty bed you can control with hydraulic levers, a remote-controlled winch, and all the chain tie-downs you could want.
That’s why we jumped at the chance to drive a special-order Ram HD 5500 SLT Chassis Cab upfitted with a 19-foot controllable flatbed loading deck from Jerr-Dan. The 204.5-inch-wheelbase two-door chassis cab was built for a commercial recovery company to haul passenger cars and smaller trucks. In our hands, it became the coolest truck we’ve driven recently.
Our Ram 5500 tester falls into Class 5 territory, with extra carrying capability over the Class 4 Ram 4500 CC. Rigs in the fourth and fifth brackets have gross vehicle weight ratings of 14,001 pounds to 16,000 pounds and 16,001 pounds to 19,500 pounds, respectively, and they usually don’t come with factory-mounted cargo boxes. Instead, they are sold as an incomplete vehicle and upfitters bolt on custom aftermarket packages such as dump truck boxes, service bodies, rollback wreckers and stake beds.
All chassis cabs regardless of make have frame rails spaced exactly 34 inches apart. That’s a narrower gap than what you'll find on a typical pickup; the Ram 1500’s frame rails are spaced 38 inches apart. The distance from the back of the cab to the rear axle is uniform so that aftermarket packages can be easily bolted behind the cab and ported from one truck to the next without the need for custom fit or engineering.
For our road test, we needed something to carry on our back to get a good idea of how that might affect the ride and handling of something this big and capable. Our “payload” turned out to be a 2011 Jeep Patriot crossover weighing about 3,460 pounds — well within the Jerr-Dan’s factory-listed capacity spec of 5,775 pounds. The upfitted Ram 5500 is about 31 feet long, including the 19-foot aluminum rollback flatbed and rear tow bar.
The SLT 5500 regular cab’s MSRP with optional equipment totaled $47,955. Adding $30,000 for the rollback, hydraulic plumbing, storage, rear tow bar and all the straps and anchors brings the total package pricing a few ticks below $80,000.
From behind the wheel, the 5500 regular cab’s interior looks and feels identical to a standard Ram SLT one-ton dually. All the center gauges are familiar, and they provide the full array of temperatures and fluid levels necessary to keep a close eye on the rig, including coolant temperature, transmission temp, diesel exhaust fluid levels and fuel economy.
Aluminum Flat Bed - News
The upfitted Ram 5500 is about 31 feet long, including the 19-foot aluminum rollback flatbed and rear tow bar. The SLT 5500 regular cab's MSRP with optional equipment totaled $47955. Adding $30000 for the rollback, hydraulic plumbing, storage,
A flatbed semitrailer-tractor truck carrying rolls of aluminum rolled over today while trying to get onto eastbound I-80 at Indianapolis Boulevard in Hammond, Ind. No injuries were reported when the crash happened at about 2:15 pm, according to the
A travel trailer taken from the Grand Rapids area June 14 and an aluminum flat-bed trailer stolen in Pennsylvania recently have been connected to the three, Browne said. All of the stolen property was found in the Brinton and Millbrook roads area near
demonstrated the cutting accuracy and utility of its Advantage flatbed cutting system. Designed for knife or rolling-blade operation, the system cuts at a maximum rate of 22 inches/sec (560 mm/sec). Advantage is the low-end option of three units
Standing atop the aluminum grandstand at the Oregon Horse Center and surveying the sprawling rodeo grounds, it's hard to imagine that 20 years ago this was little more than a flat expanse of Willamette Valley farmland.
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