Ram trucks have been named Motor Trend magazine's Truck of the Year eight times the second-generation Ram won the award in 1994, the third-generation Ram heavy-duty won the award in 2003, the fourth-generation Ram Heavy Duty won in 2010 and the fourth-generation Ram 1500 won in 20, and the current fifth-generation Ram pickup became the first truck in history to win the award three times, winning in 2019, 2020, and 2021. The name Ram was first used in 1981 model year Dodge Trucks in October 1980, following the retiring and rebadging of the Dodge D series pickup trucks as well as B-series vans, though the company had used a ram's-head hood ornament on some trucks as early as 1933. Previously, Ram was part of the Dodge line of light trucks. The current fifth-generation Ram debuted at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, in January of that year. The Ram pickup (marketed as the Dodge Ram until 2010) is a full-size pickup truck manufactured by Stellantis North America (formerly Chrysler Group LLC and FCA US LLC) and marketed from 2010 onwards under the Ram Trucks brand.

top of strut is set up for Kayak rack.Front-engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive Strut is 1 5/8 by 1/5/8' approx 2 feet long. I also incorporated two washers between the aluminum bar and the U bracket to allow the strut to slide more freely. I then fabricated from 1.5' aluminum flat bar a spacer for the front side between the U bracket and the rail for stand off and spreading the load.

I removed the springs as they were not necessary. Here are the first pictures of the U bracket attached to the rail system and also a strut configured for the kayak rack.įor the U brackets, I used strut nuts (1/2') that I ground down to fit in the rail system. Eventually, I will paint the kayak rack when it is finished. Anyway, I will provide pics as I get those done. I did get sidetracked as my wife wanted me to create a way for her to take her kayak by herself. My plan was to be able to use the same struts and just swap out the hardware for the top vs. I then started on the rack for my kayaks.

Ram truck with rambox