Review and photos by
Jil McIntosh, Autos.ca

I’ve never stood at the helm of an ocean liner, my hand on the controls, watching as the enormous ship responds to my commands. But way up in the cabin of my 2011 Ram test truck, I think I have some inkling of how it feels.

2011 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Crew Cab 4x4

This truck is big. This truck is very nice, but it is very, very big. And while that may appeal to many buyers, it’s unnecessarily large, as are all of its oversized competitors these days. My 1995 Dodge 1500, purchased at a time when it was pretty much the biggest of the big, looks more like a Dakota when parked alongside. It will be interesting to see who will be the first truck maker to finally pull back the reins. And now that I’ve got that off my chest, let’s see what this Ram has to offer. (That’s the proper name of it now, by the way; Ram has become its own brand, although I still think of this truck as a Dodge.)

There aren’t a lot of changes from the 2010 model, but one that applied to my Laramie 4×4 was a new, active on-demand transfer case, which is also standard on the Big Horn and Outdoorsman trim levels. (more…)