New 2023 Ram 2500 Rebel

[jsalbre]

Picked up my new 2500 Rebel the other day. So far I'm loving it, though the only "off pavement" it's been able to do so far was some mildly packed snow. Real off-road driving is likely a month or 2 away still here in Idaho.

This truck will serve double-duty, both towing our 26' travel trailer, and hauling our dog and gear out for camping/overlanding trips with the addition of an RTT in the (hopefully) near future.

It looks a lot like a Power Wagon, and in fact the window stickers and docs actually refer to it as "Power Wagon/Rebel". The losses from the Power Wagon are no front locker, no disconnecting sway bar, and no articulink front radius arms. They're also currently forcing the 20" wheel "option", so those will need to go eventually. On the gain side, it has a suspension closer to that of the "regular" 2500s, and thus has a 10k GVWR and nearly 17k tow rating. The details on the suspension are a bit of an unknown. It appears to be the same height as a PW, and the front sway bar and springs seem far less stiff than those that were on my 2020 2500 Limited, but unfortunately I don't have the ability to do back to back comparisons to make sure it's not just all in my head.

 

[Buddha.]

Looks good.
What’s your payload sticker in the door jam say?

 

[ExpoMike]

More importantly, how did you get the eagle to fly into your picture frame, for a great shot?

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Looks good.
What’s your payload sticker in the door jam say?

Lol, I was just about to ask that.

@jsalbre is it a 6.4? I don't think I see any Cummins badging.

Can you add the front locker and sway bar disconnect if you wanted too?

 

[mekcanix]

Boy oh boy I like those a lot. all the concerns I have with my 1500 rebel and why I didn't get a power wagon would be addressed by this truck. Too bad its a number of years before I will even look at one.
Sigh I will just drool over yours @jsalbre

 

[SDDiver5]

What a nice looking truck. And great shot with the Eagle in it.

Fits the bill perfectly for the in between Rebel 1500 and Power Wagon group. Impressive numbers. RAM made a great call making this truck.

 

[jsalbre]

The payload sticker says 2872, putting my curb weight at 7128.

The eagle is my wife's doing, but really if you stand around in the mountains of Idaho long enough you're likely to see several.

It is the 6.4. The Cummins just doesn't make sense for my use case, or financially, plus the huge payload hit would be painful. They took away the Hemi badging for 2023, I'm sure to save $1.50 per truck.

I don't know why you couldn't add the locker and sway bar, you'd just need to wire them up and get the right switches. I may consider them in the future, but for now I'll probably pull the front bar entirely and I don't see myself spending a lot of time where I'll need two lockers. If I do manage to get stuck I'm sure my Maxtrax, shovel, and the 12k factory winch should be able to get me out.

 

[jsalbre]

Boy oh boy I like those a lot. all the concerns I have with my 1500 rebel and why I didn't get a power wagon would be addressed by this truck. Too bad its a number of years before I will even look at one.
Sigh I will just drool over yours @jsalbre

What a nice looking truck. And great shot with the Eagle in it.

Fits the bill perfectly for the in between Rebel 1500 and Power Wagon group. Impressive numbers. RAM made a great call making this truck.

Those reasons are exactly why I got it. The PW is awesome off-road, but can't tow or haul enough. The regular trucks are great at tow and haul, but don't have a locker, or an option for a winch from the factory.

 

[RCP]

The payload sticker says 2872, putting my curb weight at 7128.

The eagle is my wife's doing, but really if you stand around in the mountains of Idaho long enough you're likely to see several.

It is the 6.4. The Cummins just doesn't make sense for my use case, or financially, plus the huge payload hit would be painful. They took away the Hemi badging for 2023, I'm sure to save $1.50 per truck.

I don't know why you couldn't add the locker and sway bar, you'd just need to wire them up and get the right switches. I may consider them in the future, but for now I'll probably pull the front bar entirely and I don't see myself spending a lot of time where I'll need two lockers. If I do manage to get stuck I'm sure my Maxtrax, shovel, and the 12k factory winch should be able to get me out.

Congrats on the new truck! I am a bit jealous.

If I didn't already have a Power Wagon, I would be seriously considering the 2500 Rebel. It is probably a better truck for my needs than my current truck, but I can't justify trading up into something at the moment. My truck does a decent job towing our trailer, but having the extra 1500lbs of payload would be nice. The loss of front locker doesn't bother me, after driving two different Power Wagons over the last 7 years totaling about 90k miles, I have used the front locker once...

 

[jsalbre]

Congrats on the new truck! I am a bit jealous.

If I didn't already have a Power Wagon, I would be seriously considering the 2500 Rebel. It is probably a better truck for my needs than my current truck, but I can't justify trading up into something at the moment. My truck does a decent job towing our trailer, but having the extra 1500lbs of payload would be nice. The loss of front locker doesn't bother me, after driving two different Power Wagons over the last 7 years totaling about 90k miles, I have used the front locker once...

Thanks!

Honestly they're nearly the same other than suspension, so if you're not worried about what the sticker says you could always swap your springs for Rebel springs and have the same truck, but with two lockers and a disconnecting sway bar.

 

[RCP]

Thanks!

Honestly they're nearly the same other than suspension, so if you're not worried about what the sticker says you could always swap your springs for Rebel springs and have the same truck, but with two lockers and a disconnecting sway bar.

I will look into that, and I am also considering the Carli kit with upgraded rear springs. Currently I run Airlift bags with Daystar cradles, I keep them at 3-5psi unloaded and about 20psi when towing and it helps out tremendously.

 

[jsalbre]

I will look into that, and I am also considering the Carli kit with upgraded rear springs. Currently I run Airlift bags with Daystar cradles, I keep them at 3-5psi unloaded and about 20psi when towing and it helps out tremendously.

I've heard good things about the bags and cradles. Honestly that's probably more stable for heavy loads since the bags sit further outboard than the springs.

If you choose to go with a spring swap someone on the HDRams forum already used my VIN to find the spring part numbers. Apparently the front track bar is different too:

• Front Track Bar - 68223802AB
• Front Springs - 68505944AB
• Rear Springs - 68349171AB

 

[Zuber]

These are probably too stiff, but I did a Carli suspension on my 21 RAM 2500 Cummins. I have the stock springs, front sway bar and the Bilstien's. I also have the Carli R1 rear springs. I have the Carli R2 springs because I'm carrying a constant 1000 lbs in the back. The R1's will carry it just fine, but just sag too much when I hook up a trailer. I'll give away the stock stuff and make a deal on the R1 springs.

The Carli Pintop with the King 2.5 shocks work great. But, now I would have bought the Rebel/Cummins.

 

[Jurfie]

Perfect truck! If I had the cash, this is what I'd buy in a heartbeat.

Will follow this thread to practice keeping my jealous tendencies in check. ?

 

[jsalbre]

Perfect truck! If I had the cash, this is what I'd buy in a heartbeat.

Will follow this thread to practice keeping my jealous tendencies in check. ?

Hah, thanks! The cash was definitely a pain point here. Buying a new vehicle in 2023 is just not a good experience.

I’ve done a few small changes/mods so far. I’ll try to get them posted up soon.