[Allpar News System]

Mike Jacobs managed to catch this Ram on his camera phone, though he was standing still and the truck was moving along. He wrote, “Look closely between the bed and cab.  It had the same tank between the bed and the cab [as the original Long Hauler concept] and the same extended cab, with the Automotive Testing DOT tag on the door.” The only visible difference appears to be a different tailgate. The Long Hauler concept was designed for those who have a trailer and a long distance to travel, but who don’t want to move up to a Class 6 truck. Based on the Class 5 Ram 5500 Chassis Cab, the Ram Long-Hauler has a six-cylinder 6.7-liter high output Cummins turbodiesel engine rated at 800 lb.-ft. of torque mated to a reliable six-speed Aisin AS68RC automatic transmission, along with a four wheel drive system. A mid-ship fuel tank was combined with a second frame-mounted tank..

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[MoparNorm]

That's the bed the MegaCab deserved from Day One!
Probably over $60,000, but the perfect way to tow the race car hauler and crew over a long or short distance.

 

[moparmodelfan]

I saw it coming when I was pumping gas and realized what it was. I was lucky to get off a quick shot with the phone. If I hadn't been pumping gas I would have followed it. I just wish I had gotten clearer and closer shots. I may have to start taking my camera out with me. LOL!!!

 

[Bearhawke]

That's the bed the MegaCab deserved from Day One!
Probably over $60,000, but the perfect way to tow the race car hauler and crew over a long or short distance.

I agree although the demand for the shortbox Mega Cab is quite strong looking at its obscene resale value..........basically $1,000 per inch over and above a comparable Quad Cab's wheelbase.

 

[TWX]

I like the idea of the Long Hauler, but it's definitely a limited market. On the other hand, if it's marketed to wealthy people to use for towing in their hobbies, then maybe it'll work.

 

[JTE]

That's the bed the MegaCab deserved from Day One!
Probably over $60,000, but the perfect way to tow the race car hauler and crew over a long or short distance.

Lets talk about day one, the mega cab was one of those ideas proposed to upper management by a group of engineers, designers and technicians who would rather beg forgiveness than ask permission. With all the bad press DZ and WB gets around here, I found them quite receptive to innovation and a certain amount of risk taking. At the time, we knew the only way to sell it was to keep as much common with existing components. Also, the 160" WB, was the max that could make a sharp turn on the Saltillo assembly line. Change made to the line for the medium duty trucks have open up the potential for long hauler and hot shot type variants. Once the mega cab became an official program however it did fall victim to the DCX "system" and some bad [I should have my mouth washed out with soap for using such terms] seating and stowage ideas were lost to the lowest bidder.

 

[MoparNorm]

Lets talk about day one, the mega cab was one of those ideas proposed to upper management by a group of engineers, designers and technicians who would rather beg forgiveness than ask permission. With all the bad press DZ and WB gets around here, I found them quite receptive to innovation and a certain amount of risk taking. At the time, we knew the only way to sell it was to keep as much common with existing components. Also, the 160" WB, was the max that could make a sharp turn on the Saltillo assembly line. Change made to the line for the medium duty trucks have open up the potential for long hauler and hot shot type variants. Once the mega cab became an official program however it did fall victim to the DCX "system" and some bad [I should have my mouth washed out with soap for using such terms] seating and stowage ideas were lost to the lowest bidder.

Great background info!
Thanks.

 

[kcoc]

JTE can you go into any of the details about those seating/storages options?

 

[JTE]

I can't remember the details since it was two years before the M C was released, but there were different methods of folding the seat back and seat base. One folded the back and base up and pushed them to the cab back for an open floor lower to the ground for loading taller items (big TV's) and would fold down to give a larger cargo area (sleeper) but higher from the ground.

When a truck leaves my area to the pre production area I move on, and I don't remember if the production version had reclining seat backs or if it is on track to dial in leg room vs behind the seat storage. All design and engineering involves brainstorming, studying options, market research and cost decisions, wouldnt it be fun to build $150,000 trucks! With that, I probably overreached by saying all the cool features were left behind.

 

[kcoc]

Thanx for the into JTE. As an owner of a 2008 MC I have wished several times that the seat back would have folded up to the back of the cab for the extra room that would provide. Another thought I had was on the top of the line edition was an option for buckets seats as I rarely need seating for 5 but the take rate would probably be to small to justify. Have done several long trips (+1500 miles) w/ 4 people w/ no complaints. The back seat is like a limo. Will most likely be buying a new one when the 2014s come out.

