1997 Dodge Ram 2500 Interior Review at Automotive.com
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1997 Dodge Ram 2500 Review: Interior

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1997 Dodge Ram 2500 Review

Broad shoulders and a big work ethic.
Interior
Though most customers are initially attracted to the Ram for its bold

exterior design, there is a great deal more good stuff to be discovered

on the inside. Tops in the good stuff category is roominess. The interior

design guys figured out a way to do the instrument panel and the seats

in such a way as to provide more room in a standard cab layout and a whole

bunch more room in a Club Cab layout than anybody else, although Ford's

new F-Series trucks have since largely matched the Ram's roominess.

The instrument panel looks distantly related to that of a Jeep Grand

Cherokee, and, of course, it is, with the same radio equipment and similar

switchgear, instrument graphics and placements. Is this bad? No way. It's

a good layout, with a few dollops of color to keep it visually interesting,

and very few customers cross-shop Grand Cherokees and Rams anyway.

The leather-covered seats in our test truck were unique in our truck

experience, built with an enormous amount of cushiness, so that your body

sinks down into the seat and is well supported from backside to shoulders.

The SLT six-way power seat with manual recline is divided 40/20/40, with

a huge fold-down center section that doubles as an armrest and writing

table, with a substantial storage box inside that incorporates divided

spaces for coins, cassettes, maps and the other odds and ends we all carry.

While the new leather seating option is very spiffy, some other elements

of this truck's interior decor are not. We think Ford and GM truck interiors

are a bit closer to design unity than the Ram. The tan leather interior

gets a black instrument panel, which is a normal combination, but there

is a lot of hard plastic of varying tan tones and grains that brings down

the impression of quality. There are only two exposed screws in the Ram

interior, a big improvement, but still two too many.

One of the slickest things about the interior is the optional storage

rack system fitted to the back wall of the cab that allows an owner to

get the absolute most out of the space behind the seat in a standard cab

Ram. We love this storage rack, and wish other truck makers would get with

the program.

The storage system has a deep, full-width tray at floor level, divided

75/25, a cargo net behind the right seat, and two stacked trays behind

the left seat. The trays are heavy duty plastic, permanently installed

and designed to carry real loads. Each door also has a generous set of

storage bins arrayed along the bottom edge. Next Page



1997 Dodge Ram 2500