Ram pickup trucks have, in some form, had a Mega Cab for more than a decade — since the trucks were still part of the Dodge brand. But what exactly is a Ram Mega Cab, how is it different than a Ram crew cab and how does equipping your truck with a Mega Cab affect the rest of your choices?
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The Mega Cab is a four-door crew cab available only on Ram Heavy Duty 2500 and 3500 trucks that goes beyond what a crew cab offers by extending the cab length 11.1 inches. Ram claims the Mega Cab offers 9.1 cubic feet of storage capacity, compared with 3.4 cubic feet in a crew cab — with roughly 5.7 cubic feet of that additional space coming from the behind-the-rear-seat storage. Besides the increased storage space, there are the reclining rear seats, making a Ram with a Mega Cab a great choice for people who need to take a large truck on a long-haul trip — traveling work crews, for example, or a family towing a camper around the country.
There is a cost to the Mega Cab, however, and not just in the $1,500 price increase. Mega Cab trucks are only available in 4×4 configurations and only with the 6-foot, 4-inch bed. Other cab styles can choose between 4×2 and 4×4 and an 8-foot-long bed.
The added cab length unsurprisingly means a longer truck: The Mega Cab checks in at 249.9 inches in total length compared with 238.8 inches for crew-cab models with the shorter bed. The extra length is less optimal in more crowded environments, as I found driving one in the parking garage we use at our Chicago headquarters. The added wheelbase length of 11.4 inches — 160.4 for the Mega Cab versus 149 with the crew cab — may provide slightly improved ride quality, though the model we tested featured a package that made it difficult to determine with its unique, off-road-tuned suspension.
The shorter bed length can also pose a potential problem with some fifth-wheel and gooseneck trailers: Depending on its design, sharp turns may bring the trailer uncomfortably close to the cab of the truck — or even inside the cab, where it definitely shouldn’t be.
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