 

[chfjim]

I like the idea of the Long Hauler, but it's definitely a limited market. On the other hand, if it's marketed to wealthy people to use for towing in their hobbies, then maybe it'll work.

Being around the small local state to state racing community I think this would be a major hit with these crowds. I see guys go out and spend 2-3 times more for just low end semis to haul their trailers to a few tracks each weekend. Something like this that could also double as a reasonable driver too and would justify it to a lot of these guys. even the smaller crews could afford this and the larger ones save money to dump back into their hobbies!

 

[TWX]

I did a cursory CL search in my area, there are a fairly large number of outright-cheap medium and heavy trucks for sale. We're talking $10,000 price range. Many aren't the prettiest things on the road, often with sunbaked paint, but in the experience I have with local racers, they can afford one of those, while they could not afford a Long Hauler, that will probably come in close to the price of a Viper if it ever sees production...

Even if the commercial medium duty or heavy duty truck is getting close to end-of-life, if it's used as a toy that's probably 5% of the usage that it would see if in commercial service.

 

[AutoTechnician]

Agreed. You check all the options on modern 1-Tons, and you're at $65,000 before taxes. A long-hauler could easily add another $8000-10,000 on top of that. At $75,000-80,000 it wouldn't be hard to find a nice medium duty, or even an older sleeper cab heavy duty.

I'd love to see how much a 2013 Ram 3500 can be optioned out for, but you STILL can't build the 2013 Ram HDs yet - and they're almost ready to be delivered to some customers!

 

[normtest]

Comparing used cars to new cars... well, why should I buy a Dart when I can get a (really old) Ferrari for about the same price?

 

[JTE]

Agreed. You check all the options on modern 1-Tons, and you're at $65,000 before taxes. A long-hauler could easily add another $8000-10,000 on top of that. At $75,000-80,000 it wouldn't be hard to find a nice medium duty, or even an older sleeper cab heavy duty.

I'd love to see how much a 2013 Ram 3500 can be optioned out for, but you STILL can't build the 2013 Ram HDs yet - and they're almost ready to be delivered to some customers!

The Long Hauler IS a nice Medium Duty 5500

 

[normtest]

I imagine the ride and comfort is much higher than a typical Freightliner

 

[TWX]

Comparing used cars to new cars... well, why should I buy a Dart when I can get a (really old) Ferrari for about the same price?

Not really the same thing.

A more accurate analogy would be better in comparing a Dodge Spirit to a modern Dodge Dart for the lil old lady driving it to church. This accounts for purchase price ($20k for the Dart, $2k for the Spirit, like $80k for the Longhauler vs $10k for the used Kenworth) and for particularly light usage (probably 1000 miles a year for the church lady compared to 15,000 miles a year for the average passenger car driver, and probably less than 3000 miles per year for the hobbyist racer as opposed to 45,000 miles per year for the commercial long haul truck)

That isn't to say that there aren't people that could use this truck. A friend of mine bought some expensive craftsman furniture that was delivered by a guy whose occupation was to drive a one-ton crew cab truck with enclosed triple-axle gooseneck trailer back and forth between Pennsylvania and the west coast, hauling one-off pieces of furniture carefully packed into that trailer. He could probably do well with a truck like this, though his current rig doesn't require a CDL, and this probably would. Wealthy equestrian farms could use trucks like this for driving their animals to competitions. Wealthy ranchers, same deal. Someone whose occupation is couriering expensive cars across country could use one of these. Even a wealthy couple could pull one of those luxury RV trailers with one.

I just don't see a use for your average person, even one in to hobbies that could use a heavier truck. They're just too expensive.

 

[BRANDM]

"average person" I think that is your answer. I don't think (hope not anyway) that chrysler is looking at an average person or average hobbiest as the consumer for this truck. The market is not big, but it is there. Is it big enougth to be profitable?

 

[MoparNorm]

The Long Hauler IS a nice Medium Duty 5500

Have you seen the specs?
Is it one of the 30,000 lb GCGVW trucks?
What a great way to pull the Gooseneck!

 

[TWX]

Have you seen the specs?
Is it one of the 30,000 lb GCGVW trucks?
What a great way to pull the Gooseneck!

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2012/04/world-exclusive-ram-5500-long-hauler-drive.html

According to that article the GCWR is called 30,000 by Chrysler. The magazine felt that the number understated.