Over the past few months, the Ram brand has introduced a handful of half-ton trucks with upgrade packages from popular aftermarket companies, including Fox Factory Vehicles, Roush Perfomance and Hennessey Performance. On August 6th, the company invited members of the media to come to what used to be the Connor Viper Plant to see all of those trucks in the flesh for the first time. While the Ram 1500 DC650 has been displayed in the past, the other two trucks from Fox Factory Vehicles and the Roush were displayed together for the first time while the Hennessey Maximus made its formal debut at the private event.
Although Ram has the most extensive lineup of performance-minded trucks, both on-road and off, the team wanted to give potential customers even more options. Rather than introducing more trim levels of packages of their own, they turned to those well-known aftermarket names to create the packages explained below.
Fox Factory Ram DC650
Earlier this year, Fox Factory Vehicles introduced the Ram DC650 as the first of these high performance third party upgrade packages. The key feature of this package is the supercharger that is added to the 5.7-liter Hemi, which with the help of an oversized heat exchanger and a stainless steel performance dual exhaust system, yields 650 horsepower.
The DC650 package also comes with a performance coilover suspension system that lowers the truck by two inches in the front and four inches out back, 22-inch wheels wrapped in 305/40/22 performance rubber, a front splitter, a rear spoiler, the sport performance hood, 5-inch exhaust tips and a graphics/badges package.
Ram Direct Connection by Roush
The Ram Direct Connection by Roush was engineered to serve as a slightly more off-road-ready option than the Ram 1500 Rebel. It maintains the stock power of the 5.7-liter Hemi, but it does have a dual-mode exhaust system for some extra roar. More importantly, this package adds an upgraded suspension system with twin-tube dampers and a two-inch lift, making it more capable when storming through the woods with help from 18-inch Roush wheels wrapped in 33-inch General Tire Grabber ATX tires.
The Ram Direct Connection by Roush package also features a sport performance hood with functional heat vents, a paint-matched front bumper with red tow hooks poking through, Roush fender flares with marker lights, the Roush high flow grille and a spread of graphics and badges.
Fox Factory Ram 2500 DCHD
While the majority of these upgraded trucks are Ram 1500s, the Fox Factory team also worked some of their magic on a new Ram 2500. The Ram 2500 DCHD is powered by a stock 6.4-liter Hemi V8 with Magnaflow exhaust and Direct Connection exhaust tips, so it delivers the stock output of 405 horsepower, but the list of suspension upgrades help this big truck stand out in the crowd. The upgrades begin with FOX semi-active live valve suspension, offering on-the-fly adjustment, which works in conjunction with the Baja Kits Suspension billet aluminum radius arms and control arms to provide plenty of wheel travel and clearance for the 37-inch BF Goodrich K03 tires on Method 709 wheels.
The package is completed with AMP power side steps, a slick leather and suede seating package with Direct Connection logos and gold accents and package specific badging and graphics.
Fox Factory Ram 1500 TRX SRT DC Concept
Since the new Ram 1500 TRX SRT is just coming to market now, this package is just a concept for now, but it is one of the most powerful of the modified Ram pickups. Fox Factory Vehicles hasn’t touched the engine at all, leaving the TRX SRT at 777 horsepower, but they did add a Magnaflow exhaust system with Direct Connection tips for a bit more sound.
Fox then added a BDS leveling kit, Method 709 wheels wrapped in 37-inch Nitto Recon tires, AMP power side steps, a Baja Designs lighting package and a cool graphics package that has little dinosaurs hidden in the pattern on the hood and bedsides.
Hennessey Supercharged Maximus Rumble Bee SRT
Finally, the newest of the trucks that have been modified as part of a partnership with a well-known aftermarket supplier comes from the team at Hennessey Performance. They have taken the new Ram 1500 Rumble Bee SRT – the Hellcat street truck – and lifted the output from 777 to 1,032 horsepower. That jump in power was achieved through a supercharger swap, along with a bigger intercooler, a bigger intake setup and, of course, a custom engine tune. They also lifted the torque output quite a bit, from 680 to 947 lb-ft of torque.
Next, the Hennessy team added a four-corner air suspension lowering kit, 22×12-inch wheels wrapped in 325/40/22 tires and lightweight carbon fiber custom body bits that were inspired by the legendary Hennessey Venom 650R Viper. This includes a new front splitter, side skirts and a huge rear wing, although the wing can easily be removed for top speed runs.
The Hennessey Supercharged Maximus Rumble Bee SRT can sprint from a stop to 60 in three seconds flat while running the quarter mile in the high-10-second range. More importantly, Hennessey is targeting a top speed of 200 miles per hour, thanks to the combination of the big power and extreme aero bits.
