MT GARAGE
ARRIVAL: 2021 Ram 1500 TRX
EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ
10/14/12 mpg
“We take delivery of the world’s largest supertruck, and it’s off to an odd start.”
Jonny Lieberman
Base Price $72,020
As Tested $91,185
Most arrivals to MotorTrend’s long-term fleet are quite different from our Ram 1500 TRX’s. Normally you would be reading something like, “We went with the optionless base model because it’s the volume seller; however, we picked brown paint because it reminds us of our mother’s eyes.” I can assure you no one on staff has a mother with Flame Red eyes, and this particular TRX is as far from base as pickup trucks get. Clock all that power! And let’s be honest: Normal is boring.
A bit of history before we get into it: The Ram TRX was voted the 2021 MotorTrend Truck of the Year. In the wake of that win, it was time to spend a year with one to see how well it holds up to even deeper scrutiny. The job of stewarding our pet TRX for 12 months has fallen to me. That’s even though I’d previously sworn off monster trucks due to the limited parking at my home in the Los Angeles hills.
Alas, the allure of a 702-hp rocket sled pickup was too much for yours truly. Fun fact: A Hummer H1 is 86.5 inches wide. Ram TRX: 88.0 inches. Yes, it’s wider than a freakin’ Humvee, and I don’t have much space to spare. Did I mention I’m not very smart?
Back to not normal, the TRX first showed up at our Detroit office, where it was received by our technical director, Frank Markus. Uncle Frank, as he’s known to all of us, weighed it, tested it, towed with it—all the usual MT jazz. But he also loaded it with a half ton of gear, putting the TRX slightly beyond its 7,800-pound gross vehicle weight rating with two folks aboard. With just a driver, the TRX squeaked under.
Why all the tents, chain saws, folding chairs, MaxTrax, refrigerators, and whatnot? Because our brand-new long-term TRX was about to spend 43 days acting as our photo/video support vehicle on the Trans-America Trail. After Uncle Frank had the TRX prepped, senior editor Aaron Gold flew to Michigan and drove the fully loaded beast to Nags Head, North Carolina, the start of the transcontinental adventure, which you can read
