Power Wagon Aesthetics rant

[Crusty old shellback]

Don't get me wrong, I love my Power Wagon. But it seems RAM couldn't take a little extra time on the aesthetics to make it look good?

OK, So I have a '21 75th PW in mono tone Delmonico red pearl. Love the color. The body is red. The bumpers, grill, just about all of the logos, rims, Tow mirrors and sliders are black. Only logo that is not black is the RAM in the front grill, bit it's dark gray, so it's OK. It matches the dark grayish black trim in the cab.

So here's my rub. The ONLY chrome on the truck is the lug nuts. WTF!! they couldn't spend an extra $20 bucks on black lug nuts? The bead lock ring is silver, but the bolts holding it on are even black. ??
Not sure about the silver bead lock ring. It's not bad. But with the dark gray RAM logo on front, why did they not just use the same color to powdercoat the ring?

And the lights. Every light on the truck either is clear lens with a black interior, or has a smoked lens. Even the tail lights have a bit of black out on them. So why do they put a WHITE lens on the lights on the tow mirrors? The light inside is amber. So why could they not do a smoked lens? Or a clear lens with a black interior?

And here's the real kicker. So in the wheel wells, every bolt is black, except for one bolt in the fron wheel well that is silver. And it's in such a position that it sticks out like a sore thumb. REALLY?? I mean a 2 dollar bolt from Lowes fixes it, but why should I have to go buy it?

Yes, I'm slowly changing all of these things to what they should have been from the factory. Cost to me is about $100. and a few hours of my time. But you would hink with the price of the truck, these simple things could have been taking care of from the factory.

My only other rant is the resonator and the way the exhaust pipe sticks out. The resonator is probably a noise issue or something. But couldn't they at least paint it black? Or find a better place to put it? And tuck the exhaust tip up closer to the body? Yea, another $100 bucks and I fixed that issue as well. But still. Are there not any gearheads who help design these things??

OK, rant over. I'll go back to driving my beautiful Power Wagon.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

 

[Great White North Eh]

Yup designed by bean counters and blind monkeys.

 

[flan]

I like chrome lug nuts on black wheels, I opted for them when picking my rim package. I will tell ya i think white walls went out in the 80s and you didn’t mention that bothers you. So different strokes for different folks. Do you think ram can cater to its millions of customers individually?

 

[Crusty old shellback]

They are not white walls. They are raised white letters.
But that's an easy fix, just flip the tire on the rim.

Lug nuts, you have to buy new ones. And there is no other chrome, inside or out, on the truck.

yea, lug nuts maybe.
But what about the single silver bolt in the wheel well when all the others are black?
Or the one white lite on the tow mirror when all the others are smoked, or black?

Those two issues would not be catering to everyone.

 

[jadmt]

i think two of the worst aesthetics on the PW are the white letters on the tires and the vertical PW stripes on the box but for me the absolute worst is the ugly wet noodle bloated grub grill.....

 

[Crusty old shellback]

I don't have the vertical PW stripes. But yea, not sure I like them.

When I ordered mine, I asked them to not put the PW on the door, but to give me the sticker and I would do it. My thought was to put it lower on the door since mine was mono tone. and to place it on the back door instead of the front.
Unfortunately the truck came with it on the door. But as dark as the red wound up being, its very subtle and I like it. But yea, it sticks out like a sore thumb on the light colors, like white.

 

[BigSexy 64]

I hear you Crusty. Especially on the wheel well bolt. When I first got it I thought they must have ran out of black bolts, until I saw another PW at the dealership with the same silver bolts!

 

[Crusty old shellback]

New black lug nuts. Just a tad taller than OEM.

 

[jetrinka]

The new Super Duty's are ultra sexy. Sorry not sorry

 

[Dave01]

I agree on the one chrome bolt. But truly a minor detail on a pretty amazingly styled truck.

I also agree on the exhaust tip. What did you do to remedy that?

 

[Crusty old shellback]

I agree on the one chrome bolt. But truly a minor detail on a pretty amazingly styled truck.

I also agree on the exhaust tip. What did you do to remedy that?

Check my build thread for details and pictures.

 

[Docwagon1776]

I like the vertical grill, personally. Of all the things you list, the only one I really notice is the lack of smoking on the mirror light cap.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Found a fix for that one as well. Should have it by tomorrow.

For Dodge Ram 1500 2500 3500 etc Smoked Amber LED Side Mirror Lights Turn Signal | eBay

For Dodge Ram 1500 2500 3500 etc Smoked Amber LED Side Mirror Lights Turn Signal.

www.ebay.com

 

[Great White North Eh]

Found a fix for that one as well. Should have it by tomorrow.

For Dodge Ram 1500 2500 3500 etc Smoked Amber LED Side Mirror Lights Turn Signal | eBay

For Dodge Ram 1500 2500 3500 etc Smoked Amber LED Side Mirror Lights Turn Signal.

www.ebay.com

Post some picks when you get them bad boys popped in.

 

[Hibiki54]

My only gripe for my Power Wagon is the steering wheel aesthetics. They fixed it in the 2023 HDs and hopefully I can order a steering wheel for my truck in the future.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

What does the 2023 steering wheel look like that differs from the 2019-22?

 

[DrTron]

I think they finally got around using the buttons from the 1500 (which I personally preferred as well).
My 2022 PW has the up/down/left/right buttons on the left hand side arranged in a square, which is not very intuitive. The 1500's have a cross-shaped button array (up is actually up and so forth) with the OK-button in the center.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Hmm. Guess I'm used to this layout as I had it in other vehicles. Just took a little pushing to quickly learn what did what.

 

[Dave01]

I think they finally got around using the buttons from the 1500 (which I personally preferred as well).
My 2022 PW has the up/down/left/right buttons on the left hand side arranged in a square, which is not very intuitive. The 1500's have a cross-shaped button array (up is actually up and so forth) with the OK-button in the center.

That square setup has been in a ton of Chrysler vehicles, I've never quite understood who thinks its a good idea but like Crusty said you get used to it quickly.