Interior
reviewed by
The Ram Quad Cab is about cavernous space. It offers buyers a roomy interior with conventional front doors and rear-hinged rear doors. The absence of a B-pillar makes it much easier to get in or out of the rear seat; it also makes it much easier to stick something behind the front seats. The door handles for the rear doors are integrated into the front interior face of the door, providing a more secure dual locking system for all four doors when the rear door is locked.
The Dodge Ram's big, wide instrument panel has a more modern layout than the original design. This includes a new steering wheel design, a big storage compartment, an extra power point, and new cupholders designed to handle any commercially available drink container. For 1999, the Ram comes with reduced-force air bags with a lockout for the passenger side.
In the wide-open Quad Cab doorway, the designers have integrated the front seat belts into the seats themselves. Among other things, this gets rid of a lot of messy hanging belts. The console has also been redesigned. Other interior features for 1999 include heated power mirrors, illuminated power door locks and window switches, and an optional security alarm system.
The front seat in all Rams is divided 40/20/40, with a huge fold-down center section that doubles as armrest and writing table. The cloth-covered seats in our test truck were nicely upholstered, plush, supportive and comfortable. When no one is sitting in it, the center position provides a large storage box, with divided spaces for coins, cassettes, maps or a laptop computer.
The Quad Cab rear seat is the same one used in other extended cab versions. It's handy for children, pets and petite adults, but it is not comfortable for adults on long trips. The rear seat is fitted with two shoulder belts and one lap belt. The bench portion of the seat flips up out of the way effortlessly from either side for hauling tools or cargo.
For 1999, the power window option comes with an express-down switch on the driver's side. Steering wheel mounted radio controls are optional. There are two new overhead console designs, one with and one without trip computer. On all models, a new rotary headlamp switch replaces the former pull switch design on the left side of the dash. The instrument pod features a new vacuum-fluorescent odometer and trip odometer that are tamperproof, and there are new driver-programmable keyless entry key fobs.
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